I was challenged this week in a way that I praise God for, but at the same time am so humbled during my days that I cannot begin to count the times tears came to my eyes at the realization of how much my God loves me despite my disobedience and continues to bless me even though I have done nothing to earn it.
My pastor was teaching this past Sunday on the 10th commandment, thou shalt not covet, and just what we in our daily walk need to be on the lookout for in living out this on a daily basis.
After the message, I shared thoughts of a favorite author, Francis Schaeffer, that all the commandments could be seen to flow out of this one, and that is one of my fundamentals of the DIGGIT philosophy of striving to live a life of obedience as Jesus did, totally walking in the fruit of the Spirit, never grieving or quenching the Spirit, and glorifying His Father with His whole life, living Holy, a life separated from personal want and desire, only seeking to please His Father, our Father if we name the name of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
When I get my DIGGIT devotional published, the sub title will be "Resting in Obedience". The companion thought that goes with Schaeffer's premise and Bro. Clayton's lesson Sunday is that to DIGGIT we need to rest in contentment with God's supply and provision in our lives. I love Tony Nolan's illustration that we are like vandal's taking a spray paint can to God's Word when we put ourselves on the throne that should only belong to our Creator, Jesus Christ, and this Sunday God showed me again how true this is.
When we covet, we are telling God, "no thanks God, your supply is not what I need, You have failed to give me what is needed for my happiness and I won't be content until I get some of this, that and the other thing that would make my life better. Whether a spouse that doesn't continue to be appreciated as special and God's help mate for life, just for us, with the precise and exact qualities needed for the "two to become one flesh", modeled after Christ and His Church, His Bride in the New Testament, there is the root of adultery. (one of my favorite blues tunes is "Tell The Truth", I like the Darrell Mansfield version in particular, with the great chorus "tell the truth, don't tell me no lies, you're 'sposed to love your neighbor, not your neighbor's wife") What sin cannot be found rooted in this mocking of God's provision, that He is not the one true God, we need to have others before Him? Stealing what we cannot have because it will make us happy and fulfilled?
I see daily so many beauties on television and in the flesh, and satan would have me comparing all the parts, lips, eyes, legs, feet, and all the glories of women in between, and my solution to sinning is to thank God that I can recoginze beauty, and recognize Him as the Creator, and to then pray for the subject of my gaze, that she is born again and close to her Savior, that she would seek Him with her whole heart, and that God would draw her close to Him, and supply her with Christian men in her life to live as Christian men are called to, looking at younger women as sisters, and older women as mothers, the Word is clear, sex and sisters and mothers are not to be mixed in any way, and satan's efforts to get us thinking otherwise, how this would feel, or taste, or smell, is the same tired old tempting that lured Eve and Adam to the tree in the garden, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, all to be made better if we just let our mind's play over the curves and thoughts that easily entice us when we do not take every thought captive to the mind of Christ.
God gave me the realization that we are to have not only the mind of Christ by letting His Holy Spirit reign and taking every thought captive to the mind of Christ, but to have the ears and eyes and hands of Christ, to hear the needs and cries of those hurting around us, to see without lusting and stripping naked those in our field of vision, and to touch a lost and dying world with compassion, to hold doors open, to push a shopping cart up a slope, to have the mouth of Christ, and encourage and bless and accept those brought to our daily walk, instead of lies and deception as satan would lure us to.
During this teaching on coveting, God showed me three things I am to give Him, this me personally, so that I can seek Him with my whole heart. I am being asked to give up sports, politics, and flesh, radio, television, and internet, so that I can not be lazy , and study to show myself approved, ready to give an account and reason for my faith when asked. This is hard, I have two good Christian radio stations, KXOJ and Air One, positive alternatives, to the sports talk and political talk that is so prevelant, and that gets my blood moving, and takes my eyes off the One who gave His life that I might live.
