Psalm 2, Exodus 33:17-end; 1 John 3:1-3
We live in a world of conflict. We know within our own area how fighting can erupt with no notice. People we once lived in harmony with, we now treat as enemies. David is talking in Psalm 2 of nations being united together against God and His Anointed (Jesus). Jesus is the representation of God the Father so if you oppose Jesus, you are opposing God the Father.
Those opposing God think that He brings bondage but He doesn’t, He comes to break the bonds. I have heard of magicians in this area – they bind people up, God set captives free.
“The one enthroned in heaven laughs” – God isn’t afraid, or confused by the opposition of man, He laughs at it. He is seated in heaven, sitting in perfect peace. He has authority over all creation. He has nothing to fear from earth.
It is for us to serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. For blessed are those who take refuge in Him.
Moses was a man after God’s heart. He took time to meet with Him to pray, for himself and for those around Him. He sought God’s will for their lives, expecting God to answer his prayers. He wanted to see the glory of God.
Over the last few days some of us have been preparing for prison ministry. It’s easy to forget those in prison, yet Jesus told us to go to them and we know that God wants to set the captives free. That doesn’t mean freedom from physical chains when you have committed a crime, but it does mean freedom in your heart – freedom to be the person God made you to be.
In 1 John 3 we are told of the great love that the father lavishes on his children. For those of us who have made a commitment to follow Jesus, to do the things that Jesus did, to listen and obey his commands, we are the children of God. We are sons and daughters of the King!
Whatever your experience of your human father God is better. Just as He chose Moses He chose each one of us. He knows our name. I am hopeless when it comes to remembering names, it takes me a long time to remember anyone’s name, even those we’ve been with over these last few days I can’t remember many… and when I remember a name I’ll probably give it to the wrong person! But God knows all of our names – not just the names of everyone in this church today, but the name of every person praying in every church in the world today – across all denominations and He knows the names of our fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers – all the generations back to Adam and Eve.
As Christian’s we are works in progress. We are being moulded into the people that God made us to be. That will take time, we will not reach perfection until the day that Jesus comes again. Paul, when writing to the church in Philippi, says he is “confident that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”.
While we are here on earth we, like Moses, should be seeking God’s face, looking to spend time with Him – praying to Him and leaving time to hear from Him; reading our Bibles; looking at how Jesus lived so that we too might follow in the steps of the Father.
When I set up Keep in Step International and I was looking for a name I knew it needed to be something about walking with Jesus. In Galatians 5 we read that we should keep in step with the Spirit and so “keep in step” came into being. Our vision is to encourage and empower people at grassroots level to keep in step with the Spirit; to do the things that Jesus did; to go into the world proclaiming the good news.
In John 5:19 Jesus says “the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees the Father doing, because whatever the father does the Son also does” – and so it is for us. We can do nothing without God. Yesterday in our training we looked at who the Holy Spirit is and what He does. When Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven He promised the Holy Spirit would come to help, to guide and to comfort. The same Holy Spirit that came to the early church on that first Pentecost is here today; just waiting to be invited to be part of our lives; to give us the words we need to speak; to give us the love we need to share with those around us – even those from a different tribe.
As God’s children we are brothers and sisters; it does not matter what colour our skin is; or which tribe we are from; we are one family. We should be loving each other and yet, too often, we slip into worldly ways; trying to fit in with those around us.
As the church we need to make a stand for peace. While the nations rage we should be seeking God’s face, fixing our eyes on Jesus and asking Him what He wants us to do.
For some that will be to visit those in prison; to share the good news so that prisoners might find freedom; for some it will be visiting those in hospital and praying with them for healing; for others it will be drawing together our local communities so that we overcome our differences and live together in harmony; for others it might be going to a different part of the country or to another country to share the love of Jesus.
Let us press on towards the goal that has been set for us; let us purify ourselves so that we might become more like Him. Let us seek God’s face each day, spend time talking to and hearing from Him and let us love one another – our enemies included – as God has loved us.
Amen