What Shall This Man Do? (Part 14)
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| In loving memory of my father Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023 |
This word, the last in this series, gives a brief summary of what has gone before. We also add one additional aspect to what we have received as the answer to, "What Shall This Man Do?"
The natural tendency of man is to want to "do" something. The question is, who is waiting on whom to do what? Haggai, Chapter 1, speaks of the "problems" of the remnant of the tribe of Judah, the judgment of God as a result of their lethargy, apathy, and self-centeredness, and the answer as spoken through Haggai the prophet. That is current events as well as history. We shared briefly the significance of Luke 12:42-48 and the critical need for the Spirit-filled community to lay hold of the holy fear of God. Next were some thoughts from the Book of Zechariah which are pertinent to us today, particularly how the pots in the Lord's house are to become as the almond bowls (pure gold) before the altar. Then we mentioned a few thoughts from the Book of Malachi, particularly deception and some conditions for the parousia (second coming) of the Lord.
Then we shared the need and commandment to prepare the way of the Lord and what we do to prepare the way of the Lord. We need an expanded vision in this hour; we need to know where we are going and how to get there! We focused on Colossians 1:27-28 and a few thoughts about the glory of God.
There are two keys as priorities on the part of the spiritual remnant ... repentance and intercession. There is a need for repentance but what does that mean for a Spirit-filled Christian? Likewise we need to understand the level of intercession which the Lord is looking for in His remnant.
This final word describes the attitude and action on the part of a spiritual remnant which is necessary to satisfy and please the Lord. In reality,
What is this simplicity that is in Christ? Our hearts must be attuned to His heart and will, we listen for and hear His voice, and we are obedient. He does the rest. He then makes the Word to become flesh within us.
Suppose we decide to take a trip in our car. We know our starting point and we know the name of our destination. But we do not have a map; neither do we have a GPS. Further, we have never been to our destination point before so we are not familiar with the roads and cannot rely on our past driving experiences. But nevertheless we start out on our journey. We know the general direction that we must take, but not the specific routes. So what do we do? Hopefully we will stop and ask for directions to get to each of the intermediary towns along the way. We must trust the directions that are given to us by the people we meet. Then finally we arrive at our destination. You could say that we have to have vision to know where we are going. We must persevere. We must trust the directions given to us, and we must obey those directions. We may run across a few minor detours along the way, but our faith, trust, and obedience allows us to get to our desired location.
So it is in our walk by faith as believers in Christ. It is worth repeating that we have never been this way before. Every new day, Your glory unfolds; filling my heart with Your treasures untold.
The Lord desires that we become totally dependent upon Him and the directions given to us by the Holy Spirit. We must trust and obey. If we need to know what to do, where to go, or any other question, the best way to get His perfect answer is simply to cry out to the Lord and say, "Help me, Lord!" We do not need to wait until we get into a helpless situation. We can and should cry out to Him every day for His guidance and directions.
There are literally dozens, perhaps hundreds, of verses in the Bible when the chosen people of God found themselves in great trouble, affliction, sickness, or very difficult situations. Only then did they cry out to God for help and deliverance. One of the most notable such events was when the Israelites were in bondage in Egypt for 400 years.
Then the Lord raised up a deliverer named Moses to lead His people out of bondage and toward the promised land. In essentially every case, as soon as the Lord heard a heart-felt cry for help, the Lord responded to their cry and poured out His great grace and mercy. Why did it take 400 years for the chosen people of God to cry out to the Lord? How many years of bondage and captivity will it take for the Spirit-filled/charismatic community to cry out to the Lord for deliverance today?
Instead of re-reading some of the multitude of such patterns in Scripture, let us consider Jesus when He lived on earth as a Man.
It is unfortunate that most translations of the Bible say, "save Him from death." The Greek word translated as "from" is ek, which means, out from. The Man, Jesus, was never afraid of death or dying. Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto the Father Who was able to resurrect Him (and did so).
The Greek word for "feared" is eulabeia, which means, caution, reverence, godly fear, or holy fear. Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, says that eulabeia means "that mingled fear and love, which, combined, constitute the piety of man toward God." That word appears only twice in the New Testament ... once in Hebrews 5:7, above, and in Hebrews 12:28, below.
In other words, all believers should have that same fear of God that Jesus expressed in Hebrews 5:7. Further, all believers should have that same trust and faith in the Father, Who is able to resurrect us out from death.
Returning to Hebrews 5:7, "he offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto" the Father. For whom or what was He praying? He was praying for those who crucified Him. We believe Jesus was also praying for us.
Jesus was (is) the green tree; we are the dry. If Jesus cried to the Father on our behalf, can we do less?
