A Timely God

By D'Ann Davis

“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

2 Peter 3:9 (NASB)

Timing. God has perfect timing. The persecuted church in the first century might have struggled with this statement from Peter. Amidst struggle, death, tribulation, and pain, these believers knew the angst of waiting for Christ’s return in a way few American Christians do. Our perspective can be so limited that we read this verse and think it applies to whatever transient circumstance change we are awaiting that will elicit resolution and end discomfort. Our lives are so privileged that we miss the meaning of this text at times, that Jesus is coming back, and He will come back when the time is perfect.

Those in Peter’s day looked for Jesus’ return with great anticipation. Times were hard, and Christ was the only hope. A delayed return might have seemed to evidence an apathy or disinterest from the Father. Peter wanted them and us to know that God was not delaying out of slowness or ineptitude. He was (and is still) delaying that more might come to repentance. When Jesus returns and we face the final judgment, there is no more chance for repentance, no other shot at redemption. There are still people left whom Jesus will save, and because He is patient, He is kind to wait until those come to Him.

In His waiting, He is not slow. The Lord is perfect and patient, and He is always true to His word. In our waiting we can take heart. Our waiting is not in vain. He will stay true to His promises and promptly return when the time is right. Let us hope in Him and trust His hand, and in the meantime, let’s share this hope with all we know, that we might see them welcomed into the kingdom with us.

And We All

By Samuel Parish

And we all, with unveiled faces, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18

I don’t see very well.

At least part of me doesn’t. My right eye is significantly worse than my left, but you would never know it when I wake up in the morning. After a full night’s rest, I can see the smallest mosquito across the room in my South Carolina home, but give me a few hours looking at a computer screen and I can’t tell you if that speed limit sign says 40 or 60. It slipped away slowly over the years, and it wasn’t until I hopped a curb driving late at night that I realized I needed some help if I was going to continue my post-dinner errands.

If you have grown up in the church you are probably familiar with Paul’s proclamation in v.17 (Now the Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom). We all want to be free; we all want transformation; and Paul says that we have both of those in the Spirit. But how? Paul ends the chapter though with a beautiful vision of what we are becoming, if we will only have the eyes to see it. 

Paul’s assertion here is bold. When you see the Lord in his glory, you will be changed. Why is it then that so many of us following after God seem to live unchanged lives? Paul would say that we have a sight problem. 

Maybe you’ve see Jesus, but not as Lord. 

Our sin nature hates to come under authority. Even the light of the glory of Christ is a painful and ugly thing to the heart that is unwilling to bend in grateful submission to the work of the Spirit of God. If you read the word and find your heart cold to the things of God, do not walk away as if it’s the Bible’s fault. Cry out to your good Father to send his Spirit to bring the light of repentance to your soul.

Maybe you are still under the veil. Paul says that the law came in such glory that Moses had to cover his face because it was so overwhelming for the Israelites. But its glory was coming to an end. 

Are we so caught up in the truly beautiful things that come from God that we are missing out on God himself? God has endless pleasures for his children, but we will not be changed if we exchange the eternal glory of the giver for the fading glory of the gifts. 

Maybe….you’re just like the rest of us. 

Paul says that when we see the Jesus we will be changed from one degree of glory to the next. If you are still reading this, I’m assuming that your continued breath is a sign of the Lord’s unfinished work in your life! Because of the blood of Christ, we stand justified before the Lord. His declaration of pardon is a precious promise as we journey onward. If you aren’t yet who you are supposed to be, take heart! He who began the work will be faithful to complete it. He promises us that we will be changed!

Sated or Famished

By D'Ann Davis

“A sated man loathes honey, but to a famished man any bitter thing is sweet.”

Proverbs 27:7

Proverbs is full of practical life truisms that communicate life-giving wisdom and principles to us. In this Proverb, Solomon is using the physical body to relay a spiritual truth to us. When we are sated, or rather when our stomachs are full, we loathe even the sweetest treat. When we are famished though, we will find even the bitterest thing sweet.

Likewise, when we are filled up on the Lord, the sweetest of temptations will seem disdainful to us. We will have no space within us for the temptation to fill because we are satisfied with the Lord. However, when we do not find our fulfillment in the Lord, our souls will be starved and we will take what we can get, even if what we are partaking of is full of bitterness and death.

The bait of sin can lure us because it is seemingly sweet in the beginning. It is usually only in the aftertaste that we realize our folly.

Let’s be a people who are so full of the Holy Spirit, so satisfied in Christ, so trusting of the Father, that even the perceived sweetness of sin will hold no sway over us. Let’s leave ourselves with no emptiness, no vacuum to fill. In doing so, we will find ourselves less drawn to our ways of old because we will have found something better in Jesus Christ.

Dear Lord, we invite You to fill us with Your Spirit that we might love and serve You with all of our hearts, souls, minds and strengths. Please help us see the folly of sin and give us a distaste for it in the pursuit of You. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

What Does Healing Look Like

Adapted from Ricky Chelette's article "What Does Healing Look Like?"

You can read this article in it's entirety in the "Article" section of your app, or at http://livehope.org/resource/what-does-healing-look-like-2/

By Chris

"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

2 Corinthians 12:9

What does healing look like? A question that most of us have probably asked at one point. We know what it means to heal physically, but what do we think of when we talk about healing emotionally, relationally, or spiritually?

In short, real healing looks like Jesus.

We live in a fallen world, where brokenness and struggle and sin are present. Just as this sin separates us from God, it also causes consequences in life like brokenness, hurt, and pain. But Jesus died to be a bridge, bringing us back into relationship with God and to redeem all the broken parts of life.

But as the process of sanctification helps develop a right perspective of sin, it also leads us to become more like Jesus. When that happens, we can begin to understand what God says in 2 Corinthians 12:9; “[God’s] power is made perfect in weakness.” It is this ability of Christ to come in and fill the brokenness that allows real healing in our lives!

But what does that look like on a day to day basis? It looks like obedience.

Real healing takes time and discipline. It requires seeing sin and temptation for what it is – a momentary pleasure to medicate a long-existing, real need – and deciding choose the greater good of obedience to Christ and submission to His will and His way.

Healing is not the absence of a struggle, but rather it is the ability to choose to no longer be slave to the wounds of the past.

This is not to say that God doesn’t miraculously heal some people of their struggle in an instant. He is God and can do what He pleases. But when He chooses not too, it is an invitation to walk through the valleys of life while learning to look for Him to be the perfection that fills brokenness and brings healing along the journey with Him.

Adapted from Ricky Chelette's article "What Does Healing Look Like?"

You can read this article in it's entirety in the "Article" section of your app, or at http://livehope.org/resource/what-does-healing-look-like-2/