Monday, February 22,
2016, 5:00 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put the song in mind, “Believe Him.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 10:38-42 (ESV).
Now
as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha
welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the
Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much
serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister
has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered
her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one
thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken
away from her.”
The Lord Jesus has been speaking to me personally about some
things this month, preparing my heart, I believe, for what lies ahead.
First of all, the Lord had given me multiple songs to write
between April of 2011 and June of 2014, and then there were no more songs, so I
thought I was finished with songwriting. Then, after a year and a half of no
new songs, he started to give me songs to write again. There seemed to be a
central theme throughout these new songs. They seemed to nearly all contain
words of encouragement and hope for those going through troubled times. In
nearly every one of them is an encouragement to not be afraid, but to trust
God, to believe in his promises, and to know that he will never leave us or
forsake us.
We are to know that he will give us all we need to endure,
to persevere, and to remain steadfast in our faith. He will empower us from on
high and give us the strength we need to keep on sharing Christ with others,
too, and to believe him for changed lives. As well, we are to believe in his
sovereignty over all things, and to trust him with the details. In addition to
all this, we are to be steadfast in hope, patient in affliction, and constant
in prayer. We are also to walk in the Spirit, in his holiness and
righteousness, and never give up hope!
The Bible lessons from each day, as well, in many cases,
seemed to follow a similar theme. A lot of them had to do with launching out
into the deep, and going to the other side, to places where we have not been
before. There will be troubles and hardships, but spiritual blessings, as well.
And, when these troubles come, we are not to be afraid, but we are to rest in
our Lord. Martha was troubled about many things. She sweated the details, but
God taught her she must do as Mary did. She must rest at his feet, trust in him,
and learn from him. Our God is completely faithful, and in faithfulness he will
lead us. We just need to sit at his feet each day and let him teach us his
ways, so that we will walk in them.
Preparing My Heart
Early in the month I had read a passage of scripture from
Luke 12, because the Lord had given me a song titled, “Fear Not, Little Flock.” That particular phrase came from that
passage of scripture. Right after the verse, in which he tells his sheep not to
be afraid, for God had given them the kingdom of heaven, we read that he told
them to sell their possessions and to give to the needy, and to not store up
treasures here on this earth, but to lay up treasures in heaven. I felt God was
speaking to me personally, and that he had a message for me here, so I began to
inquire of the Lord as to what he had for me, and what he wanted to teach me
through this passage of scripture. As well, I shared my thoughts with my
husband for him to also consider what this might mean for us and for our
future.
In the days that followed the discussion my husband and I
had together, on the subject of how God might want to apply to our lives Luke
12:32-34, the Lord began to speak to me about birth pains (Mark 13). False
shepherds of the people will come and will lead many astray. We will be brought
before religious and world leaders, and will be persecuted because of our
testimony for Jesus Christ. They will plot our demise, and the destruction of
the gospel of our salvation. Even our family members and neighbors will turn
against us and will betray us. Many will fall away and will deny that they even
know Jesus Christ. These things are already taking place. But, we are not to be
afraid of what will happen to us, or of the kinds of things we must most
certainly suffer for the sake of Jesus Christ, but we must go where he sends
us, and say what he wants us to say, for he will be with us and will help us.
He will give us boldness to speak out and to not fear what humans may do to us.
Then, the Lord spoke to my heart from Jesus’ words to Peter
when he told him to “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
I felt as though the Lord was calling me to go beyond where I am now, with him,
and in ministry, but I don’t know where yet. I just knew I was to listen for
his voice and to respond in obedience to whatever he called me to do, and to go
wherever he would send me. And, I knew it had to do with catching fish, not
literally, but figuratively, i.e. in relation to sharing the gospel with people
beyond where I have been sharing it. And, the encouragement was to not ever be
ashamed of him or of his words. He reminded me of his all sufficiency for me,
and that he is enough for all that I will ever need. As well, he reminded me of
his Lordship over my life, and what that means, which means he is my
master/owner, and I am his servant/slave. My life is no longer my own. I was
bought back for God by the blood of Christ shed on the cross for my sins.
