How are you on this fine Sunday? I hope you are filled with the Holy Spirit, that Life is full of God's Love for you and yours, that you have peace and happiness.
Sunday, the day of Resurrection, the new beginning in Jesus. A new creation of mankind. Sunday, the day of reflection and rejoicing. I hope you are at peace.
Dear friend, consider today's meditation and rejoice in the love that brought you your salvation:
June 12
More Reflections on Obedience by God's Grace
Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? . . . Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God. (Gal_3:3 and 2Co_3:5)
Once again, let's reflect on previously studied passages that show how obedience to God is related to His grace. Galatians 3:3 fits in this helpful category.
Our beginning with God was brought about by the work of His Spirit. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit" (Tit_3:5).
We humbly admitted our sins, casting ourselves upon the mercy of God. The Holy Spirit brought us new birth, new life. This work of the Spirit is linked to the grace of God later in this same sentence: "that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Tit_3:7).
Thus, starting out with God is related to His Spirit applying His grace to our need.
Now, having experienced spiritual birth by the Spirit (by grace), would we be so foolish as to think that we could be spiritually developed by the flesh (by mere human activity)? "Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? " The only way that spiritual growth can follow spiritual birth is by the work of the Holy Spirit (that is, by the grace of God continuing to impact our lives). These same terms are the only explanation for the development of obedience in the life of a child of God. It must come from the Spirit applying grace to our hearts. "It is good that the heart be established by grace" (Heb_13:9).
2Co_3:5 is another passage that carries this same message about obedience. "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God." We are hereby reminded that Christians are not the source of any godliness that is to develop in their lives. This would include obedience. We do not have within our own resources what it takes to produce an obedient life. Yet, we do have available to us daily all that we need to grow in pleasing God and doing His will. God is to be our source always for all things spiritual.
How do we draw upon His comprehensive sufficiency? Humbly depend upon Him. God pours grace into the humble heart (Jam_4:6), and faith accesses grace (Rom_5:2).
Heavenly Father, would You develop obedience in me the same way You brought new life to me — by Your Spirit, by Your grace. I again confess my need for Your sufficient resources for growing in obedience, and I rely on You, Amen.
God bless you today and always, dear pilgrim. May His Grace fill you and may the Holy Spirit indwell in you!
Asian and American
Japanese Stella near Jefferson and FDR Memorials
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Saturday June 11
Good morning,
How are you on this fine Saturday! School is over, 67 Saturdays ahead of us... Life is a wonderful gift from the Father of us all! Praise God for all things, from Whom all things flow.
So, are you thankful for your blessings? Have you ever had times when you felt you just HAD to defend yourself and your honor? Life is full of those moments. I've certainly had a few!
Then consider today's meditation by James Ryle:
June 11
The Last Temptation Jesus Faced
"Come down from the cross, and save yourself!" (Mark 15:30, GWT)
The last temptation Jesus faced is the ONE temptation we face constantly: "Come down from the cross, and save yourself!"
Inasmuch as the cross is the place where Self is executed, Sin's power power broken, and Satan's defiance humiliated — it stands to reason that in a last ditch effort to reverse the curse which the cross has brought upon his head, the devil will thrash about endlessly with one goal in mind: to get you and I to abandon our post of trusting in Christ alone, and take up our own cause in our own power. "Come down from the cross, and save yourself."
The devil cannot touch us when we are on the cross, nor can sin's power sway us to pursue its many vanities while we abide in the Crucified One. And even our very selves are subdued in a submissive surrender, as the Lord puts to death all things within us that otherwise disqualify us for the Heavenly City.
He is transforming us into His likeness. First there is death, and then, O blessed truth, there is resurrection! But, to experience it we must stay upon this Cross.
"Come down from the cross, and save thyself," the devil derisively taunts at us in those moments when we are slighted by someone, offended by another, or devalued yet by others. Someone does something, whether substantial or petty, and the devil jumps on the moment — "Are you just going to hang there and take that?" he asks with surly sarcasm; and then quickly adds his own suggestion of what we should do, "Come down from the cross, and save thyself!"
