BIBLE PASSAGE:
“Therefore He is able to save completely those
who come to God through Him, because He
always lives to intercede for them.”
(Hebrews 7:25)
MEDITATION:
Have you ever felt you were all alone when a struggle hits your life?
Satan can use those times to make you think that everyone else is
going on with their lives, and could care less about what you are
going through. If he can convince you of that, then he will try to
convince you that the Lord also doesn’t care about you.
When those thoughts start to infiltrate your mind, remind yourself
that you are ‘graced’ by the prayers of the Lord. Jesus is watching
over you, He cares about what you are going through, and more
importantly, He is praying for you!
I pray for them. I am not praying for the world,
but for those you have given me, for they are yours.
(John 17:9)
I have given them your word and the world has hated them,
for they are not of the world any more than I am of the
world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world
but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not
of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the
truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world,
I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify
myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
(John 17:14-18)
Note:
‘Sanctification’ is God’s process of purging us of our
unrighteousness and filling us with righteousness so
we will become more like Jesus (the One we are following).
Your Shepherd, your Savior, your King, the Prince of peace is
praying for you! That is an encouraging reality for those who
belong to Him. Some people may be uninterested and uncaring
about your struggles, and yet, you may have friends and family
who are constantly praying for you.
You can be comforted to some degree whenever you are aware
that others are praying for you, but when you realize that the
One who died for you, “lives to intercede” for you, it should
provide great comfort when you are experiencing difficult
times in your life.
He ‘lives’ to stand in the gap for you and for me! What a gracious
Lord who gives us mercy we don’t deserve! What a loving Savior,
who loves us even when we feel unlovable! What a caring Christ,
who gives us abounding grace! What a mighty God we serve, who
knows us, and wants what is best for us!
ACTION:
You are on Jesus’ prayer list! You are!
HE knows you. He KNOWS you. He knows YOU.
And, He is praying for YOU through the eye of any storm you face.
Satan can convince some that since Jesus loves them and is praying
for them, they can sin as much as they want to without consequences.
But, we have to remember that scripture tells us Jesus is praying for
those who have ‘come to God’, and have honestly surrendered their
lives to Him.
When we have surrendered to God and are committed to pleasing
Him, we will no longer want to sin, because we know it displeases
God when we sin, and it breaks our fellowship with Him. Will we
still be tempted? As long as Satan is prowling the earth, temptation
will continue to exist. However, God has given us the Holy Spirit who
will strengthen our resistance these temptations, if/when we allow Him
to become a part of our lives.
According to God’s Word, those who continue to live in sin (and are
justifying their lifestyle) have not surrendered their lives to the Lord,
but are pleasing themselves, instead of being indwelled with a desire
to please Him.
Let’s be honest, when we are involved in sin, we know it, and we know
it is outside of God’s will. If we belong to the Lord, we will experience
the guilt that sin creates in us. We know that sin breaks our fellowship
with the Lord, and it should create a desire in us to turn from our sin.
For those who belong to Him, God sent the Holy Spirit as our
advocate to guide us, to protect us, and to remind us when we
are exceeding God’s boundaries. If we find ourselves justifying
our sins without any feelings of guilt, then the Holy Spirit cannot
be living in us, regardless of how much we try to convince ourselves
that He is.
How can we determine that the Holy Spirit is living in us? It is a
good question and the scriptures give us some guidelines. When
He is living in us, then the fruit of His Spirit will define us.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control. Against such
things there is no law.
(Galatians 5:22-23)
Look at the list in Galatians again…
if we do not have a love for others, and for God,
if we do not experience any joy in our life,
if we do not have an unusual peace when problems arise,
if we do not have patience,
if we do not show kindness to others,
if we do not prefer goodness over sinfulness,
if we are not faithful in our obedience to the Lord,
if we fail to treat others with gentleness,
if we lack self-control, but instead
continue in sin, anger, selfishness, etc.
…..then, according to God’s Word, the Holy Spirit is not living in us.
Do you have a prayer list (on paper, or in your mind)? Go through
that list today and pray for someone you haven’t prayed for lately,
then trust God to answer your prayer. It is an opportunity for you
to obey the scriptures which say,
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
not looking to your own interests but each of you
to the interests of the others.
(Philippians 2:3-4)
We should be aware that if prayer is important to Jesus, then it is
important to us. If Jesus prays for us, then we should be praying
for others. Why? Because we want to become more like the One
we are following, right?
How often do you pray for others? How often do you pray for someone
who is not a close friend, or relative? When you tell someone you will
pray for them, do you remember to follow through with your promise,
or do you forget? Do you look forward to praying for another believer?
Jesus prays for those who believe in Him, and we should be doing the
same thing, wouldn’t you agree?
How can we pray for another believer when we don’t know of the needs
they have? We can pray for them to have good health physically, mentally,
emotionally, and spiritually. We can pray that they will mature spiritually
and grow closer to the Lord. We can pray for them to discover the spiritual
gift God gave them at salvation, and for them to use it to honor and praise
the Lord.
Note:
Although we have certain talents and abilities, we need to remember
that they are not necessarily the same as our ‘spiritual gift’. God may
give us a spiritual gift that not only doesn’t coincide with one of our
talents or abilities, but it can also cause us to be out of our ‘comfort zone’.
Why would He give us a spiritual gift that we feel uncomfortable using?
It is probably because He wants us to depend on Him to help us utilize
our ‘gift’. His desire is for us to be dependent on Him, and not to be
independent and relying on our own abilities.
When we depend on the Lord to help us use our spiritual gift,
it prevents us from assuming it is something we are doing on
our own. And, as a result, we will know to give Him the praise,
rather than seeking praise from others for ourselves.
Our fellowship with the Lord increases when we give Him the praise
for the positive results of using the ‘gift’ He has given us. The world
wants us to be driven by the praise of others, but Jesus teaches us to
give all praise and glory to God for what He has given us.
Pray,
“Jesus, thank You for interceding for me when I belong
to You! Make me aware if I have convinced myself that I
belong to You, but I have never surrendered my life to Your
will, have never turned from my sinfulness, and do not have
the fruit of the Spirit living in me. I want to know so I can
change now, rather than finding out at the end of life’s journey
when I no longer have the opportunity to change. Forgive me
of my sinfulness and come into my life Lord Jesus. I surrender
myself to You, and I want to serve You in whatever way You
choose for me.”
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