More Than a Dusty Rock

In my quiet time today, I was thinking about conscience, and exactly what part conscience plays in the decision making process. One thing became utterly clear; a guilty conscience can be its own punishment. Let’s look into this whole conviction thing, with the emphasis of the work of the Holy Spirit.

God gives us, and have given us in the past, opportunities to make choices. My present understanding is that the choices we make are based on the heart and mind condition at that time, and can either cause us to make choices that are good or bad. The choices we make almost always have a ripple in the water effect, affecting those outside the glass walls of our life. In order to better understand this heart and mind condition influence, we need to investigate this thing called “nature” and how it affects our will to make decision based on in its influence.

Before we were new creations in Christ, our nature was guided by the infection of sin, and even in our walk with Christ we still can feel its effects. But praise be to God, that because of His saving grace, that “nature” no longer can have a stranglehold, when we are actively and consistently walking with Christ, guided by Him through His word being revealed to our hearts. But what happens when a Christian makes wrong decisions? How does God use our conscious in our lives? Enter . . . the Holy Spirit.

Let’s look at a cool little analogy. Most of you know that I have a limited knowledge of all things football! Well, I know some things, but just enough to be dangerous! HA! But check this out. If we can utilize a football analogy to help explain the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives, it must go something along these lines . . .

The Holy Spirit is both the offensive and defensive coordinator, periodically communicating the wishes of the Head Coach (God) to selected players.

Now with that said, I must confess that most analogies involving the Holy Spirit, which ultimately involve the Trinity, breakdown because there is really nothing in our experience that is anything like the nature of God. that is why we can’t fully grasp, in our finite mindes, what He is truly like. But if we look into this analogy, the most important facet of it is the communication of the wishes of the Head Coach.

Let’s look as John 16:5-10.

John 16:5-10
5 Now because I am going to Him who sent Me, yet none of you asks Me, “Where are you going?” 6 Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7 But I will tell you the truth; it is for your good that I am going away. unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 When He comes, He will convict the world of guilt (in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment) 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in Me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see Me no longer, 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

If we look in the eighth verse, we see the word “convict”. The word convict is in essence a legal term, and the Holy Spirit is sent out to gain a conviction - a verdict of guilty. In the instance of an unbeliever, the Holy Spirit accuses of sin and brings the individual to the point of inescapable guilt before God, bringing forth a sense of shame and helplessness. In His conviction, the Holy Spirit makes the sinner aware of sin without excuse, and then sets forth God’s complete standard of righteousness in such a way that the space, the moral gap, between God and sinful man must and will be enforced. This is the first step necessary in prepping a sinner for salvation - the person must be convinced that a diving “Negotiator” is absolutely necessary to bridge that gap between The Holy God and the sinful man.

This is the first in an ongoing blog series, as God is punching me in the face right now. I will be continuing shortly with more on this whole conviction/conscience topic.

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I was raised in the church for most of my life. During quite a bit of my “biblical” molding and upbringing, I was taught to guard my heart against emotions being such a factor in my walk with Christ. A lot of this was based out of the eight chapter of the book of Romans, and dealt with man’s sinful nature . . .

Romans 8:5-7
5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what the nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

Ok, I think we all understand what our sinful nature is, and what it means to live in the flesh. If we are Christians, we must have an understanding of that . . . if you don’t then email me and we can talk more. I understand the scripture that says the heart is deceitfully wicked and knows no good, and the argument is made that our emotions pour from our hearts desires. But, I also want to point to the Psalms, where almost every phase of human emotion was reflected in the writings of David. We can also look at what is also deemed as “Hebrew Poetry”, that being the Book of Job and the Song of Solomon, both of which examine wide ranges of the human spectrum. Job and Song of Solomon are pretty dramatic, lest we not forget the Psalms which is lyrical in nature which ushers in the realms of emotion. We can see the emotion of Mary weeping on the feet of Christ, we can see the emotion of the leper healed by Christ, so emotion is not only relevant and visible in the Old Testament, but also in the New Testament.

Let’s also look at Luke 2:18 – “All they that heard it wondered at those things.” Now that is not wondered as in, “Hmmm, I wonder . . . “, but rather being overwhelmed with the majesty of God’s glory. In the devotion Morning and Evening, Charles Spurgeon had the following to say . . .

