daily IMPACT by selahV today

ANSWER ME...

So many times we are overloaded by the world's woes.  We are consumed by the heartache we see, the friends who are sick and dying.  We are overwhelmed by the chaos caused by sin, by day to day difficulties we encounter.  In these times we are able to cry as the psalmist:

"Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness [uprightness, justice and right standing with You]!  You have freed me when I was hemmed in and enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me and hear my prayer." Psalm 4:1

We can take courage that He indeed hears our prayers.  He knows we hurt, and those we love hurt.  He knows we are lonely.  He knows our worries today, and the concerns that will confront us tomorrow.  He understands and He is faithful to free us from those things which hem us in on every side and stall our progress.  Sometimes, like Paul, the Holy Spirit holds us back from going where we think we need to go, from following after our own hearts.  He knows what is best, and the difficulties we face are sometimes the stop-signs of life, where we need to yield our thoughts, our fears, and hopes to His keeping.

"For You, Lord, will bless the righteous [him in right standing with You]; as with a shield You will surround him with good will and favor." Psalm 5:12.

Sometimes the answer God gives is, "Fear not.  Peace, be still.  Lo, I am with you.  Let not your heart be troubled."  He is our comfort and our shield.  selahV

Where Is Your Confidence?

There have been times in my life when I lacked confidence.  When I gave my first speech in 4-H competition at age thirteen.  When I applied for jobs.  When I became a mother.  In fact, there are still times I feel inadequate.  I question my abilities. I believe the voice that tells me I am incompetent, that I do not know what I am talking about.  I think about what I am doing today and stand amazed that I am able to do it.  Who am I that I should--well, whatever--do anything at all?  Who am I that anyone should listen to me?  To read my words, to trust them?

I sit here writing this and realize everything I say is just words without Christ.  I think about my life and what I have accomplished.  I find myself wondering about past ministries and people I counseled.  And I am reminded by Paul's words to the Corinthians that I have no claim at all to competence--none whatsoever. 

"Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God." 2 Corinthians 3:4-5

 Indeed, my friends, the only confidence we have is in Christ Jesus.  We have nothing to measure another man's soul, nothing to determine another man's heart-felt motives.  Only Christ knows the good we are doing in His name.  Even the evil we see shown by others--the arrogance, the pride-filled rhetoric, the condemning statements--those are not ours to claim some superior knowledge of.  All that we do--words or deeds--rest entirely in the merciful, tolerant, forgiving nail-scarred hands of Christ.  The final judge.  Any competence we show the world with the little light we shed comes from God.  Who are we to boast of any greater knowledge of Him?  Who are we to mock another as having less knowledge than we?  Who are we that God is mindful of us at all?  selahV

WHAT DOES "IT IS FINISHED" MEAN FOR YOU?

I finished doing the dishes and grabbed a cup of coffee.  I finished that cup, and had another as I edited devotions for a book, and studied sayings of Jesus on the cross. In Greek, "it is finished" was an accounting term. It meant paid in full.  Ever wonder what that said to onlookers at the crucifixion of Christ so many years ago?  Surely a few questions rose in their minds: What could this man hanging on a cross mean by "It is finished"? He breathed no more. Was He predicting His last breath, His death? Some theologians tell us it meant that Jesus had paid in full the price for the sin of man. His death and words meant His work, His commission, on earth was over, completed, finished. But was it?

"Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled...Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." John 19:28-30.

Three days later, Jesus rose from the grave. He stood by the open grave and questioned Mary for her weeping; He preached to her and told her not to cling to what was--but what had come through His death and resurrection. He met and talked with the lost on their way to Emmaus. (Lk.24:13-35) He appeared to the bewildered followers hovering in the Upper Room. He preached to Thomas and showed him His nail-scarred hands. He met Peter on the beach. He rose in the clouds and told thousands of onlookers to go into the world and baptize, make disciples and teach them to observe all things whatsoever He had commanded. He sat down beside His Father. He makes intercession as our advocate today. He will someday judge the world. He will separate His sheep from the goats. He will come again to take His people home. No, the cross was not the final act of Christ. There's so much more to come.

I can finish a cup of coffee, I can finish the dishes, but if I want to eat, they will get dirty again. I will always be washing the dishes. Jesus finished the commitment He made to the Father to go to the cross in obedience. He showed us how to love, how to talk, how to pray, how to sacrifice. Until we breathe our last breath, it will not be finished for us.

We sit with Him in glory and abide in HIm; we walk with Him on earth by faith, in his power; we stand with Him, in His power and protection against the evil one.  We follow Him wherever He leads and rely on Him to keep us in the grace sufficient to meet every need we have to stay the course until this life is finished for us, too. What a friend we have in Jesus. What a joy to walk with Him, to talk with Him, to know His love and fulfillment of His live within us. What do you say? What are you doing with Jesus today? If you are a Christian, are you now "finished" because you know you have salvation? Or are you ready to go for a walk with someone today?

© Hariette Petersen, SelahV Today, 2010