Defend yourself, justify yourself, advance yourself, exalt yourself, promote yourself, save yourself, pamper yourself, satisfy yourself, indulge yourself, prefer yourself — and the list goes on and on and on. This is the devil's plan for your life; he wants you to to be like him — a self-absorbed and self-deceived being.
Jesus, by contrast, has only one thing He would say to you in this regard — "Deny yourself," and then He adds, "Take up your cross daily, and follow Me."
Practically speaking, this simple truth has far-reaching implications. The Bible says that it is only by pride that contentions come. Pride is the citadel of Self, the throne room of our own selfish preoccupations and adorations. By embracing the cross of Jesus, and abiding thereupon — our affections are relocated away from our Selves, and placed rightfully upon our Savior. The peace of His presence then extends not only to us, but through us to others. And thus, slowly but steadily, His Kingdom increases in the earth.
For this cause alone you will hear ten thousand times in a day, the devil bringing his case in hopes of finding yourself a willing dupe for his dark employment — "Come down from the cross, and save yourself!"
Don't you dare do it!!
May God bless you with all of His mercies and Grace today.
How are you on this fine Saturday! School is over, 67 Saturdays ahead of us... Life is a wonderful gift from the Father of us all! Praise God for all things, from Whom all things flow.
So, are you thankful for your blessings? Have you ever had times when you felt you just HAD to defend yourself and your honor? Life is full of those moments. I've certainly had a few!
Then consider today's meditation by James Ryle:
June 11
The Last Temptation Jesus Faced
"Come down from the cross, and save yourself!" (Mark 15:30, GWT)
The last temptation Jesus faced is the ONE temptation we face constantly: "Come down from the cross, and save yourself!"
Inasmuch as the cross is the place where Self is executed, Sin's power power broken, and Satan's defiance humiliated — it stands to reason that in a last ditch effort to reverse the curse which the cross has brought upon his head, the devil will thrash about endlessly with one goal in mind: to get you and I to abandon our post of trusting in Christ alone, and take up our own cause in our own power. "Come down from the cross, and save yourself."
The devil cannot touch us when we are on the cross, nor can sin's power sway us to pursue its many vanities while we abide in the Crucified One. And even our very selves are subdued in a submissive surrender, as the Lord puts to death all things within us that otherwise disqualify us for the Heavenly City.
He is transforming us into His likeness. First there is death, and then, O blessed truth, there is resurrection! But, to experience it we must stay upon this Cross.
"Come down from the cross, and save thyself," the devil derisively taunts at us in those moments when we are slighted by someone, offended by another, or devalued yet by others. Someone does something, whether substantial or petty, and the devil jumps on the moment — "Are you just going to hang there and take that?" he asks with surly sarcasm; and then quickly adds his own suggestion of what we should do, "Come down from the cross, and save thyself!"
Defend yourself, justify yourself, advance yourself, exalt yourself, promote yourself, save yourself, pamper yourself, satisfy yourself, indulge yourself, prefer yourself — and the list goes on and on and on. This is the devil's plan for your life; he wants you to to be like him — a self-absorbed and self-deceived being.
Jesus, by contrast, has only one thing He would say to you in this regard — "Deny yourself," and then He adds, "Take up your cross daily, and follow Me."
Practically speaking, this simple truth has far-reaching implications. The Bible says that it is only by pride that contentions come. Pride is the citadel of Self, the throne room of our own selfish preoccupations and adorations. By embracing the cross of Jesus, and abiding thereupon — our affections are relocated away from our Selves, and placed rightfully upon our Savior. The peace of His presence then extends not only to us, but through us to others. And thus, slowly but steadily, His Kingdom increases in the earth.
For this cause alone you will hear ten thousand times in a day, the devil bringing his case in hopes of finding yourself a willing dupe for his dark employment — "Come down from the cross, and save yourself!"
Don't you dare do it!!
May God bless you with all of His mercies and Grace today.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Friday June 10
So, it is here, the last official day of school for us staff and teachers. It has been a wonderful year, really. Trying in that about 10 students make it difficult. But that is why I am here, to try to make a difference in their lives. I hope that I have.
