Done a lot of thinking this week (and it's only Wednesday). Found myself taking quick inventory of what I believe about God, His nature, His character, and the way I see Him in the Scripture I read. Bottom linen is that I know God.....but I don't really know God. By that I mean there is so much more that He has not revealed to me. SO it's kind of ignorant on my part to run around thumping my chest and telling others about Him.
Now before your axle gets bent because of what I just wrote, let me explain. Do I share with others about this God who saved me? Yes. Do I share Scripture with them? Sure do. But such has to be done from a place of humility, not from thinking that I am the answer man to all things theological. When I teach or share, I try to be as simple in what I say as best I can. Why? Because I do believe the good news, or the gospel, is simple. We are all sinners in need of being saved. Hard for someone to grasp this idea of being a sinner if they don't see themselves as such. Oh I could beat them over the head with a list of rules and commandments that they may have broken, but that isn't what God has called me to do. He has called me to simply share HIS truth. TO give the Holy Spirit room and a place to move on the human hearts of those who are listening. The Holy Spirit takes my feeble efforts of teaching and uses them like a mirror so others can see themselves as God sees them. That they may be convicted of how they have lived....the choices they have made that has kept them outside God's will for their life. To realize that God is offering them the greatest gift mankind has ever been given....salvation.
At this point in my life, there are certain things that don't seem to be kosher anymore. There are certain words and terms that you will have a hard time finding in messages these days. Words such as "Purity". Somehow this term has been turned to represent an antiquated, out dated view of life. I have taught on Purity before, and have been reminded by others that we live in the age of Grace. In other words, the implication is that "we can do, live, and participate in what we want to even if it runs counter to God's will for us. After all, we are just human. All we have to do is confess and God will forgive us." Really! Have we taken the eternal things of God and boiled them down to such a state to use them as a license to sin? Has purity become a word associated with those who are out of touch with society and culture. If this be the case, they may I always be out of touch. The purity that I speak of comes from One who IS pure. One who has taken the sin of the world upon Himself so that we could live a life of purity, free from the stain and stench this worlds spreads to those who live in the squalor and garbage that only this world can offer. Christ paid the price for us to rise above this darkness to stand (with Him) in a new life. Sounds like a good deal to be Pure, especially when it comes from Him.
Don't mention "Blood" when you teach. That is so offensive to people. Well let's get one thing straight. We do not have a bloodless gospel. We do not have a blood free-Jesus. We do not have a sanitized version of salvation that is palatable to all people. We do not have a salvation that is not offensive to our sin nature.. We need to be offended, but in our offense we need to remember that It is God's kindness (or goodness) that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). We need to be awakened to the fact that sin is offensive to God. So offensive that He sent His only begotten Son (to die as payment for our sin) so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Maybe this is why my live verse has been (and always will be) is I Corinthians 2:2 - For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. All life ...new life free from the bondage of our sin, begins at a place of death. The cross. How can I look upon the idea of someone else taking my place, my punishment for the things I have done, and the state of my heart that runs contrary to what God wants, and not be filled with gratitude and thankfulness. How can I not receive His salvatio which will transport me into the light of this new life He desires me to live?
I know that this morning's posting has been a ramble-tamble of thoughts and words. I'm not so sure that I put down what was in my heart or head in such a way that it made sense. Bottom line is this. What will you do with this day? What will you do with these next 24 hours that God has given to each of us? Will we follow Him as we move through our day....listening for His voice in our thoughts, our heart, and our minds? Or will be simply navigate our own way giving no thought about God today?
I guess we all have to choose, don't we.
God on you...
michael b.
No comments:
Post a Comment