How often persons find themselves in a circumstance that
would be more bearable did they know its end.
The prophet Jeremiah was in a most difficult circumstance (“hot water”)
and God gave him a gracious invitation. “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and
show you great and mighty things, which you do not know” (Jeremiah
33:3).
We learn from Simon Peter who opened the “Gates of the
Kingdom” to the Gentiles, beginning with the household of Cornelius, “God is no respecter of persons [He does
not show partiality]” (Acts 10:34). So,
if God will give a gracious invitation to Jeremiah in his difficult circumstance
and not being a “respecter of persons”, will He not give a similar invitation
to us? Just before we dash off and begin
seeking God for “great and mighty things” we do not know, we need to give
consideration to those lesser things we know and ignore.
Lesser matters, but pertinent—persons are frequently “troubled”
no end in their thought life with negative, fearful and unclean thoughts. These can be stopped in one moment by the
application of one of God’s precious promises:
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James
4:7). Assuming we are caught up in a
round of negative thoughts, we need only ask God’s forgiveness (“submit to God”)
and then command the thought (or Satan) to go.
It works every time. Subsequent
problems arise only when we dip back into that “stinking thinking”. This is a very practical demonstration of
releasing the power of God in our lives.
More broadly, God’s power can be released by taking hold of
and applying “. . . exceedingly great and
precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (II
Peter 1:4). Through the faithful
application of God’s Word, His nature is released in us. With God’s help and by the power of His Word,
we gain perspective on what we’re going through. Then like a Paul and Silas in prison, bound
and consigned to the innermost part with their feet in stocks, rather than say
one word about deliverance from their
circumstance, at midnight they began to pray and sing hymns to God amidst their
circumstance and suddenly there was a great earthquake, loosing their
chains and opening the prison doors (Acts 16:25, 26).
Similarly many are imprisoned, cruelly bound with little
hope of ever being set free, save for the power of God breaking in upon the scene
and loosing them. Here I speak of the “prison
of unforgiveness”. Repeated scriptures
make it patently clear that the key to deliverance from this prison is
forgiveness of those who have wronged you.
There is no other means of getting out.
In one moment, you can release the power of God in your life by
forgiving the person who has wronged you.
Do you wish God to show
you great and mighty things, which you do not know (Jeremiah 33:3)? Then start with what you know—and do it!
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