Christ is the One in which Jehovah delights in. At least two times in the New Testament the Father confirmed from the heavens that Jesus Christ is His Beloved, He delights in Him, and we should see and hear only Jesus!
What about me? Yes, God delights in you when you are in Christ! When you are in YOURSELF, God does not delight in you. Actually, when we are in ourselves we are not delightful to anyone… but when we are in Christ and Christ is in us, we are delightful both to God and to the Body of Christ because of Christ!
This One, this wonderful Christ, has no other one to be compared to – there’s no precedent or way to describe Him…. We are now becoming like Him by allowing Christ as the Servant of Jehovah to serve us and minister to us, infusing us with all that He is to make us His duplication.
A striking aspect of Christ as the Servant of Jehovah is revealed in Matt. 12:18-19,
Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul has found delight. I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will announce justice to the Gentiles. He will not strive nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
The Lord did not cry out or lift up His voice – He didn’t do things to make Himself known or propagated; rather, He was calm, quiet, and balanced. He never made Himself great and, even though He had a lot to express and talk about, He didn’t make Himself outstanding – He didn’t stand out from the crowd because of this.
Our Christian life today is the same – we don’t have adventurous, exciting, or dramatic days in our Christian life every day; rather, we live our ordinary days under the divine dispensing, learning to enjoy the Lord in all things of our daily routine and schedule. We need to especially know the Lord in His calmness, His quietness – you wouldn’t notice Him, He would not make Himself great….
This One comes to us today to serve us, creating in us the “hidden man of the heart”. The Lord didn’t strive with others, He didn’t boast or promote Himself, He didn’t seek fame and didn’t have fame(He was rather de-famed). Today in the Lord’s recovery we don’t seek to have a name for ourselves, and we are rather defamed than becoming famous for anything…. And even more, in Matt 12:20 we see that,
A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench until He brings forth justice unto victory.
In the old times they used to make flute-like instruments out of reeds, giving a melodious sound, and when one was broken or bruised, they used to break it and throw it away. Maybe we are like this, instead of giving a nice pleasant sound we rather bother others (or others bother us), giving an unpleasant sound that “gets under your skin” and you “just want to break him!”
The Lord would never break a bruised reed – and we are a testimony of this, since we are just a “bunch of being-recovered broken reeds”. The smoking flax – in the old times they used to have torches made of flax, giving a bright light.
When a flax is smoking, first it is the person who speaks that becomes unclear and then everyone else is unclear about what he/she is trying to say…. Yes, there needs to be “order” in the church life and in our speaking, but the Lord would not extinguish a smoking flax….
In the church life, in the local church, we are the household of God – those who are like smoking flax and broken reeds – being recovered by the Lord day by day. God doesn’t want “special forces”-type Christians – He is a God of recovery, not breaking those who are bruised and not extinguishing those who are like smoking flax….
Yes, He breaks the outer man for the release of the spirit, but He doesn’t break the bruised reed inside the outer man…
His heart is not to “smash the enemies” or “call fire upon the ones who wouldn’t listen” – He is merciful, bearing patiently with us for so long, full of compassion and long suffering…
Only such a Person can serve us – He understands us, He feels for us, and He comes to us in love and mercy to reach us where we are and minister to us. Today, in the age of grace, He comes to us in love to serve us as the Servant of Jehovah – He selects some “bruised reeds” and “burning flax” and perfects us! How we love His shepherding and His caring for us as the Servant of Jehovah!
[sharing from message 4 of the Crystallization-Study of Isaiah(2) and inspired by the Holy Word for Morning revival in week 4]
O Lord, continue to shepherd us and take care of us! Thank You for being such a compassionate and loving One! Thank You Lord – You don’t break the bruised reed and You don’t extinguish the smoking flax! We love You as such a One who comes to us where we are and ministers to us… Only You can heal our wounds, only You can recover us fully, and only You can restore us! Lord, minister to us, shepherd us, and serve us with all that You are! Even make us the same as You are, Lord, in Your care for the others! Duplicate Your caring and loving heart into us, Lord!
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A sweet word. It's so easy to want to quench burning flax, it just makes your eyes water and your nose sting. It's so easy to want to break a bruised reed, its sound like nails on a chalkboard. But, even though we ourselves are merely burning flax and bruised reeds, the Lord does not quench us, He does not beak us. He pours into our bruised hearts a healing balm. He fills our soul with new oil. In Him, we become light bearers and a pleasant pleasing melody to the Father.
Lord, bring us forth into victory!
Amen, this is really good! Thanks for sharing 🙂