Transcendent Praise

Hebrews 5:8 – 10 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

It cost Christ everything to redeem you and me and if I understand the verses above correctly, it indicates that his suffering was an act of obedience. Further, it made him perfect. What a concept! It seems then that for believers who are called to endure suffering, there is an element of identification with Christ. (See also Hebrews 2: 9 – 11).

My husband embraced Philippians 3:10 through a decade-long illness.  He even re-wrote the verse as follows: “That I may know Him – in this order: (1) in the fellowship of his sufferings (2) being made conformable to his death (3) the power of his resurrection.” That was intensely personal for him. As close as we were and as much as I shared in his suffering on some level, I still had to realize that it was his body and not mine that was being ravaged by disease.  He had a very high threshold for pain so complaining was not normal for him. The exception was a rear occasion when he screamed because his pacemaker had short circuited. His response to anyone’s query about how he was doing was always “Fine, thank you.” Never ceased to amaze me!

I believe God never asks us to deny the degree of our suffering, but he does want us to see that our suffering is never pointless. We are not called upon to suffer to the same degree Jesus did but I think it pleases God if we allow him to transform our pain into praise. If you are suffering physically, I humbly share with you the following words the Holy Spirit spoke to me after my meditation on Hebrews 5: 1 – 10:

            Yes, indeed suffering is part of the covenant. Not just suffering but suffering with obedience i.e. that the Lord is glorified by your submission. See that suffering does not diminish your praise or cloud your vision. The Lord God rewards that kind of faith. As it was with Job so it is to be for those who worship me. He never abandoned his faith.

Matthew 14: 9 – 10, 13 The King was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded in prison. When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.

Child of God what do you do when you’ve heard bad news? Not just random news but the kind that is so personal, it knocks the wind out of you or causes your knees to buckle. Well, after you regain some composure, the first thing you need to do is separate yourself from the confusion which is likely to ensue. Follow Jesus’ example – find a quiet place. If you can, breathe just four words “Father I come to you.” That is all you need to say in that moment and stay still until his Spirit revives you, however long it takes. Like Jesus, when you emerge, you will not only have the strength you need for yourself but enough to reach out to those around you – your Father will make it possible for you to show compassion even in your darkest moment. I share this with you because I know it to be true.

Read Matthew 14: 1- 23. After Jesus had done what was necessary for that day he again went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When certain life events happen they create a crisis. The pain is unlikely to disappear in a flash and the effects for you going forward might be life-changing. But your response should be to continually return to your source of strength – your heavenly Father. Only He has the power to impart his peace so you can have strength to move forward. “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40: 29 – 31). Lean on Him.

John 21:20 – 22: Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (…….) When Peter saw him, he asked “Lord what about him?” Jesus answered. “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”

This is an engaging conversation between Jesus and Peter. Jesus was in effect saying to Peter that the plans he has for his other disciple was none of Peter’s business. All he wanted Peter to focus on was what would be required of him, i.e. listening to his voice and being obedient to whatever he asked of him. In the earlier verses of this same chapter, Jesus had already asked him three times if he loved him and Peter had declared his love in totality. Jesus in response had given him his assignment – “Feed my lambs”, “Take care of my sheep”. How quickly then was he becoming distracted!

Like Peter and that other disciple, our kingdom assignments are different though the ultimate goal is to glorify God. Some are called to live their lives in the public square, declaring the Word globally while some are called to labor in the trenches, sometimes unrecognized their whole lives.  Some are called to be good mothers or fathers, care-givers, military personnel or benevolent bosses.  Some of you have probably been busy at it already but never quite saw it as God’s assignment for you. Take grandparents, for example – many represent to their grandchildren the only stability they will ever know and perhaps the only people who can interpret God’s love to them. What is that worth? Don’t ever discount your assignment in the kingdom of God. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

If you spend time in the Word and seek the Lord with all your heart, He will make plain what your assignment is. That will be unique for you and all he requires is your faithfulness in carrying it out.

