"Truth (faithfulness) springs from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven." (Psalm 85:11, NASB)
Many years ago I was in a prayer gathering where someone shared today's text. It was quite obvious that it had really spoken to his heart. I still don't see what he saw in the text, but that doesn't matter. The Holy Spirit spoke to him, impacted his "day," his life in Jesus, and that was enough for me to rejoice with him.
I also remember, now this goes way back, at a Full Gospel Business Men's Regional Rally in 1967, that a guy who was not one of the main speakers was asked to share his testimony. He started out just repeating, "There is therefore now no condemnation...." He repeated it over and over, in fact, at one point he came to tears. I too loved/love that text, but had never "experienced" the depth of what he was experiencing in that moment, and probably the moment those Words first impacted him. This, my friend, is the Glorious Reality in the, "God-Breathed," Words, "Wonderful Words of Life."
I shared a very familiar Scripture which Jesus spoke (is still speaking) to my heart a few weeks ago with a group of Fellow Followers of Jesus. In the succeeding responses, I could tell that they had no clue of what I was speaking. It was "revelation" to me, something "new" in a very familiar passage, but I could tell it was for me in this season, and I should not have expected others to "see" what I was seeing in that text at that time. I'm sure the same has happened to you at some point in your sojourn.
Why do I share this with you today? Simple: You and I as Followers of Jesus Christ are called Brothers and Sisters in Jesus. We are The Church, the Body of Christ, "the Household of the Faith," and, "the pillar and ground of the Truth." We are of the, "Koinonia," or, "Partnership," in Jesus Christ, the Family of the Living Triune God. What affects other Members of, "The Household," affects you and me, or at least it should. Romans 12 tells us, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep." Maybe what others "rejoice" in does not "ring a bell" with you, maybe the pain of those, "who weep," we cannot feel at a given moment. Yet the truth is, the reality is that their rejoicing is our rejoicing; there weeping is our weeping.
Father, in Jesus' Name, Holy Spirit, write in my heart and mind, "rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep." Amen.
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Going to DC next Tuesday, January 21 for "Impeachment Mania."
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.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
