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Grace takes you from where you are, to where God wants you to be. It is a pursuit of peace that sees good days in your life. And, there is a procedure; one that comes to you in the words of the apostle Peter, that says, He who would love life, and to see good days, let him keep 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 3:10,11]
Peace through sonship:
It is the nature of the peace that God has made available for you. By giving you His Only Begotten Son, the chastisement that brought your peace, was laid upon Him, that you are healed today, by His stripes. And when you believe in Him , you have the right or the authority to become a child of God. [John 1:12] You are then, a heir and joint heir with Christ, who is seated at the right hand of God, the Father. And everything that is His becomes yours, for the Holy Spirit is now in you, the Spirit of adoption, through which you now have the glorious liberty to call God, Abba Father. You are no longer a slave, or in bondage to fear, that is from the devil, but a child of the Most High God. And, what is the Lord’s, is now yours too.
‘My peace, I give to you’:
They are the Lord’s words to you therefore, a peace that is more than merely an absence of strife. It is a wholeness in you that is a process, as your mind is steadily renewed more and more, to bring about a transformation within you from glory to glory, to become more and more like Him. It is a change within you, that sees you experiencing life and peace, as your mind is led, or governed by the Holy Spirit. [Romans 8:6] You are transformed by partaking of the gospel, the good news, that is in one word, ‘Jesus Christ’, the Name above every other name, the Name to which every knee must bow, and every tongue confess, that He and He alone is Lord, forever and ever. It is the good news, the gospel that He came to preach, and was fulfilled, in the anointing upon Him, the enabling, empowering and ability of the Holy Spirit, as He testified in the synagogue. It was where, He found the place, and read from the scriptures, what was written about Him. The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me, to preach the gospel to the poor…’. [Luke 4:18]
And who are the poor?
They are the poor in spirit, as the Lord Himself has explained in His sermon on the Mount, to say, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [Matthew 5:3] The poor in spirit are the blessed ones; they are the ones who acknowledge in blessed realization, the truth of their spiritual bankruptcy. It is they who are then able to receive the riches of the gospel, that God has made available for them through the Cross of Calvary, where the poor are made rich. It comes to you all by His grace, and you receive it by faith, and not by works. And may it be you this day, as you draw near to Him, even as the wondrous hymn says, ‘Just as I am, without one plea, O Lamb of God, I come’. How immensely comforting it can be, to the one who does it, for being poor is not just about finances, even as the world tends to naturally assume it to be. A person can be rich monetarily, and yet be poor. He can be poor in his health or in having loving relationships with the people who really matter to him !It is an inability or lack that could be in any particular aspect of your life. In general terms it could be described as ‘affliction’ or ‘trouble’, as the psalmist does, when he talks about the innumerable evils that have surrounded him, his iniquities that have piled up, causing him to say of his condition, ‘I am poor and needy’. [Psalm 40:12-17]
Many are the situations and conditions that you go through in life’s journey, that can make you say it of yourself too and it is very true. Poverty, does have many shades to it, but as a child of God, in the glory of the new covenant, there is a wondrous solution to it in the divine exchange, where the Savior laid down His life on the Cross, to say, ‘It is finished’! In exploring the pain of lack, and redemption from it, therefore, where else can you begin, but at the Cross?
Lack -an absence of help in a time of need:
The psalm is a messianic prophecy of what the Savior underwent on the Cross, giving a very, very small glimpse of what He would have endured within Him. And it is rightly titled, a cry of anguish, and a hymn of praise, for it acknowledges pain and lack, and also the truth of a Savior and Redeemer, who paid it all, who emptied Himself on the Cross, so that you may never be empty! My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me? Why are you so far from helping Me? And from the words of My groaning? [Psalm 22:1] It declares the inability, the lack of help in a time of dire need, that the Lord would have gone through, the agony of being separated from His Father, for He who knew no sin, became sin on the Cross, so that you and I may become the righteousness of God in Him, as we put our trust in Him. As the psalm progresses, the words become more poignant, as it describes a pain that is greater, a lack that increases in the highways and by ways of life, when in your trouble you find that not only people do not help you, but instead they stand around you and stare. Trouble is near, and there is none to help. [vs 11] I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it has melted within Me. [vs 14] I can count all My bones, they look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them; and for My clothing they cast lots. [vs 17,18]
The Savior has been through it all, for your sake and mine; been through it, to overcome all the work of the enemy, for He goes on to victoriously declare the praises of His Father saying, You have answered Me. I will declare your Name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise you. [vs 21,22] Christ has paid it all, and risen again, breaking every chain that the enemy can bind you with, to live in your pain and lack. And, in Christ, you are never helpless, though it may appear so, in the natural realm. In your trouble, you are never alone. As a Christian, you can never be in a position of hopelessness, for your hope in Christ can never ever fail. You will never be disappointed.
