Yehoshua (Jesus) is the Rock. He is the Rock that protects and delivers us (Psalm 18:2). He is the Rock that serves as our plumb line (“The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone” Matthew 21:42). He is the Foundation on which we are to build our lives (Matthew 7:24, 25). He is the Rock on which His Church is built and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). And He is the Rock that was cut out of the mountain without hands and will destroy the kingdoms of the earth (Daniel 2:45). These are the main points of a message Ron recently preached at the Redwood Gospel Mission. In short, Jesus is the answer to everything and He is all we need. This has been stated so often by so many different people, yet each one of us have to allow the Holy Spirit to work the truth of it into our experience through the circumstances that God orchestrates and permits.
We are coming to the place of saying with the Apostle Paul, “I am determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified?” During the past month we have spent time with and received phone calls and emails from several pastors, pastors’ wives, pastor couples as well as brothers and sisters in the Lord. Some are going through times of transition in their church or personal lives, and the actions of members within their congregation, the action of family members or their own personal reaction has brought them to the point of discouragement and disillusionment. Some are struggling with wayward teenaged or adult children. They know all the assurances of scripture but are still tormented by thoughts of potential consequences, and feel compelled to do something to alter the course their children are on. Others are seeing the LORD do great and mighty things in their churches and/or families, and are eager to share about His goodness. No matter what the circumstance, the best thing we can do is point to:
- The only Rock to cling to when all seems lost – Jesus.
- The only Rock by which to measure your behavior or choices - Jesus.
- The only Rock on which to build your dreams and your future - Jesus.
The LORD does not seem to be as interested in the outcomes of our events or meetings as we are; He seems most concerned with the process we go through and our attitudes during that process. The LORD has been asking us to walk step by step and not look for results or even try to identify the “larger picture.” He moves us in and out of peoples’ lives and through our times of fellowship we are mutually blessed and encouraged. But, are we allowing Him to use these times to teach us, to correct us, to change us? Do we allow Him to love others through us? (because our love is not sufficient) Do we “do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God?” (Micah 6:8) Can we walk along side and bless our brothers and sisters in Christ when we don’t see eye to eye with them? Do we focus on the beam in our own eye or are we trying to remove the spec in our brother’s? Are we content to be used as the Holy Spirit sees fit in each encounter we have or do we need to see results? Through it all, we cry out “lead me to the Rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2); for He is our only Shelter, He is the only One by whom we can measure our life and He is our only sure Foundation. |
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