07/03/2021
Our God is dependable, He is faithful, and we know what His promises are, but these are the images we have of him from afar. We know that He will defend us, go to war for us, and win the day, but on the eve of every battle our God surprises us, and our enemy, with the new strategy He has prepared for the next day’s conflict. So why is it that we ourselves get so rooted in our faith, and never attempt to surprise our enemy, or thrill our friends, with how we implement our newness of faith, or the freshly forged sword of the Word He has given us?
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;”
Lamentations 3:22 ESV
This verse is the mile high view of God, but it is only half of the actual sentence. Sometimes when we read a devotional message in which the author presents a piece of scripture to us like this; he gives us half a verse, but stops right there so that he stays safe in a lofty view of God, or Jesus. Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that God is dependable in His mercies, but listen to the rest of the sentence…
“they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:23 ESV
We read this, and quote it faithfully, but more often than not we think it means that He will refresh His mercy towards us, or perhaps the Pastor will go out on a limb and preach that this scripture means our faith is meant to be renewed in us every day. We are encouraged and strengthened in the knowledge that our Lord will show us His refreshed mercy, but what really should thrill us are the new ways in which He will go about doing so. Too often we stop reading and thinking about God’s Word at some premature point. We stop searching scripture somewhere between our being refreshed, and that wonderful moment when we would have become thrilled, or surprised.
A sports team runs the same plays over and over again, and their opponent anticipates them. Even though each play is executed to perfection, they will eventually face defeat because their adversary can predict their strategy. This is true in our faith as well…
Sunday morning comes, and we stream into the sanctuary. We mill about and say hello to our friends, Then we take our seats as the choir begins singing the first of the three songs they have prepared to take up a certain amount of time. Then, when the songs are finished, an associate pastor reads the weekly announcements to us about what is happening in the coming weeks… feeding the homeless, a mission trip, and the other mercies we are undertaking as a church. Then, the choir sings one more song, and Then the Pastor preaches. More times than not his message is on the first half of some scriptural truth… you know the one… you have heard it and taken solace in it many times before, or perhaps been convicted by it more than once. Then, as he completes his message he pronounces a blessing over us, and Then he waits outside the sanctuary door to shake our hand as we leave. We smile at him, tell him what a good sermon he preached, and Then go to eat our midday meal refreshed, perhaps even reinvigorated, but not actually thrilled, or holding onto a new spiritual sword to be used in our battle against the powers of darkness in our life today…
God has many swords in the arsenal of His Word, but have we limited ourselves to using just one? In Jeremiah, when God came against Babylon He used five different swords… how many does He give us as we carve out our understanding of His battle plan, and how many will we actually use? With which new sword will He surprise us, or ask us to use as we struggle to surprise our enemy… to understand His Word?
““A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the Lord, and against the inhabitants of Babylon, and against her officials and her wise men! A sword against the diviners, that they may become fools! A sword against her warriors, that they may be destroyed! A sword against her horses and against her chariots, and against all the foreign troops in her midst, that they may become women! A sword against all her treasures, that they may be plundered!”
Jeremiah 50:35-37 ESV
These are all new swords. When we go to war time and time again using the same strategy is a recipe for defeat, or at very least, an advantage for our adversary that he will use against us. How many times have we read a verse of scripture and gained a brand new understanding of it? This is how God prepares us for our renewed battle against Satan… He forges a new sword for us from the well known blade of the old one that has served us so well. His promises have not changed, but how intricately He asks us to approach them has… His inspiration is without end, and it thrills us!
“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.”
Psalm 139:17-18 ESV
So we should listen when we are in prayer, rising from our bed, or preparing to do spiritual battle. God gives us a new sword, or strategy every day which will thrill us, encourage us, and most certainly confound our dark enemy. Are we ready to read His entire sentence of scripture, or are we satisfied with the revelation we received when facing yesterday’s conflicts? The war is the same, but today’s engagement will be different as we approach the battlefield… let God inspire us like He did certain of the Jews who saw Jesus as the fulfillment of ancient prophesy… not through the old eyes they had previously applied to those verses. We should be refreshed, and reinvigorated, but leave room in the Spirit for God to thrill us, and to provide us with a new sword…
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the ever increasing understanding that you give us in your Word. Thank you for making our faith to be new every morning, and thrilling us in it. Keep us in our old understanding Father, but grow us as we are watered every day by the refreshing rain of life that is your will, and ever true Word. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who loves us, and who devises new strategies to confound our enemies as we face them in the world. Praised be your name for your Son Jesus who you sent new into the world to redeem us as none but you could have predicted, and who will come again in like manner. Mighty are you who on one day leads us into battle, another day sends us before you, and occasionally commands us to stand still, as you go out alone to fight the battle for us. Merciful are you Father for giving us the knowledge, and understanding, we need to rest in you, be confident in your Word, and to know that you will make all things good for us as we love you. Amazing is your grace in Christ who you sent to redeem us while we were yet in sin, and powerful was your plan to wash us clean in his perfect blood so that we would be reconciled with you. You have transformed us in His likeness Lord, making us new in Him, and in our faith, as we grow to love you more each day. On the day Jesus returns for us, judge us to be worthy Father, and seat us at your table forevermore… new in our praise and worship every day!
“Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord! I have fled to you for refuge. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!”
Psalm 143:8-10 ESV
Rich Forbes