“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” Micah 6:8
Dear Ones:
Jesus Christ came to put true humanity man back into humanity. It is not that He came to put a new patch of cloth on an old garment, nor new wine in an old wineskin. He came to save mankind from being one kind of man, to become another. That new man would be the expression of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the Spirit, and according to truth. How does God do this?
In our present day, the day of the “modern man,” there is always that gravitational pull for him to confront the issue of God working in the life only within logical limits, and the natural capacities of man. However, if the believer would delve deeper into the word of God, he would find that all that God calls man to be, is only possible by His working. It is God who is at work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. It is also by the grace of God, that man is saved through faith. It is only by the reception of the power of God that man becomes a new creation IN CHRIST. How then, in light of the age and mentality of where we presently live, are we to live, in particular, to know this intervention of God in the life? How then is this “new man,” the real and lasting man, to be formed in the believer? It all begins with a conscious need, the cry of the heart, and faith in the promises and faithfulness of God.
In the story of Solomon, the son of King David, who would succeed him as king, God said to him in a dream: “Ask what I shall give thee.” (1 Kings 3:5) Solomon’s answer was apparently unhesitating: “Give therefore Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this Thy so great people?” (v.9) God answered Solomon’s request, as it was a selfless, destined for the benefit of others. Solomon became the most wise, and knowledgeable ruler, among all the kings of the earth in his day. Solomon’s life was changed, and he became what God desired him to be, because he earnestly sought the Lord, and secondly, because God intervened in his life. This intervention of the Divine changed everything.
When Solomon’s father, David, was also but a young man, he was called from the fields where he kept sheep, to be introduced to Samuel the prophet. God told Samuel that He had chosen this young man to be king of Israel. It was not because of David’s countenance, or the height of his stature, that the Lord chose him. The Lord, who sees all the hearts of men, saw in David a candidate for His blessing. However, it will not be just because of David’s heart that he would be come the King that God intended. God would instruct Samuel to anoint him in the midst of his brothers. It was at that moment that, “…the Spirit of the Lord came upon him.” (1 Samuel 16:13) It would be by the Spirit of God that David would rise to the measure of what God desired. As was the case of Solomon, it was the intervention of the Divine that changed everything.
On the day of Pentecost, with men and women gathered to seek the Lord in prayer, with oneness of heart, the Spirit of God was poured out. God would intervene in their hearts, coming to reside there by the Spirit. Not only would they become the temple of the living God, but He would strengthen them to believe, witness, and proclaim the message of redemption and salvation, to the ends of the earth. They would rise to be what God had called them to be by the Spirit of God.
Dear Father, Anoint us afresh to rise up, and believe Thee, for the full outworking of Thy will in and through our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad