IN TUNE WITH GOD

 

Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the LORD came upon [Elisha]….  (2 Kings 3:15b)

Musical instruments need to be tuned.  Time and use take their toll and the result is that the same keys or strings may be struck on different instruments, but will have a different sound.  That’s not good.  We can also be out of tune spiritually.  There can be no harmony with God until we get in tune with Him.   Are our thoughts, motives, and passions in alignment with His?  Elisha was a man in tune with God.  There are several lessons concerning this in 2 Kings 3.

There can be a DROUGHT OF A WORD FROM THE LORD (v.1-10).  King Jehoram wasn’t in tune with God.  While the text acknowledges that he wasn’t quite as bad as his perverse parents, Ahab and Jezebel, he was still an idolater.  He didn’t hear from God because he worshipped idols rather than the true and living God.  If we depend on the arm of flesh we can’t be lifted by the arm of God.  If we listen to the wisdom of the world, we can’t receive the Word of the Lord.   Thus, the army found itself in a wilderness without water.  They would become weak and be defeated. Isn’t that a picture of God’s army today? Here we are a church of Christian soldiers in a spiritual wasteland.  The drought we are experiencing is a scarcity of the water of the Word of God. 

This brings a DEMAND OF A WORD FROM THE LORD (v.11-19).  Perhaps our drought will elevate desire to the point of desperation.  We must demand a Word from the Lord.   Bring a man of God with a message from God! There will always be someone in tune with God, if we take time to listen.  Elisha did not answer because of the plea of Jehoram, but because of his association with Jehoshaphat.  The King of Israel was undeserving of a response, so Elisha did it for the King of Judah’s sake.  Thus, we can cry out to God in faith that He will answer, not for our sake—we are undeserving—but for the sake of another, the King of kings, Jesus Christ.  We pray in His name.  This was a matter of faith.  They were to prepare themselves to receive water, although there was not a cloud in the sky.  They were to dig a channel to receive the miracle God had for them.  We are to make our lives channels to receive the flow of truth and then God will send it.  How?  We must dig into the Word and pray to the Lord.

Then comes THE DELIVERANCE BY THE WORD OF THE LORD (v.20-27).  Great things happen when we get in tune with God.  The people of God went from impending defeat to overwhelming victory!  That’s what happens when we get in tune with God.  Everyone recognized that it was God who brought the victory and not man. God works in such a way that He receives the glory.  A church that draws crowds through gimmicks and compromise will have only that—a crowd—and they’ll get the glory.  But, it is a stench in the nostrils of God.  The church, however, that is built on the faithful preaching and teaching of the Word of God in the power of the Spirit will produce disciples and God will be glorified.  Let us personally get in tune with God, lead our family to be, and insist that the church is!

HOW TO PRAY FOR OTHER CHRISTIANS

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you….   (Col.1:9a)

Often we pray wholesale when we should pray retail.  General prayers are generally pointless!  We pray, “Lord bless so and so…” and how would we know if He did?  Prayer needs to be specific.  Blind Bartimaeus cried, “Son of David have mercy on me.”  Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”  When he asked for sight, Jesus opened his blind eyes (Mark 10:46-52).  It is also true that prayer must align with God’s will if we are to expect an answer.  The will of God is in the Word of God, so prayers grounded in Scripture unleash the faith that moves the hand of God.  Paul’s prayer in Colossians 1:9-11 is one that we can confidently pray for other Christians.

PRAY FOR THEIR WISDOM, “that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (v.9b).  How valuable this is!  When Solomon was given a blank check from God, and could ask for anything he wanted, the young king requested wisdom—and God was so pleased with that He threw in everything else along with it!  No wonder Solomon would later write in Proverbs that it is worth more than gold!  Every day brings a multitude of choices.  It is not always a matter of choosing between right and wrong—which is more readily apparent—but can be a choice between the good and the best—and that is more difficult.  God will enable us to see what lies ahead—“wisdom”—and to see what lies behind things—“spiritual understanding.” 