LACK- when it is not knowing how or not having the power:
It was the place, a godly king found himself in; but He turned to the King of Kings, the God of all the kingdoms of the earth, even as he faced a huge army. O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude, that is coming against us, nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon you. [2 Chronicles 20:12] But, this need not be your condition, when the battles come against you, in your walk of faith. For, you are not powerless or clueless. For, you have the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. Christ in you, is the hope of glory. He is the wisdom and power of God, showing you what to do. Your very body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, who is your Counselor, and Helper.
The gospel of grace in your lack:
It was the situation, that another man of God faced in his life. He was desperate for help, as he fled from the enemy, for he did not feel strong enough to face the evil Jezebel, who was hounding him. The Bible is brutally and painfully honest in stating the truth without any cover ups! Elijah, was a man just like you and I, is the truth that hits home, when you read the words, And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. [1 kings 19:3] For sometimes it is very true in life, that having no other option but to deal with a troubling situation that cannot be postponed, you may find yourself lacking in the strength that is needed to cope with it. But the good news is the gospel of grace, that empowers you and removes your lack, for His strength is made perfect in your weakness. It is the sufficiency of His grace in your life.
LACK -when it is physical suffering:
It need not always be from outside sources; lack can stare at you sometimes physically, from within you; when it is closer to home, in a manner of speaking ! The psalmist describes the intensity of it in grim detail, I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go around mourning all day long… [Psalm 38:6-10] And when there is no soundness in your flesh, and your body is afflicted with pain, it is comfort that a person longs for; though very much in vain, sometimes. My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague, and my relatives stand afar off. [vs 11]
The psalmist’s lack in a time of suffering, is painfully relevant, even today. At times though, as in the case of Job, friends staying quiet and afar could be far better! For, when you are in a bed of suffering, what alleviates your pain, is a word, or an act, of comfort and consolation, and definitely not a lecture and analysis of the probable causes of it, that includes secret sins. And it all serves only to increase your lack , in a time of pain, and not remove it. In fact what happens often, is just the very opposite; people make sure that you are not able to recover and be well again. It is as the psalmist says, Those also who seek my life, lay snares for me; Those who seek my hurt, speak of my destruction, And plan deception all day long. [vs 12] And when the heart longs for sympathy, the answer could have been emptiness all around you, to make you say like the psalmist, Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none, And for comforters, but I found none. [Psalm 69:20] But, you have someone higher and greater.
The sympathetic High Priest:
Lord Jesus is the High Priest, who sympathizes with your every weakness, having been through it all, and so much more, giving His very life on the Cross, to redeem the fallen man, entangled in the weakness of sin. He was full of compassion, as He walked on earth, sympathizing with the suffering. He wept at the grave of Lazarus, knowing fully well that He was going to raise him back to life. When someone cries with you, it always shows that they count your pain and loss to be of value. And today, having defeated death, the last enemy on the Cross, He is the Eternal High Priest, seated at His Father’s side, pleading for you. And, when God is for you, who or what can be against you?!
‘Return to your rest…’
And, you are anointed to comfort yourself, speaking the word that God gives to you, in your time of lack. You are never without the Comforter, even when you are all alone in your pain and lack. He is the God of all comfort, who comforts you that you may comfort your neighbour, with the comfort that you yourself have received from Him.
And who is your neighbour ?
Very simply put, it is the person who comes in your life’s journey with a need, that you are in a position to satisfy. You are the good Samaritan then, whom the Lord has described in His parable. And, when you are fallen down, hurt and lacking help, you have a good Samaritan; He is the Lord Jesus, your Savior, who will never pass you by. The very fact that you are seated in His House today, is all because He has not passed you by! He is with you, in your lack, in your problem, to lift you out of it, that you may stand again. Your innate longing for sympathy, and the lack of it, He satisfies, that you may find healing through His wondrous compassion, that goes beyond mere sympathy and empathy. In doing what is needed to remedy your lack.