Next Jesus took me down memory lane when he reminded me of
my life and where I have been and where he has taken me, and how I learned of
his absolute sovereignty over every aspect of my life. He brought to recall how
everything I have gone through in my life has all been in preparation for his
calling on my life, to prepare me for what he had planned for my life even
before the creation of the world (Eph. 1:4; 1 Pet. 1:20). And, he told me again
that those who have been forgiven much are able to love much, because they
truly understand the riches of God’s grace in saving them from their sins and
in freeing them to walk daily in Christ’s righteousness and holiness. And, they
are able to be much more compassionate and patient with others who are battling
sin’s deceitfulness, while not condoning or accepting the sin, but working to
restore others to a right relationship with God, sometimes having to exercise
tough love in order to rescue people from the flames.
Now my Lord was speaking to me about being ready to suffer
for the sake of his name and for the sake of his gospel. I have suffered plenty
already, but I believe he was letting me know it is soon going to get much
worse, so I must be ready to die for the sake of his name, and for the sake of
his gospel message of freedom from slavery to sin.
We can already see the rumblings of this persecution in the
news and in certain world leaders’ public speeches. They are building a case
for making the preaching of the gospel of our salvation a hate crime, because
it is not all inclusive, embracing all walks of life and all religions, but it
teaches that Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father and to heaven, and that
believing in Jesus as our Savior means death to sin and living to
righteousness.
The gospel confronts people with sin, warns of judgment,
calls people to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, and promises hope and
healing for those who turn from their sin to follow Jesus Christ with their
lives; for those who trust in Christ’s blood sacrifice for our sins so that we
can be delivered out of slavery to sin by the power of the Spirit, so that we
might become servants of Christ’s righteousness. Jesus’ followers are now being
tagged as intolerant, bigoted and hateful, and world powers believe we must be
stopped.
Am I Willing?
After the Lord showed me all of this, he spoke to me, asking
me if I am willing to leave the comforts of my home to go with God to the
regions beyond - to the unknown - whatever that may mean for me. He asked me if
I would truly give it all up to follow him, i.e. house, land, possessions, and
even children and grandchildren, i.e. to leave them all behind. He asked me, “If
I say to walk away from it all, will you?” He asked me if I would follow him
wherever he led me. The passage of scripture I was reading was Luke 9:57-62
about the cost of following Jesus. I prayed through all these questions, and
thought about the implications of them all, and I yielded my life over to the
Lord once again, and chose to trust him that he knows what is best for me. Now,
I am married, so whatever the Lord calls me to do must be something my husband
and I agree on together or it will not happen.
At this point, my husband and I are talking about our future
and about what the Lord has for us in the days to come. I am 66 and he will be
65 soon. The Lord brought to mind that song, “I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go.”
Some of the lyrics are, “It may not be on the mountain’s height, or over the
stormy sea; it may not be at the battle’s front my Lord will have need of me; but
if by a still, small voice He calls to paths I do not know, I’ll answer, dear
Lord, with my hand in Yours, I’ll go where You want me to go” (by Mary Brown). Then,
I read in Luke 10, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the
Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go!
I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.” I just kept hearing the word “go,”
including in the next passage where it said, “Go, and do likewise,” as the Good
Samaritan had done.
So, next were questions like “What?” “Where?” and “How?” And,
this is where we are right now, and so the Lord is encouraging me through today’s
passage that I need to not sweat the details, as Martha was doing. I need to
not get distracted or bogged down with all the preparations, or details, but I
need to sit at his feet, rest in him, like Mary did, and trust him to lead in
this and to show us where he wants us, and what he has for us to do, and when. Sometimes
when the Lord says, “Go,” it is immediate, but sometimes he is just preparing
our hearts to be ready for when he does move, so that we will go with him
wherever he sends us. Instead of getting worried or troubled over the details
of where he might be leading us, or where it is that ultimately we will end up,
or what that will mean for us, we must believe him and rest in him to show us
the way, and then for us to follow his lead.
Believe Him / An
Original Work / July 15, 2013
My heart cries: Lord, won’t You hear me
Seeking You for the answers
To my heartache and questions
I have concerning my life?
Speak, Lord, to me right now.
“Oh, dear one, why don’t you trust Me
With your life’s circumstances?
Give your all on the altar
In submission of your will
To My purpose for you.
“Surrender your life completely
To your Lord and your Savior.
He has all things planned for you
For His glory and honor.
He’ll work all things for good.
“Believe Him. He will fulfill all
Of His promises to you
For your life and your future.
Trust Him. Rest in His love.
He’ll give you peace from above.”
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