Let your soul lose itself in wonder, for wonder is in this way a very practical emotion. Holy wonder will lead you to grateful worship and heartfelt thanksgiving. Feeling the presence of the mighty God in the gift of His dear Son, you will put off your shoes from off your feet, because the place wheron you stand is holy ground.

Wow! Think about that . . . the presence of God will cause your heart to scream in wonder! It causes my heart to wonder!

Do I believe that we are to sweep away emotions because of the heart’s nature and the mind’s ability to reason based on knowledge? I personally don’t think one can survive without the other. I think when you get to the point that you have convinced yourself that emotion plays no part in this experience and life called Christianity, then you strip away an important element that God uses in our lives to drive us to Him, both in the act of acknowledgment in Salvation, as well as in glorifying Him in our lives, through both acts and deeds. What is the first thing we experience when coming to Christ? Emotion! The first emotion in our heart is that of sorrow, penitent sorrow. Do you remember the moment, or time, when you realized you were a new creation in Christ?! Ecstatic joy, which just so happens to be a thing called . . . emotion. Hmmm . . . so emotion is a pretty relevant thing right when we come to Christ. Sorrow for our sin, joy for being saved from that sin. Now let’s look at the emotion in our walk with Christ. I don’t think God takes pleasure in us wallowing (an act rooted in emotion) in the fact of who we were before He saved us. I think when He says to count it all joy (emotion), that we are to focus on the Lord and what He has done, rather than what He has saved us from. It is important to look back and see who we were before salvation, but think about this . . . in the armor of Christ . . . there are no back pieces, only forward, so to me that would imply going forward, looking forward, and when I look forward I see the awesomeness of God and it makes me smile, want to sing, and even cry with joy. Being creatures of emotion, we interject emotion into all we do, because we know God is a God of emotion - love and wrath, and since we are created in His image and have attributes akin to His then we too must be creatures of emotion. Should our emotions govern us? No, but I think to ignore the fact that they help make us who and Whose we are cannot be thrown out with the bathwater.

With that I step into the boiling waters of worship. I have never seen something so desired by God, be so devisive in the church. This is going to get touchy, so hang on with me for a little bit. I was raised in a Southern Baptist tradition of worship. Sang out of Broadman Hymnals, did the standing for the offering and invitation thing too! As time has passed, and my hair fallen out, I have grown to love the more modern worship songs, which are basically hymns written by songwriters and worshipers today, just as hymns were in their time. Think about what the people who heard “Amazing Grace” thought when they first heard it! How dare they do that “new fangled” music. I still see traditional hymns validity and love traditional hymns, and I do incorporate them in the worship setlist at church, but my emotions react more strongly to the new hymns being written by the likes of Charlie Hall, Steve Fee, Christ Tomlin, Delirious, Hillsong . . . and the like. I think they are just as valid for the church today. I think where the decisiveness of the church comes to play concerning music is the “style” of the music supporting the lyrics. But, whether or not the music is backed by a piano and organ, a Les Paul guitar, a harp, or just sung accappella, when I sing or hear “I Surrender All”, I still get a buzz. When I hear “Rescue” by Jared Anderson, I want to cry with joy and scream . . . I Surrender All.
Can I get an witness . . .

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Amos 5:24
But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.

In the Biblical Theology Bulletin, Jon L. Berquist wrote in an article, that the only hope for the individual Christian, the church, and society lies in the overflowing “dangerous waters of justice and righteousness, both for mind and spirit.

With that, I ask: If we are to truly pray for God’s will in our lives, should we pray for justice in our lives also? That question has some serious implications that we must each individually face and come to terms with. Should we pray to be disciplined based upon what we deserve, or should we pray for mercy based upon what we deserve? Let’s look at an interesting scripture passage:

Ephesians 2:2-3
. . . in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

I honestly do not pray that God provides justice based on my sin. All the while I know that what I deserve has been described in the scripture, I take hold of the promise of the new life in Christ and His promise of salvation. So, yes, I do deserve justice for my sins, but as a Christian, God commands me to repent from sins that I have been convicted of by the Holy Spirit, by wisdom learned from the scriptures, and His prompting through the innate knowledge of right and wrong. But . . . I would be remiss to also look at the OTHER facet of justice – righteousness!

