A short ramble of encouragement.
His Word is a light in the darkness.
Luk 21:5 And while some were speaking of the temple,
how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he
said, "As for these things that you see, the days
will come when there will not be left here one stone
upon another that will not be thrown down." And they
asked him, "Teacher, when will these things be, and what
will be the sign when these things are about to take place?"
And he said, "See that you are not led astray...
Luk 21:16 You will be delivered up even by parents
and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of
you they will put to death. You will be hated by all
for my name's sake. But not a hair of your head will perish.
"some of you they will put to death...But not a hair
of your head will perish."
wow... the eternal perspective at its best...
As I was looking at Luke 21 a few minutes ago, my
heart was challenged by this next verse.
Luk 21:28 Now when these things begin to take place,
straighten up and raise your heads, because your
redemption is drawing near."
The context is one of final judgement and tribulation.
In the midst of that, Jesus tells us to lift our
heads, and be looking for Him. When this world is
shaken to its very foundations, our hope is drawing
near.
That is not a natural way to think.
I want a heart that cries, "Come Lord!"
I want that heart that Paul spoke of, that would
rather go be with Him, but will stay here for the
sake of serving His purpose on the earth.
I want a heart that is free from loving this world.
Jam 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before
God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows
in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained
from the world.
Jam 4:4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that
friendship with the world is enmity with God?
Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world
makes himself an enemy of God.
1Jo 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the
world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the
Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--
the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes
and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but
is from the world. And the world is passing away along
with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides
forever.
Help Lord.
I know He will.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Thankful
Well... how clever. A post about thankfulness on Thanksgiving! I'd bet I am the only one doing that today. But I just cant help it. I am freshly reminded this morning of how much I have to be thankful for. No... its not a list of all the stuff I have. And no, its not my family, and our good health. Its not my business, or that I live in the most prosperous nation in the history of the world. Of course I am thankful for all those things. Deeply thankful, although I often forget just how blessed I am. No, today I am thinking of the love of God. I felt impressed to read from Romans 4 this morning.
Rom 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
"Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin."
If someone stumbles across this who is not a follower of Jesus, that first part about Abraham will be gobbledygook. In fact, the last part about our blessedness wont mean much either. It might even offend them. "Lawless deeds? How dare you! Who are you to judge me???" I don't judge. Its not my job, and I am ill-equipped to do so. God judges the heart, and only he can see into it. But reality is this, we have all sinned. And we know it. We try our best to rid ourselves of the guilt. We deny the existence of God. We trace our ancestry back billions of years to our great great Uncle Amoeba. We try our best to philosophize away our inner sense of right and wrong. But at the end of the day, when we lay on our beds, we know. He is there. Watching. Waiting. Calling. "Come to Me." God called to Abraham and He called him His friend. He wants to do the same with each of us. Even greater than that, He calls us to be His sons and daughters.
He whispers, "Look around you." We see the beauty of the world we live in. The vastness, and yet the order. This is no accident. We look within. We ask questions. Why? There are so many whys. The questions tell me that there are answers. The questions tell me there is One who has those answers. The beauty around me tells me He is good. Sure, there is also ugliness and brokeness. War, poverty, hatred. The inevitable results of the creature telling the Creator to "take a hike". "What about sickness and disease?" I don't have a definitive answer for the questioning mind. I have answers that satisfy me, but they don't necessarily work for the unbelieving. Sometimes they are not very helpful for the believer either. I do know that evil is the exception, and not the rule. Mostly, I am in awe of the beauty and order. I know that the brokeness all goes back to mankind's rebellion against the wisdom of God. I know that when its all said and done, we will understand. We will see things through His eyes. We will know perfect peace. We will be embraced in perfect Love. We will find our Resting Place.
For now, I am in grateful awe of the mercy and kindness of God. Sin is unspeakably horrible and evil. It has brought thousands of years of suffering and darkness to mankind, and all of creation. It has brought incomprehensible pain to the heart of God. And yet... He loves us. He made a way to justly forgive our rebellion. He made a way to reconcile us back to Himself. We lived as His enemies, and He pursued us anyway. He laid down His life for us. And then He drew us to Himself, persuaded us to turn from our selfishness, to put our trust in Him, and to walk with Him as His children and friends.
I am thankful this morning. Far beyond these weak words...
Rom 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
"Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin."
If someone stumbles across this who is not a follower of Jesus, that first part about Abraham will be gobbledygook. In fact, the last part about our blessedness wont mean much either. It might even offend them. "Lawless deeds? How dare you! Who are you to judge me???" I don't judge. Its not my job, and I am ill-equipped to do so. God judges the heart, and only he can see into it. But reality is this, we have all sinned. And we know it. We try our best to rid ourselves of the guilt. We deny the existence of God. We trace our ancestry back billions of years to our great great Uncle Amoeba. We try our best to philosophize away our inner sense of right and wrong. But at the end of the day, when we lay on our beds, we know. He is there. Watching. Waiting. Calling. "Come to Me." God called to Abraham and He called him His friend. He wants to do the same with each of us. Even greater than that, He calls us to be His sons and daughters.
He whispers, "Look around you." We see the beauty of the world we live in. The vastness, and yet the order. This is no accident. We look within. We ask questions. Why? There are so many whys. The questions tell me that there are answers. The questions tell me there is One who has those answers. The beauty around me tells me He is good. Sure, there is also ugliness and brokeness. War, poverty, hatred. The inevitable results of the creature telling the Creator to "take a hike". "What about sickness and disease?" I don't have a definitive answer for the questioning mind. I have answers that satisfy me, but they don't necessarily work for the unbelieving. Sometimes they are not very helpful for the believer either. I do know that evil is the exception, and not the rule. Mostly, I am in awe of the beauty and order. I know that the brokeness all goes back to mankind's rebellion against the wisdom of God. I know that when its all said and done, we will understand. We will see things through His eyes. We will know perfect peace. We will be embraced in perfect Love. We will find our Resting Place.
For now, I am in grateful awe of the mercy and kindness of God. Sin is unspeakably horrible and evil. It has brought thousands of years of suffering and darkness to mankind, and all of creation. It has brought incomprehensible pain to the heart of God. And yet... He loves us. He made a way to justly forgive our rebellion. He made a way to reconcile us back to Himself. We lived as His enemies, and He pursued us anyway. He laid down His life for us. And then He drew us to Himself, persuaded us to turn from our selfishness, to put our trust in Him, and to walk with Him as His children and friends.
I am thankful this morning. Far beyond these weak words...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)