Thursday, October 11,
2012, 6:21 a.m. – the Lord woke me this morning with the song “For Our Nation” playing in my mind.
Then my husband came into the bedroom and told me about a poem that was brought
back to his mind this morning called “What
God Hath Promised,” by Annie J. Flint: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/720.
The poem has been set to music by several different people over the years. The
premise of the song is that God did not promise us that we would not experience
bad along with the good…
But God hath promised
strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read 2 Timothy 2:1-14a (NIV 1984):
You then, my son, be
strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me
say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be
qualified to teach others. Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of
Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he
wants to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an
athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to
the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the
crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all
this.
Remember Jesus Christ,
raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am
suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is
not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they
too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
Here is a trustworthy
saying:
If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
he will also disown us;
if we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
Keep reminding them of
these things.
Entrust to Reliable
People
Many times in scripture something was said (or written) to a
specific person or a group of people that is not to be applied generally to all
believers in Jesus Christ, yet other times something written (or spoken) to a
specific person can be applied generally to all believers because of other
supporting scriptures teaching the same principle in general to all followers
of Christ. The reason I say this is because Paul’s letters to Timothy were written
specifically to him, and Timothy was both a man and a pastor, yet there are
many Biblical principles here from which we can all learn and that can be
applied to our lives, as well.
Paul, for instance, instructed Timothy, a man and a pastor,
to entrust to reliable men the teachings of Christ he had been taught by Paul
so that these reliable men will be qualified to teach others. I am not a man
and I am not a pastor. Does this mean this does not apply to me and that I
should just skim past it? No! The principle is Biblical and Jesus applied it to
his followers when he commanded his disciples to go and to make disciples of
all nations. A disciple of Christ is one who follows Christ, who is taught by
him, and who does what he says. A disciple is also one who will then teach
others what he or she has been taught.
To truly disciple someone, then, the disciple would have to
be someone who is a true follower of Christ, who is hungry for God’s word, and
who spends time daily learning at Jesus’ feet, and is also someone who desires
to share what he or she has been taught with others. As far as one-on-one
discipleship goes, I believe it should be men with men and women with women,
yet a man could disciple a mixed group of people and a woman could, under the
authority and leadership of the church, share (prophesy) what she has been taught
by God, or she could have a writing or public speaking ministry where men might
choose to listen. I don’t believe, scripturally, that women should be in
authority over men.
A Good Soldier
Paul instructed Timothy to be strong in the grace that is in
Christ Jesus and to endure hardship with them like a good soldier of Jesus
Christ. This goes back to that song my husband shared with me this morning
about God not promising us that we will have joy without sorrow or peace
without pain, etc. In fact, Jesus said we would suffer like he suffered and
that we would be hated and persecuted and treated like he was treated, both
good and bad. So, why was Jesus treated badly and why was he killed? It was
because he told people the truth about themselves, about their sins, and about
their need to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior by turning from (dying
to) their sins and by turning to follow Jesus Christ in full surrender,
commitment and obedience.
He told those who wanted to be his followers that they had
to give up everything to follow him – their reputations, time, energies,
dreams, goals, selfish and sinful longings and desires, and family attachments,
etc. And, they had to be willing to follow him in death for the sake of the
gospel. This was too hard a teaching for many, and many deserted him and ceased
to follow him. Yet, this is what it means to be a true follower of Christ and
to be a good soldier of Christ Jesus. It means totally abandoning ourselves to
Christ and to his will and purposes for our lives, following his leadership,
obeying him in all things, and going where he leads us, even if we go against
the mainstream and we are considered “weird.”
Paul said that no one serving as a soldier gets involved in
civilian affairs – he wants to please his commanding officer. So, what does
this mean for us in all practicality? What civilian affairs should we not be
involved in? I believe one of the biggest areas, and I will tell you why, is
politics. Please hear me out. In the political arena we are listening to mere
men (and women) describe who they are, what they stand for, and what they will
promise to do for us if elected. These are human beings, and we are by nature
not to be trusted. God gave us many Biblical commands to not put our trust in
men, in horses (man-power or military), or in princes (leaders of the people),
but that our trust should be in God and in God alone. We should not look to
government leaders, religious leaders, political candidates, the constitution
of the U.S. (or any government) or our military to protect us, to tell us the
truth, to be who they say they are, and/or to pull this country out of the mess
it is in. If we put our trust in man to save us, then we are just opening up
ourselves for disappointment.
