No matter how many traps the devil lays, he forgets one very important truth. He forgets who the real master of the game is. As so many of us eagerly await the end of 2021, as we did 2020, perhaps this is a good time to take a look at things from our Masters’ perspective.
Like the dark, but popular tv show, Game of Thrones, there is a real time “game of thrones” playing out before our very eyes – the conquest for God’s throne; both the physical future throne of King Jesus, Jerusalem, and His spiritual throne, our hearts. The first is non-negotiable. Jesus will sit on His throne in His heavenly sanctuary, in Mt. Zion, in Jerusalem. The second, is up to us. Where will our hearts lead us, or deceive us, in times of testing? Will He be enthroned upon our hearts when times get tough?
The last two years has been an hour of trial that seems to have come upon the whole world. People have been tested in difficult ways, especially followers of Christ. Scripture speaks of such a trial in Revelation 3:10; a trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Are we in “that test?” Whether we are or not, it’s a sobering reality to discover that God tests people. He test the hearts and minds of both the evil and the righteous. He creates circumstances and puts people to the test because He wants to know, find out, and see for Himself, through the circumstances that He creates or allows to occur, what our reaction will be. Will we remain devoted, be strengthened, and endure? Or, will we doubt, fear, accuse, slander, succumb, grow weary, and give up? God does not assume; He does not presume that He already knows. God tests, and then He watches. Which begs to ask…
Where is your heart? What is it revealing during times of trial:
About your faith? Your endurance?
Your fears? Your pride?
Your relationships? Your family?
The enemy will fight a violent battle to dethrone God from your heart. But God is not called “Jealous” for nothing. Sometimes what may look like loss, or difficulty, is actually a victory, for our refining. What does our Lord and Master want you to see and understand? Where has He gained the victory? Where is He refining you?
The goodness and wisdom of God can be hidden in what appears as the bad, therefore, we pray that the Holy Spirit helps us to see the good. Take this time to reflect on the last year. What is God trying to show you? Remember, He is after one thing, our devotion, in good times and in bad: Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’ (Matt. 22:37).
Pray and ask the Lord for revelation, realignment, and refreshment for this new season.
May God bless you and your families in the new year!
The Team at JCM
But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. ~ 1 Thess. 2:4
Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my mind and my heart. ~ Psalm 26:2
The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the hearts. ~ Prov. 17:3
Though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, thought it be tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, you love. ~ 1 Peter 1:6-8
I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings. ~ Jeremiah 17:10
And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. ~ Deuteronomy 8:2
For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined. ~ Psalm 66:10
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