Sunday, September 24, 2017

Save Me from Me



Psalm 51:4
Against You, and You alone, have I sinned. I have done what is evil in Your sight.....

No matter how many times I say it, it still rings with truth. It is not merely words that are spoken for effect. Words spoken to arouse some feeling in others that I might feel good about myself. I don't say them to draw attention to myself in an effort to get others to view me in a particular way. I say them because they are true. Simply that! They are true.

The words are true in spite of the fact that I wish they weren't. I wish this because when I confess them, I see how small I am. I see how inept I am. I see how corrupt I could be if I threw off the restraints and gave wholly into my sinful nature. What words could hold such power over my life? Simple...

"I am in need of being saved. I am in need of a great savior."
The admission that even after years of being a "Christian" I still find myself in this place. A place, I'm not so sure, we ever truly move from. In moving, I am fully aware that I would grab the reins from God and proclaim myself to be the driver of this carriage. 

Every time I read of Peter's denial of Christ, I know that such exist in me, and will escape if I don't guard myself. I know that in my salvation God has given me His Holy Spirit, and it is this Spirit that stands guard over my heart and mind and soul. But still from time to time the old "voices" come around. I don't know if they are testing the door to see if they can get back in to corrupt me, or what. I just know that they return ever so often. Praise God! He strengthens me in such times.

In view of God's great mercy, I see the "true" me. In light of God's nature and grace, I am brought to the place of seeing myself as I truly am without God's grace . I am in need of being saved.
Saved from what?
From myself?
From my own selfish, self-centered desires that would use others to get and have whatever was desired.
From the power of sin.
From the penalty of sin.
From the pull of sin.
From hell.
From eternal separation with God.
The list goes on and on.
In all of this, I am in need of being saved.
As John Newton so aptly put it..............
"I am a great sinner............and He is a great God."
Herein is the perfect view of humanity. One that we should never try and escape from. This is the place of humility and healing.
Like the picture above, I stand in a less than sea-worthy craft, adrift on a stormy sea. I cannot, nor will I, survive in such a place. I am in need of being saved.
Thank you Lord for Jesus, your son.
For his death and resurrection.
For the offer of eternal life to me, a sinner.
He is a great God.
See you tomorrow......
mbb



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