Category: Articles Page 5 of 12

“Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.“ (Col. 4:12)

We see here an amazing example of Epaphras, a minister (maybe the pastor) at the church at Colossae, of the tenacity and laboring of his prayers for others. Sometimes we feel like our prayers are not effectual, but actually, the scriptures clearly affirm that the “effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man (and woman) availeth much” (James 5:16). Some of the most significant impact we can have on the kingdom is by laboring in prayer for our fellow kindred in the church. Some older people who are physically limited, in nursing homes or even bedridden, might feel that they might not have anything left to do in the kingdom. Well, there are no physical limitations that prevent anyone from laboring fervently in prayer for the saints. I believe some of the most diligent, devoted, and tenacious “prayer warriors” have been old sisters who can’t even attend church anymore, but they are still laboring in the kingdom in fervent prayers for the church. Notice Epaphras was not laboring for himself but laboring “for you”, for the saints in the Colossian church, in prayer. Our prayers need to be more “selfless” and “others-centered” than selfish and self-centered. Part of the community of the church is other saints bearing one another’s burdens, and we need to pray more diligently “for others” and help bring their burdens to the Lord for healing and relief.

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“And Jesus said unto [Zacchaeus], This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.” (Luke 19:9)

Zacchaeus was arguably public enemy number one in Judea since he was the chief of the publican tax collectors. He was despised as a traitor and probably universally hated in the community. However, we see the genuine repentance displayed by Zacchaeus, not just committing to act honestly going forward but to make full restitution for past offenses and even restore fourfold to everyone he had previously defrauded. As a result of his sincere and radical repentance, Jesus tells him that “salvation is come to his house today”. Salvation and deliverance come to our homes when we humbly repent of our sins and commit to honest service to Jesus Christ in our lives. There is a deliverance when the leaders of our households (especially the fathers) commit to serving Jesus Christ, not just in their lives in general, but commit to making Jesus Christ the Lord of their house as well. We can experience “salvation coming to our house” when we serve Jesus Christ in sincerity and devotion in our homes with our family.

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“And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.” (2 Kings 19:14)

When facing the blasphemous threat of the king of Assyria, Hezekiah shows us the proper pattern of prayer to spread our troubles before the Lord in prayer. We need to go into the house of the Lord, the church, and spread our cares and concerns to the Lord in prayer. There is no need for us to have pretense before God in prayer, to try to present ourselves better to God or act like we have it all together. We need to be fully open and honest to our God because he knows the thoughts and intents of our hearts anyway. Spread all our cares and concerns before our loving Heavenly Father, and God will answer our prayer and defend his people, as he did with Judah by destroying both the Assyrian army and king Sennacherib as well.

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“O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.” (2 Chron. 20:12)

When facing perilous circumstances and a strong approaching enemy, Jehoshaphat sets a great example for seeking God and how we ought to respond to challenging times in our lives. He acknowledged in a natural, military sense, Judah had no might to defend themselves against this great company of armies. They don’t know what to do, but their eyes are fixed upon Jehovah God for deliverance. There are many times in our lives when we feel helpless and don’t know what we ought to do. During those times of desperation, we need to seek God in prayer, confessing our lack of clarity and not knowing what to do, but affirming our eyes are fixed upon God for deliverance and mercy. When we don’t know what to do, that is the time we need to turn our eyes to God in faith in prayer for deliverance.

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“And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.” (1 Sam. 22:2)

Where do we go when we are in distress, discontented, and feeling the pressure of debt in this world? We need to flee to the Captain of our salvation, Jesus Christ. In David’s day, there were men who were distressed, discontented, and in debt that sought out the man after God’s own heart, and he became a captain over this little band of 400 men. This world should vex our righteous soul. While we need to learn to be content in whatever state we are in (Phil. 4:11), our soul will never be fully content in this world. This world is full of distress, and we feel the pressure of both financial debt and the debt of our sin. When we feel that pressure, where do we go? Let us flee from the comforts of the city and dwell (even if it’s among the caves) with our Captain who will give us hope in the midst of our distress and discontentment.

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“And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels.” (2 Thess. 1:7)

There were some devout disciples of the Thessalonian church who were enduring “trouble” from the enemies of the gospel. It is very easy in midst of such tribulation and trouble to be anxious, fearful, and to lose any inner peace. The Holy Spirit gives these troubled Christians a hope of “rest”. When will this “rest” come? Our final rest from the trouble of this world will occur at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to destroy this world and to bring his children into “eternal rest” with God in heaven. We can “rest” together (“rest with us”) here in our lives expectantly looking for Christ’s second coming to usher in our eternal rest with God.

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God of Heaven

“5) And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. 11) The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.” (Psalm 89:5,11)

God’s glory and handiwork are declared and preached in the heavens and in the earth. There is no speech nor language where the voice of God’s creation does not preach to man of his Creator God (Ps. 19:1-6). The heavens and earth are so huge and vast we cannot comprehend them with our mortal minds. Our God fills heaven and earth (Jer. 23:24), but we are nothing and yea less than nothing. How could God take notice or be mindful of such insignificant parts of this universe? God was not just mindful of us but even sent his only begotten Son to die for our sins. “3) When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4) What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Ps. 8:3-4) We have to see how amazing God is and how worthless we are for only then we can stand properly amazed that God could love and die for us!

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“And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.” (Gen. 42:36)

When we endure tragedy, we have a tendency to develop a “woe is me attitude”. It is very easy in the heat of a trial to let our mind run away and begin to think the entire world is “against” us and quickly end up very depressed. Jacob has a little pity party here himself where he declares “all these things are against me”. Granted, Jacob had endured a lot of heartache in his life, some due to his own sins, some due to the deception of others, and now due to his estranged son’s demands. However, Jacob was much more blessed than he realized in this moment. All things were not against him. Finally, we see the answer of the New Testament, if God be for us, who can be against us? Even if the entire world and every event in our life opposes against us, God is still for us in eternal salvation and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

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“Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” (Psalm 56:8)

This world is full of a lot of pain and suffering that leads us to shed tears from time to time. Our American masculinized culture looks down on those who shed tears, stigmatizing those who do cry as somehow weaker than those who portray a false of strength by refusing to cry. Crying is a natural human emotion, and Jesus is aware of our tears and our suffering that prompts those tears. God is intimately aware of all our tears, even storing up those tears in his bottle and noting them in his book. Jesus is not aloof to our suffering that causes us to shed tears, but he is intimately aware of every single one of those tears and has made provision that ultimately God himself will wipe away all tears from our eyes in heaven. 

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“And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:38)

In the midst of a fierce storm of tribulation in our lives, we are prone to the same response as the apostles during their physical storm on the sea of Galilee. When the waves got high and the water began to fill the boat, not only did they become afraid, but they began to question if Jesus even cared for them in the midst of this storm. Sometimes we feel like Jesus is asleep in the hull of the ship in the midst of our storms as well, and we can question if God even cares and he might even allow us to perish. When we have those doubts and fears in the midst of life’s storms, we have to remember the word of God; remember Jesus’ promise that he is with us in the storm and has promised safe passage to the other side and ultimate deliverance from these storms.

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