Dr Diana Brevan’s Ponderings 5/22/19
Jesus is Lord Fellowship WWI
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Ponderings from our very own Dr. Diana Brevan for today

Dear Partners World Wide, I bring to you my (Dr. Diana Brevan) ponderings this today. May the Lord richly bless you and yours as we go right into to today’s ponderings prayer and the Word.
God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. (2 Thessalonians 1:6-7)
In every case the crime is precisely the same, but the severity of the crime is measured by the one against whom it is committed. What comes from sinning against God? Answer: Everlasting destruction.
Shut out of the presence of God
“They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord” (1:9).
To be shut out from God’s presence and from His power means to be without hope and without love forever.
“Obey the Gospel and you enter into light in which there is no darkness. Disobey the Gospel and you enter into darkness in which there is no light… A night in which no morning dawns”
Here is what the Scripture says: God is just. He will punish through everlasting destruction and those who are so punished will be shut out from the presence of the Lord, forever. This will happen when Jesus Christ is revealed.
This is one of the hardest truths in the Bible. But here is something I’ve discovered—the hardest truths can produce the most tender hearts. If you grasp this most difficult of doctrines, and place your-self under this truth, God will use it to soften your heart today.
Six Ways to Use This Truth
Use this truth…
…to sustain your faith in a suffering world
If you have suffered at the hands of other people, or if someone you love has suffered as these Christians did, you will face with this great question:
“How can I really believe that God is a loving God and God is a just God when so often good people suffer and those who do evil prosper?”
This doctrine helps. It tells you that you have not yet seen the end of the story. God says to suffering believers, “There is a day coming when Jesus Christ will be revealed. Then you will see the full meas-ure of My justice.
Then you will see the full measure of My love.” So, use this to sustain your faith in a suffering world.
Use this truth…
…to restrain your desire to even the score
When someone hurts you, your immediate and natural instinct will be to want to hurt them back. They brought you down, and you find a certain pleasure in bringing them down. How do you restrain the desire to even the score?
This truth is meant to help someone who’s been wronged, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:18-20).
God will repay, so leave room for His wrath. You don’t need to take it into your hands when you know it is in His. God will deal with this. You can leave it to Him. It is on this foundation that God says, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head” (Romans 12:20).
The hardest truths can produce the most tender hearts. If you do not believe this, you will always be trying to even the score.
Use this truth…
…to increase your compassion for people who harm you
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:44
Anyone who has suffered at the hands of another person, as we all have in some way, will hear this and say, “Love him? Love her? How is that possible?”
If the person who harmed you was to see what they did and truly to repent, you might find it in your heart to forgive them. But if they just go on, with no awareness of what they have done, or worse, if they continue doing the same thing, it is very hard to have compassion.
Where do you begin in loving your enemies? Again, the teaching we are considering today helps. When you think about everlasting destruction, and what it would mean to be shut out of the presence of the Lord forever… you would not wish that on your worst enemy.
A deep grasp of this truth will help you to pray for those who’ve harmed you. Bitterness cannot survive for long when you begin to pray. You will be amazed at the way compassion sneaks in the back door of your heart.
Use this truth…
…to help you understand what happened at the Cross
Jesus Christ came into the world because there is a future catastrophe that you need saving from. During his three years of ministry Jesus did so much good—healing the sick, feeding the hungry, pro-claiming the greatest teaching that this world has ever heard.
He did so much good in three years of ministry. Just think what He could have done in thirty years! Yet He tells His disciples repeatedly that He came to die. What could He accomplish by dying that He could not accomplish by living?
He died as a sacrifice, and in the great love and mercy of God, our sins were laid on Him. Isaiah says, “The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Bearing our sins means that Jesus bore our punishment for sin. This is what was happening at the cross. Isaiah says, “The punishment that brought us peace was on Him” (53:5).
On the cross, Christ was punished for our sins. He was shut out from the presence of God. That’s why He cried out, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) Christ endured everything that hell is on the cross. He entered hell so that you would never know what it is like. That is the heart of the Gospel.
You may have wondered, “How can one man bear the sins of many? How can His hell on the cross remove our everlasting destruction?” The weight of our sin is measured by the One we offended. The value of Christ’s sacrifice is measured by the One who is offered. This is the Son of God! What He suffered on the cross is able to atone for all our sins forever.
Use this truth…
…to motivate your obedience to the Gospel
“He will punish those who… do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” 2 Thessalonians 1:8
Once you understand what happened on the cross, you will say, “I must respond to this good news today!” What does it mean to obey the Gospel?
Repent
“[God] commands all people everywhere to repent.” Acts 17:30
Here is where that begins: My life can no longer be about me. It has to be
about Jesus Christ, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Repentance is a decisive turning from all that God calls sin to offer myself to Christ. You may say, “How do I do that? I know myself. I can’t change.”
Believe
You have to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. There’s a real relationship here in which you trust that He is the Son of God. You trust His death on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins, and you trust His resurrection power, that it is sufficient for everything you face in life and death. You trust Christ because He is altogether worthy of your trust.
Follow
“Salvation is not only a gift, but a vocation; we enter into it as we obey the voice of Jesus, ‘Follow Me.’”
That is what He is saying to us through His words to us today. Christ laid down His life for you and now He lays claim to your life for Him. That means your gifts, talents, time, money, the strength of your body and the affections of your heart.
Maybe you have been saying to yourself “I’ll think about Christianity some day.” Think about it today. Turn to Him in repentance, believe in His Son Jesus Christ, and follow Him. Eternity hangs on this.
Use this truth…
…to deepen your joy in the mercy of God
“God is just. [He will repay those who persecute the church,] with an everlasting destruction…” 2 Thessalonians 1:6,9
Think about the man writing these words. He once persecuted Christians himself! Saul of Tarsus was the terror of the early church. Breathing fire and slaughter, he was on his way to Damascus on a cam-paign of violence.
Christ stopped him in his tracks with a blinding light and an audible voice,
“Saul, Saul why do you persecute me!” (Acts 9:4). The risen Christ was saying, “Saul, your real fight is not with Christians, or with churches. The conflict that’s going on in your soul is a fight against Me!”
So, what did he feel as he wrote this? “I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man…” (1 Timothy 1:12). I deserve this judgment, but God has shown me mercy. And the mercy of God has transformed my life!
Right there in the dust, this man repents and believes. This violent man was transformed. Saul the persecutor became Paul the Apostle. Now the Spirit of God is on him giving him these words to write to the church.
That’s the power of the Gospel! This is the Gospel that we believe and that we proclaim. This is the Gospel by which we are saved and by which all who come to the Lord will be saved. It is good news, not only for all of us here today, but for every person in this community.
Get up, we must go. Look, here comes the man who has turned against Me.
The words were spoken to Judas. But they could have been spoken to anyone. They could have been spoken to John, to Peter, to James. They could have been spoken to Thomas, to Andrew, to Nathan-ael. They could have been spoken to the Roman soldiers, to the Jewish leaders. They could have been spoken to Pilate, to Herod, to Caiaphas. They could have been spoken to every person who praised Him last Sunday but abandoned Him tonight.
Everyone turned against Jesus that night. Everyone.
Judas did. What was your motive, Judas? Why did you do it? Were you trying to call His hand? Did you want the money? Were you seeking some attention?
And why, dear Judas, why did it have to be a kiss? You could have pointed. You could have just called His name. But you put your lips to His cheek and kissed. A snake kills with his mouth.
The people did. The crowd turned on Jesus. We wonder who was in the crowd. Who were the by-standers? Matthew just says they were people. Regular folks like you and me with bills to pay and kids to raise and jobs to do. Individually they never would have turned on Jesus, but collectively they want-ed to kill Him. Even the instantaneous healing of an amputated ear didn’t sway them. They suffered from mob blindness. They blocked each other’s vision of Jesus.
