I’m praying for a quality of faith that is more valuable than purest gold.
I have understood and agreed with Dr. Tozer that all power is God’s power and He controls all power even though He has given to humans the power of choice for a time, within certain boundaries and finally for God’s purpose.
Early one morning recently, I was thinking about the sorrow of Jesus in Gethsemane like no other sorrow but this is also true of the Cross. Pilate had thousands crucified in this brutal way and the suffering was terrible. No crucifixion could compare with that of Jesus. Many brutal, physical atrocities were added. For the Roman soldiers other crucifixions were, to them, just another execution. Not so in the case of Jesus, His was lavish with hate, luxurious with envy and fully injected with the bitter revenge of Satan and the demons gathered like hyenas around a dying prey. Then I heard something Jesus said on that awful day and my words failed me. In mind, heart and spirit I was totally prostrate before God.
First – an example of the strange power of God. Jesus said, (John 6:70) Have not I chosen you twelve and yet one of you is a devil.
As I meditated on the many, far-reaching aspects of this truth, the blessed Holy Spirit guided my mind into ever-deepening understanding and longing for more.
We must think very carefully here. Judas was not Divinely elected to be damned. Judas did not spend those years with Jesus, seeing what He did, hearing what He said, because he loved Him. Judas was a greedy opportunist and wanted to use Jesus. If Jesus was not going to establish His kingdom and give Judas a well-paid, high position, Judas wanted no part of it. He used his God-given free will and chose to become Satan’s tool. In His all-knowing power, God used the evil work of Satan to implement His holy, prepared plan. As well as leading me to wonder and worship, I see a grim warning here. We need to guard our hearts constantly – any of us could fall and betray our Saviour.
Let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall (1 Corinthians 10:12)
Pilate said --- “Don’t you know that I have power to free or kill you”
Listen, oh listen!
He opened not His mouth (Isaiah 53:7). I always thought this was because, having taken our sin, He knew He deserved our punishment. This overwhelming fact is true, but there is more. Hear the words of Jesus to Pilate. They are staggering! This is a stopping place for deep meditation. “You could have no power at all against Me unless it was given to you from above”
Did you hear that? FROM ABOVE! Not from Satan but from God! It was God’s power, there is no other source. This confirms (1Peter 1:18-20) that it was the foreordained plan of God before the foundation of the world. Satan thought he had won but with His wounded feet nailed to the Cross, with the heel Satan was permitted to bruise, Jesus crushed the head of the serpent. Satan received his death-blow at Calvary.
Don’t forget it was as MAN that Jesus accepted all the abuse, torture, mocking, vicious brutality and shame, yet “He opened not His mouth”. Why? How could He?
The MAN, Christ Jesus, had love for the Father even greater than His pain which was beyond describing. His stupendous faith trusted God to always be in control and never make a mistake. He had no doubts – His faith never wavered, never shrunk, never trembled, never feared, never doubted, never faltered, never failed.
What can this mean to me -- teach me and impact me deeply. Right now my mind is reeling.
Life is hard. We face hardship, difficulty, pain, loss, disappointment, grief and more. Why do we often find it difficult to trust God? There are so many troubling voices clamouring for our attention.
Our glorious, risen Lord lives within us. By the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, Jesus desired to live His Life of resurrection victory in us and through us.
Knowing what we know, is it not totally illogical and completely unreasonable not to trust Him?
I am seeking and learning not to just trust God generally – but to trust GOD AND HIS SOVEREIGNTY in every aspect of my life, from the tiniest detail to the hugest problem. I’m praying for a quality of faith (1Peter 1:7) that is more valuable than purest gold.