This is the week's personal challenge to me that I am facing, some days went well, but knowing the SI Swimsuit edition is out never fails to be a challenge for me, but I make satan pay by if I fail and I have and unfortunately will again, strive to add a name to the list of women I pray for when confronted by satan with lust and those in the heart adulteries that God sees as sin, I will be a prayer warrior for Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, the porn stars of Charlie Sheen, girls of SI, the Kardashians, and all the others that I do daily battle with to not surf for pictures and stories, but to lift them up in prayer, asking God to send blood bought, bible believing Christians into their lives, to love them to the foot of the cross, and that they will be the next story of salvation and life change, like Stephen Baldwin, or Brian Welch, or Pete Maravich, or Kirk Cameron or the countless other celebrities who have come to realize that all their stuff doesn't satisfy, and why are the poor content in their poverty so often? How are they content with their little, and all the riches of the world will fall away, like the rich man Luke describes and Tony Nolan spoke about during the Winterjam 2010 tour, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose your soul? I love those God calls to clearly present His truth, and it is all of us, II Cor. 5:17-21 tells us we all have been given the ministry of reconciliation, and praise God, He has called us to nothing less than be peacemakers , with each other, and with God Himself, to tell people of the heart disease they have, fatal and eternal, but the most Famous person in the Universe, the Creator Himself, came to Earth as a baby in a manger, and today is calling to you "I have the only matching heart that can cure your illness, let me exchange my life for yours, and come to know life as you have never known it.
Praise God that I can glorify Him, and that some days I have a good 15 minutes, some days good hours,, and sometimes the better part of a morning or afternoon, but that I am loved no more or less due to how I obey, I am made clean by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, and once re-born and a new creation, my feet may get dirty, and I may be slow to get them washed off, but God sees His Son's blood covering my dirt and sin, and calls me His Child, and I am made to rest in that contentment of a little child basking in the gaze of his parent, and to rest in obedience when walking as Christ walked, daily in prayer and the Word of God on His mind and lips constantly, and turning the world upside down, our walk will do no less, because it is God that gives the increase and saves, we may lead others to Christ, but then it is up to them to choose, contentment is only a prayer away.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
He is not silent, and does not mind repeating Himself
I am so thankful to have a Lord and Savior that is so patient as a good parent is to their little children. Sometimes I think we get to expect so much of our kids as we know their potential, and often take it personally I think when they show their childishness.
Today I have again been made aware that the simple things I have been asked to do by God apart from praying and seeking Him daily with my whole heart, and reading His Word daily as part of that seeking, have not changed, and He is still waiting patiently on me to try Him at His Word.
I am blessed to be part of a great body of believers at my home church, and staff that always has at their heart the soul of both believer and unbeliever alike. Clayton, Anthony and Brad all strive to approach each service like it is the last time we may be together this way, and with our praise and worship, and teaching of God's Word, if this is the last time we have a chance to dedicate or rededicate our lives to the service of Jesus Christ, and to find Him in the least of these that life brings our way daily, we can offer ourselves wholly, and look forward to hearing, "Well done, enter into the joy of your Master".
Today I have been invited to attend afuneral by a dear friend, who I do not regularly speak to or visit these past few years, but if we are together, it is as if no time has passed from the days we spoke daily, and often saw each other daily. His son has passed on to eternity at age 31, so young, but having lived a lifetime in those 31 years. My friend is the first soul I and another believer could identify as having made a decision to make Christ Lord and Savior of their life due to our witness, and seeing God make and mold him as He wished, with spiritual gifts, and talents, and take a man and make him into a vessel used by the Master's hand frequently, generous and compassionate, having been allowed to lead his own father to the Lord and be a blessing to many others, lets me approach this day of having a father say goodbye to his son with a bit less sorrow and tears than many other days. This father showed his son Christ in offering a home and stability and loving kindness in the face of rejection and rebellion, and never stopped trying to love his son to the foot of the cross of Christ. I am blessed to call him friend, and spirtual brother, my little child in Christ I have been blessed with.
