The Greatest Guarantee

There are few guarantees in life. You aren’t guaranteed your next meal. You aren’t guaranteed to make a lot of money. You aren’t guaranteed to have people think highly of you. Many would disagree with me in this and point to the provision of God to take care of His children — I would give a resounding “AMEN. Yes He does!” But God’s greatest work in taking care of His children was by the cross of Christ that made a way for us to become children of God through adoption and secure for us a home in heaven. Indeed, our beloved John the Baptist was described by Jesus Christ this way: “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11). John the Baptist was beheaded and humiliated on a whim and God’s plan never wavered for a moment in that event. So if we aren’t guaranteed even “life” in this life, what can we bank on as a guarantee? Here is the greatest guarantee God gives that has been so persistent and permeating in my life.  

God is dedicated to His glory. 

“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:36) 

And again, referring specifically to Jesus Christ, Paul writes 

“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.” (Colossians 1:16)  

Both verses plainly state God’s intentions — that everything is from God and everything is for God. He doesn’t need a new car, so what could God desire us to be for Him? Simply for His value to be seen and treasured as it is. God is supremely valuable and our word to describe that acknowledgement is “glory”. God has made a plan wrapped around His glory that we see from Genesis to Revelation and in our own lives. This is how He graciously brings us into that plan: 

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.  For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:28-31).  

Why would a God who is so dedicated to His glory “work together for good” “all things” “for those who are called”?  Because those who are called, are called according to His purpose! Our salvation is for the purpose of God’s glory; that is, our acknowledgment of how valuable He is in our thoughts, words, actions, feelings, and relationships.  So, we can see it is true that God is dedicated to His glory. A guarantee is a truth that we place our trust in.  The guarantee that God will always be dedicated to His glory first and foremost is the superior guarantee of this life, because even while God does not need us to be complete and happy, He chooses to bring us along in His plan.  

Ask yourself these questions over the next few days: 

What are the things in which you place your trust?

Do you see yourself as a part of God’s plan to give Himself glory through your salvation and sanctification?

Do you see yourself being “conformed to the image of His Son”?  That is, are you more like Jesus today than you were last week?

Do you delight in God’s guarantee “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Pastor Ben

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FOCUSED

One of the casualties of aging to which I find myself a victim is the dimming of the eyes.  Ecclesiastes 12 counsels the young person to remember God, their Creator, in their youth before the aging process takes over and various faculties, as listed in verses 1-7, are diminished.

Clear eyesight when we are young may be something we take for granted. However, as we age the realization that our vision is not as sharp as it once was takes hold. “Readers” become standard fare for all intricate tasks. Our once keen laser sharp focus is now blurry and in need of help to restore its youthfulness. That restoration is found through glasses or some sort of rejuvenating surgery. Especially in the early stages of this degenerative eye problem we may be able to fake it and get by, but eventually we must relent and do something to correct the problem.

There is a parallel between physical and spiritual vision. “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” was written in the early 20th century. The hymn writer, Helen Lemmel, was strongly influenced by the artist and later little-known missionary, Lilias Trotter. Miss Trotter started off as an aspiring artist but early on felt a call from God to reach the lost. She began her ministry by rescuing prostitutes from the streets of London. Later she went to Africa, without missionary funding, and served for over forty years. While there she penned a poem that would greatly influence the writing of the hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.”  The poem was entitled “Focused: A Story and Song.” 

The poem centers around focusing one’s attentions fully and completely upon God. She writes that Satan knows that if a person uses all their powers of concentration on being led by God’s Spirit, they will have a great intensity and impact upon those to whom they are called to minister. Lilias Trotter, writing in a more formal use of the English language than we are accustomed, shares some timeless insights which could very easily have been written today but with a different accent. She writes: “Never has it been so easy to live in half a dozen good harmless worlds at once—art, music, social science, games, motoring, the following of some profession, and so on. And between them we run the risk of drifting about, the ‘good’ hiding the ‘best’ even more effectually than it could be hidden downright frivolity with its smothered heartache at its own emptiness.”

The “good” hiding the “best” leads us to emptiness.  Could this be true of us today especially as American Christians? Have we sought the “good” while missing the “best”? The chorus of the hymn, which we will be singing in worship this Sunday, says it best.

                Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face,                                                                                                                                        And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Keith Pate

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