The disciples did. “All of Jesus’ followers left Him and ran away.” Matthew must have written those words slowly. He was in that group. All the disciples were. Jesus told them they would scamper. They vowed they wouldn’t. But they did.
When the choice came between their skin and their friend, they chose to run. Oh, they stood for a while. Peter even pulled his sword, went for the neck, and got a lobe. But their courage was as fleeting as their feet. When they saw Jesus was going down, they got out.
The religious leaders did. Not surprising. Disappointing, though. They were the spiritual leaders of the nation. Men entrusted with the dispensing of goodness. Role models for the children. The pastors and Bible teachers of the community. “The leading priests and the whole Jewish council tried to find some-thing false against Jesus so they could kill Him.” Paint that passage black with injustice. Paint the arrest green with jealousy. Paint that scene red with innocent blood.
And paint Peter in a corner. For that’s where he is. No place to go. Caught in his own mistake. Peter did exactly what he had said he wouldn’t do. He had promised fervently only hours before, “Everyone else may stumble in their faith because of you, but I will not!” I hope Peter was hungry, because he ate those words.
Everyone turned against Jesus. Though the kiss was planted by Judas, the betrayal was committed by all.
Every person took a step, but no one took a stand. As Jesus left the garden, He walked alone. The world had turned against Him.
He was betrayed.
Betray. The word is an eighth of an inch above betroth in the dictionary, but a world from betroth in life. It’s a weapon found only in the hands of one you love. Your enemy has no such tool, for only a friend can betray. Betrayal is mutiny. It’s a violation of a trust, an inside job.
Would that it were a stranger. Would that it were a random attack. Would that you were a victim of cir-cumstances. But you aren’t. You are a victim of a friend.
A sandpaper kiss is placed on your cheek. A promise is made with fingers crossed. You look to your friends, and your friends don’t look back. You look to the system for justice – the system looks to you as a scapegoat.
You are betrayed. Bitten with a snake’s kiss. It’s more than rejection. Rejection opens a wound; betray-al pours the salt. It’s more than loneliness. Loneliness leaves you in the cold, betrayal closes the door. It’s more than mockery. Mockery plunges the knife; betrayal twists it. It’s more than an insult. An insult attacks your pride; betrayal breaks your heart.
As I search for betrayal’s synonyms, I keep seeing betrayal’s victims. That unsigned letter in yester-day’s mail, “My husband just told me he had an affair two years ago,” she wrote. “I feel so alone.” The phone call at home from the elderly woman whose drug-addicted son had taken her money. My friend in the Midwest who moved his family to take the promised job that never materialized. The single mother whose ex-husband brings his new girlfriend to her house when he comes to get the kids for the weekend. The seven-year-old girl infected with HIV. “I’m mad at my mother,” were her words.
Betrayal… when your world turns against you.
Betrayal… where there is opportunity for love, there is opportunity for hurt.
When betrayal comes, what do you do? Get out? Get angry? Get even? You have to deal with it some way. Let’s see how Jesus dealt with it.
Begin by noticing how Jesus saw Judas. “Jesus answered, ‘Friend, do what you came to do.’”
Of all the names I would have chosen for Judas, it would not have been “friend.” What Judas did to Jesus was grossly unfair. There is no indication that Jesus ever mistreated Judas. There is no clue that Judas was ever left out or neglected. When, during the Last Supper, Jesus told the disciples that his betrayer sat at the table, they didn’t turn to one another and whisper, “It’s Judas. Jesus told us he would do this.”
They didn’t whisper it because Jesus never said it. He had known it. He had known what Judas would do, but He treated the betrayer as if he were faithful.
It’s even more unfair when you consider the betrayal was Judas’s idea. The religious leaders didn’t seek him; Judas sought them. “What will you pay me for giving Jesus to you?” he asked. The betrayal would have been more palatable had Judas been propositioned by the leaders, but he wasn’t. He propositioned them.
And Judas’s method… again, why did it have to be a kiss? And why did he have to call Him “Teacher”? That’s a title of respect. The incongruity of his words, deeds, and actions – I wouldn’t have called Ju-das “friend.” But that is exactly what Jesus called him. Why? Jesus could see something we can’t. Let me explain.