In one of his many sermons on faith, Martin Luther, from the Reformation, wrote that when you find in the scriptures the word of God’s justice, it isn’t to be understood of the self-existing, imminent justice of God, but according to the scriptures, it means the revealed grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ in us by means of which we are considered godly and righteous before Him. Since it is called God’s justice effected not by us, but by God through grace, just as God’s work, His wisdom, and strength which signifies what He works and speak in us. In Romans 1:16 it says “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God (which works in us and strengthens us) unto salvation to everyone that believeth. For therein is revealed a righteousness of God.” We have our New Testament implication there, but in the Old Testament in Habakkuk 2:4 it says that the righteous live by faith, so you see that all throughout the scriptures, old to new, that justice and righteousness are hand in hand partners. When

But with both views of justice seen, let’s take a quick look at a possible relationship between the two. John Calvin wrote in Section 11 of his book on prayer, that the fourth rule of prayer, outside of our being abased and truly humbled, is that we should be animated to pray with the sure hope of succeeding. There is, indeed, and appearance of contradiction between a sense of the just vengeance of God and the confidence in His favor, and yet, they are perfectly in accord if it is the mere goodness of God that raises up those who are overwhelmed by their own sins. Earlier he showed that repentance and faith go hand in hand, united by a tie, one causing terror and joy, so that in prayer they must both be present. Look in Psalms 5:7 where David said, “But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy, and in Your fear will I worship.” Under God’s goodness he comprehended faith, yet he also didn’t exclude fear, because it not only compels us to reverence, but also our own unworthiness which divests us of pride and confidence, which keeps us in a healthy holy fear.

Let’s wrap this puppy up by saying this . . . we deserve justice for our sin, but God in His mercy and grace, has provided a way for to be just and righteous, despite our nature. That shows that God knows what we deserve, but loved us more than we can comprehend and provided us with the opportunal gift to be just. From justice to just in one single, solitary, final act . . . Christ’s bloodshed on the cross.

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I wanted to share an amazing video. This video is by a band that has been really touching my heart with AMAZING lyrics. God centered. All that point to Christ and His saving work on the Christ. Check it out!

This band is called FEE. It’s named after lead vocalist Steve Fee. The song is All Because of Jesus!

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Ezekiel 3:1-11

1 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. 3 Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. 4 He then said to me: “Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. 7 But the house of Israel is not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for the whole house of Israel is hardened and obstinate. 8 But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. 9 I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house.” 10 And he said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you. 11 Go now to your countrymen in exile and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says,’ whether they listen or fail to listen.”

That is so cool! God actually wants us to be hardheads for the gospel! Look in verse 9 - I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. That is not to say obstinate, but rather determined. Are we determined in Christ? Am I determined in my steadfastness to present the gospel in all it’s glory and truth, unwaivering, and with full conviction? Well, that WOULD be the desire, but sometimes our desire is crushed by our lack of knowledge. I hope you see where this is going . . . it’s not the lack of desire, but the lack of knowledge. When you have a head knowledge that has been revealed to the heart, then it infects our desires. When our desires line up with God’s will, then . . . Dynamite! (As J.J. Evans so eloquently stated.) But our desires, more often than not, do not line up with God’s will, but we are to obey regardless. God wants to commune with us through His word. He not only reveals Himself to us through His creation, but also through His word. When the light of His truth envelopes our hearts, we will WANT to share it. Ever notice how new Christians are firecrackers when they are saved, they are about to explode with the desire to let others know about Christ and what He did for them? I saw a very cool explanation of how Christians can get “comfortable” with their salvation. He held up a hulahoop, with his fist holding it at the top. He said that on the right side of his fist is when you get saved, but as the year goes along, and you follow the loop of the hulahoop, it comes right back up to the left side of the fist, where you were before you got saved. Back to the same old desires, thoughts, sins. But God doesn’t call us to a circle of events that are doomed to repeat themselves, but rather a single solitary line going east to west, that grows in intensity, that grows in strength, that grows in His grace, that pursues holiness. But in order for that growth to happen, we have to engulf ourselves in His word. We need to be among the people of God, whether in bible studies, small groups, and yes, even commanded, within a body of believers, plugging in to where He wants us to be.
I want to challenge you, as I am challenged, to pursue Christ in His word, by communing with Him in prayer, by sharpening iron with other believers, and being held accountable by close friends. I want the scrolls of knowledge to be sweet to my mouth. The problem is that sometimes the sweetness is preceded by the bitterness of being enlightened of my shortcomings and sins. But . . . insert Word, chew, put straw of evangelism to mouth and . . .