We seem to so focus on the basic needs of survival and the next few steps of our developmental ladder, so much so that we often lose sight of our ultimate need of self actualization. Our Lord and God came to earth as a humble man so that He could show us the Way to go and lead us as He went the way to back to God. Jesus truly did "know the way, show the way, go the way" as the greatest leader and teacher of all time. He taught us to worship and obey God in reverential fear and love. Jesus provides the connection and linkage so that we can have the power of the Holy Spirit in us moment to moment. With the two legs of Faith and Salvation, we can come to know God's love. Then all things are possible.
Today's mediation: (from F. B. Meyer's great works)
June 10
GOD'S PROVIDENTIAL CARE
"Seek not what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you."-- Luk_12:29-31.
AT THE time when our Lord spoke these words, the fields of Palestine were carpeted with wild flowers, and the air was redolent with their fragrance, bespangling the pastures, clustering in the hedge-rows, and hiding in the woodland glades. Theirs was as careless a life as that of the birds which were flying overhead. "They toil not, neither do they spin." For some plants, like the exotics of the greenhouse and nurseries, there must be extreme care and expense in their cultivation, in the provision of heat and the experienced skill of the horticulturist. But our Lord was not alluding to these, but to the flowers of the grass, which grow amid the wilds of nature, or in the gardens of the poor, and to Him these were very beautiful.
This prodigious growth teaches us that God loves beautiful things, and expends thought and skill in their production. He might have made the world without a daisy, and human life without the beauty of childhood. But since He clothed with beauty the short-lived flowers of the wilds; the ephemeral insects of a summer day; the shells of the minute creatures that build up the solid fabric of the rocks--surely this prodigality, this lavishness, this prolific superabundance of creativeness, must mean that He can and will withhold no good thing from them that trust Him.
Of course we must fulfil our part! We are not to be careless and improvident; we must certainly sow and reap, and toil and spin; but when we have done all, we must rely upon our Heavenly Father whose good pleasure it is to give, believing that it is vain for us to rise up early, and sit up late, and to eat the bread of sorrows, for our God will give us all that we need, even whilst we sleep. He will not allow His trusting children to starve, or to go unsheltered, unclothed, and unshod. "Fear not, little flock," says the comforting voice of the Good Shepherd, "for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
PRAYER
Gracious Lord, grant to me, Thy poor needy creature, sometimes at least to feel, if it be but a small portion of Thy hearty affectionate love; that my faith may become more strong, my hope in Thy goodness may be increased, and that love, once kindled within me, may never fail. AMEN.
God bless you and keep you, may His loving goodness increase your faith, give you hope, and fill your spirit with His Love.
We seem to so focus on the basic needs of survival and the next few steps of our developmental ladder, so much so that we often lose sight of our ultimate need of self actualization. Our Lord and God came to earth as a humble man so that He could show us the Way to go and lead us as He went the way to back to God. Jesus truly did "know the way, show the way, go the way" as the greatest leader and teacher of all time. He taught us to worship and obey God in reverential fear and love. Jesus provides the connection and linkage so that we can have the power of the Holy Spirit in us moment to moment. With the two legs of Faith and Salvation, we can come to know God's love. Then all things are possible.
Today's mediation: (from F. B. Meyer's great works)
June 10
GOD'S PROVIDENTIAL CARE
"Seek not what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you."-- Luk_12:29-31.
AT THE time when our Lord spoke these words, the fields of Palestine were carpeted with wild flowers, and the air was redolent with their fragrance, bespangling the pastures, clustering in the hedge-rows, and hiding in the woodland glades. Theirs was as careless a life as that of the birds which were flying overhead. "They toil not, neither do they spin." For some plants, like the exotics of the greenhouse and nurseries, there must be extreme care and expense in their cultivation, in the provision of heat and the experienced skill of the horticulturist. But our Lord was not alluding to these, but to the flowers of the grass, which grow amid the wilds of nature, or in the gardens of the poor, and to Him these were very beautiful.
