Tuesday, October 15,
2013, 6:35 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Jesus is All the World to Me” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord,
your words to my heart. I read 1
Corinthians 1 (NIV).
I
always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For
in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with
all knowledge— God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.
Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord
Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you
will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has
called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (vv. 4-9)
Enriched in Every Way
This message is to the church, the body of Christ – “to
those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people.” We are not
lacking in anything we need to live in Christ Jesus and to walk in his ways. We
have been enriched in every way because of God’s grace to us in providing us
with his salvation, and through his abiding presence within us in the person of
the Holy Spirit. The Spirit within us gives us knowledge and understanding, he
teaches us all things, counsels us, guides us into all truth, and he directs us
in the way we should go. As well, the Spirit enables us to speak the word of
God with boldness and to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness
(Lu. 1:74-75; 4:18-19; Ac. 4:29; Matt. 10:19-20). Many will say, “I can’t do
it!” That is so true. And, that is right where we need to be – at Jesus’ feet,
realizing our own inability to live for God apart from Jesus Christ and his
Spirit within us living out Christ’s life in and through us (Gal. 2:20).
When I sat down this morning to write, the words were not
there. So, I prayed, “Lord, you know I can’t do this, but you can. I pray you
give me the words to speak. Amen!” And, as I began to type, the words came. If
God has called us to do something, he will give us all we need in order to do
what he has called us to do. He is not going to just leave us hanging out there
on our own, dependent upon our own resources or those of others, with us having
to figure it all out. So, we don’t have to worry, thinking “How will I do
this?” The Spirit will provide all we need and he will enable us to do whatever
it is God has assigned us to do. We, as the body of Christ, do not lack any
spiritual gift. Yet we, as individuals, do not all have the same gifts.
Nonetheless, if God has called us, he will provide whatever gifts we need. We
don’t have to drum them up ourselves. We don’t have to borrow them from others,
or manipulate, use gimmicks, entertain, or be attractive and appealing to the
flesh, etc., in order to “make it work.” God – Father, Son & Holy Spirit –
is all we need!
While We Wait
Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, he was buried,
and then the Father raised him back to life. Then, after a short period of
time, he went back to heaven, but one day he will come again as judge and as
our husband, ready to receive his bride to himself for eternity. So, while we
are on the face of this earth, we wait eagerly and expectantly for his return.
Yet, this waiting is not inactive or complacent or distracted. We don’t set our
Lord aside while we wait. It is during this period of waiting when he fills us
with all we need to live holy and godly lives, and he enables us to serve him,
to share his gospel, and to minister to the body of Christ, utilizing the
giftedness he has provided for us through his Spirit. Waiting for our Lord with
eagerness involves daily surrender to him and to his will for our lives,
allowing his Spirit to move, to work, to love and to minister in and through us
for the glory of God. Our lives are no longer our own. We were bought with a
price. I am His and He is mine!
Also while we wait for his return, He keeps us firm to the
end, so that we will be blameless on the day of our Lord. Jesus said that we
will be hated because of Him, but “the one who stands firm to the end will be
saved” (Matt. 10:22). Paul said we are saved by the gospel if we hold firmly to
the word preached to us, otherwise we have believed in vain (1 Co. 15:2). Yet,
God never gives us a command that he does not provide all we need and that he
does not enable us to do what he has commanded us to do. It is God “who makes
both us and you stand firm in Christ,” and it is by faith, which is a gift from
God, that we stand firm (2 Co. 1:21-24). So, although the words “stand firm”
are repeated over and over again, we can be encouraged that we don’t have to,
and we cannot do this in our own strength or of our own accord, but God has
supplied all we need via his gift of salvation, via Jesus Christ as our Savior,
and via his Holy Spirit now living his life in and through us. We just need to
yield control of our lives over to God/Christ and to his Spirit within us.
God is Faithful
Awesome! We can rely upon him, trust him, believe him, and
know without a shadow of a doubt that he will always do exactly what He said he
would do. Humans will fail us. We will fail us because we are human. But, God
will never fail us. Amen! He will always be faithful to all that he has
promised. So, we never have to feel afraid or without resources, or fret over
what is coming, or what we will do or how we will ever make it, because he has
a plan, a purpose, and the power and faithfulness to do all that is required
and is necessary. So, why should we ever be afraid? Why should we ever take
matters into our own hands? Why should we feel as though we have to rely upon
human methods and philosophies? Why do we feel as though we need to help God
out? If he says he will supply all we need, and he says he will enable us to do
all he has commanded us to do, and he says he will move in us, work in us and
live his life in and out through us, then why do we so often rely upon our own
flesh? It is crazy! If he called us, he will enable us, and he will supply all
we need. So, let us stop putting our trust in the flesh, and let us allow the
Spirit of God to do his work in and through our lives, and let us believe him
that he will do all he said he would do.
Jesus is All the
World to Me / Will Thompson
Jesus is all the world
to me,
My life, my joy, my
all;
He is my strength from
day to day,
Without Him I would
fall.
When I am sad, to Him
I go,
No other one can cheer
me so;
When I am sad, He
makes me glad,
He’s my Friend.
Jesus is all the world
to me,
My Friend in trials
sore;
I go to Him for
blessings, and
He gives them o’er and
o’er.
He sends the sunshine
and the rain,
He sends the harvest’s
golden grain;
Sunshine and rain,
harvest of grain,
He’s my Friend.
Jesus is all the world
to me,
And true to Him I’ll
be;
Oh, how could I this
Friend deny,
When He’s so true to
me?
Following Him I know
I’m right,
He watches o’er me day
and night;
Following Him by day
and night,
He’s my Friend.
Jesus is all the world
to me,
I want no better
Friend;
I trust Him now, I’ll
trust Him when
Life’s fleeting days
shall end.
Beautiful life with
such a Friend,
Beautiful life that
has no end;
Eternal life, eternal
joy,
He’s my Friend.
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