(We are out of state so the timing of the devotionals has been a little late.)
"All things I am strong for in the One Who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13, Greek Interlinear)
Our text is still "staying" with me; "I have learned." Most people do not want this process; I'm not sure I do. Yet, as I wrote yesterday, Peter did not "learn" faith on the Mount; he learned it in the storm. It is the same for you and me. I know now in a way I could not have known it prior to June 1970, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die." Also, "I have learned, "Jesus, "will never leave [me] nor forsake [me]"------- because He didn't and hasn't. I went through the storm. "I have learned," these promises of Jesus Christ in a way which I could not have known it in the Wednesday evening Bible Study, not just facts on a page, but as Paul said, "written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart." I believe this is in part, at least, what our text is speaking about, "I have learned." Now let there be no misunderstanding; the death of our Son, Stephen, was not the last storm, but neither was it the end of Jesus' Faithfulness: "I have learned."
You may be in the midst of a storm right now. Don Basham once said that "the thing about storms is they don't last forever." Sometimes you may feel as though they do, or have. But "forever" is an interesting word, "He who believes in Me shall never die." This is a "forever" promise. Even if it seems as though that "storm" is a never-ending storm, it will end. Just as Luther said of Satan, "his doom is sure," so is the doom of the storm. So rejoice today that you have been with Jesus, "on the Mount," and even though, just as the disciples, you and I have to go back to the valley of the demon possessed, there is also the wonderful assurance, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou," Lord Jesus, 'The Shepherd of the sheep,' art with me....You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies...." Let the feast continue!
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to embrace the storm as well as the Mount. Amen.
*******************
"All things I am strong for in the One Who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13, Greek Interlinear)
Our text is still "staying" with me; "I have learned." Most people do not want this process; I'm not sure I do. Yet, as I wrote yesterday, Peter did not "learn" faith on the Mount; he learned it in the storm. It is the same for you and me. I know now in a way I could not have known it prior to June 1970, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die." Also, "I have learned, "Jesus, "will never leave [me] nor forsake [me]"------- because He didn't and hasn't. I went through the storm. "I have learned," these promises of Jesus Christ in a way which I could not have known it in the Wednesday evening Bible Study, not just facts on a page, but as Paul said, "written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart." I believe this is in part, at least, what our text is speaking about, "I have learned." Now let there be no misunderstanding; the death of our Son, Stephen, was not the last storm, but neither was it the end of Jesus' Faithfulness: "I have learned."
You may be in the midst of a storm right now. Don Basham once said that "the thing about storms is they don't last forever." Sometimes you may feel as though they do, or have. But "forever" is an interesting word, "He who believes in Me shall never die." This is a "forever" promise. Even if it seems as though that "storm" is a never-ending storm, it will end. Just as Luther said of Satan, "his doom is sure," so is the doom of the storm. So rejoice today that you have been with Jesus, "on the Mount," and even though, just as the disciples, you and I have to go back to the valley of the demon possessed, there is also the wonderful assurance, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou," Lord Jesus, 'The Shepherd of the sheep,' art with me....You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies...." Let the feast continue!
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to embrace the storm as well as the Mount. Amen.
*******************
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
