Fifteen days have come and gone on this lenten journey. It has been one of learning, surrendering, growing, and relinquishing daily in Christ. Joy fills my heart as I press onward.
"Joyful, joyful we adore Thee
God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee,
Opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
Drive the dark of doubt away,
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light of day!
Thou art giving and forgiving,
Ever blessing, ever blest
Wellspring of the joy of living
Ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother --
All who live in love are Thine
Teach us how to love each other
Lift us to the joy divine."
-- Extracted from Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, Henry van Dyke
Some people read me and
think I'm nuts because in their hearts they say, “There is no God. Why won't Lou leave the God bandwagon behind and leave us alone?”
Has my mind gone irrational and zany?
Am I but a silly religious fanatic?
Lenten thought teaches me daily to give up my perceived right to prove God's opponents wrong. Suffice it to say that if I’m nuts, then coming to Christ is the most lucid decision I could ever make because God's Word reveals that Christ imparts wisdom to
those who believe in Him. In other words, my very daftness can be used to bring me closer to God's wisdom.
I want to be wise.
I choose to believe.
The Lord lives!
The Lord reigns!
Praise be to my Rock!
Glory to the Redeemer!
God is good and faithful all the time!
He is worthy of power, honor, wisdom, strength,
glory, and blessing!
God’s
goodness, as it turns out, does not always make sense to me. For example, when difficult circumstances lumber through my door, I tend to wonder, “How can a good God let that happen?”
Or when others seem to be thriving, I often murmur, “Ah . . . that’s not
fair!”
Yet, God is good.
He is good and loving.
He
is always with me and hard at work.
In His appointed time and on the day of glorification, the costly price tag of earthly
trials will be transformed into the ultimate prize of heavenly triumphs for my benefit. Everything that I face in this life happens for this reason – God wants me to hunger and thirst for His
righteousness, to grow into His holiness.
"Holiness, holiness is what I long for
Holiness is what I need Holiness, holiness is what You want from
me.
Take my life and form it
Take my mind, transform it
Take my will, conform it
To Yours, to Yours, O Lord
To Yours, to Yours, O Lord.
Righteousness, righteousness is what I long for
Righteousness is what I need
Righteousness, righteousness is what You want from me.
Brokenness, brokenness is what I long for
Brokenness is what I need
Brokenness, brokenness is what You want from me.
-- Extracted from Holiness, Holiness, Micah Stampley
Holiness
Brokenness
Faithfulness
Righteousness
All such wondrous gifts are realized not by self effort, not on human merit, not through ritualistic fidelity, but solely by the grace of the Father. In fact Titus 3:4-7 (NIV) reads,
"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,
He saved us,
not because of righteous things we had done,
but because of His mercy.
He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
whom He poured out on us
generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,
so that, having been justified by His grace,
we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."
Grace.
Grace brings much joy to the heart of the believer. It teaches us to recognize that every spiritual blessing (and every other kind of blessing, for that matter) is a result of God’s benevolent hand.
Does that imply that Christ-followers are off the hook, free to go on sinning or living irresponsibly while enjoying the ride of grace?
The Bible reveals that such
licentious living would cheapen the costly and gracious price Christ paid for
our salvation and righteousness (Romans 6). In fact, His grace demands that we
become responsible citizens of heaven living according to a new code requiring
a new standard of living. Among others, we are to:
- Only
trust in Christ for salvation and righteousness and stop trusting in
self-effort or good works (Ephesians 2:8-9)
- Rely
on the Holy Spirit who guides us to turn completely away from anything and everything
the Word of God labels as sin (2 Timothy 2:19)
- Encourage
one another to not give up meeting together (whether in a large group setting
or a small group of growing believers) for the sake of personal discipleship
and accountability (Hebrews 10:25)
- Read,
reflect upon, and respond in obedience to the Bible daily (Joshua 1:8)
- Share
with others about Christ—the nature of the relationship, the transformation He
has wrought in the heart of the believer, and the wondrous gift of His mercy
toward mankind (Mark 5:19-20)
Would you
pray with me, today?
Lord Jesus,
You are so powerful and holy, mightier than any force. We confess that we often
attempt to usurp Your authority but we are indeed grateful that You are King
over us all the same because Your ways are so much better than our own. Please,
open our eyes everyday to see that You are the only sufficient requirement for
salvation and righteousness. We know that no human being on this earth is
sinless—least of us, we, ourselves, battle with sin daily. Help us to rely on
the Holy Spirit as He prompts us to turn away from anything deemed wretched by
Your Word. Help us to remain in community with other believers so that we may
grow together as committed followers and imitators of Christ. Direct us to willingly
and eagerly read Your message, reflect upon it, and respond in obedience to
Your commands. Rouse us to tell others about You more excitedly and more
regularly than the manner in which we share on social media or in social
gatherings. Help us to love those You have placed in our lives according to
Your own heart. Thank you for hearing our prayers. In the name of Jesus, we
pray. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment