He is for you… Signed, sealed, delivered: He’s Yours!

He is for you… Signed, sealed, delivered: He’s Yours!
pamela spurling

Dear Sisters ~

I am thinking of you today as I do most every day. I ask the LORD to bless and care for the needs of the sisters… the women who subscribe to these letters, visitors to our website, blog, etc. For I recognize more and more that each visit or each visitor is a story… a life with innumerable experiences, memories, needs and hopes. And so, it is with that in mind that I am writing to you today.

I was reading and a little word seemed to leap off the page of my Bible. The little word: for. I imagine this happens with you, too. You read along and then, seeming to jump off the page, you see a word you think you’ve never read before---even if you have underlined that particular verse or word! That’s how that little word, *for,* was for me.

I often think that Jesus is for us… sort of like I tell my children: I am for you! I want the best for you… I want to serve you, to help you, to encourage you, to guide you, to provide for you… I am for you! I am here… I will be here (LORD willing) when you get back… I will be here waiting for you. I am going to do this job for you – or on your behalf! I want to give them assurance and confidence and security. It is eventually what I want them to see and know in Jesus –that He is for them… He’s gone on before them *for* them. As they grow in grace and maturity in their walk with Him, I want that truth to govern their lives, their decisions and for it to be their firm foundation. For they will encounter trials, they will have trouble in this life, they will face persecution to one degree or another and that being the case, I want them to have a sure foundation, I want them to have that anchor—that sure anchor of Truth, held by the Truth. If I never pass on anything else to them, I will pass this on.

Which hope we have as an anchor of the
soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth
into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner
is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest
for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Hebrews 6.19-20

I’ve receive a number of letters from sisters in many different places who are discouraged. Their hope is waning – their faith is wavering. Life’s trials are mounting and doubts have crept in. It’s a very lonely road when you think you’re the only one traveling the path or the only one facing trials. It doesn’t really help to know you’re not alone or, rather, to be told you’re not alone –or worse, to have another woman give you the “been there, done that” answer. I don’t know of a worse answer to give a woman who’s undergoing a trial or a painful period of time. But I do know one thing… there is hope in Jesus… and today I see that hope in that little word: for. “The forerunner is for us entered…” Jesus is for us entered. He is for us! We have His word on that… He *is* for us.

In hope of eternal life, which God,
that cannot lie,
promised before the world began;
Titus 1.2

So, we have the promises of God. Now, in time of stress or pain or trouble, we may not initially feel that the promises of God comfort us or that they relieve us of our pain or worry---but really---they should! When we have our eyes focused on our troubles and trials, we are looking down or we are looking inward. But when we look to or keep our eyes on the LORD, we necessarily take our eyes off our circumstances and look up. We have no promises in ourselves. We have no hope –in and of ourselves- our hope is in the LORD. In fact, it ought to be a very critical indicator to us that we do not have our eyes fixed on Jesus if we’re fretting or feeling discouraged or whatever. The Scriptures tell us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. The enemy of our souls would have us do otherwise. Remembering that in us, this is, in and of ourselves, there is no good thing, isn’t it remarkable that that’s just what the enemy would have us to concentrate on or to keep our eyes fixed on: our trouble, our worrying about our troubles.

The enemy is not for us. The enemy is against us --- what’s more is not so much that he’s against us, but that he’s against Jesus and he uses us as pawns to attempt to detract from Jesus and our fretting or anger or discontent to deflect praise or eclipse in some way the glory of Jesus. But Jesus is greater than he that is in the world. We seldom think of that when we’re entrenched in angst over dilemmas in which we find ourselves. That’s why the Word tells us to be renewed daily in the spirit of our minds. We read that He will never leave us… Why do we doubt Him? Why do we look at our circumstances and dare to think they are insurmountable? Why do we think God’s forgotten us? He is for us! His promises cannot fail, His Word cannot return void! He is our comfort, He is our hope, He is our consolation. The enemy is a liar… and every single day will attempt to prove to us that God has forgotten us or that we have finally done too many wrongs or that we will never have enough faith or hope or good works to be worthy of God. Those are lies. The enemy will remind us of past failures and those reminders often paralyze us or cripple us into believing or seeing our past failures as future indicators. But that’s not what God says about us –that’s not what God thinks about us. And we need to flee to Him and seek refuge in Him.

That by two immutable things, in which it was
impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation,
who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:”
Hebrews 6.18

He is our refuge and strength… and He is *for* us. That’s sweet news –sweet relief for whatever ails us. When we walk with Him, we can see this is true… but when we’re walking alone, eyes on ourselves, neglecting the promises of God, we miss this. And, O, we mustn’t miss this! We need to repent of those thoughts, we need to repent of whatever sin is separating us from God, we need to repent of those things that we have believed that are *not* true about God. And we need to lay claim to the promises of God in Jesus. I do this by reading His Word…. Learning more and more about who Jesus is and what God says about who He is. I seek to know Him more that I might obey Him –that I would be found in Him and that I would daily be conformed to His image. It is this desire to know Him that keeps me pressing on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. If I don’t have any other reason to press on daily, this is reason enough. If I cannot find any thing around me or in my life to keep me pressing on, this is enough. But the enemy would be relentless in attempts to obscure this truth. But God’s promises, God’s Word, God’s Truth and God’s eternal purpose cannot be obscured.

All the promises in God are: Yes! Wait. All the promises in God are Yes! and in Jesus: Amen! How about that?!?! Yes! and Amen! It’s as if God is saying: My promises are Yes! and Jesus is my Amen --- My promise, you have My Word on it, Jesus is my Seal. Signed, sealed, delivered: He’s Yours!

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in Him was yea. For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. IICorinthians 1.19-20

Dear sister, if you are buried in hopelessness or if you are doubting or if your faith is wavering… then may I implore you to simply take a few more minutes aside and get your Bible… look up the verses I’ve mentioned today… even read the verses surrounding them for context and greater understanding and then pray… pray the LORD will show you what He wants you to do. Pray He will comfort you and guide your steps and then, by all means, obey His Word -- whatever He’s leading you to do. I have never-never-never gone to the Word, sincerely asking for His divine guidance and had Him turn His Word away or His Truths away from me – no matter what, no matter where, no matter how longs it’s been –He is there. So, we go to the whole counsel of Scripture and we see Him. He says (in Jeremiah 29.13) “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” That truth is powerful. Those immutable things: God cannot lie and we have strong consolation. What blessing, what joy, what comfort!

I pray He is, and will be, your all in all.

With love and prayers for you