VIDEO Troubles

If children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Romans 8:17

 

Salesmen speak about the features and benefits of a product. What if one of the features described was suffering that resulted from using the product? Sometimes new Christians are surprised to discover that they still have troubles in life after becoming a follower of Jesus. They feel the “product” wasn’t presented fairly.

Jesus told His disciples that “in the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). That was not to scare them but to prepare them. Paul explained further: In Christ, we are “joint heirs” with Him. As “joint heirs,” one of the things we inherit is to “suffer with Him” that we might also share in His glory (Romans 8:17). Paul then spent the next 22 verses of Romans 8 (verses 18-39) explaining the suffering we may experience in this world but that in Christ we are “more than conquerors” (verse 37). God uses everything we experience—even our troubles—to conform us to the image of Christ (verses 28-29). Nothing in this world—not even our sins—can separate us from the love of God (verses 34-39).

Whether our troubles are from the world or of our own making, God is faithful. Give Him thanks today for His faithful love.

Shall light troubles make you forget weighty mercies? John Flavel

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Heirs of God (Romans 8:17-18)

God’s Greater Power

The Lord said, . . . I have given you victory over them! Judges 7:9 nlt

In March 1945, the “Ghost Army” helped US forces achieve the Rhine River crossing—giving the allies a vital base to operate from on World War II’s Western Front. The soldiers were most definitely human, not apparitions, all part of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops. On this occasion, the 1,100-man team imitated 30,000 men by using inflatable decoy tanks, blasting troop and vehicle sound effects over speakers, and more. The relatively small number of Ghost Army members led the enemy to fear what appeared to be a far greater force.

The Midianites and their allies also trembled before a tiny army that loomed large in the night (Judges 7:8–22). Gideon, a judge and military leader of Israel, was used by God to make his puny army a source of terror for the enemy. They also used sound effects (blown trumpets, smashed clay jars, human voices) and visible objects (blazing torches) to make the vast enemy—as “thick as locusts” (v. 12)—believe they were facing a colossal foe. Israel defeated their enemy that night with an army whittled down from 32,000 men to just 300 by God’s command (vv. 2–8). Why? Because that made it clear who truly won the battle. As God told Gideon, “I have given you victory over them!” (v. 9 nlt).

When we feel weak and inferior, let’s seek God and rest in His strength alone. For His “power is made perfect in [our] weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

By:  Tom Felten

Reflect & Pray

What big foes or challenges are you facing? How can you rest in God’s power as you confront them?

Dear Jesus, let me find Your strength in my weakness.

Jesus Is Hospitable

Ask the Lord to help you see those who need your welcome today. Luke 19:1-10

Even though Jesus had no home to call His own, the Gospel accounts reveal His ability to make others feel at home in His presence. Wherever the Lord went, He intentionally welcomed those with open hearts and “ears to hear”—including sinners and tax collectors—into the household and family of God.

Although Zacchaeus was a tax collector well known for extortion, Jesus countered his sin with generosity. In this way, the Lord showed that true hospitality doesn’t come from material resources, but from a heart that sees and serves others with God’s love. “Hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house,” Jesus declared as He looked up at the tree where the man had climbed for a better view (Luke 19:5). Imagine Zacchaeus’ surprise to find that Jesus sought him out, even though he was in an unlikely place. This is true for us, too; no matter how small or unnoticed we may feel, God sees us and loves us.

Jesus’ hospitality prompted Zacchaeus’ own display of generous hospitality. When we show others that we see them and God sees them too, hearts and lives are transformed. Understanding and embracing God’s hospitality toward us—no matter how great our sin—enables us to extend that same hospitality to others as we invite them to join us at Jesus’ table.

Peter and the Name of Jesus

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

This is the climactic declaration ending Peter’s three great messages in the early chapters of Acts (2:14-36; 3:12-26; 4:8-12). On the previous day, he and John had seen the crippled man healed at the temple gate, saying: “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6). Testifying to the crowd that had assembled following the miracle, Peter said: “His name through faith in his name hath made this man strong” (Acts 3:16).