I believe our life is to be a life of obedience, simply, and that we should measure our days by how our walk with Jesus was that day, not what we see, or hear or feel, but just resting in obedience. Resting in obedience is peace giving, as also is resting in being content with what our Lord has given us in our walk on this planet of His Creation. When we rest in our Father's supply, we do not covet, and have no sin in our life, just as Christ did during His walk on this dirt circle we call Earth.
What a calling, to the peace of Christ that passes all understanding, and that allows us to be called Brother by the Son of God!
Today I have again been made aware that the simple things I have been asked to do by God apart from praying and seeking Him daily with my whole heart, and reading His Word daily as part of that seeking, have not changed, and He is still waiting patiently on me to try Him at His Word.
I am blessed to be part of a great body of believers at my home church, and staff that always has at their heart the soul of both believer and unbeliever alike. Clayton, Anthony and Brad all strive to approach each service like it is the last time we may be together this way, and with our praise and worship, and teaching of God's Word, if this is the last time we have a chance to dedicate or rededicate our lives to the service of Jesus Christ, and to find Him in the least of these that life brings our way daily, we can offer ourselves wholly, and look forward to hearing, "Well done, enter into the joy of your Master".
Today I have been invited to attend afuneral by a dear friend, who I do not regularly speak to or visit these past few years, but if we are together, it is as if no time has passed from the days we spoke daily, and often saw each other daily. His son has passed on to eternity at age 31, so young, but having lived a lifetime in those 31 years. My friend is the first soul I and another believer could identify as having made a decision to make Christ Lord and Savior of their life due to our witness, and seeing God make and mold him as He wished, with spiritual gifts, and talents, and take a man and make him into a vessel used by the Master's hand frequently, generous and compassionate, having been allowed to lead his own father to the Lord and be a blessing to many others, lets me approach this day of having a father say goodbye to his son with a bit less sorrow and tears than many other days. This father showed his son Christ in offering a home and stability and loving kindness in the face of rejection and rebellion, and never stopped trying to love his son to the foot of the cross of Christ. I am blessed to call him friend, and spirtual brother, my little child in Christ I have been blessed with.
I believe our life is to be a life of obedience, simply, and that we should measure our days by how our walk with Jesus was that day, not what we see, or hear or feel, but just resting in obedience. Resting in obedience is peace giving, as also is resting in being content with what our Lord has given us in our walk on this planet of His Creation. When we rest in our Father's supply, we do not covet, and have no sin in our life, just as Christ did during His walk on this dirt circle we call Earth.
What a calling, to the peace of Christ that passes all understanding, and that allows us to be called Brother by the Son of God!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
God's Word Reigns Supreme
Welcome to sunny Oklahoma today, where Bartlesville was serving a frosty low of -28 F. this morning, and Nowata a nose rattling -31F ! As I took Jericho out this morning at about 0745, the morning air that greeted my face only registered a balmy -7 F, so I said a quick thank you Lord that I live in Tulsa, and not 50 miles or so to the North. A true air temp of -31 F? In Oklahoma?
As I prepared to face another day I wondered, how will today be played out? What people will God bring across my path? I believe there are no random events in our lives, that the people and events that we encounter daily are part of our challenge to walk as Jesus walked, glorifying God with every moment of our being. Each day is given to us, no one is owed anything, I have been told that two things in life are certain, death and taxes, but that was quickly dismissed, as you don't have to pay taxes, you can choose to go to jail. I believe you can better state if any two things are certain, they are that we each will die, and that we will live until we die.
This is told us in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verses 16-21, in the parable of the rich fool. In another passage from the New Testament, the revelation that our life is just a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow is revealed in the epistle of James, chapter 4, verses 13-17 . If we take this to heart, the first question to my mind is how will I make a difference, and know that my life matters in any eternal sense?
