Do You Feel You've Missed the Boat??

 What "boat" have you missed?  Is it the vessel labeled “becoming strong  and successful by my own efforts?” Or perhaps the one inscribed, “In my own power, I arose from adversity and became more wonderful than I was before.”  Yes, you have missed those rides because the Lord has placed them out of your reach. 

Here is the boat you are in:  “Sinner Saved by Grace and Heaven Bound.”  You are in good company with your fellow passengers; all who have accepted the free gift of salvation through Christ Jesus are "in the same boat."  

Praise God for His faithfulness!  Praise Him for providing you a way to eternal life!  By the the purification of the Blood of Christ through the Love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, you have been saved.  Your role is one of acceptance of a gift given you.  You do not have to earn your own way, it has been purchased for you.  Gratitude (as opposed to the restlessness that stems from your need to achieve)  is the appropriate response to this gift of incomparable value. 

Embrace Humility

The constraints that hold you are not external, but internal.  Rebellion has a characteristic stench; skirt a wide path around it.  Humility is protective; embrace it. 

"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you" (Romans 12:3).  

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love"  (Ephesians 4:2).  

"All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, 'God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble'" (1 Peter 5:5).  

 

Not Your Own

The Lord is with you, not because of any merit of your own, but because of His love. Past, present, and future, His all encompassing, full coverage love surrounds you.  God's love for you depends upon Him, not you. 

This love edifies, lifts, and grants you status in His eyes; status that is not of you, but of Him. Love is His gift to you, so that you have no reason for pride.  It is possible to be humbled and simultaneously glorified by God's love, but you must remember the glory in which you participate is God's glory and not your own. 

Do not fall to the snares of success.  Humble yourself before God, and He will lift you up.  Serve others, and He will cause you to be served, not for your own sake, but for His.  There is no task too small (inconsequential) for you to perform.  Scrub toilets, mop floors, serve others,  and do not think of yourself more highly than you ought.   

Your beauty is not your own.  Bear it with humility, trusting the One who has given you strength.  God is with you.

"Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you" (Romans 12:3).  

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us" (2 Corinthians 4:7).