The Weekly Word: Keep The Faith
The weekly verse
“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted over the earth.”
Psalms 46:10 (BSB)
the weekly question
Do you recognize god’s hand in your life?
In Luke Ch. 17, we find 10 men afflicted with the terrible disease of leprosy. As Jesus crosses through their town, the men desperately cry out to Him for healing. In response, Jesus tells them to “go & show themselves to the priests” (verse 14) as this was customary for validating healing. As the men go along the way, all 10 of them are miraculously cleansed of their leprosy & restored. However, we’re told that “only one came back to Jesus & gave praise & glory to God” (verse 15).
As strange as it sounds, we can live incredibly blind to how blessed we truly are. Like the other men who were healed, we can lose sight of the goodness of God as we make our way through life. In this story, only one man remembered his affliction & didn’t take his new lease on life for granted. Only one man responded righteously by giving praise & glory to God. May we also be the one who recognizes the hand of God in our life. And may we be the one who lives with sacrificial praise & gratitude in light of Jesus’ glory & grace.
the weekly Consideration
In multiple contexts of Scripture, the Greek term “dokimazo” is used in reference to “testing, approving, and examining”—so as to exercise godly discernment. This testing has an immediate application, as well as, an understanding that certain discoveries will only come through the course of time. Which is why godly discernment is ultimately a process that requires faith.
The reality is, you won’t always have a complete picture that neatly captures why God’s Spirit has given you a particular conviction. There are going to be decisions in which you’ll have a degree of certainty about, and yet, so much of the situation will still be surrounded by uncertainty. This is why the element of personal relationship with Jesus is simply indispensable.
It’s in our relational journey with God that we reestablish the depth of dependence we were always intended to have. Through the course of time, “yesterday’s” decisions of faith become infinitely clearer as we draw closer to Christ. And as we devote ourselves to Jesus, we embark on an unending discovery of what it means to know The Lord & walk closely with Him.
“And this I pray, that your love may abound more and more [displaying itself in greater depth] in real knowledge and in practical insight, so that you may learn to recognize and treasure what is excellent [identifying the best, and distinguishing moral differences], and that you may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ [actually living lives that lead others away from sin];”
Philippians 1:9-10 (AMP)
the weekly challenge
Remain Faithful
In Jeremiah Ch. 32, the prophet Jeremiah hears a message from The Lord in which he’s told to purchase land from his cousin. Given the fact that Jeremiah’s family position affords him the lawful right to buy the land before it’s offered to anyone else (verse 7), this appears to be a standard purchasing process. But based on the context in which this message comes, we see this is no ordinary ordeal.
Leading up to this point, Jeremiah had been prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem, the capture of their King, and the people being exiled under the Babylonians. And now, this prophecy was being fulfilled as the Babylonian army began to lay siege (verse 2). Given the imminent dispossession of the land, it made no sense to make this purchase. However, Jeremiah secures the deed as God told him & reveals another message to the witnesses at-hand:
“...Take both this sealed deed and the unsealed copy, and put them into a pottery jar to preserve them for a long time.’ For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Someday people will again own property here in this land and will buy and sell houses and vineyards and fields.’”
Jeremiah 32:14-15 (NLT)
As a prophetic act, Jeremiah’s deed is “preserved” for a later time of redemption. And The Lord Himself places His own seal of approval with a promise of restoration. In so many respects, this illustrates the security we have in sowing our seeds of faith in Jesus. Like Jeremiah, we must also endure & respond to the challenges that come through times of righteous judgment. But as those who are sealed with the Promised Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13), we can remain faithful as we await the restoration & glorification that God has said is still to come.
“Now I want to say something more about this city. You have been saying, ‘It will fall to the king of Babylon through war, famine, and disease.’ But this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will certainly bring my people back again from all the countries where I will scatter them in my fury. I will bring them back to this very city and let them live in peace and safety. And I will give them one heart and one purpose: to worship me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants.
And I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me. “This is what the Lord says: Just as I have brought all these calamities on them, so I will do all the good I have promised them. Yes, fields will once again be bought and sold—deeds signed and sealed and witnessed—in the land of Benjamin and here in Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the hill country... For someday I will restore prosperity to them. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Jeremiah 32:36-37, 39-40, 42, 44 (NLT)
we pray this week’s edition of “the weekly word” blesses you & the lives of those around you!
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