Dear Friends,
This past Sunday marked the 1st Sunday of Advent. For some it is their favorite season of the year, culminating on Christmas Day (December 25th) in some Christian traditions, or Three Kings Day (January 6th) in other Christian traditions. Yet, because we have entered into Advent, I thought I would pass along an Advent Devotion I received from “The Lutheran Hour.” The author is Rev. Dr. Walter A. Maier. It was taken from a sermon text he wrote, entitled: "God Prevails." Enjoy.
"The Battle Cry of Faith"
"You are stronger than I, and You have prevailed."
Jeremiah 20:7
This confession, so modern and meaningful in its application, is 2,500 years old. It's an admission wrung from the lips of Jeremiah after a bitter conflict with God. Because the prophet's service to his Lord had brought opposition and gotten him beaten and locked up in the public stocks, Jeremiah would free himself from God, lead his own life, and defy heaven. Yet, almost in the same breath he is overcome by the conviction of his defeat, and unable to quench the "consuming fire" of God's Word burning within him. He exclaims, "You are stronger than I, and You have prevailed.”"
For the heart that trusts in Christ this confession, "You are stronger than I," becomes the battle cry of faith. Beholding the Savior's love, we realize that God's compassion is greater even than His power, His mercy stronger than His justice. We know—and what a priceless confidence this is!—that "where sin increased, grace abounded all the more" (Romans 5:20b).
This is the great Gospel, the first chapter of which was written at Bethlehem. No simple word of pardon would suffice to return men to God. There had to be an overpowering and eternal proof of our Father's compassion. No man, not even the most exalted; and no angelic beings in their holiness and majesty, could meet the demands of God's justice. God gave His only begotten Son and sent Him from the riches of heaven to the poverty of earth - taking on flesh, being born in Bethlehem, and having as His royal bed an animal’s feeding trough.
No pardon that could leave any doubt or uncertainty in our hearts would suffice. No ransom that left anything to man, or had to be earned or completed by human effort, could answer the pleading heart of a sin-cursed world. So in His never-to-be-fathomed mercy and in that endless love that goes out for every wayward, stubborn, selfish child of man – Christ did everything.
Do not let the fears and sorrows of life keep Christ out, as though God, who "will neither slumber nor sleep" (Psalm 121:4b) had His eyes closed to your problems and anxieties, as though He, the Ever-living One, were dead and you had to fight your own battles! Instead, come before God and say, "Heavenly Father, 'You are stronger than I with my frail and faulty intellect. Help me to find the way through life! Show me the brightness in the gloom that surrounds me! Give me Your truth against the multiplied falsehoods of men!"
When we thus lose the proud sense of our own importance as Jesus gains the ascendancy in our lives… When we behold who our Lord truly is and confess with the John the baptizer, who announced His coming, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30), then these words, "You are stronger than I, and You have prevailed," will become the song of triumph which, pray God, you and I and all others in the fellowship of faith will sing at the Savior's future coming.”
One of the hardest things to overcome (even as believers) is that part of us who wants to be in charge, do what we desire, call all the shots, or be ‘lord’ over our own lives. In the inward sense we often wrestle (like Jacob) with God. Obedience in many cases does not come easy. Our nature, as Jesus points out using the words of the complaining delegation in Luke 19:14, often says to Jesus (the King of the Kingdom), “We do not want this man to rule over us.”
Yet I need to confess I have been at the losing end of many such wrestling matches with God. I have not used Jeremiah’s words, but I could have: "You are stronger than I, and You have prevailed." After all, it’s not easy to surrender to God when we consider the cost of obedience, or what Bonhoeffer called, “the cost of discipleship.”
Some of the things Jesus asks us to do (better yet, many of them) are not easy. Therefore, after considering the sacrifice, personal inconvenience, disturbance of my comfort, and needed alteration to my set plans that would be required, it can lead to an extended internal wrestling match with God as I try various moves and maneuvers in my attempt to remain the one calling the shots – when God is simply asking me to submit or surrender to His will.
Yet a day is coming (as Maier points out) when the remnants of the old man (the resistant inner man) will be gone, and I will rejoice to sing the words of Jeremiah which I have discovered to be so true from prior experience, “You are stronger than I, and you have prevailed.”
