Fiery trials and sweet tea

“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. (1 Peter 4:12-13)

   This week I have reflected upon the suffering of Christ on the cross and what He was willing to do for you and me so that we might be saved and washed clean of all our sins. He knew what He was doing and what He had to endure to be obedient to the Father who had sent Him to live among us to be our sacrificial Passover Lamp. We don’t have to suffer for our sins. He has paid the full price and we have been declared “not guilty” even though we are so very guilty!

   So now that we have come to the realization that we have been saved and “born again” why is it that we have to still endure trials in this life? One of the best illustrations I have read about this has to do with what Steve McVey in his book “The Secret of Grace” has to say about my favorite drink, sweet tea! Yes, I said sweet tea. Mr. McVey is gracious enough to first give us a recipe for “real sweet tea:”

   “The first step in making sweet tea is to turn up the heat so the water will boil. The sugar and tea won’t permeate the water until it is very hot. This is the same way God works in people when He is preparing to reveal a beautiful creation in them. Have you ever noticed how much more receptive you are to Him when the heat is turned up in you life? When you are in hot water, you usually get into the receiving mode fast! If you have ever asked God to do something powerful in your life, then don’t be surprised when trouble comes. He may turn up the heat in your circumstances to prepare you to experience His life. The glory of having Jesus expressing His life through you requires that you pass through the fire. It’s not pleasant while it is happening, but when the process is complete the finished product is quite a treat!”

   (Read 1 Peter 4:12-13 above again)

   “Unlike cold tea and sugar, hot tea and sugar are totally compatible with each other. In fact, the sugar quickly dissolves when stirred into hot tea. Once the sugar has dissolved, the very nature of the liquid is changed. The tea and sugar are combined and will never be separated. Their distinct elements have merged together in such a way that they are now one new entity. This isn’t the case with iced tea. It is impossible to get sugar to dissolve in tea once it has been served over ice. No matter how much you stir it, the two just won’t mix.”

    “When God prepares to manifest the sweet presence of His life within us, He uses heat to cause us to be receptive to His permeating our whole being. It’s amazing how hard circumstances can cause us to warm up to His working in our lives.”

   “His indwelling life has transformed our very nature. Just as the sugar and tea have become one, we have been united with our God through Jesus Christ and can never be separated. The Apostle Paul wrote, ‘In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to praise and glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:5-6)”

   “Through your adoption in Jesus Christ you have a nature that is in union with God. This union is more than a lofty theological precept. It’s a down-to-earth practical reality that can transform the way you live your life every day. It’s the realization that our lives aren’t independent and separated from the God who created us. To the contrary, our very existence is bound up in Him. There is no God-up-there and you-down-here. You and He are one just as the Father is one with the Son and the Spirit. It is an irreversible, unchangeable union.”

   “The Bible says, ‘If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come.’ (2 Corinthians 5:17) That union is what gives you your identity. When have you heard someone refer to tea as ‘water with tea and sugar in it’? It’s nature has been changed; therefore, it is identified by a new identity—sweet tea.” (The Secret of Grace by Steve McVey, pp.42-44)

Sweet tea anyone?

    If you are a born again believer you are a “new creation!” Are you and I acting like one? Are we are allowing the Holy Spirit that lives within us to control us, and are we resting in Him everyday? If we are, then we will be acting like He wants us to, and how He has prepared for us to live for Him in this life, and in the next.

PRAY

1.    Thank You Lord Jesus for living within in me through Your Holy Spirit. Fill me  and control my thoughts, my will, and my actions this day.

2.    Help me to rest in You today, and to “cast all my cares upon You.” You are my Hiding Place” and my “Shelter from the storm.”

3.    Help me to see through the eyes of Your heart those that I come in contact with today and help me to talk to them about You, if they do not know You as their Lord and Savior.

He Arose!

“Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body be given to him. When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of a rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.” (Matthew 27:57-60)

   British Major General Charles Gordon (Also know as Chinese Gordon, and Gordon of Khartoum) was visiting Jerusalem in 1882 and as he was walking by a bus station he looked up to the hill that was behind it and marveled at how much it looked like a human skull. He asked the local Arabs if the hill had a name and he was told that it was called Skull Hill. Further examination found that there was a garden nearby that dated back over 2000 years that included an empty tomb where there was no evidence of ever having held a dead body. This garden is now administered by the British Bible Society. When I visited this site in 1983 we were told that although they couldn’t say for sure this was the tomb where Jesus was buried or whether Skull Hill is the Skull Hill (Golgotha) mentioned in the Bible they could say that wherever that tomb is it is exactly like this one; It is empty!

    “Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lighting, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.” (Matthew 28: 1-3)

   Don’t you wish you could have been there? Those mighty Roman soldiers who are supposed to be guarding the body of Jesus from being stolen by those wimpy disciples are laying prostate on the ground, shaking with fear, and are acting like “dead men!” Isn’t that awesome? It doesn’t matter what kind of odds you are facing. God is the one who is in charge, and when He purposes to do something, no plan of man can thwart it. (Even if his name is Pilate and he is Governor of Judah or he is Caiaphas and is the High Priest of the Jewish people.)

   “But the angel answered and said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold I have told you.’ So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.” (Matthew 28: 5-8)

Wow! “He is risen, as He said” How many times did Jesus tell the disciples that he would die and rise again in three days? At least three times: (Matthew 20:18-19, 17:22-23, 16:21), and probably other times that were not written down. He knew what God’s plan was because He was perfectly attuned to the plans of His Father. “that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they  also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:21)

   So the question before us today as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter morning is this: Do you really believe that Christ died on a cross for your sins and that He is reigning in heaven today and that He is coming back to take you to heaven to live with Him and the rest of the saints for eternity? 

1.    If you do, you are saved (born again) and you can live whatever remains of your time on earth with the certainty that you are Christ’s child and He has a plan to use you for His church and for His kingdom. Are you living for Him? Are you making a difference in the lives of your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, or strangers you meet? If not, start today! It is never too late to be obedient to God’s Word. 

2.    If you do not believe this, what will it take to for you to accept this marvelous gift that God is offering you? Perhaps you are a skeptic like Lee Strobel was when he set out to disprove the truth of the gospel but ended up writing the book, The Case for Christ. (Which has now been made into a movie and can be seen on Netflix or DVD.) If you are a skeptic I encourage you to check out the movie or the book. Or you can do it the old fashioned way: Read the Bible for yourself and see what Jesus has to say to you through His words and actions! Start with the book of John. Seek out a godly pastor or layperson and study the Bible together. See for yourself that Jesus, the Son of God, is who He says He is.

Jesus said: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:3)

   Jesus has had over 2000 years preparing a place for those who believe and follow Him. You can not imagine what He has and is still preparing for His children to enjoy in fellowship with all the other believers from “ever nation, tribe and tongue, and people!”

PRAY:

1.    Thank You Lord Jesus for dying on that “old rugged cross” for my sins and for adopting me into Your family with all the rights and privileges of a son or daughter. 

2.    I know that my salvation was bought and paid for at a tremendous cost of pain and suffering and that all my sins past, present, and future have been forgiven.

3.    Help me to be obedient to the Holy Spirit who lives within me and to be quick to respond to the needs that others, who You have put into my life, to serve and to make sure they know You also.

4.    Help me to spend time with You every day in prayer and in the reading and meditating on Your precious Word, the Bible.