Fit For Service

Luke 9:61-62

Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-bye to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

This man wanted to put off following Jesus to party one last time; he wasn't ready to forsake everything else for Him. Jesus' answer to him uses the imagery of the farm: if you start to plow, then turn to look back, the furrow will not be straight. You must look at what you're doing to plow a straight furrow. So if I desire to follow the Lord, I must be willing to "turn my back" on any other relationship or endeavor that would interfere. If I'm still trying to divide my time and attention, then I'd be double-minded, and not succeed at either one. If I have affairs to wrap up, I need to take care of that business before I "put my hand to the plow." Then I'll serve single-heartedly.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Our Maker's Book Of Instructions

Psalm 18:20-24

The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He has rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not done evil by turning from my God. All His laws are before me; I have not turned away from His decrees. I have been blameless before Him and have kept myself from sin. The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

When we buy an appliance or a vehicle, we get with it a book of the "manufacturer's instructions," so we will know how to run it and take care of it for our greatest benefit from it. God is our Maker, and He has given us His "Book of Instructions" which we call the Bible or Scripture. It contains all the rules, commands, precepts, decrees, statutes, laws, promises: His Words to teach us His ways. When we conform our attitudes according to His ways for us, then our lives will show the results, which we call blessed and prosperous.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Old And The New Testaments

Hebrews 3:5

Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later. 

The Old Testament was given to present God's plan; the people and events recorded there form a picture of what God would accomplish. The New Testament records the fulfillment of all that was presented before. Moses struck the rock in the desert and water poured out to nourish all the people, and Jesus is that Water of Life that He gives us in His Spirit that wells up in us as His fountain. The sacrifices were given to illustrate that Jesus is the Sacrificial Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. 

Every Old Testament story pictures a clear Truth that is revealed in the New Testament. If we ignore any part of it, we diminish the picture of His Plan. If we add to it, we would distort that picture, making it deceptive. His Truth is true!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Power Of Our Words

Proverbs 18:21

The tongue has the power of life and death,

God created by speaking. He made us in His image, His likeness. He made us to be like Him. He imagined us, then spoke us into being. We also have imagination, and are creative in building what we have imagined. So our words are also very powerful.

and those who love it will eat its fruit.

We can speak life or death to another. So our thoughts should be in line with the good thoughts God has for us. We can train ourselves in righteousness in allowing positive thoughts to fill our minds. Focus on what good we see in others, not their faults. Remember the goodness of God toward us all and what we focus on will fill our vision, allowing the negative to fade into the background. Then we will live out that great Salvation that He has put inside us.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

He Wrote The Script

Matthew 16:27

For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father's glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what he has done.

Revelation 11:18

The 7th Trumpet: The time has come for judging the dead, for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your Name, both small and great--and for destroying those who destroy the earth.

Revelation 19:11-16

I saw Heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True . . . and his Name is the Word of God. The armies of Heaven (saints) were following Him . . . this Name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Everything Jesus does brings glory to God. Everything we do in Christ also brings glory to God. God is the One Who made up the script for everything that exists, so when His plan unfolds in His way, in His time, He gets the credit, the glory for it all.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

A Strained Relationship

Jeremiah 31:20

"Is not Ephraim my dear son in whom I delight? Although often I speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him," declares the Lord.

I have prayed this prayer myself, for my own grown child, with whom I had a strained relationship. 

Since then, my relationship with this child has improved tremendously: God answered my prayer so graciously. When I stepped back and let God work in her heart, and responded to her in the way God would, gently and graciously, then God worked in her heart and thinking processes and mended our relationship. Praise God! He gave me the benefit, and He gets all the glory.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Not Right Away, But Soon

Habakkuk 2:3

These things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.

Luke 21:9

These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.

We read many exciting, even frightening things that God says will yet happen. But when the time comes for them to come to pass, God will not be late, He will be just in time. Habakkuk knew that God is never in a hurry, and Luke records Jesus' words about the "end times." There are many specific events we can look for to let us know that "the end is near," and we can make ourselves ready for His Glorious Appearing; but we are not to sit and wait, we are to "occupy" until He returns. We need not fear what is to come, as God has promised that His wrath will not come near us, we will only see it happening to the wicked who have refused to turn to God. They will certainly persecute us, as bearers of the Truth, witnesses of what Jesus has accomplished in us, and wants to do for others, too. They will even martyr God's people, as is already happening today, more so than in any other time in history. But God's wrath for us was poured out on Jesus on the Cross, not on us. And we who are left to witness That Day, will meet the Lord in the air, in the clouds, and be changed, glorified as He is glorified by His Resurrection, and then we will ever be with the Lord forever.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!