In His Love and Glorious Service

JANUARY 1 “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1 (NKJV) The first beginning had no precedent as we know it, only the “I AM.” While you, others and I have a variety of years before this 1st day of the New Year, God had an eternity. Eternity is not a precedent because we cannot understand eternity. Our minds and intellect are limited, so to try and understand the intellect of an eternal being is impossible. It is beyond human comprehension. Our days have a beginning and an end. We then move on to the next day, which has a beginning and an end. An Olympic runner or swimmer has a beginning and an end to a tenth or even a hundredth of a second. Our lives have a beginning at conception and an end when we breathe our last breath. It is at this point that our souls leave our finite intellect and are translated into the eternal realm. This realm initially populated only by God, has neither beginning nor end. When John writes that the Word was with God and was God and was there at the beginning, what beginning is he talking about? Since God had no beginning as we understand, he must be referring to the beginning of our material world at creation. Out of an eternal wealth of Glory, we came forth from the Words spoken by the Father through the Son. No philosopher can pretend to understand this, although they may try. Perhaps a form of understanding can come in comprehending God’s calling Himself “I AM.” In an effort to help us cope with our lives the Holy Spirit speaks to our heart and in each individual moment of our lives, we live. We live as He reveals to us through our own consciousness, the glory of our present being. Paul tells us in his letter to the Philippians to “forget what is behind and press on…” (Philippians 3:12). LIVE! But live only for this moment. God holds our future in His hands, but like a picture taken in a camera with film, it must be developed in order to see what it really is. That development is a process. A book is developed from the first word and as we read on, the fulfillment of the books message is brought forth, word by word. If we cheat and read just the first word then go the end, we have missed out on the development of the characters and plot, and thus will not have a true understanding of what the author is trying to say. God wants our lives to develop and in that exercise of living, we can come to understand a piece of God’s glory as each moment builds on the last. This is the precedent we now have. Immediately after God created the world, a past was created and a future left to unfold. This is all we can try to understand. I do not marvel at precedent nor wait in anxiety for what is to come. Simply, I live in this moment and I pray that God be glorified in the precedent I am setting for the next one. Thy precedent now gone to thee, Thus look at what unfolds, As living in each moment brings The glory not yet told. From January 4: I am at yet another crossroads in my faith. I can continue to build on the past failures that will certainly envelope my mind and constantly remind me that God has deserted me, or I can forget what is behind and with great determination focus on the God of Abraham who willingly awaits my trust to deliver me from all my troubles. "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14 The pain is never enough to carry my faith into that plateau of trust, but the willingness of my heart to deny it’s precedence in my life can help me in focusing on my God who will heal and deliver me. From January 5: “But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you.” Matthew 5:44 (KJV) I have come to realize that I have a great lesson to be learned in ‘loving my enemies.’ I find it incredibly difficult to give blessings to those who would curse me, or to do good to someone who hates me, much less pray for a man or woman who despitefully uses me.” In the all in all it would seem that I have failed, and I am walking a path alone, for this does not agree with God.... ....Beloved of Christ, this scripture and answer can be summed up in a universal saying about getting in shape: "No pain, No gain!" Clearly, if we want to be in glory with God, we will have to also partake of the sufferings of Christ. The medicine may taste horrible, but in the end healing will come. I read His Word and think it through Then still do I confess How troubled is my mind and heart When filled with emptiness. From January 29: “Ye that love the Lord hate evil. He preserveth the souls of His saints; He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. Psalm 97:10 (KJV) Often I am reminded of how blessed and ‘prosperous’ I am. The conveniences of modern times are just astounding. I am surrounded by ease and comfort and thus, it has become a great desire in my life to maintain those comforts and keep my life in a state of ease. After a time, I have found I begin to love these very things and the attachment to them has weakened me. When my 188,000 mile car breaks down and I have not the money for a new car, I begin to question God and His faithfulness. I moan and complain about the 1800 bucks I have to spend to repair a car worth only 1000 at best. And then as I pick up my car I notice a brand new luxury automobile sitting in front of the store next to another late model brand of vehicle. I begin to feel slighted and jealousy begins to creep into my soul. My beloved, this is sin. The very comforts that the world has bestowed on me have taken me from a reliance on God to a reliance on the world. And thus, in a way, I have begun to love the world. Weakness has overtaken me. The temporary comforts of My world so filled with pain Prevent me from dependence in The glory of His rain. From FEBRUARY 4: “Heal me, O Lord and I shall be healed; Save me and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.” Jeremiah 17:14 My Soul just wouldn’t listen to the words of wisdom spent, by my God who cares about me and whose healing balm He sent. “So stubborn have I been Lord when you gave me all I needed, then I prematurely harvested the ground that you had seeded. Oh No! I couldn’t wait Lord, for your answer was too slow. I kept on trying to steer myself, when you said just to ‘row.’ Oh Lord, I ask your mercy for a man so filled with shame. I’ve hurt and wept and then I gave excuses that were lame. But You, my God, You never left. You stayed right by my side and offered me the balm to heal the wounds that made me cry.” You said, “My son- just listen to my words I have to say. You must begin to change yourself and walk in ALL my ways. I promise you, you’ll see it through. The pain will disappear, because the’ balm of Gilead’ has always been right here.”