|
|
For: Because there was a reason, because there was a need, because there was a glorious plan of redemption. In order to leave no doubt in anyone’s mind about God’s eternal purpose and our eternal destiny.
God: True God. God the Father. Creator of man. Giver of breath. Sustainer of life. God of reconciliation. Author of salvation. God of redemption.
So Loved: Not “will one day love”, but “has loved” “does love” “now loves”. Agape love, deep love, true love. Divine love. Perfect love. Love demonstrated. Active love. Not just “feeling love”, but “doing love”. Love that wants the best, does the best, gives the best. Holy love. Sacrificial love. Love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love that never fails.
The world: Those who are near and those who are afar; those of every color, every race, every tongue, every tribe, every nation. The Jew and the Gentile. The lost, the needy, the hungry, the devastated, the crushed, the bruised, the broken. Those in darkness, desperation, and despair. The condemned, the sinner, the rebel. The sick who need a physician; the guilty who need pardon; the transgressor who needs forgiveness; the prodigal who is far from the Father’s home.
That He gave: Giving God! Freely bestowing—giving grace, giving mercy, giving life. Not small portions. Not just enough to get by. Giving in abundance. Outpouring. Overflowing. Overwhelming.
His only begotten Son: Jesus Christ. Son of God, Son of man. King of kings. Lord of lords. The Word made flesh. Emanuel. God with us. Wonderful! Counselor! Mighty God! Everlasting Father! Prince of Peace! God giving all that He could give. God holding nothing back! The Creator coming to His creation; the Lamb of God coming to be offered as a sacrifice for sin; the Redeemer, shedding His blood to bring us back to God.
That whosoever: An open door, an open invitation—to anyone, anywhere, anytime. Big or small, rich or poor, famous or unknown, old or young, male or female. You and I.
Believeth in Him: Not “work for”, not “try hard”, not “earn”. By faith. Believing with the heart. Not a reward to earn, but a gift to receive. Trusting in His mercy. Counting upon His provision. Receiving His life. Leaning upon His grace. Yielding to His Lordship.
Should not perish: Not lost. Not condemned. Not cast out. Not destroyed. Not in eternal darkness. Not separated. Not alone.
But have: Blessed assurance! Being sure. Being certain. Not “guessing”, not “wishing”, not “pretending”. Not “I hope so”, but “I know so”. Without a doubt, I am His and He is mine.
Everlasting life: Forgiven. Saved. Redeemed. Possessing His life. Eternal life. Kingdom life. Blessed hope! Glorious end! Never-ending story of His amazing grace!
Subscribe by Email
Yes, let none who trust and wait hopefully and look for You be put to shame or be disappointed. Psalm 25:3 AMP
Years ago, one of the characters in a popular comic strip was looking forward to an upcoming event. Throughout the strip the character’s excitement continued to grow. At the end of the strip the character stood with his head down and a look of disappointment upon his face. When asked by a friend what was wrong, the character replied, “I found that my expectations far exceeded the actual event.”
What happened to this comic strip character will not happen to the child of God who is trusting in God’s promises. What God has planned and prepared for those who love Him will blow them away! We must remember that the difficulties, hardships and trials that we are presently going through are only pages in the story of our lives. We must be patient and read on, waiting with excitement and expectation for what the final chapters will bring.
God will never betray our trust in what He has said, and as we wait upon Him to fulfill His promises, we do not need to fear disappointment. In the end, we will not be let down by the expectations of our faith. Everything He brings to us will be more than we could ever ask or think. Since what God has for us will exceed our expectations, it means we can never expect too much.
S.D. Gordon tells us, “Trust trusts God when it doesn’t understand what He is doing. Jesus practically replies, ‘Wait; hold steady; trust Me, though you don’t see how things are working out.’” As you wait for the fulfillment of His promises, you don’t have to wait in gloom or misery. Even if you don’t understand the things that are happening around you, you can trust Him in joyful expectation for the fulfillment of what God has promised to do.
I consider that the sufferings of this present time (this present life) are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us and conferred on us! Romans 8:18 AMP
Subscribe by Email
After completing my postings on Psalm 23 I came across a story that seems to be the perfect way to sum it all up. I’d like to pass that story along to you on today’s posting.
At a social function, an aged minister asked an actor who was in attendance to recite something from memory. The actor, thinking to please the minister, decided to recite the Twenty-third Psalm. With perfect diction, elocution and in delicate shades of tone, he repeated the Psalm in a manner that caused the audience to reveal their enthusiastic praise and applause.
Afterward, the actor, in order to honor the minister, asked if he would recite something for them. The minister could not think of anything and decided, if it was okay with everyone present, to repeat the Twenty-third Psalm. Quietly, prayerfully, he slowly began to speak out the Psalm as it came to mind. At its end, those in attendance sat hushed and in holy awe. Taking the preacher’s hand in his, the actor spoke out what was in the heart of all who were present, “You and I both know the Psalm, but it is clear to us all, that you are the one who knows the Shepherd.”
Subscribe by Email
Salt as a healing agent:
Do you have a wound? Add salt water to it and it will help to cleanse the injury and keep the body safe from infection. Whether you soak in salt water or gargle it, its healing power will go to work instantly.
Salt is vital to the health of our bodies. Without the proper amount of salt we would suffer greatly. God has made our bodies dependent upon salt to maintain optimum health, vitality, and even life itself. Salt helps our bodies fight disease. Our cells need salt to function properly. Salt helps regulate the heart and keeps our blood flowing. It helps our kidneys function properly, and it even helps the body fight stress.
Sometimes we don’t fully see or understand the benefits we bring to others as the salt of the earth. The Body of Christ needs our saltiness to remain free of deception and lies, discouragement and listlessness, carelessness and sin.
The tongue of the wise brings healing. Proverbs 12:18 NKJV
Note: One of the ways the accuser of the brethren comes to us is by trying to convince us that we are useless and good for nothing. This lie, if believed, will isolate us and keep us from being involved in relationships and ministries where God wants to place us. Like salt, our presence is vital to the health, vitality, and well being of others.
Salt as a commodity:
Salt is a great benefit to a society. It is one of the essential spices of life. For centuries salt has been highly prized, valued, and traded in the marketplace.
As the salt of the earth, your citizenship in the community and in the country in which you live is invaluable. It is your saltiness that helps to keep society’s values strong, its laws just, and its honor strong.
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold In settings of silver. Proverbs 25:11 NKJV
Note: In the grocery store you can now buy soda crackers that are salted on just one side. Jesus does not want you half-salted. Remain fully salted in the place God has you. He wants you to speak, in season and out of season, the words He gives you to say.
Salt as a melting agent:
This winter has been a good reminder of the negative impact ice and snow can have upon a community and our everyday lives. When roads become dangerous and impassable due to ice and snow, cities will often send out trucks to pour salt upon the roadways and make them safe for travel. Salt is used because it can cut through ice and snow, causing it to thaw and melt away. Once the ice and snow are removed from the roads the normal flow of traffic can continue again and activities within the neighborhood can soon return to normal.
At certain times, the Holy Spirit will use us to reach a cold heart that has been frozen in the ice of bitterness, hurt, or unbelief. The power of His divine love and compassion expressed through our care, our understanding, our words, and our prayers can help to thaw a cold life and see it restored to usefulness once again.
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 NKJV
Note: Salt added to an iced over roadway will be an irritant to the ice as it cuts through to the pavement, but it is necessary in order to restore the roadway to a place of usefulness once again. We should not be surprised if our words are not always received with eagerness or appreciation by the person in need of them.
Salt as a softening agent:
It’s a great convenience to have water flowing into our homes without the need of going outside to prime a pump. However, that does not mean that the water coming into our homes is the best water. Hard water can have many negative effects, such as dulling your hair or turning your white clothes gray. Hard water also brings calcium deposits into your pipes, washing machines, and water heaters.
Add salt to hard water and you turn it into soft water. With soft water bathing and washing is greatly improved, clothes are more gentle, plumbing lasts longer, energy costs are reduced, and the life of your appliances is increased.
When our words are seasoned with salt they will have the hardedge taken off them and our words will be easier for others to receive. Softened words will be free of harshness, sarcasm, coldness, criticism, indifference, and insensitivity. Salted words will not damage relationships, but restore them; not clog up issues, but clarify them; not dull the spirits of others but help them to shine.
Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. Ephesians 4:29 NKJV
Note: We must learn not to speak in haste, but to wait upon the guidance of the Holy Spirit—speaking His words, in His way, in His tone, in His time. When we speak His words we are giving others the softened water (kindness) of the Spirit, not the hardened water (meanness) of the flesh.
(If you would like to learn more about the many practical uses of salt, you can find a Reader’s Digest article on the internet called the Extraordinary Uses for Salt: Around the House—65 uses are given.)
Subscribe by Email
In Scripture, salt is likened to the words we speak. Paul tells us in Colossians 4:6…
“Let your speech at all times be gracious (pleasant and winsome), seasoned [as it were] with salt, [so that you may never be at a loss] to know how you ought to answer anyone [who puts a question to you].”