LACK -when it concerns your work:
We pay for the water we drink; And our wood comes at a price. They pursue at our heels, We labor and have no rest. [Lamentations 5:4,5] It looks like a picture of the economy we live in, where even things that need to come to you freely, come with a price! Work can become frustrating and stressful when there is lack; when prices rise, but your salary does not. But, you have the good news of Jesus Christ, who says to the one who is weary and labored, ‘Come to Me, and find rest in your soul’. [Matthew 11:22]
Rest in work:
Work is something ordained by God, whatever your field of operation may be, even as Adam’s work was to tend and cultivate the garden of Eden. And, the Savior therefore offers you, rest in your work, and not rest from work. It becomes possible when you can rest in the knowledge that He has done what needs to be done, and is still working it out in your life and mine. Preaching the word therefore, can be done from a position of rest, when I know that it is God who causes the increase, even as the word is being sown into your heart today.
LACK – in provision:
It can be daunting, when you are confronted with a lack in the provision that you need to live on. And the prophet Habakkuk describes it in grim detail. But it also a hymn of faith, for it goes on to declare the joy of salvation that can be yours, even in such a situation, for the Lord Himself is your strength and source, the Provider who has taken care of it all on the Cross. [Habakkuk 3:17-19] You have the good news of Jesus Christ, that satisfies your lack, even what is at the core of it all, the lack in the innermost part of your being.
LACK -for there is none righteous:
As it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good; no, not one. [Romans 3:10-12] This was the condition, that you and I, and all of humanity, was trapped in, as a consequence of Adam’s fall that led to the entrance of sin, the root cause of man’s poverty, his inability and lack.
Knowing grace:
But the God who is rich in love, rich in mercy and compassion, intervened to redeem man, to lift him up, from his poor condition. It is the gospel of Christ, that comes to you, as you know His grace, and have an experiential knowledge of it. It is what the apostle Paul implies, as he writes. For, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake, He became poor, so that, you through His poverty, may become rich. [2 Corinthians 8:9] And ‘knowing grace’ can sometimes be mere self deception, that leaves your situation unchanged. It is experiencing the grace of God, by understanding and applying the truth in your life, that brings transformation in you.
He who was unlimited – became limited:
It is the truth of what happened on the Cross of Calvary, where Lord Jesus, who was born sinless, became sin ,He was born blessed, and He became a curse. ‘Rich’, signifies much more than finances, though it includes it too. The Cross was where He became limited, taking away all of your inability and lack, your limitedness, so that you can receive and experience His unlimitedness to say, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’. It was the great exchange that took place on the Cross. And, the lack that you and I still experience in many ways does not mean that He has done an incomplete work on Calvary. For, it is your faith that comes through revelation and reason, to give you a right understanding of the truth, that connects you to it, to receive and apply it in your life.
Grace upon grace:
It is out of His fullness you have received grace upon grace. You receive without any limit, for even if He empties Himself of all grace, He still remains full! The ocean is always full; how much more the Creator of the ocean?! For God it is easy to help you.
And how does He work it out in your life?
God who gives life to the dead, calls those things which do not exist, as though they did. [Romans 4:17] What does not exist in your life, comes into being, when He speaks His word. It is how the world that was empty, dark, and chaotic, became filled with goodness, order, and light at the dawn of creation. [Genesis Chapter 1]
His word -the seed:
You may not be satisfied initially, when God gives you a word, instead of the fruit that you have asked of Him. But, in giving you the seed, He has given you fruits! He is a wonderful God. The good job that you need therefore, comes to you as a seed, through the word that He gives you; and as you confess it in faith, and follow it up with conduct that is in line with it, in applying where His Spirit gives you peace in your inner being, to then attend the interview, where His Spirit, gives you the wisdom and strength that you need, it will see you settled in a work that brings joy and fulfillment to you. The marriage relationship begins with the vow that is confessed by the couple, to then grow in intimacy and bear fruit. In the realm of faith, it begins with a confession too. As the writer to the Hebrews so wonderfully expresses it, Since HE said it, I can confidently say it. He has said that He will never leave you. [Hebrews 13:5,6] And if He is with you, He will not be just a spectator. In every trouble and lack that you undergo therefore, you have a Helper; His Name is Jesus, the Name above every other name.
He is the Eternal Word, whose spoken word, became the written word. And now, in the midst of your lack, the written word needs to become the spoken word. There is a voice that is needed to speak the written word. You are the voice, and His is the word that you speak forth. It is how every lack in your life is dealt with, whether it is in your health, your provision, your spiritual alienation, or when you feel that there is no one at all to help you. On the Cross, He has dealt with it all, so that you may live a life that is free from inability and lack. May the Spirit of the Lord lead you into the deeper waters of His love and truth therefore, and may the eyes of your heart be enlightened, to know His grace, and experience the unlimitedness of His riches in your life, to fulfill His purpose for your life, be truly blessed, and, bring glory and honor to His Name. In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
