April 24, 2016
Scripture:
Read Lamentations 1:12. This is a type of the Lord on the cross. We like to think about the verses like “God is love.” But can you imagine being afflicted by the fierce anger of God? We just sang, “O Christ, what burdens bowed Thy head.” It was the anger of God that did that and it was all so we can enter into the love of God for all eternity.
Hymn 201 - When we walk with the Lord
Prayer
“Trust and obey” was repeated often throughout our song. That’s what the Christian’s life is all about: trusting and obeying.
When we trust the Lord, we can know that He will direct our paths. There are sometimes, though, when we think something should happen one way, but God’s plans are different than our’s.
The story of Jericho is a great example of this. God told Joshua to walk around the wall for six days. On the seventh day the children of Israel were to walk around the wall seven times and then shout. When they did this the wall would collapse. This was the way God wanted them to take down the city. One might think the way to take a city was through a battle and force, but God told Joshua this is how they would conquer the city. God had previously encouraged Joshua and told him that He would be with him wherever he went. So, when Joshua received these instructions he was able to trust and obey, and what God told him would happen happened.
Sometimes we don’t understand why something happened and we might be afraid, but we don’t need to fear. All things are in God’s plans.
A little girl, named Hannah, had finally learned to ride her bike without training wheels. Her mother and father had promised to take her and her brother, Joe, for a bike ride after their evening meal. When all four were ready, they started. Hannah did really well. They went all through the neighborhood. There were some hills they had to go up, but she did fine. Finally, Hannah turned the last corner and came to an abrupt stop. Right in front of her was a very steep hill. She was afraid. Well, the rest started down the hill, and had gone a little way before her mother noticed that Hannah was no longer with them. She stopped, turned around and tried to encourage her to come down the hill on her bike, but she wouldn’t. Father and Mother came back and again tried to tell her everything would be OK. She still wouldn’t go down the hill. Mother then had an idea: she would get off her bike and walk beside Hannah as she went down the hill holding on the bike. Hannah agreed to the plan. She trusted her mother to take her down the hill. She knew her mother loved her, and wouldn’t do anything that would hurt her.
We see in everyday life how God takes care of the small things, and later we can trust Him in the big things.
We all know that King David was originally a shepherd boy. There were times when a lion and a bear had tried to take one of his sheep. David had trusted God for help and strength and slew both the lion and the bear. Later in his life David was talking to Saul about Goliath, the giant. David remembered the lion and the bear and knew God could deliver him from Goliath. He trusted in the Lord again, and in His strength he killed Goliath. God directed David when he trusted in Him.
Another example is Daniel’s three friends: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The king, Nebuchadnezzar, had sent up a golden image, and had commanded when everyone heard the sound of music they were to bow to the image. If someone didn’t bow he would be thrown into the fiery furnace. But Daniel’s three friends chose to honor and trust God. They refused to bow to King Nebuchadnezzar’s image. Nebuchadnezzar did have them thrown into the fiery furnace, but God protected them. They trusted in God and He cared for them.
So, we have all these stories as examples of God’s are. We can look to God even while we are young, and ask Him for help. May we all have the desire to always “Trust and obey.”
Philippians 3: 10 – 21
Besides gaining Christ at salvation, Paul received God’s righteousness. He saw how much man needed that character.
Paul then wanted to know Christ, and the power of His resurrection. There are different levels of knowledge: you can know about someone, you may casually know your neighbor, and you really know your family. Paul really wanted to know the Lord. David knew the Lord; he knew the Lord helped him fight the lion and the bear, and he knew he was fighting the Lord’s battles. Like the girl on the bike from children’s meeting—who knew her mother could be trusted—it’s good to know One who we can trust. Even if our pathway goes up and down, we know we aren’t alone.
Not only did Paul know the Lord; he knew him as a Person who had gone into death for him, and then risen again. A friend can serve your jail sentence for you, but if he dies partway through, you would have to pay the rest of the sentence, for it hadn’t been fulfilled. If he paid the whole thing, though, what was counted against you would be erased, and you could live in the power of freedom. Christ did not stay in the grave; he payed our full debt, and was raised again for our justification. We can now live in the power of His resurrection. We now have a new life; one that has no end, unlike our natural life. There’s always more to learn about this new risen life with Christ. Paul didn’t feel he knew all about it; these are open-ended things.
1 John 1:3 – 4 describes a beautiful fellowship with the Lord; but do we desire the fellowship of His sufferings? Our new nature rejoices in what God gives us, but our old nature desires sin. Do we rejoice in that? No! In being conformed to his death, Jesus helps us overcome the old nature.
Paul enjoyed these things, and wanted to arrive at the resurrection of the dead. He spoke of winning a prize one day. The Christian life is a journey, something to work on. We’re perfect in our standing before the Lord, but we need to work that out practically every day. Paul did not feel that he had arrived yet, but he had a single focus and dedication. He had purpose; to reach the prize. Our Christian life is purposeful; we have something to work for, to strive to obtain.
Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile in 1954. However, just 46 days later, John Landy broke his record, so a race was set up between the two. Landy was ahead for most of the race, but near the end he looked back to see where Bannister was, and Roger passed him and won the race. Later Landy said, “I could have won that race. I should have won it. But I looked back.” Paul didn’t look back. Christ is out in front of us, and he had a single eye toward knowing him. Following that one thing fueled the rest of his life. Like he said in chapter one, “For me to live is Christ.”
Hymn 164 – Have I an object here below
Prayer