October 30
Lam 3:1-66 | PS 102:1-28 | Prov 26:21-22 | Heb 1:1-14
We can't step out in boldness until we stop living for that which is temporal and begin living for that which is eternal. Our flesh and this world is temporal, but our souls and heaven is eternal. We are given a relatively short time on this earth, not only to choose our eternal destination (as God gives us free will), but also to decide what part we will play as a thread in God's tapestry, for that is what it is really about. This is God's story. He is in charge. The Bible from Genesis to Revelation speaks forth His story, while the many characters described within its pages have their roles in His story. What is it that we cling to? Corrie ten Boom, who survived the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, and beautifully served God throughout her life, said, " I have learned to hold all things loosely, so God will not have to pry them out of my hands." People and times may be forgotten, but we read in Psalm 102:12, "But You, O Lord, shall endure forever, And the remembrance of Your name to all generations." That it is really about Him, and not us, we see in 102:18, "This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord."
You can't blame Jeremiah, as things were certainly dismal. He was weeping, absorbed in absolute misery, and then he saw his hope, as we read in Lamentations 3:21-23, "This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: Great is Your faithfulness." Taking his eyes off of his circumstances and onto God, he found comfort. As we come to the book of Hebrews, we read a letter written to Jewish Christians. They were being persecuted and there was the temptation to return back to Judaism, or to compromise their walk of grace by adding legalism. So Hebrews begins by showing that Jesus is God, and is greater than any angel, and any man who ever existed, as we read of Jesus in Hebrews 1:3, "who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,". Our hope is in what He did.
Our world is in turmoil, yet we can read with confidence Hebrews 1:13, "But to which of the angels has He ever said: "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool"?" The world is not simply moving along haphazardly without rhyme or reason. It is moving according to God's plan toward a direct purpose. The day is coming, and it seems to be moving now faster than ever, when all evil and all Jesus' enemies will be His footstool. This is not a question, nor is it an opinion, it is a fact, as God has said it. Everything on this earth which seems to have a voice, every evil movement, every corrupt leader, every depraved individual will not win. They might achieve seeming victories on this earth, but they will face reality in eternity, and it will be unimaginable for them. In the meantime, things are moving according to our God who is sovereign and very much in charge. Trust this and take peace in this.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: