Theme: Call on the Lord at all times
Text: Gen. 15:12-21; Phil. 3:17-21; Luke 9:37-43
Words are very important. They shape our lives and determine our destiny. At Creation “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2). The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit were present but nothing happened till God spoke the Word. When God said “Let there be light” there was light. Words are important and provide the means to call on the Lord at all times.
The Lord hears because of the special relationship He has with His people. This relationship is based on a covenant and a covenant always involves a sacrifice and the shedding of blood. The ultimate sacrifice is the shedding of the eternal blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. The sacrifice of Christ has paid the penalty for sin and reconciled us to God. Christ has made us partakers of the New Covenant so that we can call God Father. God is a Covenant keeping God and as a loving Father fulfils all the promises made to His children in the New Covenant. As a Covenant keeping God, God blesses us and judges our enemies. He promised Abraham that He would bless those who bless him and curse those who cursed him. Those whom God has blessed no one can curse.
When Balak paid Balaam to curse the Israelites he was unable to do so no matter how much he tried. He tried to curse them from different locations but always ended up blessing the Israelites. How could he curse those whom God has blessed? We are even under a better Covenant than the Israelites were. The Old Covenant had to be repeated over and over again because it only covered their sin for a period. This is the reason the High Priest never sat down after offering the sacrifices. When Jesus offered up His blood He sat down at the Father’s right hand because our sins had been forgiven once and for all time. God has blessed us in Christ and no one can curse those whom God has blessed. Christ became a curse in our stead to make His abundance available to those who believe in Him.
The Lord not only hears us but also has the power to help us. He created all things and sustains all things by His power and nothing can happen that is not according to his divine purposes. The Lord is not only all powerful but self sufficient. All things belong to Him and He possesses more than we can ever need. His possessions would have been of no benefit to us if He were not willing to help us. We cannot doubt God’s willingness to help us. If Christ died for us why would He not be willing to help us? Many people today believe in Jesus Christ. They believe He is all powerful and all sufficient and can meet all our needs. They however do not believe that He is willing to meet their needs.
Jesus loved us with an everlasting love. He demonstrated that love when He was made sin with our sin so that we could be made righteous with His righteousness. The Son of God who had never known sin before took upon Himself the sin of the whole world past, present, and future because of His love for us. Not only did He take our sin upon Himself but gave us access to all His possessions and made us the inheritors of the New Testament. We are forgiven and become partakers of Christ’s inheritance when we accept by faith that Christ shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sin and has reconciled us to God.
The Lord empowers us to meet our needs. At salvation He recreates our spirit so that the Holy Spirit can live in us. The presence of the Holy Spirit is to renew our minds and bring our thinking in accordance with the Word of God. The hearing of the Word of God leads to faith. Faith believes and relies on God. The greatest hindrance to faith is unbelief. Faith gives us access to the grace of God. The grace of God is not only God’s undeserved favour but also the presence and power of God.
When Jesus, Peter, James and John came down the mountain they were confronted with a problem. A father who had heard about Jesus brought his son to the other disciples who failed to heal him because of unbelief. Instead of focusing on Christ they were engaged in an argument with unbelievers. How could they access the grace of God arguing with unbelievers? Even if the father believed in Jesus, the argument taking place was enough to make him doubt whether Jesus could heal his son. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The Word of God gives us faith to approach Christ. Christ then with perfect faith has access to the grace of God and God’s grace empowers the Word for the promise to be fulfilled. Let us locate the promise of God for our need and approach Christ by faith so that His perfect faith will give us access to the grace of God and release His power for the manifestation of His promise. Faith believes God and our faith is made perfect in Christ. Christ is waiting with open arms to welcome us into His presence where we can enjoy His abundant life. Amen!
