Sunday, November 15, 2015

REBOUNDING IN FAITH



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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten. Lord Almighty, You who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see Your vengeance on them, for to You I have committed my cause.”

Jeremiah 20:11-12

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s devotion, we saw a very frustrated prophet in Jeremiah, aggravated by the challenges and persecution he faced while serving as God’s messenger. We also examined how we too might find ourselves frustrated in trying to carry out the Lord’s calling as those we try to minister to are not always receptive to hearing the messages God gives us. In the worse case scenarios, we may end up insulted, ridiculed, or even attacked verbally, physically, or both for the cause of the Lord.

So how do we respond to these times of frustration when they begin to take root inside us?

We can find an answer to that question in two verses today as we continue our study of Jeremiah 20. Look at those words again here:

“But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten. Lord Almighty, You who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see Your vengeance on them, for to You I have committed my cause.”  Jeremiah 20:11-12

In looking at Jeremiah’s time of service to the Lord, we see that persecution and abuse can come with the territory of being a messenger of God’s will and word. In fact, Jesus warned His disciples (and that includes all Christians today) that there were those who hated Him for the ministry work He did and since the disciples were associated with Jesus, they too would be hated. Indeed, today we are finding Christians hated and even executed for their work in the name of Jesus.

It’s enough to scare anyone away from actively working for the Lord if it weren’t for a blessed assurance we can hold onto, an assurance that instills hope, confidence, and boldness within us.

What is that assurance?

Jeremiah said it well:

“The Lord is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten.”

Paul puts it like this in Romans:

“If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
“For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Romans 8:31-37

The Lord is a mighty warrior. There is no one who can match or even rival His power. With Him on our side, we cannot be defeated because when He is with us, no one can stand against us. No one.

There is no person who can bring a charge against us when we are fully immersed in the Lord’s work and certainly, no one can take us away the love of Jesus from us. That love saved us and that love continues to bless and save us even to this very minute. We are more than conquerors through Christ and because of that truth we can stand absolutely victorious against any and all adversaries.

In the face of trouble, God has and will continue to be our refuge and very present help in times of trouble. All we need to do is maintain and sustain our trust in Him, rebounding in faith just as Jeremiah did.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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