The Shepherd's Staff

Have you ever wondered what it will be like to meet someone for the first time … in Paradise?  If you think about it, we have some pretty fascinating introductions in front of us.

Most certainly, every believer awaits – with anticipation – his first meeting with Christ Jesus.  When I think of my first face-to-Face encounter with the Creator of the universe and Savior of my soul, I feel joyfully excited … and reverently fearful.

Furthermore, can you imagine getting into a conversation with someone, only to find out that you are talking to Eve?  Or to one who crossed through the Jordan with Joshua?  Or to the one who, as a young boy, handed over his five loaves and two fish to Jesus?  Or to one who came to the New World aboard the Mayflower?  Don’t you imagine our next question would be, “What was that like?”

There is someone else I am looking forward to meeting.  Once I awaken from the sleep of death, if I do not see the Lord Jesus first, he may be the first one I see (Luke 16:22).  And when I meet this angel, I want to thank him for something.

According to the Scriptures one of the responsibilities of the angelic host is to carry out the will of God in the affairs of His creation.  One such ministry assigned to the angels is to serve the saints of God:

Are (the angels) not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?  (Hebrews 1:14)

There is Scriptural evidence indicating that every believer is watched over by at least one “guardian angel” (Matthew 18, Acts 12).  Their service to the saints includes

guarding them from danger (Psalm 91)

delivering God’s message to certain individuals (Daniel 10, Luke 1)

protecting them from premature death (2^nd Kings 6, Acts 12)

 and …

strengthening them to persevere in God’s call upon their lives (Luke 22)

Jesus Himself benefited from this ministry of the angels.  The night before His Crucifixion, the Lord entered into the most intense period of suffering any human has ever had to endure.

And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.  (Luke 22:44)

Jesus had lived His entire life in obedience to the will of the Father (John 5:30, 6:38).  And He was still resolved to do so, even unto death (Philippians 2:8).  But this resolve was not without great inner turmoil.

“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.”

“No, My Son, this ‘cup’ is My will for Your life.”

“Then Father, Your will be done.”

We then read that one of God’s spirit-ministers arrived in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.  (Luke 22:43) ¹

Lest we forget what it would take for the Son of Man to fulfill God’s calling upon His life,

Christ Jesus was to be impaled to a Roman Cross …

taking upon Himself your sins and mine …

that He might suffer the wrath of God …

in our place … as our Substitute … so that we would not have to suffer eternal death for our own sins …

and rising from the dead, He would be able to give to those who trust in His Payment for our sins …

eternal life

Nothing less than the redemption of man was the calling of God upon His life.  But to faithfully fulfill this calling, the Son of Man needed the perseverance of God.  He needed the strength this angel from God brought to Him …

… and so do we.  In order to faithfully persevere in our respective callings (whatever they may be)

we need the strength that the Lord of hosts provides through the ministry of His angelic warriors

Perhaps you have begun to feel the weariness of your own calling … a prolonged labor that does not seem to be making much (if any) difference.  People let you down.  People put you down.  People walk away from you.  Perhaps your health has weakened.  Perhaps your financial situation has weakened.  Perhaps even your faith has weakened.  You become discouraged.  Doubts set in.  Temptations come from your flesh.  Persecution comes from the world.  Oppression comes from the demonic realm.  Perhaps you don’t want to “keep on keeping on.”  You want to do what every fiber of your being is telling you to do.  You want to chuck the whole thing.

Can you relate to any of this?  If so, I have a question for you, one I have OFTEN asked myself.  When you appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, do you want to hear Him say to you

Well done, good and faithful slave

… because if we do, there is something we must come to grips with:

for faithfulness to be dyed into the fabric of our souls, situations demanding perseverance must exist

It is impossible to be faithful without trials.  To be aware of that fact goes a long way in understanding why doubts and confusion and weariness are such an integral part of the ministry (whatever ministry we have).  It explains why attacks from our flesh and from the world and from Satan are to be expected.  It explains why God (seems to be) so slow and so silent and so aloof at times.  To face a long-term trial does not mean that God has lost interest in us.  It means that

God is cultivating our faithfulness by stretching our endurance

To Whom, then, should we turn for the “spiritual grit” needed to endure this painful and prolonged tempering of our faith?  To the One Who lay prostrate in the Garden of Gethsemane.

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.  Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  (Hebrews 4:15-16)

What is the name of the One Who sits upon this Throne of grace?  One of His Hebrew names is Yahweh Sabaoth, “the LORD of hosts.”  He is the Commander of a vast army of angelic warriors, sent forth to strengthen and defend and comfort His people in their times of need.

When I first enter into the realms of Paradise, I look forward to a great many first-time introductions.  And one of them is to the angel assigned to watch over me these many years.  I want to thank him for his service.  In times of despair he brought to me the perseverance of Christ I so desperately needed.

How Yahweh Sabaoth, “the LORD of hosts,” uses these spirit-warriors in our lives is the subject of The God of Our Lives, chapter 6:  “Our God is a Watchful Defender.”

Click here to view this course:  THE GOD OF OUR LIVES

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Click here to read the 1^ST chapter of The God of Our Lives:  YAHWEH, OUR GOD IS OUR CREATOR

To the readers within the believing community:  My wife and I would greatly appreciate your prayers, that we would respond to adversity with grace and righteousness.

¹   Why would the Second Person of the Trinity need to be strengthened?  Is He not God?  To answer this question, let’s consider that incredible nine-month period of time when the eternal Son of God “clothed Himself with flesh” while implanted as a Fetus in the uterus of a virgin.  The Lord Jesus Christ is indeed 100% God.  And because of the incarnation, He is also 100% Man.  (He is not 50% / 50%.)  He is the God-Man … fully divine, fully human.  It was the humanity of Christ that needed to be strengthened to fulfill the Father’s calling upon His life.