REST ASSURED

Have you ever worked on a project for an extremely long time? Perhaps you feel you have crossed every "T" and dotted every "i". You feel like every base is covered and the job was a thorough one that should stand the onslaught of scrutiny. Then the project is shot holes in so quick that you wonder how the project got off the ground to begin with and your spirit deflates at double the speed.

God knows how you feel. He would not be God if He did not know. God established a major project as done - in the beginning. Then He had prophets prophesy about the full manifestation of this project in the future. Then the project was initiated, ran its course and was finished. During this whole process there were always some naysayers trying to poke holes in God's Project - but they were always unsuccessful. It is one thing to break down yours or my project, but a totally other endeavor to challenge The Lord's Project.

In Hebrews 4, the main thought is trusting in the Finished Work or Project of Christ - our Salvation through His sacrifice. Trusting in Christ's complete work allows for believers to enter God's Rest.

God's rest was established when He rested from His work after the 6th day of creation. We find God's day of rest to be observed on the seventh day of the week, but needed to be practiced every breath we inhale. Even before the act of creation, God, The Great Planner said, "He [Christ] was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake." (1 Peter 1:20) Our rest in Christ's Redemptive Work was laid out in God's Divine Mind well before its manifestation.

His Rest - that which Christ accomplished for all who believe in His sacrifice - was something the Hebrew people could have entered into through obedience, but they disobeyed and God said, "So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'" (Psalm 95:11) But God's compassion through Christ is immense. The High Priest of God who is able to empathize with our weaknesses and tempted in every way - did not sin, even at the point of torture, shame and death upon The Cross. That is the definition of Christ's Finished Work. 

Now we must rest in His Completed Work or Project. Sure that takes care of our Redemption, but His Work is so mighty that it covers every situation, at any moment in time, of any life in the universe. His Grace keeps on giving and His Salvation keeps on Saving - Rest Assured.

THEREFORE COMFORT ONE ANOTHER

A friend and co-worker of mine died yesterday. She worked at my establishment for some 30 years and I have worked alongside her 22 of those 30. Cancer finally wore her body down. She is a Christian and that is the sustaining comfort, strength and hope I have for myself and others even though I will still miss her in the meantime. 

There is a saying, Two things are for certain - death and taxes. For the Christian there is also Hope. Hope that Faith in Love personified, Christ Jesus, accomplished our secured position at The Table in His House in Heaven. By Faith in Christ's words "It is finished" and His manifested proof of victory over death, hell and the grave - an empty tomb - Christians have the best foundation for Hope.

The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to encourage the believers in Thessolonica and down through the ages of this Hope when he said, "But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope." (1 Thess. 4:13) Grief is a powerful emotion that can lead to other entrapments or disorders if not checked or dealt with properly. This is why counselors encourage journaling, speaking to a trusted friend, creating or singing a song to express one's grief and overcome the loss. 

The rest of the 1 Thessolonian passage describes The Hope for Christians whether their bodies are dead and their spirits are with the Lord OR whether the Christian is alive serving The Lord on the earth. The passage reads -

"For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."

Notice the last sentence. Not only are we to comfort one another in the time of loss, but we are to comfort one another with this particular reminder; with this particular Hope - Therefore Comfort One Another.

THE NEW SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM

I asked the Lord recently, "Lord, how come you said you prefer obedience over sacrifice, yet you laid down your own life as a sacrifice for the sacrificial system you set up for your people?"

As I talked this question out with my earthly Father, the Holy Spirit enlightened me. He lifted certain words or phrases for me off the page in the 1 Samuel 15:22 passage and made sense of them for me. The verse reads - 

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."

Samuel hints at the answer in the question itself. He uses the phrase "as much as" to lead our thinking that the second thing mentioned - "obeying the Lord" - is the preferred action. I thought this interesting because the Holy Spirit impressed the idea upon Samuel during the initiation of The Old Testament Sacrificial System. The verse's next phrase, "better than", is the confirming thought. 

Whenever I have read this verse, I have always interpreted, for whatever reason, "better than" as to replace "sacrifice". The Holy Spirit pricked my heart and said, "That is not what is said." I understood then that sacrifice was not eliminated in this verse, sacrifice has been improved upon. Plus, we have another sacrificial system established after the resurrection of Christ.

Christ Jesus was perfect in obedience and the perfect, spotless, sinless sacrifice for humanity's fallen relationship with God. Christ obeyed Father God's plan for salvation, by sacrificing Himself in His own blood-demanding system of redemption. And now because of Christ's redeeming sacrifice the next sacrificial system for believers has taken its place - praise and a living sacrifice.

There is a song that goes - We bring the sacrifice of praise, into the house of the Lord, we bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord, and we offer up to you the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and we offer up to you the sacrifices of joy. As with many Christian hymns and modern songs, this song comes from Scripture - Hebrews 13:15. This verse reads - 

"Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name."