I am greatly blessed with a loving wife, two children that run to me each night as I arrive home, parents still living at 90 and 89, a great calico cat named Zoey, and an enthusiastic little black minature schnauzer, Jericho. If I chose to , finding my meaning in the love and affection that greets me daily would be possible. But that begs the question, what if I find as did Job that one day, all his blessings are seemingly gone? He gets grilled by alleged "friends" to simply confess the sin he must have committed, as only evil people living sinful lives get slammed the way he was, losing material goods, and family, and respect of said "friends", as they sought to restore Job by encouraging a confession. But all Job had to confess was obedience, that he was righteous in God's eyes, and agreed with God, saying "naked came I from the womb and so will I return. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord". The loving words from his wife that followed were that Job should curse God and die. But I think we can learn something valuable from Job's story.
When we bring God obedience with our words and deeds, He is glorified, His Name is lifted up, His greatness is proclaimed, and Satan is defeated. Remember Satan's accusation to God regarding Job? "Of course Job loves you, you give him all the good stuff, beautiful large family, the adoration of peers, the cool toys, great image, huge standing in the community, fine clothes, and great food" (don't you know Andrew Zimmern was on the prowl to get a piece of Job's culture and experience the good life and food of the Middle East in that tent?) God allowed the stuff and trappings of life to be taken, but Job was left knowing he still walked with his God just as before, and that his eternity was secure, to be forever with the Lord.
To be able to daily be content and find our esteem and reason for being in simply obeying what God is asking us to do, right where we are, being who He has made us to be, with the personality and temperment and spiritual gifts given uniquely to you and I, perfect in the eyes of our Creator, an instrument for His use whenever He would pickup us up and have us walk in the good works created from before the foundations of the world, that He has created for us, and all we need to do is be His obedient little child and do what our Father asks us to.
In this obedience, we don't have to try to be who we want to be , i.e. the perfect wife, son, daughter, father, shop owner, cook, teacher, uncle, god parent, brother, sister, cousin, uncle, nephew and so on, when we are walking in obedience to the Father's will, we are Christlike and He sees His perfect Son in our walk, just as we are found righteous due to the blood of Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, covering our sins, so that when our Creator and Father looks at us, He sees Jesus, a life that glorified His Father relentlessly, furiously, with the raging pursuing fury we call the love of God .(yes, I love Rich Mullins music and will quote his and other songs often in our talks together)
I long to hear well done, good and faithful servent, enter into the rest of your master, and will only be in that place if I am walking as Jesus walked daily, moment by moment, that is my goal and purpose in life, whatever God would use me for, and do with my words and deeds, in His Hands, my little fishes and loaves feed a multitude, they bring sight to the blind, they raise the lame to walk and dead to walk. When we walk like Jesus walked, people will be drawn to the Christ in our life, not knowing why or what they find attractive, but having to come, to the Man of No Reputation, who loves with relentless affection, and who calls all us poor in spirit, just as we are, come to the Man of No Reputation (thank you Rick Elias for hearing the voice of God and penning that song)
As I prepared to face another day I wondered, how will today be played out? What people will God bring across my path? I believe there are no random events in our lives, that the people and events that we encounter daily are part of our challenge to walk as Jesus walked, glorifying God with every moment of our being. Each day is given to us, no one is owed anything, I have been told that two things in life are certain, death and taxes, but that was quickly dismissed, as you don't have to pay taxes, you can choose to go to jail. I believe you can better state if any two things are certain, they are that we each will die, and that we will live until we die.
This is told us in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verses 16-21, in the parable of the rich fool. In another passage from the New Testament, the revelation that our life is just a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow is revealed in the epistle of James, chapter 4, verses 13-17 . If we take this to heart, the first question to my mind is how will I make a difference, and know that my life matters in any eternal sense?
