I awoke one night right after I had fallen asleep, very late. We had had a wonderful church service that morning, filled with truth, hard words…and love. I couldn't shake the freedom I felt. Bury Your Father (Pastor Terry Fischer) was the sermon title. I’ve listened to it twice since then!
We were all encouraged by the hard words spoken in love. Paraphrasing Pastor, If we have lost the zeal we once had, just come to the Lord at the altar and seek Him. He will restore what was lost. He will take you back to the day when you had this enthusiasm. I admit I’d lost some zeal and it’s been difficult getting back. I had been talking to the Lord and felt He was not listening.
Paraphrasing some more, sometimes God will test us to see what we are made of. I took away this: If we don’t sense His presence, don’t lose hope. As with Joseph who was sold into Egyptian slavery by his own brothers, God orchestrated it all. (Joseph didn't deserve it.) He endured hardship under Pharoah’s hand. But an incident brought him out of that hardship and into the courts of Pharaoh! Joseph became second in command. And when a famine occurred elsewhere, Joseph's home land, his brothers unknowingly came to Egypt for help, not realizing it would be their own brother who would help them. After a time, Joseph revealed who he was and forgave them telling them that what they meant for evil so many years before, God turned into good, to save many lives, theirs included. We might have gone, or are going, through a trial. If we persevere, what might have been meant for evil (or discouragement) can be turned into good. We can come out better than when we went in.
Burying your father...Joseph's father had not seen Joseph in many years and presumed he was dead. Joseph's brothers never told their father the truth about what they had done. In time, now that Jacob, the father, was content in his old years and knowing Joseph was alive, he was old and ready to die. They buried their father...and Jacob moved on with life. The brothers, however, could not. They still feared retribution from Joseph, which was not to be. We are not to live in the past. If we are troubled by anything, sometimes that trouble can bring us to a low place. We may not even be aware what caused it. That’s where God can do the best work, where the valley can become the mountaintop.
Oh, but the promises in the Word of God are so good for those who pursue them. Without those words, without His Word, there can be great discontentment for those who have met the living God, sought Him and stayed in His Word to gain His wisdom and then "lost it" somehow. Those who have not known God don’t experience this. It’s a “life is good in my little world" attitude. People, life is so much better when God is the center, when His wisdom exceeds the wisdom of men, when His Spirit guides, when God speaks to you (through His Word and His Spirit to yours).
Taste and see that the Lord is good is a favorite scripture. Once you’ve tasted and lose that even for a moment, you can feel lost. I decided to look up scriptures relating to tasting and seeing. I hope you take the time to read. Salvation is the first step to being able to taste and see. It’s when His Spirit lives inside you and when wisdom comes upon you that you can taste and see. It is glorious.
Taste and see that the Lord is good! He only desires that you receive that goodness He offers. Only He can give it. No earthly man, no church, no priest nor pastor nor rabbi. Only Jesus.
Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15:16)
How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103)
Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. (1Peter 2:1-3)
The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes...More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. (Psalm 19:8,10)
No comments:
Post a Comment