PRAY FOR THEIR WALK, “that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him” (v.10a).  Discerning the will of God should direct our walk with God.  Convictions should set our course.  Some folks just get a big head from what they know, when what is needed is a burning heart for what we should do!  Our walk is to be worthy of the precious name that we bear—the name of Christ.  Peter tells us we “should follow His steps” (1 Pet.2:21).  Our prayer is for a life that is fully pleasing to God.  We pray for our brothers and sisters to have a passion for His pleasure as did Paul when he wrote, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”  (Phil.3:14) 

PRAY FOR THEIR WORK, “being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy” (v.10b-11).   Our head—discerning God’s will—our heart—directing our walk—and our hands—doing God’s work—leads us to fruitfulness, forcefulness, and faithfulness.  Our prayer for the saints is that as they abide in Christ they will bear much fruit for the glory of God (see John 15).  This connection to Christ causes His very life to flow in force—a divine energizing—for supernatural service.  Satanic opposition is guaranteed, but God gives endurance that is greater still, so we do not give out, give in, or give up!  We can even smile in the struggle and sweat—full of joy!  This doesn’t arise from self-reliance, but spiritual dependence.

Pray this for your fellow Christians.  I know I want you to pray this for me!  By the way, it would be good to seek this for yourself also.  Just a thought.

DELIGHTING IN DIFFICULTIES

 

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.  (James 1:2-5)

We are to rejoice in all seasons of life—even the difficult ones may be counted as delight.  We can do so, because God is good.  That is an immutable reality no matters the changes in our circumstances.  We may walk with a warm summer breeze at our backs or a cold winter blast in our face—yet God is good and His will is perfect and precious.

As we consider our challenges, we not only choose to rejoice despite them, but to calculate pure joy from them, and what those trials sent by a sovereign God are accomplishing in us.  No matter the nature of the trials—and they come in many shapes and sizes—each one is formative to faith.  An untested faith is an unproven faith.  Physical muscle is only developed by resistance, and so spiritual strength only comes by exercising our faith.

The race of life is a grueling marathon.  We run on a rough track, and it trains us to endure.  The ongoing discipline of it builds spiritual stamina so we may finish the race strong and triumphant.  None become chiseled champions for Christ without the varied rigors we encounter.  Here is how a robust faith is produced.

Whether we like it or not—the truth is—we live in a fallen world, where there will be little advancement in godliness without adversity.  Spiritual maturity is rooted in rocky soil, on a cliff-side that at times is scorched by the heat of the sun of trials, or drenched by the storms of hardship, but always nourished by grace.

Seeing life this way does not come from a worldly perspective.  The natural man scrupulously avoids anything seeming to be painful.  It is an instinctive reaction.  But God offers His wisdom on the matter.  This view from heaven is ours for the asking.  We may receive the insight to see how God is at work.  Seek His way on how to properly respond to the trial rather than praying for Him to remove the trial.  There is an ample supply of understanding that God is willing to give.  Do you recall how God taught Joseph, in the saga recorded in Genesis—that He had sent him into his trials to prepare him for a glorious purpose?

May God give us wisdom in His ways—that we may not waste our sorrows.  The trials are unavoidable, but can become usable to mature us and mold us into the likeness of Christ.  As we see this development, we learn to delight in difficulties.

THE STEPS OF GOD’S MAN

 

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD,

And He delights in his way.  (Psalm 37:23)

Our business is to seek by the grace of God to show the goodness of God in our walk, and the business of God is to provide His guidance in our way.  The good man or woman is godly—and the Lord finds pleasure in establishing our path.  This road is ever a good road, but is not always an easy road.  The beloved old hymn puts it like this:

In shady, green pastures, so rich and so sweet,
God leads His dear children along;
Where the water’s cool flow bathes the weary one’s feet,
God leads His dear children along.

Refrain

Some through the waters, some through the flood,
Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.

Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright,
God leads His dear children along;
Sometimes in the valley, in darkest of night,
God leads His dear children along.

Refrain

Though sorrows befall us and evils oppose,
God leads His dear children along;
Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes,
God leads His dear children along.

Refrain

Away from the mire, and away from the clay,
God leads His dear children along;
Away up in glory, eternity’s day,
God leads His dear children along.

Refrain  (George A. Young)

Joseph is a classic case.  His serene stroll through flowering fields on mission for his father, in search of his brothers, suddenly turned to trouble.  It took him into a pit, sold as a property, facing a sinful peril, forgotten in a prison—but, then elevated to a palace!  God was ordering that good man’s steps, but, surely, he must have wondered at times.  I know I do.

