Text: Zepaniah 3:17
The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.”
Focus: The three results of being on fire to God.
Introduction
It is our fourth night that we have been hearing from different pastors about God’s love and about us being on fire. Where so far we have learned that we have to be on fire on the Lord. We have to be on fire in serving him and his people.
1. He will take great delight in you.
This means that God will be happy for you. If God is happy with you, then your relationship with him is closer. And when your relationship with him is closer, then it will be easier for you to ask to him and believe that he can give it.
The verse says that “God is mighty to save”, yes indeed he is mighty to save. The fact that we are here despite of being wicked in our old life, now God cleansed us and we are now here. Our money may change our outward look, but only God can change our inner being. This alone proves that money is not the guarantee for us to change. Only God can change us.
This is the first result on being on fire with the Lord, after experiencing God’s goodness, and because we are closer to God, the result is that God will take great delight in us. Take note here, the author did not just say “delight” but “great delight”. Now let us imagine ourselves in front of our father who is very happy and proud to us.
Usually, when the parents are so proud in us they ask us on what things we want to have. They will ask us if we want to eat to a restaurant, if want to have an outing, or if we want to buy a bicycle. Now this is the picture of a father who is proud in us. He can even shout to the whole world “THIS IS MY SON”.!!!
On the other hand, picture a father who is angry to you. He will never ask you what you want. He won’t even bother to greet you. You can never ask for anything. He will even despise you. He will shout to the world “YOU ARE A SON OF YOUR MOM”!!! He will disown you. In worst case scenario, he will even throw you out of your house.
But because God is mighty to save and he will take great delight in you, He is proud of you and he will bless you.
2. He will quiet you with his love
Another result of being on fire with the Lord is that God will quite us with his love. This means that even in the midst of our trials and turmoil, God is there to hug us, to love us. He is there even when everybody forsake us. Deuteronomy 31:6 says “6Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
On the other hand, imagine a father who was never proud of you. What will he say if you have some problems? Let us say that you on the other hand have not been a good son or a good daughter, what do you think your parents will do to you? There are some parents who will get their hands on you. Some will scold you and yell at you. While there are some who will listen to you and hug you, sympathizing on all your problems, taking off all the loads from you and carrying it themselves. And such is a picture of loving parents where God does more than that.
This is very true especially if we have been a part of God’s family. God is always there to carry the loads that we are carrying. God is like a father who sympathizes with his sons and daughters. He reaches his arms around us and allow us to feel his love. One of the most beautiful stories that I have heard in my life was about a person who dreamed that one fine day he was walking along with God along the beach and he can see two footprints in the sand. Then suddenly he felt so sad and when he looked backed he saw only one set of footprints. Then he asked God, why did you left me? Then God answered him, I did not leave you, I carried you. The footprints that you saw in your gloomy days were mine.
3. He will rejoice over you with singing.
Do you see a loving parent who never rejoices whenever his sons and daughters have been successful? Have you seen a “loving parent” who punishes his children after being an excellent student? A loving parent is a kind of parent that rejoices along with his children in times of success. Now we can see that God is not only there during in times of our troubles, but also in time of our trials and temptations.
What touches me here is that it’s not just a simple celebration. It’s not laughing and smiling. But God sings for us in our obedience in him. Have we ever heard our parents sing for us because they are happy for us? Sometimes, parents only sing for us when we are still babies. But God, even if we are no longer babies, he sings for us because he is happy for us.
The author also uses “rejoice”. God rejoices for us. He is not just there to smile at us, but he is there to rejoice for us.
Conclusion:
Maybe we are not yet Christians, do we want to accept the saving grace that God gave? Or maybe we are old Christians, have we experience the three things above? Or are we still like old Christians who until now have not experienced the goodness of being saved?
1. If we believe that we have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, or if we have been touched with God and is inviting us to accept him as our personal Lord and Savior over these past few days, then I invite you to allow me to pray for you.
2. If we are now Christians but believes that we have not yet lived a righteous life despite that we accepted Jesus Christ already, then I invite you to pray for you and recommit your life to God. God is just waiting for you to come before him humbly.
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