Many a sincere Christian believes that he or she can make a
difference by voting in the right political candidate to office who will
fulfill all he or she promised to do. Yet, what if he or she is lying to us?
What if he or she is not who he says he is? What if Republican and Democrat is
a ruse and they are all on the same team working for the same elite people? What
if they are just actors in a carefully scripted play and we are the audience
being duped by their clever performance? Should we promote men as the answer to
what ails this nation of ours? Or, should we rather be spending our energies
promoting God/Jesus Christ and him crucified for our sins, risen, and coming
again? What if we took all the time and energies we exert on politics on
spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ? That is, as you know, what we are
commanded to do. I think we are in grave danger of spending so much time and
energy on believing in and promoting men (and women) as the hope and future of
this nation that we are losing sight of the only true hope there is for this
nation – Jesus Christ!
An Athlete
Paul said that “similarly” an athlete does not receive the
victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules. He was speaking
metaphorically about our relationship and walk with Jesus Christ as one of his
disciples (followers). We are soldiers in a spiritual battle and our job is to
follow the commands of our commanding officer and to keep focused on our job as
soldiers in God’s army. Similarly we are also like athletes competing in some
type of athletic competition. And, we have to follow the rules.
So, what are the rules? They are all through the New
Testament, but in summary they are that we must love God and love others, we
must forsake our lives of sin and selfishness (die daily) and we must follow
(obey) Jesus Christ with our lives and do what he says. I see no Biblical precedence
for followers of Christ getting actively involved in politics and for promoting
men and women as the answer to the ills of our nation, but I do see a teaching
here that instructs us not to get involved in civilian affairs but to please
our commanding officer. What pleases God is when we obey him, when we
demonstrate his love to others, and when we follow him in sharing the gospel
message and in being willing to die for the sake of the gospel. Please pray for
wisdom in this.
“Therefore I endure
everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation
that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.”
Die to Live
We must die with Christ to our lives of sin if we want to
live with him for eternity. We must endure in our walks of faith if we want to
reign with him. Yet, if we disown (deny; reject) Christ by the way we live our
lives, he will disown us. Yet, if we are faithless, he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown (deny) himself.
What this says to me, and there are many, many supporting
scriptures for this, is that we have to turn from our lives of sin, and we have
to choose to walk in obedience to Christ - for this is the true meaning of
faith - if we want to have eternal life with God in heaven. True faith is
continuous and enduring faith. If we think we can just “receive” Christ into
our hearts but it not cost us anything, and that we can just continue in sin
now that we are under grace, then we need to know that God says “No” to that
assumption (read the book of 1 John). That is a denial of what Jesus Christ did
for us in dying on the cross for our sins so that we could go free from slavery
to sin. If we hold to that false belief, we will be in for a big surprise when
the Lord says one day that he never knew us.
Yet, being a believer in Christ does not mean we will be
sinless. We will fail from time to time to follow the Lord in obedience, yet he
will remain faithful to his promises to us despite our failures. The main thing
we need to do is to daily confess our sins to God and determine in the Spirit
of God within us to die daily to sin and to walk daily in faithful obedience to
our Lord as good soldiers in his army and as athletes running in a race
according to the rules. May we all be followers of Christ and not followers of
men!
For Our Nation /
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting.
Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently
calling
You to follow Him in
all ways.
Trust Him with your
life today.
Make Him your Lord and
your Savior.
Turn from your sin.
Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of
your sin;
Cleanse your heart,
made new within.
Men betraying: Our
trust fraying.
On our knees to God
we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us
answers
That are only found in
Him.
God is sovereign over
all things.
Nothing from His mind
escaping.
He has all things
under His command,
And will work all for
good.
Men deceiving: we’re
believing
In our Lord, and
interceding
For our nation and its
people
To obey their God
today.
He is our hope for our
future.
For our wounds He
offers suture.
He is all we need for
this life.
Trust Him with your
life today.
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