Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:37 – 39

This is Paul writing to the believers who live in Rome, the capital of the great Empire.  They live in hostile surroundings.  They must have felt overwhelmed by it all.  Paul lets them in on the great secret that empowers all believers, “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”  More than conquerors?  Yes.  Through him who loved us, Jesus Christ, God’s son and our blessed Savior.

My faith is weak, when compared to this.  My life is rather easy.  What would I say if I am under great strain by my culture?  God, I love you.  That is about it.  The rest is in his hands – always has been and always will be.

Our greatest boast is that God loves us and redeems us every day, no matter what our culture.  My work of encouraging believers in the world opened my eyes to this!  We are not only conquerors but more than conquerors!  Can that be?  Absolutely.

We bow in thanks and praise.  God is more than I could ever believe or hope!  And I am in Him!  The greatest thing!!

I think it was about 5 years ago that I bought 4 of these frogs.  They have multiplied in our pond.  Here is the latest generation.

Each day I need an application of a cream that I always knew, Vaseline. On my pate.

Some of the old time treatments are like new.  Here it gets a new fancy name, Cocoa Butter.  But it is essentially the same ointment I grew up with, always there in our medicine cabinet, used often.  The “new” is a bit misleading!

The meek shall he teach his way. 

Psalm 25:9

Meekness is highly lauded in the Bible as a trait of the people who are seeking to live the life of God.   This is not just an Old Testament but an eternal truth.  Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the meek.”

Meek.  This is a strange word for me and for our culture that does not honor meekness much at all, in fact declares that it is best not to be meek but to be aggressive in establishing our places in society.

This is what my dictionary says, “quiet, gentle, and easily imposed on; submissive.”  That is somewhat helpful. I grasp the words of Jesus in John 16:13. “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

It seems to me that our cultures dislike the idea of meekness because it echoes weakness.  Was Moses weak?  Perish the thought.  He exercised faith in meekness.  That is a powerful reminder.

Am I meek?  Are you meek?  If it is so important to God, should it not be important to me, to us?

And I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude, like the rushing of many waters, and like a mighty rumbling of thunder, crying out: “Hallelujah!  For our Lord God, the Almighty, reigns.”

Revelation 19:6

This declaration comes when all seems to be in some kind of turmoil in the last days. Out of heaven comes the certain declaration, Our God reigns.  Sometimes even God’s people need to make this affirmation.  Other voices clamor for our attention – compelling voices – to distract us from the eternal reality, “God reigns!”

This reality becomes real and dominant for us when things seem to be falling apart. When unbelievers peg their hopes on things that are not true, we believers shout what the saints have begun ages ago.  Satan does not reign, even though it might look so.  Jesus Christ, our Lord, reigns.  That is the sure Word of God!

I somehow inherited my dear mom’s binoculars that she used and used, both at home and on the road.  I owe her a great debt of gratitude for pointing me to birds, a consuming hobby all my life.  Thanks, Mom!

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.  For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.”

Hebrews 10:37

This is written to believers.  They have accepted Christ as Lord and cling to Him for strength to endure suffering and achieve the goal of life with Christ eternally.  The word of the Lord is simple and awesome, “persevere.”  Keep on doing the will of God!   This requires faith and hope.  We are urged to realize that it in just a little while he who is coming will come and will not delay. 

We have our own understandings of how quickly we want the Lord to act for us.  That is just fine as long as we remember that time is in the hands of the Lord.  He might appear now, or years from now.  The promise is that he will come!  There will be no delay when the hour strikes.

Grasping the promises of God is the joy of all believers.  The timing is in the hands of God!

As the Summer merges into Fall images change for me.  I enjoy hanging my binocs around my neck, putting my trusty straw hat on and peering for the subtle changes that mark progression into Fall.

Join me in delighting at the wisdom and power of God.

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the LORD’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the LORD, who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18

I am sitting here before my trusty computer open to the Lord.

This word of the Lord lifts me up, up and away.  All of us who have “unveiled faces,” are being transformed, changed, we say, in the image of the Lord Jesus, our precious Savior and Lord.

Do I understand this?  Does the vision of the Risen Lord transform me this morning?  Should it?

Not only is it a breathtaking truth but I can scarcely take it in.  Does the reality of the vision transform me to be more and more like Jesus?

That is clearly the promise.  I just receive it with all my heart.

Lord Jesus, take all the veils away that keep me from seeing you.  May your Spirit do his good work in me!

John, grace and peace to you from Him who is and was and is to come and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.  To Him who loves us and has releases us from our sins by his blood.

Revelation 1: 4, 5.

I am often startled when I read the Word.  Like this morning when Anna Ruth and I read the above portion for our daily worship.

Jesus Christ loves us and releases us from our sins by his own blood.  By his own blood!  His own life blood.  Can there be anything more precious than that?

This is the heart of the Lord’s message and promise to us.  Let us embrace it with all our might!