Home »
May the Lord reign in your heart and minister through His word this day, as grace takes you from where you are, to where God wants you to be. And may it happen as you continue to seek peace and pursue it in the words of the apostle Peter that says, He who loves life to see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit; Let him turn away from evil, to do what is good; let him seek peace and pursue it. [1 Peter 3:19,11] This peace is one that comes to you by the enabling of the Holy Spirit, for it is the mind that is governed by the Holy Spirit that leads to life and peace. [Romans 8:11] The thief or the devil, on the other hand, comes only to steal, kill and destroy. And, one only has to look around at the happenings of the world that has seen random and meaningless acts of violence and death, to know how true it all is.
The Holy Spirit, works within you, by dwelling in you, to be your Counselor and Helper, when you receive the Lord Jesus into your heart, as your personal Savior. And, it leads to an experience of peace that is from God. It is one that comes through newness of life in you, for in Christ, you become a new creation. The old has passed away. You need not live like you used to live, held captive by sin and death.
How does it practically work out in your life ?
Paul in a few chapters prior to it, explains the process in a manner that brings understanding of the truth. Therefore, we were buried with Him by baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in newness of life. [Romans 6:4] It is a new way of living that comes in you through a step by step process that Paul goes on to explain in the subsequent verses of the same chapter. [Romans 6:6-13] It can be crisply summarized in four words that signify the four steps involved in the realization of it in your life.
Knowing, believing, counting and offering :
Being ignorant of the knowledge of the true living God, is a very dangerous position to be in, for it is in knowing the truth that you are set free. And believing in it is how all that is His comes to you, as you choose to put your trust in Him, the Possessor of heaven and earth. His riches become yours through a covenant relationship, the new covenant of the Blood of Christ, the Last Supper that the Lord instituted in the presence of His disciples; one that was ratified on the Cross of Calvary, where He died, only to rise again on the third day, overcoming death and the grave. Poverty is not the plan of God for you. And all because, you have a prosperous God! It is why calculating and counting rightly becomes so very important, when it comes to what transpired on the Cross. It is by knowing and believing, that the chastisement for your sins was laid upon the Savior, and believing that by His stripes you are healed, that you experience peace or wholeness within you. And for it to happen, you need to count or consider the Cross, and the message of the Cross, rightly.
‘Even so’, ‘consider’ :
They are the two key words, when it comes to unpacking and applying the truth of the newness of life in your life. Even so, consider yourselves dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. [Romans 6:11] And it is where counting comes into play, as it does in many areas in your Christian life. Moses, in the ninetieth psalm prays to the Lord asking for wisdom to number the days of our lives. And it is not about the length of your days, or the number of years that you are going to live in this world. Rather, it is about making the days of your life count, be significant and not wasteful, when it comes to accomplishing the purposes of God in your life. Robert Murray M’cheyne, was a gifted Scottish preacher, who died young, at the age of twenty nine years.
He served God therefore, not for many years, but by the time he died, there was a great revival in Scotland that saw the nation being transformed. And, in his diary, he has penned these profound words at the close of a particular day – ‘Twenty four hours have gone by, and nothing significant has happened; nevertheless, I need to make this day count’. And the truth is, as God has spoken through His servant Moses, in the book of Deuteronomy, both blessing and cursing, death and life, are before you; and it lies in your hand to calculate and count rightly to make the right choice. And it is when you calculate and count based on what Christ has accomplished on the Cross for you, that blessing comes upon your life.
Dead to sin, and alive to God :
Being dead to sin, and alive to God, are the two things that you need to count upon, and consider or calculate, in order to experience newness of life in you, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who is in you, once you are a child of God. And it can be summed up in one simple word, ‘response’.
Response :
You need to respond to God, and not respond to sin. And, when does response become impossible, when you look at it from a physical point of view? It is when the body is dead. And Paul uses this very simple analogy to convey a very powerful truth, regarding what your attitude towards sin ought to be. A simple and common occurrence, in this era of mobile communication also illustrates the point, in this era of mobile communication. Sometimes the person at the other end does not respond to your call; and you only hear a bland mechanized announcement at the end of it, saying that the person is unavailable to take your call. And, when you are dead to sin, this is what your response ought to be when it is the devil’s call! For sin is always ugly, and carries heavy consequences. You only need to look around to see how viciously wicked it can be in leading people into cruel and inhuman behavior. And thinking that you can make a deal or a compromise with the devil, is only a delusion; one that will lead you eventually to destruction.
No longer dead in sin, but dead to sin :
In the book of Ephesians, God’s word describes how, you and I, prior to our salvation, were dead in our trespasses and sins, when God reached out and made us alive. [Ephesians 2:1] Therefore now, there is a glorious difference when it comes to your connection with sin. Once you were dead in sin, but now you are dead to sin. It is why you can respond to God. And, there can be neither a neutral position, nor a stand still position, when it comes to your walk with God. For, he who is not with us, is against us, the Lord has said, and has also said that, he who does not gather, only scatters. It is the scriptural truth, that you either progress or regress in your walk with God, and do not remain as you are.
