Tag: waiting

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Luke- Week 4- Day 2

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

We should imitate their waiting.

And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.  (26)  And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

Luke 2:25-26

And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. 

Luke 2:37

Explanation:

We are looking to Anna and Simeon as people who exemplified what it looks like to live lives of holy anticipation.  We are trying to imitate what they did right in that. 

2.  We should imitate their waiting.

Notice what the scripture said about Simeon.  He was “waiting for the consolation of Israel.”  There was a sense of expectation.  He wasn’t just hoping for it, like he was unsure that it would happen.  He was looking for it because he believed that it would happen. 

What was the consolation of Israel?  The word for consolation here is the word also used for comfort.  God had promised to bring comfort to His people. 

Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.   

Isaiah 49:13

According to verse 26, God had told him that he would not die until he saw the Messiah.  So, Simeon, a kind of representation of the faithful remnant people in Israel, believed and waited for what God had promised.  For Simeon, this was not just a general hope that Israel would be comforted and restored, but a hope for the messiah.  God had revealed to him that he would see this long awaited Savior.

This was also true of Anna.  She had been married for 7 years, and then after her husband died, remained a widow for eighty four years.  What had she done with her life?  She had basically stayed in the temple, serving God through fasting and praying.  She had obviously been waiting during that whole time.  The text tells us that she knew many who “looked for redemption in Jerusalem.” (v.38). 

Application: 

The idea here is that there was an expectation.  For the believer in Christ there should be an expectation of Christ’s return. Simeon and Anna were looking forward to what God had promised because they believed that God would keep His promises.  Do you look forward to heaven?  Are you hoping for Christ?  Does it enter into your daily life?

Response:

What is a way you can “wait” for the Lord this week?

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Dwelling Together- Isaiah- Week 5- Day 5

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill.

Isaiah 25:9-10

Explanation:
Have you ever waited for something? As a kid it may have been Christmas. Maybe it was counting down to your wedding day. Maybe you couldn’t wait for the birth of a child, or for your long-distance friends or family to arrive for a vacation. We’ve all experienced the longing that grows as we wait for something.

For the believer there is a sense in which this is how we feel about God. We know that God is pleased by our faith. We know that God wants us to believe, yet we long to see him not just with the eyes of faith. We long to be in His presence. We long to be in a place where there is no more death, pain, suffering and sin. We long to be with Christ.
In verse 9 we see the people that have been saved expressing this reality. They proclaim that this God is their God. It is the God that they have waited for that is here with them, being praised, providing refuge, and destroying death.

He is providing rest, and is destroying all the enemies of God and his people. Those that seemed so powerful before (Moab) are like straw stamped down in a dunghill. They are no threat. God has provided salvation to His people and will dwell with them for eternity!

Application:
For today’s application I just want you to meditate a few moments in the hope that is inevitably found for those who believe the following verses:

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.

1 Corinthians 15:20-27

The God that shall rule and reign over His enemies, that shall destroy death, that shall be praised for his provision of refuge for the weak, is the same God that wants to save us from our sin today, and then come to indwell us. If you are in Christ, then the Spirit of God is in you. This is our hope. This is our message. Consider Colossians 1:27-28.

To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

Colossians 1:27-28

Response:
• Are you in Christ today? Do you know Christ as your Savior? It is your only hope.
• Believer, is God ruling in you today? Where are you not submitting to God’s Spirit in your life?
• Take a few moments to rejoice in the future hope that we have in dwelling with God forever!

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Restraint- Proverbs- Session 12- Day 4

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.

Song of Solomon 3:1-4

Explanation:
In today’s text the maiden has a dream. In her dream she cannot find her beloved. She is going about the city streets looking to no avail. She asks for others to help her and they do not know about where her beloved one is. Finally she finds him. Notice the passion in her search, and in her finding him. She describes him as “him whom my soul loveth.” She is describing her love as the innermost love that someone can have as it comes from her soul. She says that she “held him” and “would not let him go.” This is a very passionate description.
But even with this much passion in her description, notice where she takes him in the dream. She does not take him to her bedroom. She takes him to her mother’s house and her mother’s room. This demonstrates restraint on her part. She does not yet give herself physically to him. She is anticipating their marriage to each other, but is restraining herself from getting involved sexually before the wedding day.

Application:
So many people tend to think of freedom as a lack of restraint. But the truth of the matter is that true freedom comes from discipline. Restraint and discipline bring freedom. God’s design for sex and intimacy is to restrain it to marriage. Marriage relationships are based on trust. Would you trust a spouse more who was restrained and committed to you before their marriage or one who was unrestrained? Who would you be able to trust more, and therefore be more intimate with? Certainly the one who had been trustworthy before marriage.

Response:
• Is there any area of your life that is unrestrained when it comes to God’s will?
• Where do you need more discipline in your life?