Do You Know How To Pass On Resilience?
Good Morning Friends,
Through Jesus we can be created and re-born. The potter is at work to shape and reshape us. And that is about our pliability. But also acquiring and passing on a certain hardiness, toughness, strength, buoyancy, resistance, and spirit from one generation to another. We see it reflected in the lives of Moses to Joshua….Paul to Timothy. We see it forged in the life of Daniel and of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. We see it in Jesus passing on the Holy Spirit to all who believe. Do You Know How To Pass On Resilience?
Scripture: This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’
Joshua 1:8-9 (NRSV)
O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.
Isaiah 64:8 (NRSV)
Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up quickly. He said to his counsellors, ‘Was it not three men that we threw bound into the fire?’ They answered the king, ‘True, O king.’ He replied, ‘But I see four men unbound, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the fourth has the appearance of a god.’ Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and said, ‘Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!’ So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counsellors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men; the hair of their heads was not singed, their tunics were not harmed, and not even the smell of fire came from them. Nebuchadnezzar said, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king’s command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that utters blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins; for there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.’ Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
Daniel 3:24-30 (NRSV)
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
2 Timothy 1:7 (NRSV)
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11 (NRSV)
Message: Today’s scripture describes one of the great transformations in leadership found in the Bible. Moses had just died and God speaks to Joshua with words of encouragement, essentially saying, “Be courageous”… the Lord is with you where you are going. Here we have the sequel to the Pentateuch, the beginning of the fulfillment of the Promise of land and it is in this covenant we see how God reveals Himself in history. We see it forged in the lives of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Despite the fact that Jesus died, that Moses died, that Paul and Timothy died there is a continuing task. In our lives today, through the new covenant in Christ, there can be striking parallels that show forth a resurrection strength. And that my friends has a lot to do with resilience and passing it on from one generation to another. There is a definite mission and purpose that pushes and pulls us to a victory in Christ. In the process Jesus molds us and test our pliability, flexibility and elasticity. His Spirit instills in us a resistance to sin and a toughness to love. So when we are sharing the Spirit and passing the Peace of Christ we in a way reveal the promise of a love that does not die. Yes in today’s scripture we are called to pray and study the Bible. We are called to listen for what God has to say to us and not just the words but the meanings, and the man behind the word, Jesus, the resurrected Jesus… for it is Him we seek and in Him we want to experience a forging of something that will last. It is with and in Jesus that we have resilience.
Pray we are transformed by the Holy Spirit. Pray we gaze upon the person of Christ as we pray. Pray we have the courage to change and to seek God’s help in the process. Pray that we reflect Christ. Pray we are filled with His Spirit and are transformed into something new. Pray that as long as God is the Potter and we are the clay that we are to fear nothing because He is in control. Pray we conform to the image God would have of us. Pray for faith strong enough to serve when faced with the fire. Pray that the Glory of God will grow in us…that we will be strong and courageous in facing the transitions and transformations of life. Pray that we will be obedient to His commands and soak up into our spirit the scripture He brings to us today. Pray that we have resilience that is shared.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 