Today's study fit my life perfectly. I love when that happens! I have been praying about God's promises to me a lot recently. My most frequent request from God is that He change my little brother's behavior and free him from the bondage of ADHD and other issues. A few months ago I spent a whole day trying to only pray for Alex. The next day nothing had changed with his behavior, though I had been really hoping for a miraculous change, but I did hear God tell me there was hope for Alex, and I've been clinging to that promise ever since. I continue to pray for Alex, but I also know there is a promise that one day he will get better. I don't know how that change will manifest itself or when, but I know it will be on God's terms and in His timing. I know God keeps His promises, and therefore I trust there is hope, even if other members of my family do not, I will not let go of the hope of promise. Now on to today...
God follows through on His promise. Luke 2:21-52
So this passage covers a few moments in Jesus' life, but its primary focus is on the promises given to an old man named Simeon. Simeon was "righteous and devout," and it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would see Jesus (the Lord's Messiah) before he died. Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the temple to be consecrated, and Simeon is led by the Holy Spirit to go to the temple that day too, so he gets to meet little baby Jesus. He blesses Jesus and thanks God for fulfilling His promise. Anna, a prophetess who spent every day and night at the temple, also got to meet Jesus as she was there. Luke then skips ahead to when Jesus was a young boy, I always pictured him to be somewhere between eight and twelve, and tells about a day when Jesus and His parents were in Jerusalem. Jesus ran off to the temple and spent the day speaking with the teachers and elders, while His parents frantically searched for Him. When they finally found Him in the temple He was surprised they didn't know where He was, saying, "Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?" But Jesus, even as a baby and young boy, was filled with the Holy Spirit, with God's wisdom and grace, and obedient to His parents.
Questionsss...
-Simeon it seems has been faithful for years to worship and follow God. The text says, "The Holy Spirit was on him." What evidence do you think there was that the Holy Spirit was with him?
Simeon's faith and patience are a huge testament to God being in his heart. Simeon knew what he had been promised, but he was getting pretty old. He didn't doubt, though. He waited patiently, trusting God would fulfill the promises He had made.
-What did the Holy Spirit actually do in this circumstance? Can you see the different roles the Spirit played and how he might still be playing such roles today in your life?
The Holy Spirit filled Simeon and revealed the promise of meeting Jesus. The Holy Spirit also led Simeon to go to the temple that day, the day Jesus was being consecrated. Simeon blessed Jesus and prophesied about His life and death, and I think the power to do this also came from the Holy Spirit.
The passage says that Anna came up to them [Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and probably Simeon] "at that very moment." That sounds like a little more than coincidence to me!
The text says that Jesus was filled with the Lord's grace and wisdom, that too comes through the Holy Spirit.
As far as how this applies to my own life, the most recent application would be peace. I have been so filled with peace and joy in Jesus, and I completely believe that comes from the Holy Spirit. I used to be so stressed about school, grades, future, and I began to pray to trust God better. I did, I fully trusted Him, but I was still overwhelmed by how much I had to do and how much pressure there was to do everything the right way, so I changed my prayer to asking for the ability to trust God and be at peace, and He granted that. I have never felt so at peace in my life. Not to say I don't have a looooong way to go to utterly trusting and being wholly at peace in Him, but He has helped me so much still. It's so cool, just to see God working, in my own life and in others' lives. Jesus is the greatest :)
-Praise filled with truth seems to be the Biblical response to seeing God fulfill His promises. What is your typical response when you see God fulfill a promise in your life?
Honestly, it just makes me so excited! It's just so cool to see God work, I love recognizing and seeing those promises fulfilled. Whether it's in my own life or someone else's, I just love it! Katherine saw God answering prayers a week ago and I made her tell the story to just about everyone we met, it just made me so excited. Seeing God's promises fulfilled, seeing prayers answered, they're tangible reminders of His love, care and provision. It's just the greatest.
-What promises are you waiting for God to fulfill in your growth?
Well, I kinda covered this at the beginning. I am waiting to see the promise fulfilled that there is hope for Alex, that he will change. And I do trust that I will see this promise fulfilled. I have no doubt in my mind that God is already working in my dearest Alex's heart, and that he will grow into a Godly boy/man, but I know it will be fulfilled in God's way and in His time, not mine.
-What promises do you have trouble believing God will follow through on?
Man, this study is really making me address my insecurities, failings, and fears! But hey, that's good. I truly believe the weaker we become, the better, because the more we have to depend on God's great strength. I'd rather be weak and broken, because then I would be reliant on Jesus and have a better understanding of His grace. That's what I've been praying for, to be weak and understand my own brokenness better. It's gonna be tough, but good.
Whoops...tangent...
Back to the original answer: I'm not sure if it's that I don't believe this promise, more that it's hard sometimes to trust. I believe it, I just fail to trust all the time. Anyways. I just have such a fear of people leaving, because so many people have. The beautiful part of that is how much God's promise that He'll never leave means to me, and I do fully believe that promise, but I think what I have difficulty with is that fear of people leaving, and knowledge that people do leave and they do fail and they aren't ever going to be perfect. And I know God will never leave, never forsake, but sometimes I think I'm just so afraid of being alone that I forget that He promises to take care of all my needs, and that He will never leave me alone. I will never be truly alone. He will always provide.
-Jesus is just a baby in this passage, but what do we find out about Him here, even at just eight days old?
"And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him." And, "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." The verse also talks about Jesus obeying His earthly parents. I think what these verses show is that Jesus was fully man, but also God, filled with grace and wisdom, in favor with His earthly family and Heavenly Father. Jesus was no ordinary man, He was subjected to the same temptations of sin, but He was able to resist by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit.
That's it for today, folks!
No comments:
Post a Comment