Hebrews 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

Why do you need a high priest? In the Old Testament the role of the high priest was to make sacrifices by shedding the blood of animals to make atonement for the sins of the people. We today have a great high priest, Jesus the Son of God.  He is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, because he was tempted in every way just as we are, but he did not sin. He made atonement for our sins so that we may approach the throne of grace with confidence to receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (See verses 15-16).

One of the most sobering realities of Jesus’ life is how much he suffered. Just think about that – the Son of God suffered while he lived. There was always someone wanting to kill him and he knew it. He was ridiculed and taunted, at one point in his teaching and healing ministry his brothers even came to take him away because they said he was out of his mind. (Mark 3: 1-23). What would it do to you if people started calling you the crazy one? In one blistering encounter with the Jews he made them so angry by the claims he made about himself and God the Father, they picked up stones to stone him. (John 8:59).

Jesus is qualified to be your high priest. “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” (Hebrews 12: 3-4).

So, let us encourage ourselves, because the majority of us believers are not currently under the type of persecution which require the daily defense of our faith. Most of the things we allow to challenge and discourage us have to do with our natural appetites or unreached goals which we have taken upon ourselves because of our conformity to the world’s standards.

Jude 20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit

A believer is first and foremost a disciple. Having accepted the Lord Jesus as Savior you have set out to be his disciple, i.e. to become disciplined in the things that he taught which are now recorded in the Bible. It follows then that if you do not spend time studying his Word and putting into practice what he says, you cannot claim to be following him.

These days there are teachers, tapes, seminars and books and they are all helpful, but until you sit down and study the Word for yourself, you will never know whether what you are being taught is true. To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31 – 32)

Then there is the relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is Counselor, Comforter and Teacher. He is also the one who brings conviction of sin, righteousness and judgment. (Read John 16: 5-15). You have to have a relationship with him in order to pray in the Holy Spirit as Jude encourages us to do.

It was the Holy Spirit that convicted you of sin and made you to understand the magnitude of the Father’s love for you that he would sacrifice his Son Jesus to bring you back into relationship with himself. It is the Holy Spirit that continually speaks to you about what God’s will is for you to do daily. Pray to the Father to fill you with the Holy Spirit in such a way that you can pray and worship in the Spirit, i.e. in a language that is heaven sent. That will allow you to have discernment, to know the Father more deeply and to take authority over the enemy when you encounter him. Please do not misunderstand me. The validity of your salvation is not in question here. The infilling of the Holy Spirit simply enhances your spiritual life.

Mark 3: 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

We don’t think so much in terms of kingdoms and monarchies today as in past civilizations. Implicit in the idea of monarchy is power, and often that power is absolute within its kingdom.

As Christians we recognize that there are only two kingdoms: that over which Satan seeks to rule and the Kingdom of God which we know has absolute power and wins in the end. Satan’s kingdom is directly opposed to the will of God. It is a divided kingdom which operates in our world today in leaders of all kinds of groups with differing agendas, but all corrupt the minds of men, enslave and destroy. “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  (1 Peter 5:8).

The one quality Satan will not demonstrate is love. God is love and so he seeks and saves the lost, binds up the broken, heals the sick, delivers out of temptation and distress, and rewards those who follow him. He requires his followers to believe in and honor his Son Jesus Christ, clothe the naked, feed the hungry and help the helpless. Those are his kingdom principles. So if you do not yet believe in Jesus, test the nature of the kingdom to which you have pledged your allegiance.

In recent times, we have seen an explosion in evil activity from many factions of Satan’s kingdom and I was led to ponder what is going on and how to assess this activity. The Holy Spirit broke in on my contemplations:

“They are not honoring the Son. They are divided against themselves. They that are with us are more than those that are with them. I have angelic hosts, they do not. Be not deceived, they are destined to destroy each other. The Lord God is eternal, all others are mortal. It shall not ever be that the mortal should have dominion over the immortal. My children are assured of immortality. It is a consequence of their new birth, the new life they receive from me when they surrender to the Lordship of my Son. The passage of time does not negate any of my promises to my beloved ones. They shall have eternal life.”

Daniel 6:21 – 22 Daniel answered. “O king live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I done any wrong before you, O king.”

