Tags
Charles Hadden Spurgeon, Ephesians 3:14-21; 1 Peter 1:3-9, fullness of God, Guarded by God, Matthew Henry, Strength from Spirit, Word of God
Please don’t hate me for admitting this, but I am a “morning” person. Even on those rare days when there is no alarm set to be sure we start our day on time, I wake up relatively early, and rejoice in the new day. To me, sleeping in is arising at 7:00 a.m.! But by 9:30 p.m., I am fading, just when many others I know are starting to feel full of creative energy. But being a morning person or a night owl is neither good nor bad, it is just a part of the person God created us to be. He made us each different, with various gifts, to build up and support His Church.
Although He made us with infinite variety of personality, He also created us with certain similarities. We all love and have a need to be loved. All of us have hopes and fears. All are sinners in need of salvation that is provided only through Jesus Christ. These are things that unite us, despite the differences in our personalities. I stumbled upon this quote from Matthew Henry: “ Every faithful Christian is daily receiving the salvation of his soul; salvation is one permanent thing, begun in this life, not interrupted by death, and continued to all eternity.” This salvation binds us together, daily and forever. No matter what we face in this life, on this day, our salvation is sure. And that is cause for rejoicing morning and night!
And yet, we struggle. We have hard things in our lives- physical pain, broken relationships, sinful habits, or any combination of difficulties that are common to this fallen world. We know we have cause for great joy, but we are still in agony. This too is common to every Christian, even the Apostles.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3-9)
Do you see what Peter does here in the beginning of his first epistle, which was written to people who had been persecuted for their faith, forced from their homes, probably lost most of the material possessions they had? He reminds them of the imperishable, undefiled, unfading treasure their salvation in Christ is, then he acknowledges the trials they are going through, and points them again to the joy of their salvation. He also reminds us that it is God who has done all of this. God had great mercy. God caused us to be born again. God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. God grants us the imperishable, undefiled, unfading salvation. God guards both the salvation and his saved. God refines us through trials.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon commented “This perhaps will be one of the greatest cordials to a Christian in heaviness, that he is not kept by his own power, but by the power of God, and that he is not left in his own keeping, but he is kept by the Most High.” It is not my power, but that of God, the Most High that saves me and keeps me. His promises are sure. My salvation is secure.
How often I forget this in the midst of my trials. My pain overwhelms me, and I weep and moan over my plight. I think, “God, I can’t do this, it is too hard.” And it is. It is too hard for me. But then I remember it is not up to me. As Peter reminds us “who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time”. The word translated guarded is a military term, meaning protection by vigilant defense of a fortress. And as I reflect on all I know, through His Word, of God’s power, strength, might, and omnipresence, His peace lifts me from the depths of my despair.
This is not to say that I am special in any way, or a better Christian than others. I rather think that I am blessed by those who pray for me. I love Paul’s prayer for the believers in Ephesus.
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21)
I pray that the Holy Spirit may bring to your mind someone who needs this prayer today, and that you would be faithful to lift them up before the Father.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Diane