God knows what we do not.  We live life forward, but understand it backward—how the way of difficulties faced is the way of dreams fulfilled.  This is the providence of God, that calls for patience that we might ultimately see the promises realized.  “But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.”  (Romans 8:25)  By patience we possess the promises.  Disappointments are His appointments, if we are His.  Never forget that delays are not denials—journey on in faith.  Spurgeon said it well, “By patience the snail reached the ark!”  The way of the good man is the way of the cross—but, the way of the cross leads home!

It is an old cliché: “Haste makes waste.”  Most often it is true.  “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.  For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise”  (Hebrews 10:35-36).  We are too quick to discard our confidence as being worthless, when had we persevered we would have been richly rewarded.

Lord,

I can be so impatient!  That is sin.  I am sorry that I have sometimes been so quick to quit when the path became dark, steep, just creeping along, and even brought to a standstill.  Had I continued on, what blessing I might have known!  You know I chafe at the unexpected traffic jam on the highway of life, or the detour that I think diverts me from my destination, when it is directed by You to take me to my goal.  I do not know what this day will bring.  Remind me that its events are in Your sovereign hands.  What is in my hands is to pursue being a good man, and then I will be a guided man and a graced man.  You have promised to direct and delight in one who desires the Highway of Holiness.  Best of all, You will walk with me!  What more could I want?

In the Name of the Good Shepherd, Jesus,

Amen!

FROM MISSION IMPOSSIBLE TO MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

 

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. (John 4:34)

The TV series and the movies that followed were entitled, “Mission Impossible.”  The assignment given to the heroes in the plot line was not to be taken lightly, for it was a mission seemingly impossible.  What happens as the story unfolds?  It becomes mission accomplished!

None has ever been given a greater assignment than the mission Jesus was given “to seek and to save that which was lost.”  (Luke 19:10)   The mission that brought Him into this world dominated His thinking, so much so that as He infiltrated Samaria, and was hungry, Christ was more consumed by doing His Father’s will than with consuming food!  He knew His time of ministry opportunity was short and that filling His moments with meaning was more important than filling His mouth with meat.  He would eat again later.  But, for now—and for numerous times, such as fasting forty days in the desert—the appetites of the flesh were subservient to the hunger for fulfilling God’s will. 

Someone will argue, “But we have to live!”  Do we?  Jesus said that following Him means self-denial and a sacrificial decision each day in taking up our cross.  He set the pattern and we are to follow that path.  No, we don’t have to live—we do have to die.  We die to our will that we might do His will.

This demands real faith.  We must be convinced that God’s will is always best no matter the cost.  God does not command us to do the impossible unless He will enable us in His might to accomplish the mission.  Jesus said, “With God all things are possible.” (Matt.19:26)  He told a man with a withered hand to do the impossible and stretch out his hand—and he did by faith.  Jesus told a crippled man to take up his bed and walk—and he did by faith.  He even spoke to the dead and said told them to rise—and they did!  Impossible to do?  Not with God!  By His grace, the will of God is achievable.

How could a Holy God and His sinful creation be reconciled without compromising God’s justice?  It was an apparently impossible gulf to span.  But, the bridge would be the old rugged cross.  With hands outstretched and pinned by nails, Christ would extend a hand both to the Holy God and to sinful man and bring them together in Himself.  He would be suspended between heaven and earth as though neither would receive Him, and yet in becoming accursed by God and man, He became a curse for us—bringing heaven’s righteousness down to us and bearing heaven’s wrath for us.  Jesus would cry out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30)  “Mission Impossible” was declared to be “Mission accomplished!”

Contrast that with the “impossible” assignment given to the children of Israel, and their response.  The will of God for them was clearly stated—they were to go into Canaan and conquer it.  But, their focus was on the size of the giants instead of the size of their God, and so they responded with fear.  Caleb, along with Joshua, tried to get them to focus on the strength of their God instead of the stature of the giants and to respond with faith.  Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” (Numbers 13:30)  The people would not listen and rebelled against the will of God.  That didn’t turn out very well did it?

God’s finger never points where His hand will not provide.  If we are called to an assignment, He will enable us to discharge our duty.  Can we avoid pain?  Is there a price to pay?  Most certainly there will be—but God will even transform that into something redemptive.  Our response is not to debate the will of God, but to do it.  Listening to Caleb’s exhortation, and, preeminently, looking to Christ’s example calls us to do the will of God and to finish His work.

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. (Luke 9:23)