Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Jesus, Friend of Sinners

Jesus, Jesus Friend of sinners, Jesus Christ, Friend of all who bow at His feet, and call on His Name, and trust His blood, and live because He loved and loves.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Grace and Glory

I get angry when things don't go my way. I'm a sinful man. I lose it when somone breaks something but won't fess up and I keep having to fix it. I grow impatient with slow growing souls but stay stunted in quasi-spirituality and make-believe righteousness. I'm good at pretending. I'm a class A actor on stage, when I live self-righteous on the outside and I'm harboring sin and insecurity on the inside. Hypocrisy wears a double mask. It only shows so much. It won't reveal the plain truth. I'm begging Jesus to free me. In my fog I cannot see that He already does. Where does my pride come from? What sinkhole did it crawl out from underneath? Under what rock was it hiding so Gollum-like, searching after my precious reputation? I will admit it: I want comfort. I want hope. I want everything to go the way I want. Sinful, selfish, too often preoccupied with myself. Grandeur and glory for me is on my menu, Babel-like towers to my own memory. But, this is not reality. This is where I must start my trek. Where Truth prevails. Truth wins. Love reigns supreme. God's grace and glory tower over human greed and grandeur. Therefore, I have hope, and forgiveness in Christ.

The Meek are not Weak

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5 ESV) The world will tell you the meek are weak. They need a crutch. They can't go it alone. They need help. The world is right for the wrong reasons. The meek will tell you the same thing for the right reasons. They know they can do nothing apart from Jesus (John 15:5) and also that they can overcome any circumstance because Christ strengthens them (Phil. 4:13). Meekness isn't weakness, it's strength under control. It's strength under the rulership of Christ, governed by the Holy Spirit. The meek are truthful. They don't arrogantly bend the rules to suit themselves. They stick to God's Word and allow it to chart their course. God blesses the humble meek who may be bold as a lion but know where their true power comes from. Their strength, their adequacy, their full sufficiency, is the crucified, risen and soon to return Lord Jesus Christ.