Thoughts in Worship
Message Magazine’s Online Devotional for Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Based Upon 1 Corinthians 11
It is impossible to quantify the magnitude of God’s love and jealous protection of His people’s faith. He has given all of heaven in one gift, in the person and work of Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit. In impregnable league with one another, they all work tirelessly to bolster our faith and impart power to live holy lives in this present evil age. Jesus is going to come more quickly than any of us suppose. He will soon put an end to all sickness, pain, suffering, poverty, and wickedness of all sorts. He will bind them all together, along with their evil father, the devil, and cast them into the lake that burns with unquenchable fire. And the righteous bliss of God’s intent for His creation will finally beat with one synchronous pulse throughout the entire universe for eternity.
Paul, like so many of God’s faithful ministers embodied God’s jealousy for His people. He said, “For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ. But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.” (2 Corinthians 11:2–4, NLT).
Unfortunately, like Eve, God’s people often forfeit the protection of God’s Word in simplicity. We often exchange it for the complicated, diabolical counterfeit words of Satan. And when we do this, our minds, lives, and power to influence others for Christ all go astray. In the process, we bring sadness to the heart of God as He continues to work for our salvation.
In light of this, what must we do, friends? How can we stand in the last days before Jesus returns? It’s simple: We must submit. It is our privilege to submit to all the Lord says in His Word. It is our privilege to submit to all the Lord says to us in His still small voice. It is our privilege to submit to all the Lord says through a multitude of wise counsel from godly people. When we submit to the simplicity of His words by faith, we are inoculated against the wicked infection of the enemy’s lies. It is then, and only then, that we can have eternal life and prepare others to receive the same.