The other kind of sacrifice I have listed, other than praise, is the sacrifice of your body as you live daily for Christ - "a living sacrifice". Romans 12:1 says it best -  "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship."

So, does God delight in our sacrifices? Absolutely! He inhabits the praises of His people as they sacrificially worship Him whenever and wherever they are in the day. And He takes note of the way we present ourselves (our bodies) to Him and for Him daily. We must remember we are "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9) 

But Wait there is more - obeying God is better than just sacrificing alone. Remember, obedience is an improved add-on that should have been there in the first place. Heeding or obeying His Word will always bring you back around to living a servant or sacrificial life AND delivering a sacrifice of praise to The King. And thus you have The New Sacrificial System.

SHINE A LIGHT ON YOUR PERSPECTIVE

I have had quite a number of people honk their horn at me because they think I can go on, BUT I cannot because of the slower traffic in front of me. Perhaps they are honking at them, but it comes across as a message to me - to pick up the pace - when I can't due to traffic conditions. Some individuals cannot or choose not to recognize what is further down the road and only focus on what is in front of them. Many call this nearsightedness. God helps with this.

There are people who are in the other category too. These individuals are great planners and thrive on looking ahead either as part of their job or just the way they feel they are wired. This exclusive view of - just the future - does not appreciate the now and in between time. Many-a-relationship has suffered because of this perspective. I have heard this called farsightedness. God helps with this also.

Both visions in balance are what God calls for in our lives. However, in order to have this balance, we must accept and walk out with His help - His awesome plan for our lives. Once we accept His plan and own it with a passion, keeping our focus on Christ - He will reveal both the near-seen-things and the far-seen-things in His timing. Both of these revelations, views or visions - near and future - can be found in one place - from Him; His Word. 

"Your Word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." (Psalm 119:105)

Do you need a refresh to who/what God has called you to be? Do you need direction, revelation and/or perspective for the short term or in the distant future? If God's Word was the agent that brought light into existence so many years ago, surely His Word can and will Shine A Light On Your Perspective.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Many Christians have a list of people in their lives that they would love to see have a personal relationship with Christ and get plugged in to a well-grounded body of believers. A lot of these individuals are prayed for every day. Jude 1:22 encourages us to have that go get'em, don't give up, passionate attitude about their eternal souls, especially the backslidden. The verse reads - "And of some have compassion, making a difference." 

That phrase "and of some" identifies a specific group of targeted people that should be receiving your direct attention. The phrase "have compassion" covers the gambit of loving a person all the way back through the restoration process - until they are spiritually and mentally stable once again. The phrase "making a difference" tells us what we have accomplished. We have accomplished...

1. for Christ - because He instructed us to love like Him, 
2. for the individual - because they needed help/restoration and now he/she is back on track,
3. for us - because the outcome is rewarding in-and-of-itself.

The Holy Spirit re-emphasized this same notion when Paul stated in Galatians 6:10 - "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." You see there is a calling to attention of doing good "especially...to the family of believers". We have to take care of our own, otherwise why else would others, the "all people" in this verse be interested in joining this kingdom; this family. The challenge, as stated in Jude 1:22 above is for God's family members to continue having compassion, Making A Difference.

TASTERS

The first part of Psalm 34:8 is what I want to focus on today - "Taste and see that the Lord is good;". There are foods out there such as some herbs and spices and mushrooms that are not good for the human body. Plus, with all food you need to know how to prepare and cook properly for healthy consumption. David says in this verse, in my words - "Taste", actually consider and take action on The Lord and His promises in your life and observe or "see" the abundant, healthy results.

The human tongue has four zones to our taste palette - sweet, salty, sour and bitter. But our tongue can't sample any food for one of these four determinations if we don't first consider the food we desire to consume and then act on getting it into our mouths. In the same way we must recognize our want and need for a better food, a daily spiritual food and purposefully go after it or in this case Him.

No we are not talking about cannibalism here by tasting someone. We can taste another's company by first impressions, asking personal questions, and simply spending time with that individual. We taste The Lord via His Word, via experiences, via praises/worship, and via prayer or quiet time. Tasting of The Lord means we are coming to The Table to partake in what The Lord would have us digest for any given situation. The end result is "and see that the Lord is good". 

Christ Jesus is The Bread of Life. He gave us a great example of being our daily bread with the supply of heavenly mana to the Hebrew people in the desert. Today is no different as we pray - "Give us this day our daily bread..." (Matt. 6:11). This not only refers to physical or monetary blessing, but a request to bless us with Christ Himself. If we get in the habit of making this petition first thing every morning we can truly - "Taste and see that the Lord is good;".