Wednesday, February
24, 2016, 1:13 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Fully Ready!” Speak, Lord, your words
to my heart. I read Luke 12:35-48
(ESV).
Awake When He Comes
(vv. 35-40)
“Stay
dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting
for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the
door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom
the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress
himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve
them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake,
blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the master of the house had
known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be
broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour
you do not expect.”
We must be spiritually awake (alert) at all times, and ready
to go when God says “Go!” and prepared to do whatever he tells us to do, when
he tells us. So, how do we do this? How do we stay “dressed for action”? For
one, we have to be in genuine relationship with him. We must first of all, in
response to God’s calling on our lives, to be one of his disciples, and in the
power and working of the Spirit of God in saving us from our sins, turn from
our sins (from darkness; from Satan) to God/Jesus (to the Light), so that we
might receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified
(made holy) through faith in Jesus Christ (See: Ac. 26:16-18). By God’s grace,
through faith in Jesus Christ, we are thus crucified with Christ in death to
sin, and we are resurrected with Christ in newness of life, “created to be like
God in true righteousness and holiness” (See: Ro. 6; Eph. 4:17-24).
Then, we need to walk (conduct our lives) according to (in agreement
with) the Spirit of God now living within us. Jesus died that we might die to
sin and live to righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for
ourselves, but for him who gave himself up for us. His blood sacrifice on the
cross, in dying for our sins, made possible that the righteous requirement of
the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to our sinful flesh,
but according to the Spirit, for if we walk according to the flesh we will die,
but if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, we will
live. Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take
up his cross daily (die daily to sin and self) and follow (obey) him. He said
that if we hold on to our old lives of living for sin and self we will die, but
if we die with Christ in death to sin, we will gain eternal life (See: Ro.
8:1-14; Lu. 9:23-25).
In other words, we must consider our lives no longer our
own, to be lived how we want, for we were bought with a price, the blood of
Jesus Christ shed on the cross to take away the sins of the world. And, we must
live like Jesus truly owns us and that he is truly our Lord and Master, and
that we are his servants. This means that each and every day of our lives we
spend time each day in his Word, listening to him speak, and then doing what he
says. When he speaks, we don’t resist his voice. We don’t ignore his voice and
the promptings of the Spirit within us, but we walk in his ways and in his
truth, letting him guide and direct our lives in the way in which he wants us
to go. We are sensitized to the Spirit’s voice saying, “Go here. Do this. Speak
to this person. Help this needy person,” etc. Of course, if we are married, some
things must be agreed upon by both partners, as they must both sense the same
leading of the Spirit. If we are convinced God is leading a certain direction,
we may have to wait on his timing when our spouse is also convinced of the same
calling.
Also, we must obey our Lord in forsaking our former lives of
living for sin and self, which includes examining every aspect of our lives
against the Word of Truth, asking the Lord what we must put off that is
hindering our walks of faith. We can’t be ready for service and dressed for
action if we neglect the Spirit and his leading in our lives, and instead we do
what pleases us. We won’t be ready if we spend our free time consumed with the
things of this world such as TV, movies, video games, worldly music, sports,
entertainment, and with being entertained by others’ sinful acts, which include
lying, stealing, mocking others, gossip, gluttony, adultery, sexual acts
outside of marriage between a man and a woman, and the like. If God is not our
Lord (owner/master), and we are not living like we truly are his obedient
servants, then we won’t be ready, dressed for action. We will be more like
those still in their pajamas, fast asleep in bed, who don’t even hear the alarm
when it goes off, or who keep hitting the snooze button every time they do hear
the alarm.
For Us or For All?
(vv. 41-48)
Peter
said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” And the Lord
said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over
his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed
is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say
to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to
himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and
female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant
will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know,
and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. And that servant
who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will,
will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what
deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was
given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much,
they will demand the more.
There are many people who call themselves Christians, or who
claim to know Jesus Christ, who truly do not know him at all. Some of them bought
into a lie which told them that if they said certain words that they would now
be saved from their sins, and have the hope of heaven when they die, and that
nothing can ever take that away from them, no matter how they lived their lives
from that moment on. Or, they may have been told that being a Christian means
just being a good deed doer, and that they must make sure that their good deeds
outweigh their bad deeds, and that they can’t be assured of heaven when they
die, but can only hope that if they are good enough, heaven will be their final
destination. Both of these teachings are distortions of truth and are based in
falsehood.
