October 24, 2009

• Letter 11 on assurance and fighting for joy (the Lord is at hand! - Philippians 4)

  Continuing on with my series of letters about assurance and joy. I had touched a bit on Philippians 4 as I wrote about how we can have joy as we contend for the Gospel, and today I would like to expand a bit more on that. I know there are many of you hurting, weary and heavy ladened. I want to encourage you that if you know Christ, He wants you to be able to rejoice always, in spite of your current feelings. I pray He might rejoice your soul so you might be able to rejoice in the Lord as His Spirit assures you that He is at hand even in your sorrow. ~Karen
  
  

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  Dear friend in Christ,

  I know you have been burdened time and again by certain situations in your life as have I. I know you are in one of those spots today. You are weary and your hands are hanging down and your knees are drooping. I realize you're feeling less than joyful today. I hear your tears through the words you write. I am carrying your burden along with you in prayer. I know you know the Lord and you've recalled His salvation and your lowly beginnings with Him, and yet I can see you are finding it hard to rejoice in the Lord this day.

  Let's turn once more to Paul's words in Philippians 4, shall we? Let us go to Him who has the words of Life so you might be revived for your pilgrimage here? Let's look together at how the Lord wants to encourage us today!

  4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
  
  7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
  
  8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
  9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

  Again Paul starts off with those words that can cause us to wince and moan, that salt rubbed into our wound, so to speak: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. I know you don't feel like rejoicing...but we are told to rejoice which means rejoicing goes beyond our feelings. Remember that if God gives us a command in the Scripture, He always gives us the means to perform it. Always. His commandment are not burdensome for us.

  Look now at the end of verse 5. This is key. The Lord is at hand!

  I know we considered this previously regarding contending for the Gospel, but can we ever consider this precious truth enough?

  Consider it with me: The Lord is at hand.

  Perhaps you'd like to stop reading and reflect. Please do that. And then I hope you will come back to finish my letter.

  Let's break it down, shall we?

  The Lord is at hand.

  The Lord...Who is the Lord? Is He not the one by whom all things were created? Is He not the one in whom the fullness of God dwelt? ...Wait, let's just turn to Colossians 1 and read this glorious proclamation as to who the Lord is (my heart is beating faster now...):

  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
  16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
  17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
  18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
  19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
  20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

  Now, go back and read it again...let it sink in...Now, read it aloud! Meditate on His glory here!

  Do we really understand who our Lord is? Who is this who is at hand? Look at all He is! What is He not? All the fullness of God dwells in Him!

  I know you can find plenty of other places in Scripture that remind of us of who He is. Perhaps you would like to share some of your favorites with me next time you write. I encourage you to go to His Word and meditate on Him so your life in Him might be vibrant and full as Jeremiah writes in chapter 17:

  Thus says the LORD:
  Cursed is the man who trusts in man
  and makes flesh his strength,
  whose heart turns away from the LORD.
  6 He is like a shrub in the desert,
  and shall not see any good come.
  He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
  in an uninhabited salt land.
  7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
  whose trust is the LORD.
  8 He is like a tree planted by water,
  that sends out its roots by the stream,
  and does not fear when heat comes,
  for its leaves remain green,
  and is not anxious in the year of drought,
  for it does not cease to bear fruit.

  God gives us the gift of His Word so we might bear fruit in drought, so we might not be anxious in drought. Paul is telling us not to be anxious about anything! Yes, this is our remedy, to go to Him and to His Word and drink deeply of Him. His well will never run dry. There's plenty for all His thirsty children. Let's continue to go there, my friend, to go to Him: in the year of plenty and in the year of drought. He will never fail to fill us. Are there not pleasures forevermore awaiting us there? Let's go to Him who has the words of life so we might be revived again and be able to finish the race marked out for us.

  The Lord!

  The Lord is at hand!

  at hand. From Strong's Concordance: "from a primary verb agcho (to squeeze or throttle..; near (literally or figuratively, of place or time)...at hand, near, nigh (at hand, unto), ready."

  God is at hand, yes! God is near to us because He's given His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. We were once far but have now been brought near by Christ's sacrifice! We have peace with Him through the cross. Amen. (So, again, remember these promises are only for those who are in Christ. We can't tell an unbeliever God is near in the same way to them as He is to us, though He is near to them in the sense Paul speaks God not being far from each one of us since we are all created in His image, we are all children of God by the first birth, but we are not all children of God by the second birth. And He is reaching out with His offer of salvation to all men. Thanks be to God He has graciously given us faith to believe in Him so we might be reconciled to Him by the blood of Christ, otherwise we too would be remain alienated from Him.)

  I don't know if I'm reading too much into that verb agcho, but to squeeze or throttle...can we perhaps consider that as meaning God has a hold on all things, that he's controlling them? Yes, we know He does. He reigns forever and ever! He does all things according to the counsel of His will. His plan will not be thwarted. He does what He pleases. And not only does He have a hold on the situation but He has a hold on our lives. Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. Never. That's God's unfailing love for the believer there. Jesus told us no one can snatch us out of His hand! No one! Is this not wonderful? Are these not the things we must read over and over again and ask the Spirit to write such sweet assurance on our hearts? Is there any place we can go from His presence? Just read Psalm 139 again, my friend. I know you know it, but remember that the devil is trying to block us here at every turn, to snuff out our joy. He is trying to get us to doubt the love of God for us in Christ Jesus! Let us gird up the loins of our minds again! Satan does not want us to enjoy the joy of the Lord; he continues to attempt to steal it away from us, but He will not fail. It's is Jesus' desire that we might have His joy and our joy might be full and would remain.

  Consider: Is there anything or anyone that can separate us, separate you, from the love of God? Yes, you know I'm going to tell you, but go on, open your Bible and read Romans 8. Put this letter away and read God's letter to you. But wait, before you go do that, how about this: as you read the end of Romans 8, substitute in all the things that are causing you to find it difficult to rejoice in the Lord today? "Can my loved one's illness ever separate me from the love of God?" "Can my uncertain job situation separate me from the love of God?" "Can the loss of a friend ever separate me from the love of God?" "Can my child's behavior ever separate me from the love of God?" And so on...

  I wrote last time about how God is involved in our lives. We can never think of him as distant, that we are not deists. Our God is alive and involved with us? Satan wins the battle in our minds when we start to believe God is not caring and aloof. We must remember that God has not only come near to us and brought us near to Him, but He's come to dwell within us! How much nearer and involved can He be than that?

  And of course he's "ready!" God's timing is perfect. He does all things well. He works all things according to the counsel of His will. We can trust that He is watching and involved and ready at all times, though we may not see Him working as quickly as we might like Him to, yet we can trust He has not forgotten us. His Spirit is hovering over the darkest waters. I love Isaiah 30:18; it's one of my go-to passages:

  Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you,
  and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
  For the LORD is a God of justice;
  blessed are all those who wait for him.
  

  
  The Lord is at hand. He's in control, He's near, He's ready. It this not wonderful news to us? Is He not wonderful?

  Does that not give you cause to rejoice, my friend?

  I have so much more to write on this. The Scripture is so rich, is it not? Of course, because He is so infinitely rich in mercy and full of grace to us! Unfailing, amazing, unending Love! Pleasures forevermore!

  I hope to write more, but I trust what I have written today will serve to encourage you in this dark time.

  Let us rejoice in the Lord and rejoice in Him always! He is at hand! He is always at hand!

  Your sister in Him,
  Karen

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  Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
  

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