This prodigious growth teaches us that God loves beautiful things, and expends thought and skill in their production. He might have made the world without a daisy, and human life without the beauty of childhood. But since He clothed with beauty the short-lived flowers of the wilds; the ephemeral insects of a summer day; the shells of the minute creatures that build up the solid fabric of the rocks--surely this prodigality, this lavishness, this prolific superabundance of creativeness, must mean that He can and will withhold no good thing from them that trust Him.
Of course we must fulfil our part! We are not to be careless and improvident; we must certainly sow and reap, and toil and spin; but when we have done all, we must rely upon our Heavenly Father whose good pleasure it is to give, believing that it is vain for us to rise up early, and sit up late, and to eat the bread of sorrows, for our God will give us all that we need, even whilst we sleep. He will not allow His trusting children to starve, or to go unsheltered, unclothed, and unshod. "Fear not, little flock," says the comforting voice of the Good Shepherd, "for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
PRAYER
Gracious Lord, grant to me, Thy poor needy creature, sometimes at least to feel, if it be but a small portion of Thy hearty affectionate love; that my faith may become more strong, my hope in Thy goodness may be increased, and that love, once kindled within me, may never fail. AMEN.
God bless you and keep you, may His loving goodness increase your faith, give you hope, and fill your spirit with His Love.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Thursday June 10
At long last the final day of school for this year is here. The excitement, the anticipation, the deep breath of air... and another year has passed.
This is my first full year of teaching in 7 years. I really pushed the limits this year, but it seems God has brought me to where I am needed. It has been challenging but most fruitful.
I thank you and praise You my Lord and my God. I could not have done anything without Your love and blessings.
Today's meditation is from Bob Hoekstra:
Living to please self is the ultimate disobedience to God. As God's children, we want to live for His approval. "Walk as children of light . . . proving what is acceptable to the Lord" (Eph_5:8-10).
The means ordained for us to actually live pleasing in His sight is God at work in us: "the God of peace . . . working in you what is well pleasing in His sight." We cannot properly live obedient, pleasing lives for God, unless we look to the Lord to be working within us. If we are to be faithful representatives of the Lord here on earth, we need Him working through us. "Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God" (2Co_5:20). This is how the early church effectively pleased the Lord in their service. "For He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles" (Gal_2:8).
Ultimately, pleasing God by doing His will is an internal matter of the heart. "That He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints" (1Th_3:13). When our Lord returns, He wants to find obedient children. He wants His followers to be "blameless in holiness before our God and Father." This is only possible as we allow our God to do a spiritually stabilizing work deep within us: "That He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness."
This is my first full year of teaching in 7 years. I really pushed the limits this year, but it seems God has brought me to where I am needed. It has been challenging but most fruitful.
I thank you and praise You my Lord and my God. I could not have done anything without Your love and blessings.
Today's meditation is from Bob Hoekstra:
June 9
God Working in Us What Pleases Him
Now may the God of peace . . . make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Heb_13:20-21)Once again, our attention is focused upon Hebrews 13:20-21. In the two previous devotionals, we saw that the God of peace makes obedience available to us through the blood of Christ and then equips us to do His will. Now we will see that this involves God working in us what pleases Him.
Obedience is about pleasing God, doing "what is well pleasing in His sight." This is why Christ died for us. "He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again" (2Co_5:15). Living to please self is the ultimate disobedience to God. As God's children, we want to live for His approval. "Walk as children of light . . . proving what is acceptable to the Lord" (Eph_5:8-10).
The means ordained for us to actually live pleasing in His sight is God at work in us: "the God of peace . . . working in you what is well pleasing in His sight." We cannot properly live obedient, pleasing lives for God, unless we look to the Lord to be working within us. If we are to be faithful representatives of the Lord here on earth, we need Him working through us. "Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God" (2Co_5:20). This is how the early church effectively pleased the Lord in their service. "For He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles" (Gal_2:8).
Ultimately, pleasing God by doing His will is an internal matter of the heart. "That He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints" (1Th_3:13). When our Lord returns, He wants to find obedient children. He wants His followers to be "blameless in holiness before our God and Father." This is only possible as we allow our God to do a spiritually stabilizing work deep within us: "That He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness."