To cry out and not hide out is the mandate from our Father God. When we cry out to Him, we acknowledge our need for His divine intervention in our lives. A healing process also takes place as we admit our need before our Lord in prayer. There are many echoes in our spirit when this cry is heard in our own ears and before the throne of God. We must not hide out and continue to deny the ache in our hearts, becoming more and more numb as time marches on. Let us make known the unspoken desire of our heart ... that which we may think is even too big for the Lord to address. We must "cry out" and make this cry a habit that will change us and enlarge the kingdom of God within.
Please read 1 Samuel 1:1-20, which is the story of Hannah when she was in great tribulation, not having a son. Hannah finally cried out to the Lord in her desperation for a son and pledged her son to the Lord's service if He would open her womb. Little did anyone know at the time that the Lord would not only answer her cry, but give her that great prophet Samuel of whom it is said that the Lord did not let any of his words drop to the ground. Because of Samuel's faithful obedience to the Lord, Samuel was allowed to anoint David as king. So we can see the far reaching effects of Hannah's cry. Her time of real communion with the Father and the honoring of her vow to Him was greatly used to further the Lord's purposes. We must realize that our cry to the Lord will be used in like manner to further the plans and purposes of the Lord in the earth. We must "cry out" and seek the Lord's answer rather than the desires of our flesh, which would prefer to accept an easier response or the world's answer.
The rock-bottom surrender to the Lord's provision in our lives is always honored by our Lord. When we cease to move in our own strength, then the Lord is able to show Himself mighty on our behalf. It is then that He answers our prayer. Through this process we acknowledge that we need a Savior, a Faithful Guide, a Father God that is more powerful and greater than ourselves to meet our need. The more we focus on the Father's provision and ability in our lives, the more we will find rest in Him.
Maturity is the goal of the Father's answers to our prayers. The upward call of the Lord Jesus to know the "higher ways" of the Father cause us to see clearly the depravity of our flesh nature. We must each choose to cry out to hear and see and perceive the Lord's ways in our lives. Then we must obey His voice. We must decide to go on to maturity for there is nothing else that will satisfy our heart hunger to know and please our Lord.
The natural tendency of man is to want to "do" something. The question is, who is waiting on whom to do what? Haggai, Chapter 1, speaks of the "problems" of the remnant of the tribe of Judah, the judgment of God as a result of their lethargy, apathy, and self-centeredness, and the answer as spoken through Haggai the prophet. That is current events as well as history. We shared briefly the significance of Luke 12:42-48 and the critical need for the Spirit-filled community to lay hold of the holy fear of God. Next were some thoughts from the Book of Zechariah which are pertinent to us today, particularly how the pots in the Lord's house are to become as the almond bowls (pure gold) before the altar. Then we mentioned a few thoughts from the Book of Malachi, particularly deception and some conditions for the parousia (second coming) of the Lord.
Then we shared the need and commandment to prepare the way of the Lord and what we do to prepare the way of the Lord. We need an expanded vision in this hour; we need to know where we are going and how to get there! We focused on Colossians 1:27-28 and a few thoughts about the glory of God.
There are two keys as priorities on the part of the spiritual remnant ... repentance and intercession. There is a need for repentance but what does that mean for a Spirit-filled Christian? Likewise we need to understand the level of intercession which the Lord is looking for in His remnant.
This final word describes the attitude and action on the part of a spiritual remnant which is necessary to satisfy and please the Lord. In reality,
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:3
What is this simplicity that is in Christ? Our hearts must be attuned to His heart and will, we listen for and hear His voice, and we are obedient. He does the rest. He then makes the Word to become flesh within us.
Suppose we decide to take a trip in our car. We know our starting point and we know the name of our destination. But we do not have a map; neither do we have a GPS. Further, we have never been to our destination point before so we are not familiar with the roads and cannot rely on our past driving experiences. But nevertheless we start out on our journey. We know the general direction that we must take, but not the specific routes. So what do we do? Hopefully we will stop and ask for directions to get to each of the intermediary towns along the way. We must trust the directions that are given to us by the people we meet. Then finally we arrive at our destination. You could say that we have to have vision to know where we are going. We must persevere. We must trust the directions given to us, and we must obey those directions. We may run across a few minor detours along the way, but our faith, trust, and obedience allows us to get to our desired location.
So it is in our walk by faith as believers in Christ. It is worth repeating that we have never been this way before. Every new day, Your glory unfolds; filling my heart with Your treasures untold.
22 It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.23 They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
The Lord desires that we become totally dependent upon Him and the directions given to us by the Holy Spirit. We must trust and obey. If we need to know what to do, where to go, or any other question, the best way to get His perfect answer is simply to cry out to the Lord and say, "Help me, Lord!" We do not need to wait until we get into a helpless situation. We can and should cry out to Him every day for His guidance and directions.
