For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 2 Corinthians 4: 6-10, NIV.
Gracious God, here we are again in Your Holy presence. We anxiously await a Word from You, in the precious name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Today as we continue with our topic, It Is Not The Clay, But The Creator, we have come to what I will call the heart of the matter – the role of the Christian in the world. To amplify this thought, let me share with you what I consider the Christian’s job description: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Peter 2: 9, emphasis provided). Now there are several ways that the Christian can “declare the praises” of God in this world. I will mention two of those ways, but we will discuss only one: 1) By being faithful and steadfast in times of prosperity. 2) By being faithful and steadfast even in the midst of trials. We will be discussing the latter.
On the 28 of August we shared a devotional based on the prayer of Agur, entitled: “Lord, Please Give Me Just Enough!” Today, I would like us to re-visit that prayer, because I believe, it wraps up rather precisely, the two main situations in which the Christian can bring glory to God, or, as we saw in the devotional of August 28, dishonor Him. Agur asked God for just enough! Not too much, nor too little, but just enough. According to the rest of his prayer, it would appear that he was talking about material possessions, “Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God” (Proverbs 30: 9b).
But what about times of emotional, and spiritual, poverty? Scripture tells us that, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony[.]” But what about those times when you are too weak to pray, far less testify? What about those times when the very breath we breathe seems to be leaving our bodies? What about those times when there is nothing else we can do? Was it, perhaps at these times, that we are admonished, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6: 13-17, emphasis provided).
Yes my friends, Stand! And when your feet has no more strength, “Lean on the everlasting arms!” For it is then, that we will prove His promise that life with its problems may press us “hard on every side,” but it will not be able to “crush” us! We may be “perplexed, but not in despair[!] persecuted, but not abandoned[!] struck down, but not destroyed[!]” That is because the power to overcome does not come from us, but from the Savior! You see my beloved, It Is Not The Clay, But The Creator, who is mighty to save!
Have Blessed and Happy Sabbath! We will continue!