JULY 7

OUR PERSONAL PROMISES

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John 17:1-3

“Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,  as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

John 17:8-10

“For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.  I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.  And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.”

John 17:20-23

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;  that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”

John 17:26

“ And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

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We are reading a book by Corrie ten Boom, with daily recordings she made to broadcast over Trans World Radio.  Her Dutch family  sheltered Jews during the Nazi invasion of Holland.  As a result, she, her sister Betsy and their father were taken to concentration camps in Germany. The Lord did many miracles to allow both Corrie and Betsy to bring the Gospel to the other women in their camp.   Their father was murdered in an extermination camp and Betsy was sick, dying just two weeks before Corrie and the rest were freed.  After her freedom, Corrie traveled the world, telling everyone even in remote areas, about salvation through Christ, besides radio and writing many books.  This one is entitled, “Not I, but Christ.”

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GOD’S MYSTERIES AND OUR FAITHFULNESS

In 1 Corinthians 4:1-2 Paul speaks of “Ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.  Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”

First of all we must know what the mysteries of God are.  Well, we can read about them in the Bible.  God has revealed them to us.  We shall understand many of the mysteries after opening our hearts to the Lord Jesus.  He reveals them to us through His Spirit and then we have to pass them on!

One is:  “for God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”  (John 3:16).

If we accept such a tremendous mystery of God, we have to pass it on.  We must be faithful regarding this truth and many others.  It makes us happy and thankful to know such a mystery.  What does God then expect of us?  Well, that we are faithful, that’s all.  Love and obedience belong together.

But our task is no small thing!  Paul says:  “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us:….be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Jesus said to the Father:  As You have sent me,….even so I also send them.”  (John 17:18).  This means in fact that every believer is a missionary.

Is that possible?  Yes, “God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”  (2 Timothy 1:7).  We don’t need to draw from our own resources; we can draw from God’s resources.  We don’t need to count on our own limited strength; we can count on God’s boundless strength.

Is every believer, even if he or she has an ordinary task – factory hand, tradesman, housewife – really a steward of God’s mysteries?

Three men were once laying bricks.  A passerby asked the first one:  “what are you doing?”

“I am building a wall.”

He asked the next one, who said, “I am earning a living for my wife and children.”

The third one said:  “I am building a cathedral.”

Every believer is building God’s kingdom, whether he or she is a watchmaker, a bricklayer, a housewife, or a professor.

A calling can make you very original.  Some time ago I talked with a coal merchant.  He told me that he had two telephones standing next to each other on his desk.  “Often I have a call on each line,” he said.  “On one I tell of the Lord Jesus and give spiritual help, often while, on the other, somebody is ordering coal.  Then both can hear what I say, because I ask the second person to wait a minute and so he, too hears the gospel.  After that, I ask:  “How much coal do you want?”

This was what he considered being a steward of God’s mysteries – a believer being steward to God’s mysteries and of a coal trade at the same time.

God only demands that we are faithful.  Faithful!  And it is wonderful that even in this faithfulness we do not need to summon our own strength.  In Galatians 5:22-23 something is said about the fruit of the Spirit, and faithfulness also is part of it.  We do it together:  He and we.

Paul says:  “If we believe not, yet He abides faithful….”  2 Timothy 2:13.

If we walk hand in hand with Jesus, we remain faithful and we can continue to be conscious of our calling even if everything seems dark and lost.

The Lord says:  “He that believes on Me, the works that I do shall he do also;  and greater works than these shall he do:  because I go to the Father.” (John 14:12).

Is that possible?  Greater works than Jesus did?  You?   I?

Yes, for Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, and He is doing greater works NOW than He  did during the three and one-half years on this earth.  But He is doing them through His followers, you and me.  This is how He makes us stewards of God’s mysteries.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You have such wonderful work for us.  Thank You that You are willing to use us and that You can do so because You, Lord, fight together with Your disciples and because You constantly give to us from Your supplies; faithfulness, love, strength, and courage through Your Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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