“Behold My servant, whom I uphold…He shall not fail nor be discouraged.” Isaiah 42:1,4
Dear Ones:
Where does the power to “be” and to “do” come from? For the disciple of Christ, that one who sits at Jesus’ feet to learn His ways, he grasps in an ever-increasing manner that his ONLY source for every resource is found by receiving all, and yet specifically, from the Lord Jesus. The moment that the believer placed his whole hope and expectation in Christ, that moment when he or she passed from being in Adam, to being in Christ, EVERYTHING changed. Not only is there the new birth, and the new creation in Christ, there is also a new principle, a new WAY of living. Where once all of our streams, resources were in ourselves, now they are in and from Another. The cross of Christ is the eternal, and emphatic declaration of a regime, a rule of life, and a resource that is no longer an option by which to live. That cross has been planted in the middle of the road of our existence, and all that is on the other side of it, behind us, is nothing but sin, failure, hopelessness, and death. However, we discover that on this side of Calvary, we have been ushered into a state of peace with God, union with Christ, to live by the principle of faith, with one object, the Lord Jesus. “Have faith in God,” and “The just shall live by faith, ” are two phrases that sum up the entire matter. The believer has laid aside his filthy rags of sin, and has been clothed with the robe of Christ’s righteousness. But he has also laid aside his “life”, to live by the LIFE of Another. So, to return to our question, “Where does the power to “be” and to “do” come from? It comes from one source, the indestructible, unalterable, perfect life of Christ. It is a life that did NOT fail, nor was DISCOURAGED. Fear, failure, discouragement never belonged to Christ, and they should never be accepted by us. We are called to live by the faith of the Son of God, the strength and courage of the Son of God. HE not only gives strength and courage. He IS our strength and courage.
Dear Father, give us to see and to grasp the greatness of Thy Son’s work on Calvary. Open our eyes to see that indeed, ALL things are become new, for ALL now is IN Christ, by Him, and for Him. Give us to rise up, and go on, to know Thee, living by the faith of the Son of God, proving Him, being witnesses to His unfailing, overcoming life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad