12/08/2024
This morning I revisited a devotional reading that I had enjoyed on this day several years ago. On that day I had already been operated on and had a cancerous tumor removed from my body, but later that afternoon, I was going to find out how my treatment would proceed... My devotional reading that particular day included these words:
"To be filled with God's Spirit and to be filled with God's Word, is to know God's will. It is to be put in such a state of heart that it will enable us to read and correctly interpret the purposes of the eternal. Filling our hearts with the Word and the Spirit gives us an insight into the will of the Father." - E. M. Bounds
This devotional message was profound for me because from the moment I was diagnosed with cancer I had asked but two things; that His will be done in me, and that if He saw fit to heal me that it be to His glory.
In my devotional reading that day, Pastor E. M. Bounds written about using God’s Word and the Holy Spirit to discern God's will. So, as I sought to remain in His will, I determined that the Word and Holy Spirit would lead me, and would serve as my compass, and my sextant, as I sought His purposes and to glorify Him through whatever miracle, or suffering I found myself the recipient of.
In times like this it is so comforting to have Jesus to lean on; knowing that He will be before the Father interceding for us in our trials, and praising Him in the joy that our serving God brings. It is encouraging to realize that Jesus in the midst of His own great suffering, had served the will of God to its fullest, and loved us the deepest... In realizing this I found myself weeping for Him... And yet rejoicing in Him at the same time.
“I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
Psalm 34:1 ESV
What better time of the year to contemplate a topic such as this than during the Christmas season... the time of God's most wonderful gift to us... The realization of His will for us... The climax of His love through the offering of His only begotten Son.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
John 3:16-17 ESV
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV
So on that day several years ago, I knew that whatever that particular day brought, I could face it because there was no defeat for me here in this world. In the early days of my journey with cancer I had told my daughter not to be afraid because I knew the author of my life... Then later I read this wonderful passage of scripture…
“Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;”
2 Corinthians 3:3, 5 KJV
How wonderful that we all contain within us the epistles, or letters, written by Jesus. Our lives are indeed like letters, poems, or songs, each written by Christ for the glory of God. Yes, just as I had told my daughter, I truly do know the author of my life, and good friends, in Him my life, and yours, become masterpieces. Now, many years later I remain cancer free, and He will be writing yet another verse in the poem that is me... and in the lyric of my life. The wonderful thing to realize is that He is writing on your heart too, and that it will be another verse, or lyric, in the poem, or song, of your life too.
Jesus, in the language of God's grace you are writing of me. In your hand the pen moves and the travails and joys that I face each day become flowing prose, pure poetry, and in the end, a beautiful song. In your hand my love and service of our Father becomes epic and wonderful beyond description. My friends, are you pleased with what is being written by Jesus regarding your life? If not then it is time to pray with me for God’s mercy, grace, and the blood of Jesus to wash us clean in the next sentence, or verse written.
“The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.”
Psalms 147:11 KJV
Prayer:
Thank you Father for writing my name in the Lamb’s Book of Life, for your Holy Word, and your Holy Spirit who gives me insight and understanding into your will for me. Thank you Lord for the good times and the hard times in my life that you used in like manner to increase my faith, and to draw me closer to you. Thank you for each word that Jesus has thus written in the epistle of my life.
Lord God, as you read and hear these words of your Son Jesus, that are my life, I pray beyond all hope, that you are pleased and find my love for you in every verse written. I pray Father that even in my most disappointing and challenging of times you will find joy in hearing the sound of the victory processional that came as a result of each lesson. When my epistle, my poem, my lyric, is finally completed by Jesus, I pray that you will smile and see this work, which we have set out to live together with Jesus, as being worthy. Father, The epistle of my life is a work that is written by the hand of your Son upon my heart, and it is the sonnet, the ballad, and the poem of a life saved by Him, and then lived by seeking and serving you through your Word, your Holy Spirit, and in obedience to your will. Whether each account recorded is good, bad, hard, or easy it brings with it a lesson in righteousness, and sanctity. I pray that I learn them well.
In its closing words, and song, I pray you will find that my life has never strayed too far from your will and call for me, and that not one sin I have ever committed has gone unforgiven. I pray that through my confessions in prayer, tears of heartbroken contrition, and your boundless grace I am redeemed. I pray that the traces left by the tears on my face, and the blood of Jesus on my head, brings you pleasure in my humble fear of you, and the expectant hope I have in your mercy. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who heals my every wound, and promises to raise me up in my belief, and the cleansing blood of Christ, to spend eternity with you. Holy are you Abba, for you are the God of love, goodness, mercy, and grace. In these epistles of Christ, the summations of my life, I ask that you append your closing remarks… a final verse that speaks of our loving relationship, and the closing song of eternity that I am to sing with you.
And may all who seek Him say… Amen, Amen, Amen!
Rich Forbes