I am greatly blessed with a loving wife, two children that run to me each night as I arrive home, parents still living at 90 and 89, a great calico cat named Zoey, and an enthusiastic little black minature schnauzer, Jericho. If I chose to , finding my meaning in the love and affection that greets me daily would be possible. But that begs the question, what if I find as did Job that one day, all his blessings are seemingly gone? He gets grilled by alleged "friends" to simply confess the sin he must have committed, as only evil people living sinful lives get slammed the way he was, losing material goods, and family, and respect of said "friends", as they sought to restore Job by encouraging a confession. But all Job had to confess was obedience, that he was righteous in God's eyes, and agreed with God, saying "naked came I from the womb and so will I return. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord". The loving words from his wife that followed were that Job should curse God and die. But I think we can learn something valuable from Job's story.
When we bring God obedience with our words and deeds, He is glorified, His Name is lifted up, His greatness is proclaimed, and Satan is defeated. Remember Satan's accusation to God regarding Job? "Of course Job loves you, you give him all the good stuff, beautiful large family, the adoration of peers, the cool toys, great image, huge standing in the community, fine clothes, and great food" (don't you know Andrew Zimmern was on the prowl to get a piece of Job's culture and experience the good life and food of the Middle East in that tent?) God allowed the stuff and trappings of life to be taken, but Job was left knowing he still walked with his God just as before, and that his eternity was secure, to be forever with the Lord.
To be able to daily be content and find our esteem and reason for being in simply obeying what God is asking us to do, right where we are, being who He has made us to be, with the personality and temperment and spiritual gifts given uniquely to you and I, perfect in the eyes of our Creator, an instrument for His use whenever He would pickup us up and have us walk in the good works created from before the foundations of the world, that He has created for us, and all we need to do is be His obedient little child and do what our Father asks us to.
In this obedience, we don't have to try to be who we want to be , i.e. the perfect wife, son, daughter, father, shop owner, cook, teacher, uncle, god parent, brother, sister, cousin, uncle, nephew and so on, when we are walking in obedience to the Father's will, we are Christlike and He sees His perfect Son in our walk, just as we are found righteous due to the blood of Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, covering our sins, so that when our Creator and Father looks at us, He sees Jesus, a life that glorified His Father relentlessly, furiously, with the raging pursuing fury we call the love of God .(yes, I love Rich Mullins music and will quote his and other songs often in our talks together)
I long to hear well done, good and faithful servent, enter into the rest of your master, and will only be in that place if I am walking as Jesus walked daily, moment by moment, that is my goal and purpose in life, whatever God would use me for, and do with my words and deeds, in His Hands, my little fishes and loaves feed a multitude, they bring sight to the blind, they raise the lame to walk and dead to walk. When we walk like Jesus walked, people will be drawn to the Christ in our life, not knowing why or what they find attractive, but having to come, to the Man of No Reputation, who loves with relentless affection, and who calls all us poor in spirit, just as we are, come to the Man of No Reputation (thank you Rick Elias for hearing the voice of God and penning that song)
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Welcome to the DIGGIT blog
Today begins a journey of daily transparency in front of all that God would lead to these words as I share my thoughts, convictions, questions, and truth as I believe it revealed to me as I strive to walk as my Lord Jesus Christ walked, perfect in obedience to His and my Father's will, now that we are both His children.
As the days go by, hopefully, we will learn and grow in what I believe it means to Do What Jesus Did, or DWJD, which I believe can be our daily guide for living, so that we are perfect as Jesus was perfect, and in our life see that we can choose to walk perfectly, always giving God glory, revealing who God the Father is, lifting up and proclaiming His name, showing the people He brings into our daily life something that relentlessly draws them to the Christ in born again believers.
One of my former pastors, Bro. Jonathan Pedersen, shared a truth one morning that again challenged me as I had been challenged after reading a Christian classic written by Charles Sheldon, "In His Steps".