There was once a person in our world who brought Denalyn and me a lot of stress. She would call in the middle of the night. She was demanding and ruthless. She screamed at us in public. When she wanted something, she wanted it immediately, and she wanted it exclusively from us. But we never asked her to leave us alone. We never told her to bug someone else. We never tried to get even. Af-ter all, she was only a few months old.
It was easy for us to forgive our infant daughter’s behavior because we knew she didn’t know better.
Now, there is a world of difference between an innocent child and a deliberate Judas. But there is still a point to my story, and it is this: the way to handle a person’s behavior is to understand the cause of it.
One way to deal with a person’s peculiarities is to try to understand why he or she is peculiar.
Jesus knew Judas had been seduced by a powerful foe. He was aware of the wiles of Satan’s whis-pers (He had just heard them Himself). He knew how hard it was for Judas to do what was right. He didn’t justify what Judas did. He didn’t minimize the deed. Nor did He release Judas from his choice. But He did look eye to eye with His betrayer and try to understand.
As long as you hate your enemy, a jail door is closed and a prisoner is taken. But when you try to un-derstand and release your foe from your hatred, then the prisoner is released, and that prisoner is you.
Perhaps you don’t like that idea. Perhaps the thought of forgiveness is unrealistic. Perhaps the idea of trying to understand the Judases in our world is simply too gracious.
My response to you then is a question. What do you suggest? Will harboring the anger solve the prob-lem? Will getting even remove the hurt? Does hatred do any good?
Again, I’m not minimizing your hurt or justifying their actions. But I am saying that justice won’t come this side of eternity. And demanding that your enemy get his or her share of pain will, in the process, be most painful to you.
May I gently but firmly remind you of something you know but may have forgotten?
Life is not fair.
That’s not pessimism; it’s fact. That’s not a complaint; it’s just the way things are. I don’t like it. Neither do you. We want life to be fair. Ever since the kid down the block got a bike and we didn’t, we’ve been saying the same thing, “That’s not fair.” But at some point someone needs to say to us, “Who ever told you life was going to be fair?” God didn’t. He didn’t say, “If you have many kinds of troubles”… He said, “When you have many kinds of troubles…”
Troubles are part of the package. Betrayals are part of our troubles. Don’t be surprised when betrayals come. Don’t look for fairness here — look instead where Jesus looked.
Jesus looked to the future. Read His words: “In the future you will see the Son of Man coming.”
While going through hell, Jesus kept His eyes on Heaven.
While surrounded by enemies He kept His mind on His Father. While abandoned on earth, He kept His heart on home. “In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God, the Powerful One, and coming on clouds in the sky.”
“My kingdom does not belong to this world,” Jesus told Pilate. “My kingdom is from another place.”
Jesus took a long look into the homeland. Long enough to count His friends. “I could ask my Father and He would give me… twelve armies of angels.” And seeing them up there gave Him strength down here.
By the way, His friends are your friends. The Father’s loyalty to Jesus is the Father’s loyalty to you. When you feel betrayed, remember that. When you see the torches and feel the betrayer’s kiss, re-member His words: “I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.”
When all of earth turns against you, all of heaven turns toward you. To keep your balance in a crooked world, look at the mountains. Think of Home.
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. – 2 Corinthians 5:20-21
God above, you have torn the veil. You have conquered death and made a way for me to have a rela-tionship with you. I forget so quickly that I can talk to you anytime. Allow me to turn to you today with each step, question, and difficulty. Surround my friends and family with your forgiveness today. Re-mind them that you are eager to forgive them. Help them let go of any guilt they cling to. Thank you for making us your ambassadors on this earth. In the name of Jesus, the One who knew no sin, amen.
Your Turn
Profound betrayal. Jesus understands the heart-stabbing pain of betrayal from the most intimate of friends. Maybe you do, too? What hurt the most? There is no way around the pain. How does keeping your eyes on Jesus change how you respond to your betrayers?




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