The response of the sunflower :
Even as its very name suggests, the sun flower has a very unique characteristic when it comes to the sun. For, in a field full of sunflowers, or even as a single flowering plant, you will be able to observe that the flower is always with its’ face turned towards the sun. It changes the direction of its stance according to the position of the sun, as it appears to move from the east. And, when the sun sets, it bows down its’ head, not in fear or surrender, but only because the sun has set. But, on you today, the Son of Righteousness shines, and He never sets. He is alive forevermore. And, His eye is always upon you. And, when your eye is fixed upon Him, He will lead and counsel you.
How can you make the right response ?
The God who gives you the instruction, also gives you the inspiration and the empowerment, to make the right response to Him, and be blessed and fruitful in your life. And in the book of Titus, in the word of God, is found a wonderful passage of scripture that describes how it comes about. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, Teaching us that denying ungodliness, and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in the present age, Looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. [Titus 2:11-13]
Grace teaches you to say ‘no’ :
Grace teaches you to deny ungodliness, the ways of the world, the world that lies in the sway of the devil. And when you say ‘no’ to the devil, you are by default automatically saying ‘yes’ to God. When you submit to God, you end up resisting the devil. He will automatically flee from you. It is the choice you need to make, for trying to be diplomatic with the devil, would be at your peril. And submission to God, the right choice, becomes difficult only when you are ignorant of His mission. His mission which is to bless you and make your name great; that you will always be above, never below. Grace teaches you to say ‘no’, and when you find it difficult, God will empower you to turn your back on it, to make a U turn which is true repentance. For stopping with being and saying ‘sorry’, without an accompanying change in conduct, will sadly find your life becoming a ‘sorry story’!
But on the other hand, grace teaches you to ‘say’. And your tongue is like the rudder of a ship that changes the direction of a ship, God’s word says. You can repent, and turn your life in the right direction, as grace teaches you what to confess in faith, believing in your heart, to ultimately see it come to pass in your life, a new and right direction unfolding before you. And it is never too late. It is the assurance of God, if today your heart is filled with regret. Grace is new every morning. And even this day you can turn your life around, as you enter into a personal relationship with Lord Jesus, the personification of grace, who is then with you, to never leave or forsake you, and His Spirit dwells in you. He is not a remote spectator, who offers you the word of God, and then stands aloof, having shown you the path, the right direction.
He is with you, every step of the way, through every trouble and difficulty, to instruct you, as only He can. It is why, they can come, but they can never overwhelm you. His presence with you, and in you, counts! [Isaiah 43:1,2] The psalmist counts upon the presence of the Lord, his Shepherd, to fear no evil, even when passing through a valley, the darkness of the shadow of death. [Psalm 23:4]
How does it work out in your life ?
A simple illustration of it would be, when he would teach and empower you to forgive a person, but will also ask you to wait awhile before you reach out for a restoration in relationship, because it is God who knows the inner condition, the receptivity of the other person. Following scripture according to the letter and not the spirit of it, may not always yield the right response and fruit.
Not a rule book, but a Person :
Seven steps to a happy marriage, because seven signifies completeness, may not work out right. But He is in you teach you, even as grace works in you, and it is how you are enabled to make the right response, one that leads you to experience wholesale that is peace in your life. When there is an instrument failure, in the aircraft of your life, the cause for which is not listed in the constructor’s manual, you need to stay in communication with the control tower, respond rightly to it, in a way, be in relationship with it, in order to touch down safely. God’s word, the Bible, is your manual of life, and you have the one who has written the manual living inside you, and is always your ever present help, as He walks with you and talks with you, to lead and strengthen you to say ‘no’ to the enemy. David has expressed his shock and pain on knowing that the one who had risen against him, was not a stranger, but one whom he had trusted and relied upon. Your problem too, may be uniquely yours, but you will land on your feet, as the idiom goes, safely, and not in a pit, from one problem into another.
Beautiful – and in His time :
He is in you, walking and talking with you, teaching you. You will hear a voice in you saying, This is the way; walk in it, when you need to decide rightly. It happens as you ask God in prayer, and also give Him to work. For, He is not lingering, but it takes time. For, He is the God who has made everything beautiful, but in its time.
1. You have a faithful God :
It takes time sometimes, when God is dealing with a person, to gently bring him to a place of right response. And therefore, there is no temptation that comes to you, except that which is common to man; but God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. [1 Corinthians 10:13] Even if you are suffering on account of some one else’s fault, acknowledge it within yourself, but look to the faithful God, who is also full of compassion, to be with you and show a way out of it.
2. You have a compassionate God :
God is compassionate, and it is much more than being full of sympathy and empathy, for His compassion is always an intervention that brings an end to your suffering and temptation. Lord Jesus on earth, moved with compassion, healed the broken and the sick, and does so even today. In your suffering or temptation, He remains faithful and compassionate, to be with you, showing you a way of escape, or giving you strength to endure and overcome your mountain or deep valley, whatever the nature of your problem may be. He is with you through it all, whatever the nature of your temptation may be, teaching you and empowering you to say ‘no’. He showed Joseph the way of escape from the temptation of sexual immorality, teaching him to say ‘no’, and giving him the strength to flee. But to Daniel, God gave the courageous strength to go through the lion’s den and overcome, though He could have rescued him, even when Daniel was at the very brink of being thrown into it.
