Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.
(Hebrews 6:16-18 NLT)Lesson Focus: Guilt (feelings of culpability especially for imagined offenses or from a sense of inadequacy)
Guilt is an especially damaging feeling. Guilt and pride have caused more Christ followers to stumble than any other human weakness.
When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah. After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for another 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters. Enoch lived 365 years, walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him. (Genesis 5:21-24 NLT)
Other than genealogies there are only a couple more mentions of Enoch in the Bible.
Enoch, who lived in the seventh generation after Adam, prophesied about these people. He said, “Listen! The Lord is coming with countless thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment on the people of the world. He will convict every person of all the ungodly things they have done and for all the insults that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (Jude 1:14-15 NLT)
It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he disappeared, because God took him.” For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God. And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. (Hebrews 11:5-6 NLT)
Based on this letter from Jude we know that Enoch was an early prophet. Enoch was included on a short list of men and women in Hebrews 11 called the Hall of Faith. Each member of this noted society earned their place by exhibiting faith in God. In a wicked age, Enoch lived a dedicated life; he did this by trusting God’s Word. He believed that God would reward him for his faith, and God did so by taking him to heaven so that he did not die.
How do you know if God is pleased with you? – How do you do something “by faith?”
Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. (1 John 3:20 NLT)
For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him. (2 Chronicles 30:9b)
"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant . . . I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jeremiah 31:31, 34b ESV)
“God is bigger than our feelings.” For 300 years Enoch “walked in close fellowship with God.” It is impossible to think that he always felt like it. It is inconceivable to believe he never felt inadequate. As the ancient world watched he took it one step at a time, always striving to walk that much closer, until one day he was lifted up to a greater promise than this world can hold.
Promises Kept: Imagine a child, your child, running toward you across the lawn. Suddenly, your kid stumbles over a stick in the grass. When they get up, brush themselves off, and finish the charge into your arms, you are pleased. What if, they laid there in the turf whining and crying at the stick, then became resentful and angry at the stick. You wait with open arms, but they’re stuck at the stick. Are you pleased? – I don’t know? Do you still love them with all your heart? – Absolutely!
For many of us there are just too many times when we miss out on the rewards God has promised us because we are stuck in the feelings of guilt and inadequacy we have created for ourselves. Is it time for you to get up, brush yourself off, and finish the charge?
No comments:
Post a Comment