Receive

Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

I contemplate with wonder how Jesus loves us so much that we would be a motivation to Him during His crucifixion. Do you realize that we were the joy set before Him? The depths of this love are incredible to me.

I've been affected by the lyrics to a song by an unusal woman by the name of Cindy Ruakere. It is called RECEIVE. Oh Lord, that you would give us grace to be the ones through whom Jesus receives the reward of His suffering.

That the Lamb may receive the reward for His suffering,
That the Lamb may receive His reward through me.
Only by grace can this ever be done,
To Lay my life down is a gift from the Son,
And to the Lamb,
Who stands among us as King,
I give up my life,
I give up my life,
I give up my life as an offering
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Reveal the Glory

Hebrews 1:1-3

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by his Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Storms

This is a picture I took floating in the water in Bonaire last year. I thought it would be good to ponder in relation to the last post on trials. There is so much beauty in what is left behind after the storm. Just remember in the middle of the raging sea, Jesus has the power to say, "Be Still."

Hope and Expectation

In meditating on Romans 5, I find it is always encouraging to think of how trials cause us to grow closer to God. It is one thing to find what God’s Word says in the midst of discouragement, but it is another to already have the promise in our hands before the difficulty comes. I think this is the key to developing the kind of hope that is described as an “alert expectation” in the Message translation of this passage.

Romans 5
(Message)
3-5There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

The very last portion of this passage is a great description of how I sometimes feel so thankful to God for His generosity in ways I cannot even begin to describe. It is what God has offered in the mind of Christ as an answer to the philosophy “if I expect the worst, then I won’t be disappointed”. There are times I live with a keen awareness of the ever-present excitement He has placed in every born-again spirit. May we all grow in hope to the point where we are continually aware of the hope of His Calling in this way!

I also like “passionate patience” – it speaks of steadfast, steady, and determined, but with a smile. It is how I imagine Jesus. I like the imagery of heat from trials being used by patience to form or forge the tempered steel of virtue. This is what I desire. It is the expectancy of waiting for what God will do with a difficult situation, knowing it is going to be good because He cannot be anything else BUT good. Of course, every detail of the trial is not always good, but the result the Father desires in us is good.

The spiritual growth and maturity that comes forth is due to the repetition and proving out of this sequence in our lives. I believed this was true before I experienced it several times, but I did not KNOW it to be true in the same way as I do now. I also expect to have a deeper revelation of this hope as I continue to have trials in this life. Every trial causes that hope and faith to grow as God’s faithfulness is proven out again and again in our lives.

Amplified Version

3Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.

4And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.

5Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.

One thing we need to remind our brothers and sister of is this - endurance is simply to keep on going. Don’t give up and you win. You don’t have to be great at it or feel wonderful or look wonderful. You are enduring and growing simply by continuing to trust in God and to take one step at a time forward in times of trouble. Unswerving is a great word to describe this endurance. If we are on a path lit by the Word of God, we must not swerve, but keep a straight path. The path is narrow but the way is clearly shown – again, often only one step at a time in the middle of dark troubles.

This translation says that the character that is grown through these troubles produces the habit of joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation. I want spiritual life to be my habit, rather than a response from the flesh. This becomes a habit by enduring trials. Trusting in the strength of God alone to teach you and guide you and rescue you. It is only by experience that we begin to notice where we are still trusting in our own knowledge or abilities to get us through difficulties. The warning signs become easier to recognize because they all come down to a lack of peace.

Most often, when I miss God speaking to my heart, it is because I have let turmoil become so loud that it is impossible to hear anything resembling a “still small voice.” I must remember to stop a moment, recollect God’s faithfulness, and then seek to step into the life of the Spirit instead of just jumping ahead with my first reaction. In fact, the goal is to have my first reaction be the habit of joyful and confident hope that the Lord is going to lead me if I just relax and let Him do it. He is so amazing!

In the Small Things

Hello to my dear brothers and sisters in Christ!

It has been some time since I've written you regularly but I hope you are well and staying in the love of Jesus! We are doing well and thank the Father for His faithfulness in keeping us and leading us through life.

