04/22/2023
The result of our faith is a realignment of our lives and how we interact with those within it. Are you seeing this occur, and are you willing to let it happen? Are you being transformed into a new person?
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV
When we first confess our faith in Jesus and ask Him to be the Lord of our life something incredible is released in us and our entire world begins to change. Many of the friends who were once so dear to us begin to pull back and the places we used to frequent suddenly lose their appeal. A change begins that is reshuffling our life.
I listen to the words of Job as he is being tested and I hear him speaking of the very same thing that happens to us when our old life dies and a new life is born. The old person retreats to his sickbed and is moments from death, and the worldly person who knew a life of sin and excess is losing his appeal to us... we explore our newfound faith and find it greater than what is being left behind, so we press on; holding tight to the hand of Jesus. We will not curse God and we will not return to our past life...
“My relatives have failed me, my close friends have forgotten me. The guests in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger; I have become a foreigner in their eyes. I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer; I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy. My breath is strange to my wife, and I am a stench to the children of my own mother. Even young children despise me; when I rise they talk against me. All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me.”
Job 19:14-19 ESV
The very things that have been so pleasing to us are vanishing from our lives. These are things that please the man but strangle the soul. They pass away because they were always temporary, but they are replaced with eternal joys that will be with us always. We are on a journey into a new land and as Moses told Joshua... "be strong and courageous;" because the Lord goes before you.
“Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed."”
Deuteronomy 31:7-8 ESV
This is a time when we must face God and Jesus face to face. We are making a choice for ourselves that no one else can make for us. Stepping out of what was once familiar often feels lonely, and as we lose our old friends we feel that we are on our own. This is difficult and often we are afraid, but if we listen to God’s voice we will find that we are never alone, and that His Son Jesus walks with us, and abides in us. Old friends are replaced with new.
I remember when a church I once attended lost its founding pastor to retirement; he was a man who had stood in its pulpit for nearly 60 years. It shook our church family to the core and many left seeking God's fulfillment elsewhere, but eventually the waves subsided and calm returned. Our congregation had leaned on this man's faith for many years, but his departure forced us to face our individual relationships and faith with God in a new and very personal way. We each questioned who we were spiritually and had to sit down with God and Jesus for a talk that had been long in its coming. The faith we had been borrowing was becoming our own.
The season of feeling lost is behind that congregation now, and a new day is at hand. The church is ready to rise up once again and rebuild God's tabernacle on the very place where we once feared it had been lost. Many of those who were scattered returned and God now blesses them as His children... each in a new and deeper relationship with Him.
“And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”
Job 42:10 ESV
You see, even though we give up much when we begin our journey with Jesus, God will restore those things and provide us with much more. The friends who abandon us will be replaced with new friends; the family who drew back from us will see God in us and come forth to join us; the possessions that we gave up will not be missed and new ones will please us all the more. This is what awaits us in our relationship with Jesus... our God is mighty and good... even as Paul told the Philippians:
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Philippians 4:19-20 ESV
In our new lives we receive new gifts, and many are totally unexpected.
On the day before Good Friday, a music company called River House Artists released its first Christian Music Collection that featured a song called “It’s a God Thing” that was performed by a group called Old Hickory. This song was written by Phil O’Donnell and… me. It was a gift I never would have dreamed of, and yet the Lord sent a new brother in Christ and a song into my life. From the quiet prayers of my faith came an amazing new blessing, and it all stemmed from sharing prayer with this new brother and his wife. I hope you will take a moment to listen to it today, and realize that like with Job, there are twofold blessings awaiting each of us when we pray for our friends…
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for separating me from the flock and adding me to those lambs which are your own. Though I am leaving much behind and choosing a new life in you, I know that I have found new joy and that you will lead me on to green and bountiful pastures. Lord your water lives, and is clear and pure. Your hand protects me; in your care I find love and mercy, and under your watch I will forever be content. Jesus thank you for your sacrifice and the very personal relationship you seek with me. Jesus, no man can bring me before God except you, and no woman could give me the birth that you have given me in spirit. We are alone, yet together, in your presence and in the care of our Father there is nothing more I want, nothing more I need.
Rich Forbes