But what exactly is meant by “His name”? In biblical usage, one’s name stands for his character and all that he is and does. In his three messages, Peter actually used many different names and titles to refer to Christ. Note the following partial list: the Lord, Jesus of Nazareth, Thine Holy One, Christ, Jesus Christ, a Prophet, the Stone, the Head of the Corner.

To the multitude on the day of Pentecost, he had exhorted: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). To the Sanhedrin, he said: “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole” (Acts 4:10).

Perhaps the most definitive form of “the name” was prescribed by Peter in the concluding statement of his great sermon on the day of Pentecost: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). Thus, He is the Lord Jesus Christ. HMM

Persona Non Grata

“The day after I retired I walked down the hall of the Company and I realized I was ‘persona non grata.‘”

Vice President of an international corporation.

The day will come when your status and influence in the business or professional community will diminish. You will suffer the loss of:

Position

Influence

And with that, you run the risk of also suffering the loss of:

Identity

Confidence

Motivation

Not everyone handles these changes well. Dr. Hube Mitchell made this sobering observation, “As I observe the great men of God, few end well,”

The aging process is inescapable: “All our days have declined… we have finished our years like a sigh (or whisper).“(Psalm 90:9)

Yet, amidst this loss, it is God’s intention that we continue to live lives of significance… to be fruitful: “The righteous man will flourish like a palm tree… They will still yield fruit in old age…”(Psalm 92:12a, 14a)

For this to occur, it is imperative that today we are finding our sense of identification and significance in Christ, and in Him alone:

“As far as this world is concerned, you are already dead, and your true life is a hidden one in God, through Christ… “(Colossians 3:3 – Phillips Translation)

“God forbid that I should boast about anything or anybody except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, which means that the world is a dead thing to me and I am a dead thing to the world.“(Galatians 6:13, 14 – Phillips Translation)

Let us determine to prove Hube Mitchell wrong: By the grace of God, we will end well.

“The silver is mine, and the gold is mine.”

Haggai 2:1-19

Haggai 2:1-3

This was another cause of the discouragement of the people. They pleaded that the building would be a very poor affair in comparison with the first temple. Many now-a-days excuse themselves from doing their best by pleading that they can do so little.

Haggai 2:4

The very best encouragement in all the world.

Haggai 2:8

Their poverty need not kinder them; for God could find them means, as indeed he did, for he laid the treasures of Darius at their feet. It is ours to do our best for God’s cause, and believe that the Lord will provide.

Haggai 2:9

And so it was, for there the Lord Jesus appeared, “a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel.”

Haggai 2:12

Legal sanctity is not easily transmitted. Holy flesh sanctified the garment in which it was wrapped, but did not cleanse anything beyond. Men are not rendered holy by outward ritual.

Haggai 2:14

The uncleanness of the offerer spoils the sacrifice. There is a spreading power in the defilement of sin, though not in legal sanctity. Oh, to be clean before the Lord! for if we are not so, all that we do will be unaccepted.

Haggai 2:15-19

When they began to serve the Lord with holy zeal, then would he enrich them; but until then they would have a curse on their granaries and their crops. God save us as a family from this!

Lord, bless me from this day,

As thou alone canst bless;

Take mine iniquity away,

And give thy righteousness.

Lord, bless me from this day,

Thy sovereign grace impart;

Teach me thy sacred law t’ obey

With all my willing heart.

Lord of Righteousness

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness. (1 Corinthians 1:30)

In the midst of all the confusions of our day, it is important that we find out that Jesus Christ is the Lord of all righteousness and the Lord of all wisdom.

Righteousness is not a word easily acceptable to lost men and women in a lost world. Outside of the Word of God, there is no book or treatise that can give us a satisfying answer about righteousness, because the only One who is Lord of all righteousness is our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of His kingdom. He is the only One in all the universe who perfectly loved righteousness and hated iniquity.

Our great High Priest and Mediator is the righteous and holy One—Jesus Christ, our risen Lord. He is not only righteous, He is the Lord of all righteousness!

Then, there is His wisdom. The sum total of the deep and eternal wisdom of the ages lies in Jesus Christ as a treasure hidden away. All the deep purposes of God reside in Him because His perfect wisdom enables Him to plan far ahead! Thus history itself becomes the slow development of His purposes.