Several years earlier, I became aware of Sheldon's book, and was greatly moved and challenged as I read illustrations of how different people in society, religious and non-religious, viewed each other, and themselves. The concept of simple obedience to the call of Christ, to make moment by moment decisions consciously asking ourselves to imagine Christ facing our world and situations, and to imitate Him regardless of the consequence, as we encounter life on planet Earth, seems too easy. I heard God throw out a challenge to me, "pleasure or obedience?" The idea of seeking daily, moment by moment, what it means for a modern disciple of Jesus Christ, asking " What would Jesus do?" before making any decision in my private or business life, really made me ponder who am I, in thoughts as well as words and actions, and whether I had taken every thought captive to the mind of Christ as we professing Christians are challenged to do in II Cor. 10:5. One morning, either during a personal devotion time, or a sermon at my home church (as my notes were not dated, I cannot positively state which), I thought another question is required to get to WWJD, and that was simply "do I glorify God in this?"
In that moment I realized Jesus never failed to give glory to God, never quenching the Spirit, never grieving the Spirit, and always having the Fruit of the Spirit perfectly manifested in the human life He lived. Knowing that we are told that Jesus was in all ways tempted as we are, but without sin(Heb. 4:15), I realized my pastor had shared a huge truth, it is my choice anytime I sin, as Flip Wilson's character Geraldine said so many times, "the devil made me do it, honey!", might be side splitting humor, but had no place in our Christian walk. The consequence of this realization has come to be humility, as the Holy Spirit convicts me of all the sin I commit, I realize that I am the man who put Jesus on the cross, he died for this or that particular sin of the moment, and that I could truly choose to walk in His steps, it is my choice.
I have two precious children, both girls, and in my efforts to be a good Christian father, am always asking them to do simple things that repetitively do not get done. I have patience behind the wheel of my car, waiting on traffic, driving the speed limit, driving the people nuts that say " I just can't drive the speed limit" all the while with a fish or cross bumper sticker on their car, while I meddle in their walk by pointing out we are not pointing to Christ by not obeying the local laws of the land, regardless of the top speed or fun of wrapping out to the redline that 2nd to 3rd shift, but let me have multiple failures by my children of what I rightly identify as simple requests that are for their benefit, and the dad amp's volume gets cranked to 12 with overdrive (yes, I do play guitar, as we get to know each other, you will hear about the Sonrise Jack Band and my walk these last 18 years with my brother in Jesus Mike Casey, one of the best songwriters and guitarists many of you have not yet had the pleasure to experience). I get loud, to ensure attention is paid and immediately, and get a good rant going that often brings tears to these dear children.
Normally, within 15 minutes, if not 5, God has brought me to my knees, showing me that my children are just like their father, choosing not to do the simple task given, rather finding pleasure and taking time to put myself on the throne of my life, taking a can of spray paint ( apologies to Tony Nolan) to my Father's to do list given personally to help me grow into His image, and say "not today, not now, maybe later if I think about it after I get my priority taken care of".
My God is so faithful to show me my sin, so I can confess, agreeing with Him what His standard is that Christ walked and talked and lived 24/7 while on this earth that we walk now, 2000 years later, but still nothing has changed, do we glorify God in this?
This maybe your speech, it may be your thoughts, it may be your actions, it may be internal, it may be external, it may take money, it may take time, it may take painful physical effort, or it may be humbling yourself, choosing to submit your will and always seeing Christ in the least of these around us, and esteeming these least of these above ourselves, so that God can give us a seat of honor, and reward us later, when no one else sees, but we know that goal, to have "well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the glory of the Lord" the sound that hits your ears, as you knees and face are on the ground, thankful to be in the presence of our Creator, knowing that the shed blood of Jesus Christ alone makes us worthy to be called Children of the King, and the brother's and sister's of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.
As the days go by, hopefully, we will learn and grow in what I believe it means to Do What Jesus Did, or DWJD, which I believe can be our daily guide for living, so that we are perfect as Jesus was perfect, and in our life see that we can choose to walk perfectly, always giving God glory, revealing who God the Father is, lifting up and proclaiming His name, showing the people He brings into our daily life something that relentlessly draws them to the Christ in born again believers.
