Faith & Patience!

For Wednesday, March 5, 2025:

For many Christians, today is Ash Wednesday, a day of penitence and fasting. It kicks off Lent, humbling us six weeks before we celebrate the Resurrection. It’s a tradition in many denominations, but not found in the Bible. If Ash Wednesday has meaning for you, go for it! If not, that’s OK too. Whatever gets you closer to Jesus is the right thing to do!

Exodus 40:34 NLT: “Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.”

With the Tabernacle completed to the Lord’s specs and double-checked by Moses, the Shekinah or Glory of the Lord descended upon it. If that cloud moved in a certain direction, the Israelites would follow God in that direction. If the cloud remained over the Tabernacle, they would set up camp there. So Moses was not leading the flock; God was leading the flock. They would arrive at the Promised Land in God’s time.

Looking at a road map, Egypt to Israel is only about 320 miles, right up the Mediterranean coastline. Mankind could hike that distance in about a month. But following the pillar cloud of the Lord, they spent 40 years on the desert. Yes friends, this was a test of faith, God testing their stick-to-it-ive-ness. If the people whined, “This is taking too long. I’m not sure God knows what he’s doing,” they lacked faith in God’s knowledge, strength and perseverance. God would have them wait a little longer before proving he was right!

We too need to conform to God’s timing. God will delay a worthy project if the resources or personnel aren’t assembled to bring it to fruition. We need to be patient with God; He’s certainly been patient with us!

God’s timing is always the right timing!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

God's Son!

For Sunday, April 30, 2023:

Matthew 17:5 NLT, during the Transfiguration: “A bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.’”

The bright cloud is the light of God’s glory, called the shekinah. From the cloud, God clearly identifies Jesus as his Son. What an honor for John, James and Peter to have been present that day and to hear the Lord speak! I’ll bet we all wish we could have been there that day!

Peter, acting impulsively, wanted to build tabernacles, holy shelters, for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. But in a way, God identifying his Son was a rebuke of the plan. The Son of God is far superior to the others and should be set apart in a higher place, both physically and in our thinking. With these words from heaven, God the Father clearly set Jesus above the Law and the Prophets. Jesus is not merely another or even a better lawgiver or prophet. Jesus is God’s only begotten Son, one-third of our triune God!

Spurgeon writes: “God did not make us his children because he needed sons, but because we needed a father.”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship