How easily you doubt the veracity of the gift you have been given. God's voice channels through your mind, and the vernacular that results seems an unlikely expression for the Most Holy God. Do not doubt Christ in you. The piquant tone your voice lends to the truths He speaks through you does not diminish the truth itself. The Lord cannot be contained or channeled through a human vessel, but when you are yielded to Him, you become an instrument in His hand. The melody of your words is the result of the virtuosity of the master musician; Mozart played on a harmonica is still Mozart!
You are a unique and beautiful instrument that each day is being conformed more and more into His likeness. When you are perfected, you will be uniquely beautiful; a lovely expression of the creativity and love of your Lord and God.
Scripture: "To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Liberated to New Life
You are in a depressed frame of mind because you have understood that things that are seen will pass away. Instead of dwelling on the fact that you are living on a planet that has been condemned to death, think of it in this way instead; you are living on a planet that will be liberated to new life. Set your affections on those things that are eternal, and you will not be disappointed.
You have made a twofold error. On the one hand, you suffer an unholy grief that comes from a sinful focus upon and affection for the things on this world. On the other, having understood that what is seen is temporary, you neglect your responsibilities out of a “what’s the use, none of this is going to last” attitude. The solution is to understand that this world is a training ground for the next. The patience and discipline required to clean a drawer or deny yourself food for the sake of obedience and prayer will bear fruit in the next world, not in the form of clean closets or a slender body, but in the virtues of patience and obedience. By submitting your will to the Lord's, you learn of Him. This knowledge will bless you both in this world and in the next. The world would deitize the results of labor spent to beautify or organize. God honors the labor itself, blesses you with the fruits of that labor, and teaches you to value the virtues you’ve gained rather than the material objects that you have organized. However, so long as He is the treasure of your heart, He does bless you with material gifts; a man is not jealous of the diamond ring he gives to his beloved unless he knows she values the ring over him. Likewise, the Lord your God will withhold no good thing in this world or the next from those whose hearts are set on the obedience that springs from love for Him.
Scripture: "For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless" (Psalm 84:11).
You have made a twofold error. On the one hand, you suffer an unholy grief that comes from a sinful focus upon and affection for the things on this world. On the other, having understood that what is seen is temporary, you neglect your responsibilities out of a “what’s the use, none of this is going to last” attitude. The solution is to understand that this world is a training ground for the next. The patience and discipline required to clean a drawer or deny yourself food for the sake of obedience and prayer will bear fruit in the next world, not in the form of clean closets or a slender body, but in the virtues of patience and obedience. By submitting your will to the Lord's, you learn of Him. This knowledge will bless you both in this world and in the next. The world would deitize the results of labor spent to beautify or organize. God honors the labor itself, blesses you with the fruits of that labor, and teaches you to value the virtues you’ve gained rather than the material objects that you have organized. However, so long as He is the treasure of your heart, He does bless you with material gifts; a man is not jealous of the diamond ring he gives to his beloved unless he knows she values the ring over him. Likewise, the Lord your God will withhold no good thing in this world or the next from those whose hearts are set on the obedience that springs from love for Him.
Scripture: "For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless" (Psalm 84:11).
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
While We Were Yet Sinners...
You fear losing the privilege of God's presence, but His presence with you is not a privilege, it is a gift.
You fear the Lord will turn His back because of your sin and faithlessness. He will not turn away. His son died that you may experience the light of His presence.
You are nothing the most Holy God might be expected to desire, and yet, He does desire you; not by your merit, but for His own name's sake. It is because of who He is that you are accepted, and so when you are aware that you’ve sinned you do not need to fear rejection. You need only appropriate His presence through grace. God forgives. That He is able to forgive is not because of you, but because of Jesus Christ.
Rest, now, rest.
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
You fear the Lord will turn His back because of your sin and faithlessness. He will not turn away. His son died that you may experience the light of His presence.
You are nothing the most Holy God might be expected to desire, and yet, He does desire you; not by your merit, but for His own name's sake. It is because of who He is that you are accepted, and so when you are aware that you’ve sinned you do not need to fear rejection. You need only appropriate His presence through grace. God forgives. That He is able to forgive is not because of you, but because of Jesus Christ.
Rest, now, rest.
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Uncomfortable Truth
Our Heavenly Father endures the outcry of His suffering saints for one reason and one reason alone, and that is for the sake of the unsaved. If the work of offering salvation to those who are able to be rescued were complete, then the Lord would hasten to return and end the suffering of this broken world once and for all.
What have we done to further His cause of saving those who are lost?
We can anesthetize the pain that is the inevitable result of living in a broken world. We can hide in our houses and pull the covers of comfort over our heads. We can allow fear to separate us from an awareness of God’s will for those who are in need of our ministering hands and hearts.
Or we can say, “Here I am, send me,” (Isaiah 6:8) and, “Come, Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 22:20).
Our participation in His work hastens the time of His return. Our desire for perfect unity with Him fuels our efforts to speed His return. If we truly desire His return, we will want to help in the effort to complete His work.
What have we done to further His cause of saving those who are lost?
We can anesthetize the pain that is the inevitable result of living in a broken world. We can hide in our houses and pull the covers of comfort over our heads. We can allow fear to separate us from an awareness of God’s will for those who are in need of our ministering hands and hearts.
Or we can say, “Here I am, send me,” (Isaiah 6:8) and, “Come, Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 22:20).
Our participation in His work hastens the time of His return. Our desire for perfect unity with Him fuels our efforts to speed His return. If we truly desire His return, we will want to help in the effort to complete His work.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Strengthening
You have prayed for strength, but the Lord will do more than that; He will remove the influences that weaken you. There are two ways to be strengthened. One is through a strengthening program of exercise, the other is through restoration. He will "...restore you to health and heal your wounds, because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares" (Jeremiah 30:17). Restoration includes loosing the shackles that have bound you, and removing the substances that have sickened you. You have suffered the illness of oppression, and have become strong through the bearing of many burdens. When the burdens are removed, the strength will become apparent. You are not weak; you have been oppressed. The Lord is going to set you free.
Scripture: "Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts,'Be strong, do not fear; your God will come...Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away" (Isaiah 35:3,4,10b)
Scripture: "Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts,'Be strong, do not fear; your God will come...Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away" (Isaiah 35:3,4,10b)
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