Not surprisingly, all of this working of God within us is done "through Jesus Christ." It is all based upon who Jesus is, all that He has done for us, and all that He alone can accomplish as He lives in us!
Lord God of peace, I long to live pleasing in Your sight, holy and true. Please do Your effective work deep within my heart, through Jesus Christ, my Lord, Amen.
It is not easy, this thing called life. But, with God all things are possible. Without God, it is all vanity.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Tuesday June 7
My how time changes things. In my short life I've seen our country grieve and honor the brave men of World War II, saw the war in Viet Nam grow, become hopeless and then the panicked rush to evacuate, two major wars in Iraq and Afghanistan... yet, yesterday was June 6th, the day of the Normandy invasion and not a murmur of memory was said about one of the most horrific battles for freedom ever. And just as quietly today, June 7 has rolled in and life goes on. Indeed it seems TIME is the healer and duller of the memories.
Today's meditation:
Yet, through His Son, God reached out to offer us peace. "For He Himself is our peace, who . . . abolished in His flesh the enmity . . . making peace . . . through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity" (Eph_2:14-16).
This sacrifice on the cross was effective, because the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead with victory over sin and death: "the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead."
At the cross of Christ, the blood was shed that brings eternal blessings to all who believe in Him: "through the blood of the everlasting covenant." The Lord promised these eternal benefits to His people through the prophets of old. "And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me . . . Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them" (Jer_32:40 and Eze_37:26).
The blood of the new covenant of grace secures these benefits: "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you" (Luk_22:20).
This shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is able to cleanse and forgive forever all who humbly trust in Him. Also, that shed blood of the new covenant (God's new arrangement for living) supplies the adequacy we need from God for the obedient life He has called us to live: "Our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant" (2Co_3:5-6).
Today's meditation:
June 7
The God of Peace Making Obedience Available to Us
Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will. (Heb_13:20-21)These powerful verses continue our inquiry concerning a life of obedience. They conclude with what results when God is allowed to do His work in our lives. We become "complete in every good work to do His will." This hope is made available to us by "the God of peace."
We all started out in life at war with God. Although we may not have been aware of this fact, we were enemies of God: "You . . . were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works" (Col_1:21). We were disobedient by our very nature: "the sons of disobedience . . . by nature children of wrath" (Eph_2:2-3). Yet, through His Son, God reached out to offer us peace. "For He Himself is our peace, who . . . abolished in His flesh the enmity . . . making peace . . . through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity" (Eph_2:14-16).
This sacrifice on the cross was effective, because the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead with victory over sin and death: "the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead."
At the cross of Christ, the blood was shed that brings eternal blessings to all who believe in Him: "through the blood of the everlasting covenant." The Lord promised these eternal benefits to His people through the prophets of old. "And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me . . . Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them" (Jer_32:40 and Eze_37:26).
The blood of the new covenant of grace secures these benefits: "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you" (Luk_22:20).
This shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is able to cleanse and forgive forever all who humbly trust in Him. Also, that shed blood of the new covenant (God's new arrangement for living) supplies the adequacy we need from God for the obedient life He has called us to live: "Our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant" (2Co_3:5-6).
Dear God of peace, I praise You for the shed blood of Jesus, changing me from Your enemy to Your friend. I thank You for also making obedience available through this new covenant of grace. I humbly ask that You teach me to live in dependence upon Your sufficiency, Amen.
May God grant you Peace and His Love to live in utter Obedience to His Will.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Monday June 6
Are you saved? Are you a Christian, a person who accepts Jesus Christ as your Savior, your Redeemer, Lord and God? If not, what are you waiting for? It's the easiest thing to do and the hardest thing to live up to!
Just confess that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died for your sins and ask Jesus to forgive your sins and make you one of His, one of God's children. That's it, confess with your mouth that Jesus is the Christ and you will be saved!
Now you are a child of God, one of His chosen ones, and nothing else is more important than that!