Looking to the Day when God Would Have His Way With No Resistance From Us, Pastor Jeff
This past Sunday marked the 1st Sunday of Advent. For some it is their favorite season of the year, culminating on Christmas Day (December 25th) in some Christian traditions, or Three Kings Day (January 6th) in other Christian traditions. Yet, because we have entered into Advent, I thought I would pass along an Advent Devotion I received from “The Lutheran Hour.” The author is Rev. Dr. Walter A. Maier. It was taken from a sermon text he wrote, entitled: "God Prevails." Enjoy.
"The Battle Cry of Faith"
"You are stronger than I, and You have prevailed."
Jeremiah 20:7
This confession, so modern and meaningful in its application, is 2,500 years old. It's an admission wrung from the lips of Jeremiah after a bitter conflict with God. Because the prophet's service to his Lord had brought opposition and gotten him beaten and locked up in the public stocks, Jeremiah would free himself from God, lead his own life, and defy heaven. Yet, almost in the same breath he is overcome by the conviction of his defeat, and unable to quench the "consuming fire" of God's Word burning within him. He exclaims, "You are stronger than I, and You have prevailed.”"
For the heart that trusts in Christ this confession, "You are stronger than I," becomes the battle cry of faith. Beholding the Savior's love, we realize that God's compassion is greater even than His power, His mercy stronger than His justice. We know—and what a priceless confidence this is!—that "where sin increased, grace abounded all the more" (Romans 5:20b).
This is the great Gospel, the first chapter of which was written at Bethlehem. No simple word of pardon would suffice to return men to God. There had to be an overpowering and eternal proof of our Father's compassion. No man, not even the most exalted; and no angelic beings in their holiness and majesty, could meet the demands of God's justice. God gave His only begotten Son and sent Him from the riches of heaven to the poverty of earth - taking on flesh, being born in Bethlehem, and having as His royal bed an animal’s feeding trough.
No pardon that could leave any doubt or uncertainty in our hearts would suffice. No ransom that left anything to man, or had to be earned or completed by human effort, could answer the pleading heart of a sin-cursed world. So in His never-to-be-fathomed mercy and in that endless love that goes out for every wayward, stubborn, selfish child of man – Christ did everything.
Do not let the fears and sorrows of life keep Christ out, as though God, who "will neither slumber nor sleep" (Psalm 121:4b) had His eyes closed to your problems and anxieties, as though He, the Ever-living One, were dead and you had to fight your own battles! Instead, come before God and say, "Heavenly Father, 'You are stronger than I with my frail and faulty intellect. Help me to find the way through life! Show me the brightness in the gloom that surrounds me! Give me Your truth against the multiplied falsehoods of men!"
When we thus lose the proud sense of our own importance as Jesus gains the ascendancy in our lives… When we behold who our Lord truly is and confess with the John the baptizer, who announced His coming, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30), then these words, "You are stronger than I, and You have prevailed," will become the song of triumph which, pray God, you and I and all others in the fellowship of faith will sing at the Savior's future coming.”
One of the hardest things to overcome (even as believers) is that part of us who wants to be in charge, do what we desire, call all the shots, or be ‘lord’ over our own lives. In the inward sense we often wrestle (like Jacob) with God. Obedience in many cases does not come easy. Our nature, as Jesus points out using the words of the complaining delegation in Luke 19:14, often says to Jesus (the King of the Kingdom), “We do not want this man to rule over us.”
Yet I need to confess I have been at the losing end of many such wrestling matches with God. I have not used Jeremiah’s words, but I could have: "You are stronger than I, and You have prevailed." After all, it’s not easy to surrender to God when we consider the cost of obedience, or what Bonhoeffer called, “the cost of discipleship.”
Some of the things Jesus asks us to do (better yet, many of them) are not easy. Therefore, after considering the sacrifice, personal inconvenience, disturbance of my comfort, and needed alteration to my set plans that would be required, it can lead to an extended internal wrestling match with God as I try various moves and maneuvers in my attempt to remain the one calling the shots – when God is simply asking me to submit or surrender to His will.
Yet a day is coming (as Maier points out) when the remnants of the old man (the resistant inner man) will be gone, and I will rejoice to sing the words of Jeremiah which I have discovered to be so true from prior experience, “You are stronger than I, and you have prevailed.”
Looking to the Day when God Would Have His Way With No Resistance From Us, Pastor Jeff
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