Ours is not to question God, and the bottom line remains that He is a faithful God. And, He says to you even this day, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you’. What is more, He is a God who remains faithful, even when you are at times faithless, for He cannot deny Himself. [2 Timothy 2:13] What ever a person’s lifestyle might have been earlier, once he is saved, the Lord remains in him, and when temptation in the form of his old way of living tries to enter in, it has to go, when he heeds the voice that teaches him to say ‘no’. It would be impossible for you, or any child of God, to try and manage the devil’s craftiness depending on your own human wisdom and strength. And it is why, grace begins to speak and minister to you, within you, in life’s most difficult moments. How it all becomes possible, can be seen wonderfully illustrated in the life of the leader and pastor of the largest congregation, and also one with whom the Lord spoke face to face! It is seen in a wonderfully challenging phase of his life, when Moses had some calculating to do, regarding what to count, and what not to count, when accomplishing the purposes of God became his priority.
Which identity did Moses count upon ?
By faith, Moses when he became of age, refused to be called, the son of pharaoh’s daughter, Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures I’m Egypt, for he looked to the reward. [Hebrews 11:24-26] Moses refused the identity of being counted as the son of pharaoh’s daughter, one that would have given him much power in the then world where Egypt was the super power. But Moses refused it because he had the identity of the powerful God, who had all authority on heaven and earth. His reckoning and counting was solely by faith, that came by hearing God speak. And, He is in you today.
What therefore, do you hear & count, prioritize in your life?
Moses listened and counted rightly, to be called by God, ‘Moses, My servant’, and even at the end of his life, his strength was not diminished, and his eyesight remained keen and undimmed. Now, in the glorious intimacy of the new covenant, the Lord says, ‘I no longer call you servants, but I call you My friends’! [John 15:15]
HE knows, & HE reveals :
When you are His friend, in your relationship with the Lord, He will speak to you through His word, the plans He has for you, as you wait upon Him. You will know when to go forward, and when to stay, much as the Israelites were led by God’s presence in the wilderness, by the pillar of cloud. All you need to do is to fix your eyes on Him. You need to bring God into your calculations, and count upon Him, every step of the way, in your life. You need to be dead to sin, and alive to God; there is no in between position! And how it all unfolds in your life, can be seen through the words of Paul, a worthy role model, for every child of God.
What Paul counted, and what he did not count :
The Bible never minces words; ‘rubbish’, is ‘rubbish’. It is not sugar coated in diplomacy, though what is listed as rubbish may be surprising to the world, for Paul says, But what things were of gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ , Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. [Philippians 3:7,8]
Having counted he gave up something :
What the world counts as gain, is what to Paul is rubbish, for to him, what counted was knowing Christ more and more. Even the troubles he has faced, he counts as nothing, in the light of knowing the resurrection power of God, and the fellowship of His suffering, that being conformed to His death, he may also attain to the resurrection from the dead. [Vs 10,11] And he then goes on to declare another aspect of what he does not count.
Not having counted – he presses on :
He does not consider or count that he has already arrived at the point of knowing Christ completely. That would be a dangerous place to be in any person’s life, for it would stunt their growth, hindering their progress in walking in the will of God. And therefore, Paul shows what you and I need to do .
I press on :
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have already apprehended it, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press forward towards the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. [Philippians 3:12–14]
Counting rightly :
It needs to be the prayer in your heart and mine, that whatever the challenge, or area of life it maybe, we would approach it rightly, knowing what to count, and what not to count, as grace teaches us .
Numbering your days :
It is the wondrous prayer of Moses, that is much more than a literal counting of days. Rather it is about making everyday of your life count, and it requires wisdom that comes from Him. Teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom. [Psalm 90:12] And stepping out of four hundred and thirty years of bondage in Egypt, which was the blessed time line in which Moses found himself, and also appointed by God to be the leader of the massive exodus of His people, Moses goes on to pray hope and expectation. Oh satisfy us early with your mercy, That we may be glad and rejoice all our days, Make us glad according to the number of days in which you have afflicted us, The years in which we have seen evil, Let your work appear to your servants, And your glory to their children. [vs 14–16] Yes, for all your past years of pain may God satisfy you with His goodness, as grace teaches and helps you to say ‘no’ to ungodliness, refuse what you need to refuse, choose what you need to choose, prioritize rightly. And God has days of fulfillment ahead in your life. Lift up your eyes to be upon Lord Jesus, not counting that you have already arrived, but forgetting what lies behind, to reach forward, to progress in your upward call in Him.
His eyes are continually upon you. And it is when you turn to Him, your focus is fixed on Him, that the Lord, the source of all grace, begins to teach you to count rightly, to say ‘no’ to sin, and ‘yes’ to God, that you live for Him, and to Him, accomplishing His purposes, for the glory and honour of His Name. The Lord is your ever present help. Give thanks unto Him, for His abiding presence in you. And as you hear His voice of instruction and inspiration, may you be empowered to respond rightly, count yourself dead to sin, and alive to God in Christ.
In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
