10/29/2022
What is this time we live in now, and is it unlike other times that have come before? Are there not righteous men and women who worship, and those countries, people, and persons who turn away from God? Is this new? No! The question for each of us is not one of the overall world, or the heavenly places that stand in opposition to it, and it isn’t of the greater spiritual strategies in the war between good and evil, no, it is in our own faith, and its effectiveness in our personal day to day skirmishes, in our hand to hand struggles as we wrestle against the world we wake up to each morning. Are our words, those we have spoken today towards God, and Jesus, the words of praise and worship, or do we say that the faith of man is in vain?
““Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God.”
Malachi 3:13-14 ESV
We tend to fret, live in fear, and become anxious when we look at the world about us. We are overwhelmed by the size of the battle that rages around us, the viciousness of our evil enemy, and we begin to worry about whether we will survive. Yet this is not new, and the struggle is as ancient as Adam. Every generation has lived in this world governed by light and dark… day and night… good and evil… but God has always reassured us…
“fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish.”
Isaiah 41:10-11 ESV
And Jesus reiterated this same reassurance to us…
“Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.””
John 16:31, 33 ESV
So why is it that we look at the fallen world and tend to think that it has changed, and that it is now winning the spiritual contest? Why do we call its inhabitants blessed? Why do we think that evil will go unpunished? Isn’t this foolishness? Have we become one of those who profess their faith, and yet continue to fear the world? Do we say this…
“And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’””
Malachi 3:15 ESV
Take heart my fellow believers because we are certainly reassured of God’s greatness, and by our resurrection in Jesus Christ. Take heart because we know not only the past, and the present, but the future as well. We know that God is victorious through Christ, and that death, evil, and the unrighteous, will perish…
“Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
Revelation 20:14-15 ESV
We know too that we will rise up with Christ, and live in victory with God…
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.””
Revelation 21:3-4 ESV
So, take heart because our victory in Jesus is more than a hymn, it is our future, and our eternity. There is nothing new in the world that will shock or surprise our God. The structures built on the world’s surface might look different, and the weapons employed there might be more powerful, but their human underpinnings are as old as time.
Life is a breath that only God can give us, and death has been defeated by His grace that flows through Jesus… our Savior. We receive these, life and death, one soul at a time. We work out our salvation, and our victory, one soul being saved, or one forfeited, at a time… each of us who are victorious entering an eternity that has no beginning, that will never end, and that has never changed.
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
Philippians 2:12-13 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for this life I have been given, the redemption you have provided me, and my death that has been defeated by your Son Jesus through resurrection. Thank you for removing me from the distractions of the fallen world, and the larger spiritual war that wages about me. Thank you for allowing me to focus my attention on my personal struggle with sin that I wrestle with each day; strengthened by your Angels, and your strong right arm. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who reassured me day and night, and who helps me in my belief, and faith. Praised be your name Lord for showing me that the future of this world has already been decided, and that nothing in it is new to you. Merciful are you who lifts me above all sin and death through the blood of Jesus, and perfect is your grace that ushers me into eternity with you. Mysterious are your ways Father, that make our days new every morning, and yet unchanging in you. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
“Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.”
Malachi 3:16-18 ESV
Rich Forbes