It’s a new month, and while this is an opportunity for me to introduce a new series, or a new topic, I thought I would just keep going with the whole theme of trusting in the Lord. It’s something I envision those who would listen to me (a big thanks to them, by the way) would have in the back of their minds by now… But as my Mom would likely say, ‘I just want to make sure’.
Also, honestly, I didn’t really have a lot of time to go through it all. And again, it’s out of my own doing, or lack of doing for that matter. If you see my items on Evernote, you’ll see a lot of Scripture that I copied and pasted, just waiting for me to chime in just a little more, for the sake of clarification, and honestly (again) keeping up with the 1000 word a day challenge, which I guess I’m still doing this year.
Another thing in my mind as I prepare all this is that today is a special Sunday, in that we’re supposed to be promoting the school arm of our family of ministries. They’re calling this Christian Education Sunday… and, I suppose it’s automatic that if I was to contribute to the whole movement of Christian Education, it’s by way of telling the children and their parents something that some people are calling ‘basic’, something I’m calling essential: That is, that we can place our trust in the Lord, no matter what.
To that end, I thought it was just appropriate to place something from last Sunday’s newsletter into today’s handout:
“O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy— behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
2 Chronicles 20:5-12
Yes, we’re going back to the message emphasizing the words of King Jehoshaphat. Again, the back story here is that the nation of Israel at the time was hit hard with the news that the armies of three enemy nations (Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir) banded together to attack and destroy them.
Any king would have had all sorts of other reactions and responses, ranging from bewilderment to actual tactical calls, but we see one lesson here already: In spite of all the other options, good and bad, Jehoshaphat chose to pray.
Let’s break his prayer down:
- Who God Is: Jehoshaphat starts it off of proclaiming who it is he is praying to: He prays to the LORD, the God of his fathers, God in heaven. He prays to the One who rules over all kingdoms of the nations. He prays to Him in whose hand is power and might, so that none is able to withstand Him.
- What God Has Done: After praying who God is, Jehoshaphat proclaims what He has done: He drove out the inhabitants of the land He promised His people Israel, giving it forever ‘to the descendants of Abraham (His) friend’.
- He immediately follows this up by saying that they have indeed taken the land, and in the land they built a sanctuary – reminding everyone within the sound of his voice: If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’
- What’s Going On: He pours his heart out before the Lord in crying out to him, telling him about the armies coming against Israel.
- Vulnerability: He tells God they are powerless against them, that they do not know what to do.
- Trust: He says in spite of all this, that their eyes are on Him.
If you simplify it even further, you arrive at two things that happen in prayer: (1) You’re reminded of who God is, and (2) you’re reminded of who we are.
And I could end it right there, can’t I? That’s already a message on its own… but I’d like to point out, that while this is something of value already, it IS from the Old Testament… meaning, those of us in Christ can see further value in it through His finished work, and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
That last part IS crucial, because consider this: The disciples witnessed Christ’s life and death, and then His resurrection… and before His ascension, He told them to go to Jerusalem and wait. It was in the upper room that they received the Holy Spirit in the form of tongues of fire! And see, that graphical detail is already a sermon in itself waiting to be preached, I mention this only to say that just as it happened to them, we also receive the Holy Spirit, when we ourselves believe in Christ’s life, death, resurrection and ascension. In other words, we believe in Christ and His finished work, and we receive the Holy Spirit, in all His power.
I bring this all up to state that this Holy Spirit whom we have convicts the world of sin and convicts the enemy of judgment (I’m reminded of a meme I just read that states that when the devil reminds us of our past, remind him of his future) – BUT He convicts us of righteousness.
Why is this important? Well, for us to know that Christ has made us righteous, and therefore in good standing with God, gives us MORE reason to pray – Because anyone who prays, as we said, is reminded of who God is, but the one made righteous through Christ ALSO reminds himself that on top of God being the LORD and the God in heaven who rules over the kingdoms of the nations, He is not only the God of his fathers, but God HIMSELF is also his OWN ‘Abba, Father’!
Anyone who prays is reminded of who they are, but the one made righteous through Christ ALSO reminds himself that, in spite of what’s going on, in spite of his glaring vulnerabilities, he who was grafted into the tree, who was made a son and daughter of the Most High – He has much MORE reason to trust in Him!
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 3:14-15
With all this being said, it is our charge as both parents and leaders, or children and followers, to understand that we can trust in God, and we can certainly pray to Him – all because of what Christ has done. I’m not sure how this will all go down, but as Jehoshaphat said once… my eyes are on Him.
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
I just hope it goes well. It will go well.
Until the next post, God bless us all.
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