We usually think of salt as having two or three uses. In fact, salt has dozens and dozens of uses. Salt is a change agent. Apply salt to different things and it works in different ways to perform different wonders. Jesus called His disciples “The salt of the earth.” As followers of Jesus Christ, there are dozens of ways that the Holy Spirit will sprinkle our words, as salt, into the lives of others.
Salt as a seasoning:
Salt is a delightful additive to our taste buds. Used in proper amounts it enhances the foods we eat and brings out their unique flavors.
Like salt, there are those that bring a special seasoning of the Spirit to our lives. They add the seasoning of hope, faith, and encouragement into conversations and relationships. Their presence enhances your life whenever you are with them. They say the words that are exactly what your heart needs to hear in a given moment. Words of life, words of truth, words of grace that come from the heart of God.
A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it! Proverbs 15:23 KJV
Note…A little salt goes a long way. Salt does not need to be dominant in order to be useful. Pour too much salt on something and it will overpower the inherent flavor of the food. We don’t need to dominate people or conversations in order to be salt.
Salt as a preservative:
As a preservative, salt keeps things safe from injury, destruction, or decay. Before the days of refrigeration, salt was used by commercial fishing boats to keep their catch safe and fresh until they could return to port and bring the fish to market.
Our homes, our work place, our marriages, our friendships, and our churches all need the preserving power of the Holy Spirit working through us. As the salt of the earth we help to keep people from being injured, marriages from being destroyed, businesses from becoming corrupted, and ministries from being overtaken by death and decay. As the salt of the earth we help to keep things sound and secure; healthy and protected; prosperous and blessed.
Never return evil for evil or insult for insult (scolding, tongue-lashing, berating), but on the contrary blessing [praying for their welfare, happiness, and protection, and truly pitying and loving them]. For know that to this you have been called, that you may yourselves inherit a blessing [from God—that you may obtain a blessing as heirs, bringing welfare and happiness and protection]. 1 Peter 3:9 AMP
Note…Salt will always be salt. It will always do what salt does. You do not need to strive to become salt. Jesus is the one who has made us salt. Without His life in us and His words on our tongues we have no saltiness.
We will continue our look at salt in the next posting.
Subscribe by Email
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Colossians 3:17 NKJV
The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. Acts 1:1 NKJV
You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world. Matthew 5:13-14 AMP
Truth does not hop around on one foot. It walks forward on two strong, well balanced legs. Jesus taught the truth and lived the truth. He never placed what He did above what He said. Jesus spoke as He heard the Father speak (John 17:8, 8:28) and Jesus did what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19). Luke, in the books of Acts, reminds us of these two things by stating that his writings focused on both what Jesus did and what Jesus said.
Sometimes we can put an emphasis on “doing” and make that the most important thing, and sometimes we can put the emphasis on “teaching” and make that the most important thing. One of these truths must never be emphasized at the expense of the other. As believers in Christ we are called to live the Gospel and preach the Gospel; demonstrate the Kingdom and proclaim the Kingdom; do good works and teach good doctrine; live a life of love and speak the truth in love.
In Matthew 5:13-14 Jesus tells His disciples that they are both the salt of the earth and the light of the world. They were not told that some of them were salt and some were light, or that they should choose to be one or the other. Jesus stated that they were both salt and light, even though there is a great difference between the two. The difference between salt and light is significant. Jesus used salt and light as metaphors to help the disciples understand the importance of both their actions and their words.
When Jesus said to His disciples that they were “the light of the world” He was speaking about the power and impact of their actions upon the lives of others. When Jesus called the disciples “the salt of the earth” He was speaking about the power and impact of their words upon the lives of others. His message was that both through their actions and their words the Father would be glorified.
As the “the light of the world” we have a message to live, and as “the salt of the earth” we have a message to give; we have something people need to see and hear. Jesus wants to work though us with deeds that need to done and words that need to be spoken into the hearts and lives of others so that the Father will be glorified.
In the next posting we will take a closer look at what it means to be “the salt of the earth”.
Subscribe by Email
It has come to my attention that not everyone who subscribes to Meet Me in the Meadow received my final posting on Psalm 23. I am not sure why this happened, but I have decided to repeat verse 6 in today’s posting for those who might have missed it. Thank you.
Psalm 23, Verse 6
Surely: No “I wonder?” No “I wish!” No “I hope so.” Without a doubt. Without a question. Without a concern or worry. Knowing whose I am and who He is. God of His word, God of His promise. God of His covenant. God of His oath. God who cannot and will not fail, falter, or forget.
