Renewed in His Love

Zephaniah, whose name means “the Lord has hidden,” was sent by God to tell the remnant of His people that He had prepared a sacrifice for their sins, consecrating them and removing judgment so that they could be hidden on the day of the Lord’s wrath. God has done the same today, through the sacrifice of His beloved Son Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Friends, if you have the Spirit of Christ residing in you, then you are hidden. If your spirit bears witness that you are the son or daughter of God, you are hidden.

God is letting His remnant, the hidden ones, know that there is nothing to fear – not fiscal cliffs or tax increases, not gang violence, economic disparages or injustices. Don’t even let your hand grow weak. In other words, don’t stop working, don’t stop creating, don’t stop dreaming, don’t stop trying to bring about change, and don’t stop putting your hands to the press – for whatever you set your hands to do shall prosper.

Why, you ask, should I keep pressing when it looks like I might lose my house; why should I keep pressing when it looks like I may never be gainfully employed again; why should I keep trying when the bill collectors won’t quit calling and nagging me; why shouldn’t I stop fighting for my marriage, my children, or my sanity? Because verse 17 says, “the Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; He will rejoice over you with gladness…” I hear some asking, why is God rejoicing over me when my life seems to be all out of sorts? I don’t feel successful. I don’t feel that I even know his voice well enough to not question what I am hearing. Friends, God is rejoicing over you with gladness because he knows and sees your end. He knows your beginning from your end. He knows that your best is yet to come. He knows that you are right on target for a blessing – right now – for a miracle, for a mighty move of God. He knows that you are just ripe for Him to renew you in His love.

This year, Friends, God is inviting each and every one of us to spend more time in the secret place where He will be able to abundantly pour out and saturate us and cause us to bask in His love. As He says in Ezekiel 34:24, “I will cause the shower to come down in your season; there shall be showers of blessing.”

Zephaniah is instructing all those hidden by the Lord not just to sing, but to sing with a loud voice. In essence, you should sing like someone who knows that their sins are forgiven, that the Lord your God is in your midst. You should sing like someone who will boldly proclaim “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16) You should sing and rejoice that you have been hidden under the shadow of the wings of the Almighty. Rejoice because the Lover and Bishop of your soul is renewing you in His love.

Scripture Reference: Zephaniah 1:7, 2:3, 3:14-17 (NRSV)

Encouragement

Praise the Lord, people of God.  I write to you today to encourage you that your joy may remain in the Lord.  Although the trials of life will inevitably come to try your faith, you must know that you are more than an overcomer and a conqueror through Him that saved you and raised you to life in Him.  You are seated in heavenly places with Christ that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Friends, just know that God has not forgotten you. Whether you are in the fires of a furnace, the raging waves of the sea or in the lonely abode of a cave just know that God is still working out His plan.  Just view the fire as a furnace of purification, the raging waves of the sea as God’s cleansing agent and the lonely abode of the cave as God’s place of healing, deliverance and a sanctuary of safety from the snares of the evil one. Stand firm and be encouraged through this dramatization called life, for I have been given the assignment today to let you know that as God told Moses “But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.”

I say to you today, God has called each of you, my friends, to lead people into a land flowing with milk and honey which is your very inheritance. He will use the very trials you are facing today as your personal testimony tomorrow to lead others to the milk of the Word and the honey of His Spirit, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore, allow God to do His refining work in your life and thank Him even as you are going through this segment of your life that the best is yet to come.

God, my friends, has such great plans for you – plans to prosper you and to give you a future and a hope.  No one can thwart His plans and no one can close a door that He opens.  Therefore, be encouraged and strengthened in the knowledge that Jesus will complete the good work that He has begun in you and that you have been chosen to reign with Him forever in His presence.

In Christ,
Pastor Aldridge