Jesus said that if we don’t lose our lives in him, and we
hold on to our old lives of sin, we will lose our lives for eternity. Paul
spoke similar words when he said that if we walk after the flesh, we will die,
but if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, we will
live. Jesus said that if we don’t keep his word, we don’t know him. John said
that if we say we have fellowship with God, but we continue to walk in darkness
(in sin), we are liars, and the truth is not in us. Many scriptures in the New
Testament indicate that believing in Jesus Christ is not a one-time event in
our lives, but believing in Jesus is present and continuous, and that we must
continue in that faith until the end if we want to be assured of eternal life
with God. Some people call this works-based salvation, but it is not. It is
what Jesus and his apostles taught regarding our eternal salvation. A saved
life is a crucified life with Christ, in death to sin, and in living with
Christ to righteousness, not in our own power, but in the power and working of
God’s Holy Spirit now living within us.
As well, for those of us to whom much has been given, much
will be required. For instance, I have known the Lord Jesus as my Savior and
Lord since I was a child, about age seven. I am now 66 years of age. I grew up
in a church (same denomination as A.W. Tozer) that taught holiness and walking
in the Spirit, so from infanthood I learned the scriptures, and I was taught
the deeper things of God in relation to living holy lives, pleasing to him. They
taught me how to listen for the voice of the Spirit within me, and how to
respond in obedience to the call of God on my life and ministry. As a teenager,
I said “Yes” to go wherever the Lord would send me, and to do what he called me
to do. I was blessed beyond measure with men and women of God who taught me to
walk the talk, and not to just talk the walk. And, they set the example before
me by how they lived, too. This set a wonderful foundation for my Christian
life and walk of faith in Christ Jesus, my Lord.
When I was only 16 years of age, I began teaching the Bible,
first to children, then to teens, then to women, and then to college-age
adults, but then only secondary to my husband who was the primary teacher. With
the college students I was primarily a ministry coordinator, working in a
supportive role with my husband. And, then the Lord called me to this ministry
of writing out my devotions from each day and to post them on the internet. I
have been doing that nearly 10 years now. So, God has taught me so much from
his word, and he has used me to share what he has taught me with others, so I
have been given much, I know. So, I know much from me is required. And, I
accept that responsibility, because I know it is not me doing it, but it is the
Spirit within me leading, guiding, inspiring and empowering me in service to my
Lord. And, that is where I want to be when he returns.
I know, as well, that following Jesus Christ with my life,
in going where he sends me, and in doing what he has called me to do, involves being
hated, rejection, persecution, and possible death for the sake of his name, and
for the sake of his gospel message of salvation from sin. Yet, I am ready to
die, if need be, for Christ and for his gospel. I know the seriousness of God’s
calling on my life, and I know I must be ready at all times to go, and to say,
and to do whatever it is he wants me to do and say, and I must be prepared that
I will have to suffer for my obedience to Christ and because I accepted his
calling on my life.
So, where are you? Do you know Jesus? Are you walking in the
Spirit and no longer according to your sinful flesh? Have you died with Christ
to sin and self? Have you forsaken your idols and have you put off all that
hinders your walk of faith and obedience to Christ? Are you willing to do
whatever God says to do, and to go where he sends you? Would you forsake all
that is of this world to follow him in obedience? If we are going to be dressed
for action, this is where each and every one of us needs to be daily.
Fully Ready! / An
Original Work / June 19, 2013
Based off Acts 20-22,
26; Mt. 28:18-20; Ac. 1:8
Why are you weeping and breaking my heart?
I’m fully ready to suffer for Christ.
If I must die for the sake of His name,
I am convinced it will not be in vain.
Glory to God and to His Son Jesus,
Who has redeemed us; bought with His blood.
May I speak to you? Jesus came to me;
Asked of me, “Why do you persecute me?”
He said, “Now get up and stand on your feet.
Go, and you’ll be told all I have for you.
I have appointed you as a servant,
And as a witness; you have been sent.”
“Go into the world and preach the gospel.
Open the blind eyes. They will receive sight.
Turn them from darkness to the light of Christ;
From power of the evil one to God,
So they may receive forgiveness of sins,
And a place among those who’re in heav’n.”
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