Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Foundry Publishing House of Kansas City, Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Friday, 29 December 2017 "Persistence In Prayer" by Albert Hung - Luke 18:1-14Luke 18:1 Then Yeshua told his talmidim a parable, in order to impress on them that they must always keep praying and not lose heart. 2 “In a certain town, there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected other people. 3 There was also in that town a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me a judgment against the man who is trying to ruin me.’ 4 For a long time he refused; but after awhile, he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God, and I don’t respect other people; 5 but because this widow is such a nudnik, I will see to it that she gets justice — otherwise, she’ll keep coming and pestering me till she wears me out!’”
6 Then the Lord commented, “Notice what this corrupt judge says. 7 Now won’t God grant justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Is he delaying long over them? 8 I tell you that he will judge in their favor, and quickly! But when the Son of Man comes, will he find this trust on the earth at all?”
9 Also, to some who were relying on their own righteousness and looking down on everyone else, he told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Parush and the other a tax-collector. 11 The Parush stood and prayed to himself, ‘O God! I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, immoral, or like this tax-collector! 12 I fast twice a week, I pay tithes on my entire income, . . . ’ 13 But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes toward heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God! Have mercy on me, sinner that I am!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his home right with God rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.”
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In the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8), Jesus tells a story about a woman who demands recompense (the actual word used is closer to the idea of retribution or vengeance) for the wrongs committed against her. We are assured that God is a caring judge who is committed to seeing that justice is done on behalf of His children. But this is not the point of the parable. Rather, Luke tells us that Jesus wanted to communicate something important about how we relate to God. “Jesus told His disciples [this] parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1, emphasis added).
We want justice. God wants relationship. We are not meant to have one without the other. Jesus tells us that justice is given to those “who cry out to God day and night.” It is God who determines what is just; God weighs the evidence, God renders the verdict, and God metes out the sentence. Our role is simply to keep coming to Him daily with our petitions and requests, and to trust Him to know what to do with them.
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Hymn for Today: "Soldiers of Christ Arise" by Charles Wesley
1. Soldiers of Christ, arise,
and put your armor on,
strong in the strength which God supplies
through His eternal Son;
strong in the Lord of hosts
and in His mighty pow'r,
who in the strength of Jesus trusts
is more than conqueror.
2. Stand then in His great might,
with all His strength endued,
and take, to aid you in the fight,
the panoply of God.
From strength to strength go on,
wrestle and fight and pray;
tread all the pow'rs of darkness down
and win the well-fought day.
3. Leave no unguarded place,
no weakness of the soul;
take ev'ry virtue, ev'ry grace,
and fortify the whole.
That, having all things done
and all your conflicts past,
ye may o'ercome through Christ alone
and stand complete at last.
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Thought for Today: Always be joyful. Pray regularly. In everything give thanks, for this is what God wants from you who are united with the Messiah Yeshua.(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
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Please pray: That many people in Ireland will come to know Yeshua as their Messiah receive the fullness of the Ruach HaKodesh.
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