But the love of the Lord remains forever
….with those who fear him.
His salvation extends to the children’s children
….of those who are faithful to his covenant,
….of those who obey his commandments! Psalm 103:17-18 NLT

(Today has been one of those days that circumstances almost led to nothing being posted at all. But I thought better of it and decided to share the next installment of the posts I had shared last week.)

Matthew 16:20 (<<click here to read the passage)

There are quite a few areas in life where a small amount of knowledge applied can cause problems. I worked in the jewelry department of a Kohl’s department store for over 10 years and one of the things we did regularly back in the day was to change watch batteries. Sometimes it was a challenge to get the back off a watch, but it could also be a challenge to get the back back on. Most often, if that happened, we used a press with little dies to apply even pressure to pop them back on.

Early on in my time there, I heard of an associate who used the press but didn’t realize the need to use the dies. Without the dies, there are just two metal posts, and a metal post pressed firmly to a watch crystal has disastrous consequences! Of course, it shattered!

The disciples knew quite a bit about who Jesus was and due to the Father’s revelation, it was confirmed that Jesus was truly the promised Messiah. But that term, at this time, was not understood in the way God had intended. Applying the small amount of knowledge, they had could easily have had disastrous consequences! So, Jesus “sternly warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.”

A while back as we studied through the Gospel of John, we repeatedly encountered the phrase, “My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4) in regard to Jesus’s lifeline. Everything, absolutely everything, comes in God’s good time. Jesus didn’t come to earth until it was time. His ministry didn’t begin until it was time. His death didn’t take place until it was time. And the proclamation that He was the Messiah didn’t occur until it was time.

Lord Jesus, may I patiently wait for Your timing – it is best. May I wait for Your direction and knowledge on how to press and when to press ahead. But also, may I not hesitate to step out on faith, if that is what You call me to do. Amen.

(June 4th, 2018, Mon, 6:34 am)

June 5th, 2022, Sun, 10:17 pm