Jody’s Revelations

I love it when a light goes on and I get a new revelation from Scripture.  And I have learned that we can get a new one every day…all we have to do is ASK!  This web-site is to share the revelations that God has given me and hopefully it will encourage you to do some asking of your own. 

Finding myself in a dark place, I began to seek the Lord and ask what was up with this and to give me some insight into my situation.  He is so faithful.  Here’s what I learned.

Right after Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist He went into the desert for 40 days of fasting and being tempted by Satan.  When He came out of the wilderness Matthew 4:12 says, “Now when Jesus  heard that John had been arrested and put in prison.  He withdrew into Galilee.”

He withdrew!  How many times have I read this Scripture but never until today do I understand this part.  He withdrew!  He didn’t go and break John the Baptist out of prison.  He could have…but that wasn’t the plan.  I’m sure that John the Baptist wondered about that.  Maybe he felt like he was in a dark place and he could still be out ministering….but Jesus had and has the Master Plan.  Sometimes we only see small ugly parts and wonder how in the world they fit.  But I’ve learned, that as long as I’m walking with Him in the wind, holding His hand, trusting Him…He never lets me down.  Never!

Now wait, you say…John the Baptist ended up with his head chopped off…

Yes, I say…and your point is?

Let us say boldly with Job, ”Though He slay me, yet will I wait for and trust Him!  Job 13:15

Jesus has the Master Plan.  Jesus knew where John the Baptist was…and He knows where I am!

HOLD FAST!

 I’ve been pondering the Augsburg Confession, and the works of Martin Luther.  In a book entitled, “Here I Stand, the Life of Martin Luther, one of the passages really caught my eye.  It reads:

Some of the afflictions which fall upon the just were, in Luther’s view, the work of the Devil, and here he was following the familiar Augustinian dualism of the eternal conflict between the City of God and the earthly city through which Satan operates.  Luther could in this way take comfort in tumult because the Devil is bound to assail the faith, and tumult is the proof that faith is present and under attack.  But it is not always the Devil who is responsible.  God is a God who works through contraries.  The Virgin had to be put to shame before she could come into glory.  Joseph had to be humiliated by false accusation before he could become the prime minister and savior of Egypt.  In such moments God appears hidden.  Joseph must have had a fearful struggle.  He would say, “Oh, if I could only get back to my father,” and then he would grip himself and say, “Hold fast.  If only I could find the way out of this dungeon.  Hold fast.  What if I die in disgrace in this prison?  Hold fast.”  Such alternations of anguish and consolation assailed him until he was able to discern the hand of God.

And so I say today, no matter what you are going through, “Hold Fast!”