There are literally dozens, perhaps hundreds, of verses in the Bible when the chosen people of God found themselves in great trouble, affliction, sickness, or very difficult situations. Only then did they cry out to God for help and deliverance. One of the most notable such events was when the Israelites were in bondage in Egypt for 400 years.
23 And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. Exodus 2:23-24
Then the Lord raised up a deliverer named Moses to lead His people out of bondage and toward the promised land. In essentially every case, as soon as the Lord heard a heart-felt cry for help, the Lord responded to their cry and poured out His great grace and mercy. Why did it take 400 years for the chosen people of God to cry out to the Lord? How many years of bondage and captivity will it take for the Spirit-filled/charismatic community to cry out to the Lord for deliverance today?
Instead of re-reading some of the multitude of such patterns in Scripture, let us consider Jesus when He lived on earth as a Man.
6 As He saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.7 Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him That was able to save Him [out] from death, and was heard in that He feared; Hebrews 5:6-7
It is unfortunate that most translations of the Bible say, "save Him from death." The Greek word translated as "from" is ek, which means, out from. The Man, Jesus, was never afraid of death or dying. Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto the Father Who was able to resurrect Him (and did so).
The Greek word for "feared" is eulabeia, which means, caution, reverence, godly fear, or holy fear. Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, says that eulabeia means "that mingled fear and love, which, combined, constitute the piety of man toward God." That word appears only twice in the New Testament ... once in Hebrews 5:7, above, and in Hebrews 12:28, below.
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve [minister to] God acceptably with reverence [awe] and Godly fear:29 For our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:28-29
In other words, all believers should have that same fear of God that Jesus expressed in Hebrews 5:7. Further, all believers should have that same trust and faith in the Father, Who is able to resurrect us out from death.
Returning to Hebrews 5:7, "he offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto" the Father. For whom or what was He praying? He was praying for those who crucified Him. We believe Jesus was also praying for us.
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted His raiment, and cast lots. Luke 23:34
27 And there followed Him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented Him.28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.29 For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.30 Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.31 For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?
Luke 23:27-31
Jesus was (is) the green tree; we are the dry. If Jesus cried to the Father on our behalf, can we do less?
To cry out and not hide out is the mandate from our Father God. When we cry out to Him, we acknowledge our need for His divine intervention in our lives. A healing process also takes place as we admit our need before our Lord in prayer. There are many echoes in our spirit when this cry is heard in our own ears and before the throne of God. We must not hide out and continue to deny the ache in our hearts, becoming more and more numb as time marches on. Let us make known the unspoken desire of our heart ... that which we may think is even too big for the Lord to address. We must "cry out" and make this cry a habit that will change us and enlarge the kingdom of God within.
Please read 1 Samuel 1:1-20, which is the story of Hannah when she was in great tribulation, not having a son. Hannah finally cried out to the Lord in her desperation for a son and pledged her son to the Lord's service if He would open her womb. Little did anyone know at the time that the Lord would not only answer her cry, but give her that great prophet Samuel of whom it is said that the Lord did not let any of his words drop to the ground. Because of Samuel's faithful obedience to the Lord, Samuel was allowed to anoint David as king. So we can see the far reaching effects of Hannah's cry. Her time of real communion with the Father and the honoring of her vow to Him was greatly used to further the Lord's purposes. We must realize that our cry to the Lord will be used in like manner to further the plans and purposes of the Lord in the earth. We must "cry out" and seek the Lord's answer rather than the desires of our flesh, which would prefer to accept an easier response or the world's answer.
The rock-bottom surrender to the Lord's provision in our lives is always honored by our Lord. When we cease to move in our own strength, then the Lord is able to show Himself mighty on our behalf. It is then that He answers our prayer. Through this process we acknowledge that we need a Savior, a Faithful Guide, a Father God that is more powerful and greater than ourselves to meet our need. The more we focus on the Father's provision and ability in our lives, the more we will find rest in Him.
Maturity is the goal of the Father's answers to our prayers. The upward call of the Lord Jesus to know the "higher ways" of the Father cause us to see clearly the depravity of our flesh nature. We must each choose to cry out to hear and see and perceive the Lord's ways in our lives. Then we must obey His voice. We must decide to go on to maturity for there is nothing else that will satisfy our heart hunger to know and please our Lord.
As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness. Psalm 17:15
Let is because we posses such a hope that we write with such boldness.
Every new day Your glory unfolds, Filling my eyes with Your treasures untold.
The beauty of holiness brings worship anew. My greatest love is You.
Call me deeper into Your grace, the river that flows from the Holy Place.
Wash over me, cleansing me through. My greatest love is You.
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