Goodness: Not meanness. Not cruelty. Not unkindness. His goodness. The goodness of God— The goodness in His nature, the goodness in His character, the goodness in His being. Everything about Him good—every thought, every action, every attitude, every decision, every work, every word. Good in His will. Good in His gifts. Good to me. Good every moment. Good all the time. Extending goodness—not as little as He can give, but as much as He can give. Being the best, giving the best, wanting the best. Delighting to shower me with His graciousness—time after time, over and over, now and forevermore.
And mercy: Sweet mercy! Welcomed friend! Wonderful companion! New every morning. Fresh from His heart. Lifting condemnation. Releasing my past. Breaking my chains. Freeing my spirit. Renewing my hope. Securing my future. Mercy upon mercy. Mine in abundance. Kindly extended. Beautifully given. Graciously bestowed.
Shall follow me: Not ‘There’s a good possibility.” Not “a 50/50 chance.” Will follow! Never to retreat, abandon, or flee. Absolute certainty. Promised by the God who cannot lie. His benefits and blessings—Mine to receive. Mine to enjoy. Mine to celebrate. Keeping me from being defeated. Guarding me from being pulled back into my past. Protecting me from being overtaken by things I cannot control. His divine escorts on my pilgrim journey.
All the days of my life: Not once-in-awhile. Not hit-and-miss. Not off-and-on. Not just on good days. Not just on church days. All my days—Cloudy days. Stormy days. Busy days. Quiet days. Days filled with joy. Days filled with sorrow. Days when I feel up. Days when I feel down. Every day. Every moment. Every step. Every breath. Every heartbeat.
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever: The forever place—not temporary, not momentary, not transitory. The Father’s house. My reserved place. My prepared place. Home! Never to be kicked out, evicted, or left homeless. The place my faith has thought upon. The place my hope is set upon. The place where I belong. The place I was made for. Jesus’ place. The place where I am welcomed. The place where I am received. Mine by inheritance. Mine by grace. Mine forever and ever. In the company of the redeemed. In the presence of the Lord. Seeing Him face to face. Knowing even as I am known. Completely fulfilling all my heart has ever longed for since the moment I took my first breath.
Subscribe by Email
Have no fears or worries,
Simply be at rest—
Trusting in your Father,
He knows what is best.
His love rests upon you,
Angels are everywhere—
Your heart can be certain
You are in His care.
Mercy, grace, and kindness
His love freely brings—
Faithfully He’ll keep you
Covered by His wings.
Everything He’s promised
He will surely do—
God, Who sees the sparrow,
Watches over you.
“…Under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” Psalm 91:4 KJV
Subscribe by Email
Let me learn—
That the way down is the way up,
That to be low is to be high,
That the broken heart is the healed heart,
That the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
That the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
That to have nothing is to possess all,
That to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
That to give is to receive,
That the valley is the place of vision.
-Puritan Prayer
More is being planned for by God than had been prayed for by us.
-S.D. Gordon
If all my members are really at His disposal, why should I be put out if today’s appointment is some simple work for my hands or errands for my feet, instead of some seemingly more important doing of head or tongue?
-F.R. Havergal
Whatever He wills becomes great to us, however seemingly trifling…we have no right to measure its importance. On the other hand, whatever He would not have us do, however important we may think it, is as nought to us. How do you know what you may lose by neglecting this duty, which you think so trifling, or the blessing which its faithful performance may bring?
-Jean Nicolas Grou
Subscribe by Email
His water quenches my thirst; I don’t need to dig other cisterns.
His bread fills my hunger; I don’t need to gather up crumbs.
His banqueting table is extravagant; I don’t need to eat at outside diners.
His presence is fullness of joy; I don’t need to seek ways to find fulfillment.
His peace passes understanding; I don’t need to get an artificial fix.
His will is perfect; I don’t need to acquire a better plan.
His wisdom is flawless; I don’t need to listen to the world’s point of view.
His grace is sufficient; I don’t need to obtain superficial help.
His redemption is complete; I don’t need to hunt for another savior.
His covenant is certain; I don’t need to read a different guarantee.
His provision meets my needs; I don’t need to be on a quest for more.
His kingdom is unshakable; I don’t need to find a more secure place to stand.
His smile is enough; I don’t need to seek the applause of others.
His life is glorious; I don’t need to look for another reason to live.
His return is sure; I don’t need to let my heart be troubled.
Subscribe by Email
|