One of my former pastors, Bro. Jonathan Pedersen, shared a truth one morning that again challenged me as I had been challenged after reading a Christian classic written by Charles Sheldon, "In His Steps".
Several years earlier, I became aware of Sheldon's book, and was greatly moved and challenged as I read illustrations of how different people in society, religious and non-religious, viewed each other, and themselves. The concept of simple obedience to the call of Christ, to make moment by moment decisions consciously asking ourselves to imagine Christ facing our world and situations, and to imitate Him regardless of the consequence, as we encounter life on planet Earth, seems too easy. I heard God throw out a challenge to me, "pleasure or obedience?" The idea of seeking daily, moment by moment, what it means for a modern disciple of Jesus Christ, asking " What would Jesus do?" before making any decision in my private or business life, really made me ponder who am I, in thoughts as well as words and actions, and whether I had taken every thought captive to the mind of Christ as we professing Christians are challenged to do in II Cor. 10:5. One morning, either during a personal devotion time, or a sermon at my home church (as my notes were not dated, I cannot positively state which), I thought another question is required to get to WWJD, and that was simply "do I glorify God in this?"
In that moment I realized Jesus never failed to give glory to God, never quenching the Spirit, never grieving the Spirit, and always having the Fruit of the Spirit perfectly manifested in the human life He lived. Knowing that we are told that Jesus was in all ways tempted as we are, but without sin(Heb. 4:15), I realized my pastor had shared a huge truth, it is my choice anytime I sin, as Flip Wilson's character Geraldine said so many times, "the devil made me do it, honey!", might be side splitting humor, but had no place in our Christian walk. The consequence of this realization has come to be humility, as the Holy Spirit convicts me of all the sin I commit, I realize that I am the man who put Jesus on the cross, he died for this or that particular sin of the moment, and that I could truly choose to walk in His steps, it is my choice.
I have two precious children, both girls, and in my efforts to be a good Christian father, am always asking them to do simple things that repetitively do not get done. I have patience behind the wheel of my car, waiting on traffic, driving the speed limit, driving the people nuts that say " I just can't drive the speed limit" all the while with a fish or cross bumper sticker on their car, while I meddle in their walk by pointing out we are not pointing to Christ by not obeying the local laws of the land, regardless of the top speed or fun of wrapping out to the redline that 2nd to 3rd shift, but let me have multiple failures by my children of what I rightly identify as simple requests that are for their benefit, and the dad amp's volume gets cranked to 12 with overdrive (yes, I do play guitar, as we get to know each other, you will hear about the Sonrise Jack Band and my walk these last 18 years with my brother in Jesus Mike Casey, one of the best songwriters and guitarists many of you have not yet had the pleasure to experience). I get loud, to ensure attention is paid and immediately, and get a good rant going that often brings tears to these dear children.
Normally, within 15 minutes, if not 5, God has brought me to my knees, showing me that my children are just like their father, choosing not to do the simple task given, rather finding pleasure and taking time to put myself on the throne of my life, taking a can of spray paint ( apologies to Tony Nolan) to my Father's to do list given personally to help me grow into His image, and say "not today, not now, maybe later if I think about it after I get my priority taken care of".
My God is so faithful to show me my sin, so I can confess, agreeing with Him what His standard is that Christ walked and talked and lived 24/7 while on this earth that we walk now, 2000 years later, but still nothing has changed, do we glorify God in this?
This maybe your speech, it may be your thoughts, it may be your actions, it may be internal, it may be external, it may take money, it may take time, it may take painful physical effort, or it may be humbling yourself, choosing to submit your will and always seeing Christ in the least of these around us, and esteeming these least of these above ourselves, so that God can give us a seat of honor, and reward us later, when no one else sees, but we know that goal, to have "well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the glory of the Lord" the sound that hits your ears, as you knees and face are on the ground, thankful to be in the presence of our Creator, knowing that the shed blood of Jesus Christ alone makes us worthy to be called Children of the King, and the brother's and sister's of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.
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