The Better part, week #3

 This week's FB posts:

The Better part, Day #15:

Psa 109:3 They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause.

Psa 109:4 In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer.

I'm looking at my FB feed and all the people encouraging me to up the stakes of hate by supporting this one or insulting that one. If I'm not responding, it's because of this right here. God has told me to be silent and know that He is God. He has told me to pray for my enemies. He has told me to follow in David's example, and here are David's words.

You go on with your memes. I have praying to do.

 

 

The Better part, day #16:

Eph 2:5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--

Eph 2:6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

Eph 2:7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

God has been encouraging me lately, on the principle of, "I want you to see what you ARE doing, so that you can see what you CAN do." And what more encouragement can you have than the verse that we always jump over to get to Eph 2:8-9- the verse that, as Charles Stanley pointed out today, tells us that we- the new person, saved by grace- IS SEATED, not will be, in the heavenly places! Makes sense, when you consider that we will (our perspective) be with God- and God is beyond time! For Him, we're there now!

 

The Better part, day #17:

Gen 40:21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand.

Gen 40:22 But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them.

Gen 40:23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

Late last night, I heard a sermon based on the experiences of Joseph. And as I thought about it, I saw that a lot of my stress and a lot of my complaints are of a "That's not fair!" nature. One point, that you have to think about to see how it fits, the pastor made was that "God wants YOU before He wants your gifts." There was a million times Joseph could have said, "it's not fair"- including every day of the next 2 years. But God was working on something more important- Joseph's integrity. And when that integrity was honed to a fine edge, God used that gift to put Joseph at the summit of the world! If I want to "expand my territory", like Jabez prayed, I need to give to God permission to mold the character that is required.

 

 

The Better part, day # 18:

Job 36:5 "Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise any; he is mighty in strength of understanding.

Job 36:6 He does not keep the wicked alive, but gives the afflicted their right.

Job 36:7 He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous, but with kings on the throne he sets them forever, and they are exalted.

After Charles Stanley surprised me a couple days back with Ephesians 2:7, in which we are told that being saved we are already seated in the heavenlies, this very same topic- which I admit had always blown right past me- became a theme. I heard it from Michael Youseff, I hit it in Psalms 113, and a reference there took me to yet another passage that bring it up- this one. Now, you can take that as, "Here's Paul spending time in prison by looking up obscure verses in Scripture to use." Or you can recognize what all the Pastors worth their salt tell you- the Bible is one interconnected story, written by dozens of men over thousands of years, and directed by the Holy Spirit. I know which side I choose.

 

 

The Better part, day #19:

Zec 3:2 And the LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?"

Zec 3:3 Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments.

Zec 3:4 And the angel said to those who were standing before him, "Remove the filthy garments from him." And to him he said, "Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments."

Zec 3:5 And I said, "Let them put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD was standing by.

All the reminders about already being seated in heaven, even though being stuck on earth and sinning, brought this passage about the High Priest Joshua getting cleaned before the Lord to mind. And it makes me think: Once we're saved, the worst Satan can do is splash mud on us. But God has our clean attire waiting up above.

 

 

The Better part, Day #20:

Psa 116:10 I believed, even when I spoke, "I am greatly afflicted";

Psa 116:11 I said in my alarm, "All mankind are liars."

Right now, there are probably a lot of 'political' Christians going through this. But there are three prominent points to be made. The first is in the beginning of this passage- "I believed, EVEN WHEN..." Believing with the same fervor when things are spiraling out of the control you never had is very important. God's still in control. Second is where this passage is sandwiched- between praising God for preserving us, and wondering how to possibly thank Him for that preservation. The third comes some verses later: Psa 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. Not every help is going to result in a physical improvement; sometimes God cuts the thread. But if you are a saint, even that is a blessing.

 

The Better Part, Day #21:

Gen 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Gen 1:2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Gen 1:3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

Last night in my imagination, I was assembling an honest news team and explaining to them the difference between "their" truth and THE truth- and of course, I invited Juan Williams along to help them understand. I was explaining that it was like how 'science' tried so hard to establish themselves by 'proving' there didn't need to be a God for everything to exist, when the passage above clearly shows even the 'Big Bang.' Williams says, with his characteristic sneer, "Are you saying that YOU believe that the Big Bang equals 'let there be light'?" I said, "Yes, but here's what I'm trying to show you: You focus on the question that affects YOUR worldview, 'let there be light' equaling 'big bang', and totally miss the BIGGER item that this passage shows us- that the physical world was created BEFORE the universe, for how else could the planet have fit into all the 'goldilocks zones' that science tells us are necessary for life to exist? Seeing that would change your whole conception of things."

Later, I listened to a story- I won't go into details here- which showed me the key to applying this thought. It's not about what MAN can do; it's about what God can/has/will do through the agency of men. Trusting in what I can do, what I can see, short-changes the God who can do ALL.