Taunting World, Holy Hope
Isaiah 41:11-14 NKJV
[11] “Behold, all those who were incensed against you Shall be ashamed and disgraced; They shall be as nothing, And those who strive with you shall perish. [12] You shall seek them and not find them— Those who contended with you. Those who war against you Shall be as nothing, As a nonexistent thing. [13] For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’ [14] “Fear not, you worm Jacob, You men of Israel! I will help you,” says the Lord And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
The obstacles of our lives seem like they are never ending.
As one seems to ease another is brewing waiting to take its place.
Israel was facing hardships from their enemies.
The hard reality is that we too face the hardness of man’s heart.
We have enemies that we aren’t even aware of.
Unfortunately there are people that will try to intimidate us.
There is a sense that we are trying to be dominated.
Verbal assaults and maybe physical attacks. Almost always lies are perpetrated to come against our character.
Following Christ makes it no easier. In fact the accusations usually come on harder when we do try to follow Christ and proclaim His Glorious Sacrifice!
This world is a very intimidating place to live. We see the decay of society. We are first hand witness to the sinful nature of the cold hearts that sin produces.
There is no longer a gentleness of Spirit.
It is a rarity to see someone be Christ-like.
We unfortunately live in a fallen, sinful world with many fallen and sinful souls!
It is a weight that we bear even if we are not aware of it.
Incensed is a harsh word we don’t hear very often in our modern world.
It means to be enraged or outraged.
Most times it is unprovoked.
Most times it is unexpected.
Most times it comes at the expense of our very own character.
How do we deal with the harshness that comes against us?
How do we maintain an obedience to the Lord without sinning!
The only consultation I can give you is the Word of God.
But it is sufficient
It heals the soul, eases the mind and strengthens our bones to continue to endure such attacks until His return!
John 15:18-23 NKJV
[18] “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. [19] If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. [20] Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. [21] But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. [22] If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. [23] He who hates Me hates My Father also.
It isn’t always an easy thing to just confess,
“If it happened to Jesus…”
The World Crucified Christ, a sinless, perfect man! The Son of God, God in the flesh!
Even today in our modern world they would do it again if they had the opportunity, no question or doubt!
A child of God is an enemy of the world and a target to the ruler of this world.
All evil, hatred and all that lies between are NOT of God.
Even in the Crucifiction, Satan wasn’t able to defeat Jesus. So if he is unable to hurt Christ he comes against those that are counted as His!
Any child of God is an enemy of Satan.
But we are to remind ourselves that WE ARE NOT OF THIS WORLD!
A servant is not greater than his Master.
These are words from our Lord to help console us in the times we face the reality of this world.
I must remind myself that I will be persecuted for my beliefs.
I have to walk in a manner that we all have been called me to,
Micah 6:8 NKJV
[8] He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
Easy to say. Not so easy when character assassins come to purposely try to destroy what God has restored.
Our hearts get bruised.
Our minds get filled with doubts and fear.
Our pride gets wounded.
Jesus Christ Himself warns us,
But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.
We must remember Who we are and Who has Redeemed us.
We have to shower our minds with the promises of God to soothe our minds to heal our souls.
To give strength and refresh what has been damaged.
Then we take those same promises and let them rebuild what the enemy has tried to destroy.
You are the bearer of the Good News of the Gospel.
You are the one that has been paid for with the shed Blood on that shameful Cross.
You are the one that our Precious Lord will fight for when there is no more strength to endure.
Those who contended with you. Those who war against you Shall be as nothing!
For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’
We pray for those that come against us.
We stand firm in our beliefs in Christ because that is all we have!
It is not an easy thing to stand for Jesus Christ today. It won’t be easy tomorrow or the day after that.
Times will be harsher and you may feel like you can no longer stand.
But we must all rest assured that our God will provide!
We all have an expectation of how this world and the world’s people should be. We see the Restoration that is waiting for them. We understand that saving Grace,Mercy and Love of God.
The world is going to do what the world is going to do until they submit to the overwhelming presence of God through the power of the Holy Spirit to bring conviction to a crooked heart that needs to be straightened!
Unfortunately we can’t allow the taunting or the rejection of this world to change our mind about who we are in the Lord. We have Holy Hope!
Remind yourself today who you are in Christ.
We are united to Him and to the Father because of His Sacrifice.
We are Redeemed.
We are washed and made clean.
We are restored and regenerated.
Adopted into a family that we never would have expected or deserved.
Grafted into the Tree of Life because of the One who gave up His!
We have His Holy and Precious Spirit to live inside us to remind us of all these things. To comfort us when we can’t comfort ourselves. To guide us through this world leading us back to the very Word that saved us.
Use His strength to stay encouraged today.
Rely on His power and strength to endure the pressures and taunting of this world.
Then remember that you have been sealed and marked by Jesus Christ Himself for an Eternity!
It is a taunting world but we have a Holy Hope!
Pastor Ed