Daniel was a young man who was thrown into a den of lions by King Darius. The full account is in Daniel chapter 6. Daniel was a young man of stellar character and very trustworthy. Darius did not throw him in the lion’s den because he was a wicked king. Daniel was the victim of a conspiracy by his peers and other haters. Daniel was in big trouble.

We learn from Scripture however that God is in the deliverance business. God had delivered Daniel’s three friends from the fiery furnace into which they had been thrown by another king – Nebuchadnezzar. God had delivered Jeremiah from the pit into which he had been dumped. And let us not forget that he delivered the Jewish people from slaughter using Esther as his instrument. In the New Testament Peter was delivered from prison by an angel in the night. (Acts 12) Paul and his travelling companions were delivered from shipwreck. (Acts 27)

You will find yourself being victimized at some point in time, not necessarily because you did something wrong, but because human nature is what it is. Seize it as an opportunity to prove that your God is with you. Call on him for deliverance and patiently wait. The greater the odds, the greater the victory will be. Then let your praise rise!

Romans 14: 11 – 12 It is written:  “As surely as I live’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; and every tongue will acknowledge God.’”  So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

This is the word of the Lord. It is a restatement of Isaiah 45:23. In verse 22 of the same chapter, the Lord pleads:  “Turn to me and be saved all you ends of the earth; for I am God and there is no other.” In other words God rules, always has and always will. His love for mankind is so great that he desires us to experience his love rather than his anger. And so he has made provision to redeem us by pouring out his anger against sin on his only Son Jesus on the cross.

While we are still alive we have the opportunity to cry out for forgiveness and bow to the Lordship of Christ. I will keep on repeating this message in my blogs because God loves you so much, I want to be sure you know that. Hebrews 9: 27 – 28 reminds us that: “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” He keeps his promises!

“I am the Lord God Almighty. My Word is my bond. Nothing that is written shall fail to be fulfilled. It is now the time of my grace when men can bow to me because they can now experience my love instead of my wrath. But the time will come and shortly when grace will cease and my wrath will be poured out. I am the Almighty God and at that time there will be no negotiating with me.”

John 20:21 – 22 Again Jesus said. “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive ye the Holy Spirit.”

When God made man he gave him dominion over the physical world. That was a blessing. (See Genesis 1:26 – 30) He formed man from the dust of the earth and breathed his breath into his nostrils. That man, Adam, became a living soul and we are his descendants. (Genesis 2:7). Adam sinned and imparted that nature of rebellion to us making us insensitive or dead towards God.

The central core of Christianity is in believing that Jesus is the Son of God. There is blessing in that alone. (John 20:29). It means accepting as truth that he was born of a virgin, lived as man to show us what God is like, died as our Savior, is risen as Lord over everything and is coming back again to establish his kingdom. This is life-giving – the new birth.

After Jesus’ resurrection, he visited with his disciples as they were together in one place. He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” – this second breath is life-transforming – giving you and me power to live a God-directed life and have dominion over the enemy.

“The Spirit of the Living God empowers his people to walk in the light of his Word and to use it to subdue the power of the enemy of their souls. It is for those who believe in the Son of God and will submit to his leading in their daily lives. That is my design.”

2 Corinthians 5: 14-15 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

Once you are saved, you will find yourself contemplating your purpose in the Kingdom from time to time. That is a good thing. The Holy Spirit will have conversations with you as you study the Word and seek to express your faith in tangible ways. Do not allow yourself to become confused. The Holy Spirit does not create confusion so you can be sure that if there is confusion it comes from your unwillingness to yield to his leading. He will always lead you to do only what is pleasing to God.

You, like every believer, have been given a ministry of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). Your ministry begins with those closest to you. This includes that squealing infant God has placed in your care or the boss you consider insufferable. I had a wise mother-in-law. When I had my first child, I was straining at the bit to get back to teaching Sunday school. One day she said to me, “You know, right now your mission field is that child in your arms.” Your current circumstances are allowed by God with purpose. (See Jeremiah 29:11).  Yield and do the small things his Spirit prompts you to do. This is because your life has to demonstrate what you believe before what you say can begin to have a positive effect on those around you.