Todays meditation is from F.B.Meyer:
Just confess that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died for your sins and ask Jesus to forgive your sins and make you one of His, one of God's children. That's it, confess with your mouth that Jesus is the Christ and you will be saved!
Now you are a child of God, one of His chosen ones, and nothing else is more important than that!
Todays meditation is from F.B.Meyer:
June 6
HOW TO MEET DISCOURAGEMENTS
"Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.'-- 2Co_4:17-18.NOTICE THE marvellous antithesis of this chapter: light and darkness; life and death; pressure, perplexity, pursuit, and persecution; but side by side, victory, elastic hope, and the brightness of Christian faith. The decay of the outward man and the renewal of the inward; the light affliction and the weight of glory; the brief moment of earth's pilgrimage contrasted with the eternity of reality and bliss.
It is very important that we should not miss the mighty blessing which is within the reach of every troubled soul. Of course it is quite possible to sit down before troubles and afflictions, hopeless and despairing, confessing that we are over-powered and defeated; it is also possible to be hard and stoical, bearing adversity because we cannot help or avoid it, bur the highest Christian way is to be thankful that the earthen vessel is breaking if only the torch will shine out; to be content that the dying of Jesus should be borne about in our mortal body, if only His life will thereby become manifest.
When through the deep waters I call thee to go, The rivers of grief shall not thee overflow; For I will be with thee in trouble to bless; And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
PRAYER
Fix my heart, O Lord, on Thyself, that amid the changes and chances of this mortal life I may be kept steadfast and unmoveable and ever abounding in Thy work. AMEN.
Now you have it all. No, not wealth or all that, you have God's love and His promises. No matter what happens, God will love you and care for you!
Have a blessed day in God's love.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Sunday June 4
First Sunday of June. Spring has given way to Summer and the temperatures are really getting up there. How are things where you are? Real soon people will be complaining about the heat, the storms, the bugs, and will wish for the cool of Autumn and Winter. The wonders of the seasons!
Today's meditation from Bob Hoekstra gives us insight into the life of true surrender in our Lord.
We have been considering from various perspectives the great truth that God wants us to grow in obedience to His will. The lordship of Jesus makes disobedience unacceptable. "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say? " (Luk_6:46).
Also, our Lord taught His early disciples to be instructing all future disciples concerning obedience: "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you" (Mat_28:20).
Our present passage offers profound insight on this matter by describing God working in us unto obedience. "It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."
Today's meditation from Bob Hoekstra gives us insight into the life of true surrender in our Lord.
June 5
God Working in Us Unto Obedience
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (Phi_2:12-13)
Also, our Lord taught His early disciples to be instructing all future disciples concerning obedience: "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you" (Mat_28:20).
Our present passage offers profound insight on this matter by describing God working in us unto obedience. "It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."
This subject is introduced by a call to "work out your own salvation." Notice, we are not called to work for our salvation. Salvation is a gift of God's grace, freely received by faith.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Eph_2:8-9).
Still, this gift of salvation that God has placed within us by His grace is to be worked out (developed outwardly) unto an obedient life, a life that fulfills "His good pleasure."
This calling is to be approached in "fear and trembling." Initially, our temptation may be to approach this request with unabashed self-confidence.
Eventually, we begin to understand that we must respond in "fear" [a reverential awe] and "trembling" (a profound sense of inadequacy). The next phrase explains why we are to engage this responsibility with such unusual attitudes: "for it is God who works in you."
If the salvation that God has placed in our inner man is to ever become a visible walk that pleases Him, it will always be a result of us allowing Him to do an ongoing work deep within us. "I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts . . . you are manifestly an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart" (Jer_31:33 and 2Co_3:3). This is the wonder of true Christian living. It is based upon God working within our hearts.
Dear Lord, I praise You for the precious gift of salvation You have poured into my heart. I earnestly desire that this gift be worked outwardly unto a life that is pleasing to You. Lord, please touch and shape the depths of my heart that I may obey You in all things, in Jesus name, Amen.
I pray that you will have a blessed day, fulfilling God's will for your life today and always.
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