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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Changing Our Strength, continued
I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. (Revelation 1:9—NIV)
One of the great errors of today's Christian teaching is the emphasis on making the believer happy and prosperous in the present world. The Gospel of the Kingdom is our hope for a future world, a world of righteousness. In order to be found worthy of that world we must prove ourselves in today's furnace of affliction. If we are not found to be people of faithfulness and integrity we have little hope of being entrusted with the powers of the age to come. Mercy and grace have nothing to do with this, it is our moral transformation that is critical.
Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers. Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. (Deuteronomy 8:1-3—NIV)
God leads us through the wilderness of this world to humble us. Theologians tell us God knows everything, but apparently (from the above passage) He does not know what is in our heart until He tests us. God wants to know if we are going to keep His commandments when He releases us in the day of resurrection. It is extremely important that we keep our heart with diligence and always choose to do God's will as we understand it.
But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, (Luke 20:35—NIV)
We are not considered worthy of taking part in the new age of righteousness and the resurrection from the dead by taking "the four steps of salvation," or believing in Christ, or by grace or mercy or any other device. We Christians are counted worthy of the new age of righteousness only by doing God's will as we understand it. As we pray to Jesus He helps us do God's will.
I understand this is not what is being taught today but it is the truth of the Scriptures.
God humbles us. He makes us barren so to speak, depriving us of the good things of life, and then feeds us with manna. This means He gives us strength each day to do His will, to overcome the evil assigned to us that day. The Israelites did not enjoy being reduced to eating manna, but they could count on it being on the ground in the morning. You may not enjoy being deprived of what you want in the present life, but you can count on God's grace and faithfulness being renewed to you each morning.
To be continued.