I have been writing infrequently in the past year, but much more recently. I feel it is time to begin sharing the Word of God with others again and so I naturally thought of all of you who have been with this e-mail devotional list for these several years now. I am thinking of sharing via a blog (a journal-like website) in the future. I think it may be better in that it will be less formal and I could share teachings that continued from day-to-day without worrying about completing the entire train of thought in one long message. Please let me know your opinion or thoughts on this. You could still get the entries e-mailed to you if you prefer e-mail. But, if you get too much e-mail, this may be better for you.

The purpose of these writings will remain the same as always: to share what God has taught me and to encourage us all to renew our minds according to the Word of God. My prayer has always been to demonstrate in a practical way the supernaturally-natural way God teaches us to put on the life of the new Man (Jesus) as we submit ourselves to His Holy Spirit.

Anyway, here are some musings I had yesterday after working in my garden and reading the bible. As I sat down to read, I thought (or maybe it was the Holy Spirit asking me) "What is it that you want to learn from God today?" I wrote:

To minister to the Lord better

I didn't really even know what I meant by that - I just wrote it down and went on to read John 14 which talks about how Jesus goes to prepare a place for us and that we know the way because we know HIM and He IS the way. Then, I came to

15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.

Then I knew where God wanted me to go – To minister to the Lord better, love Him more.

Of course, that is more easily said than done since I can’t just love Him more because I think it’s a good idea. So God gave me the answer (and a new question) at the same time in

If you love me, keep my commandments

What are these? Simple, I thought -

First, love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your mind, and your strength.
Then, love your neighbor as yourself.

And there is so much here, Lord.
How do I love you with all my heart?

I first say, Holy Spirit, I need you to make Jesus more real to me. I can’t love anyone unless you give me the love of God. I put my hope in You to give me understanding of Your love.

Romans 5
5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

God says that His love has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. He has already done this. We have His love in our hearts. The more we comprehend the depths of His love, the more we will love Him with all our hearts.

Ephesians 17-19 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

When the hope of God blooms again in my heart, I have the revelation again that all the things we do in life are just an endless realm of possibilities of fun and joyful glorification of the Father and all He has created. Instead of a burden, life is a possibility. This is hope to me – when things we have to do seem like possibilities instead of burdens. I will not hesitate to say “fun” because fun does not have to be a selfish or meaningless seeking. Fun can be a satisfaction that comes from completing or moving in things that God has planned for us from the beginning of time simply to show His goodness. Sometimes we limit our understanding of this to big “ministry” type actions and accomplishments. But, do we understand? I want to understand. When I enjoy planting a plant or singing a song or learning to play the piano or writing– this is not selfish indulgence but participation in the purpose God has for edification of my spirit. It does not even have to be something anyone else ever sees to glorify God. It is glorifying God simply because it is something I have done in my life as I submit to God and choose to let the life of Christ be my life. Oh how wonderful if we would “notice” God in this way in all the details of our daily life.

An example – I plant a plant and get pleasure out of seeing it grow. I say in my heart, “God this is for and because of You.” The pleasure in my heart is like a revelation of the Father’s love. The growing plant and my pleasure are glorifying God – revealing who He is to my own self. God is concerned with the individual heart in a deep, intense way. It is important to Him that I, as an individual, understand that He wants me to enjoy this plant growing. That I, as an individual, see His goodness in the fruit coming forth from a tomato plant. That I, as an individual, realize He has nurtured every second of the existence of every cell in that plant and caused it to have life and to grow. A miracle of the greatest kind has occurred in ONE SMALL PLANT for me to see and notice. Me! If no one else, maybe I will see Him in it. It is quite an amazing thing to ponder.

I think of how many plants are growing in my garden. Then I think of all the things we consider “more” important that He does. It is truly incredibly generous in a supernatural way, to live and exist even for a single day surrounded with all He does in the multitude of “small” things in our lives. The best way I can summarize this thought is – in the smallest thing we can see the infinite nature of God, the infinite goodness, power, and love. Today I looked to the small things to receive by faith the revelation of His love poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.


Well, this has been more devotional than exegetical today, but I hope it has encouraged you. I have a little more in-depth study of the surrounding verses and the nature of hope from this passage that I can send you next time. Abide in Jesus’ love and walk in peace until next time!

As always, with love,
IN JESUS,

Karen