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First let me start by saying . . . I am in a Wendy’s in McComb, Mississippi using free WIFI. That is so stinkin’ awesome! A Wendy’s with WIFI! LOL! An hoot . . .

I live in the great state of Louisiana and yes . . . as of Monday, September 1, we have this wonderful event called Hurricane Gustav to thank for the fact that we are out of electricity. We have an amazing Governor in Bobby Jindal. He is an amazing man of faith, and I have had the opportunity to hear his testimony, as well as one-on-one talk with him about his faith as well as other topics. He has done such an amazing job and I really honestly look for him to be a future President of the U.S.

During this time of what seems to be a lack, I see the blessings of God. Yes . . . the BLESSINGS of God! In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, the Apostle Paul says to be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. When I look at all the destruction, and environmental turmoil that our state went through, I can’t help but try to think to myself, and of course God hears my thoughts, why would God, Who causes all things to happen, allow our state to go through a storm with greater implications than Hurricane Katrina. I sent my wife and kids to stay with her mom and brother in Mississippi, where the storm hit would not be as intense. I rode out the storm in my house and wow! I was laying in my bed during the gusts of 85 mph, and I felt my house shake and bump, and I was sure that my home, built in 1898, would surely be knocked off it’s peirs. I was honestly fearful, but God is so cool in speaking to us in times when we feel hopeless, fearful, and concerned about issues that really, in the larger scheme of things, aren’t of eternal significance. God spoke to me, that He had everything under control, and the storm in my soul was spoken to . . . “Peace, be still”.
So, I am here doing some reading and studying and came across this amazing scripture verse in Nahum. Yes, that little book of Nahum that all to often gets overlooked in the New Testament. Guilt as charged! But, doing some research into what the scripture had to say about storms and God’s soverignty, this scripture just jumped out. Let me share it with you . . . Nahum 1:3 “The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet. NIV” Wow, the first thing that I read was that the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished. So, I was thinking . . . what did I do, what did Louisiana do to deserve this wrath? Then I sensed God telling me, that it was not anything specific that we as people of Louisiana have done, but yet . . . possibly we have done. I also, know that God does not just DO something without a purpose. So in this scripture passage, it says that the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished, but what are they being punished for . . . then I see that this phrase is in reference to the first part that ways the Lord is great in power! How often we try to demean and diminish the awesome power of God, thinking that we can handle all situations on our own. It all boils down to a five letter word . . . PRIDE. Now, let me say, that I am not certain of God’s will in Hurricane Gustav, but I know that He allowed Job to go through trials . . . for a purpose. Did He allow Gustav to hit us and experience the after effects for a purpose? I would say . . . yes. The sad thing is that we a humans, refuse to acknowledge God’s lessons through trials, and either say . . . God loves us so much that He would never cause such strong winds to cause so much damage, and yet as Christians we will acknowledge the scripture as truth when it speaks to Israel, God’s chosen children, to wander around the wilderness for generations, just for tapping a stick on a rock more than they were told to. What about Job? What about David? What about Jacob fleeing from the persecution of his brother, and then getting tricked into marrying Rachels sister? All throughout scripture we see God’s hand moving in the lives of people, and those are of trials that bring about a purpose, and ultimately the glorification of God. In the latter part of that scripture in Nahum it says that His way is in the whirwind and the storm, the clouds are the dust of His feet. Wow! What power! In Romans it says that His invisible attributes and divine nature are clearly seen, so that none are without excuse. Well, in a way that makes the storm of Gustav as a testimony to His power and ultimately His love. Love in the storm? Yeah. When we see His power, we see His compassion in the healing process, we see the fact that we can have eternal security in the fact that He will never leave nor forsake those that are His. And ultimately they are His children because of His love for them. So yes . . . Storm can equal love. God is so awesome in how He can take what seems to be disasterous to us, show us His awesomeness, and in the end it will all glorify Him. What was that quote in the movie “Twister” - an F5 is the “finger of God”. Hurrican Gustav must have been all ten fingers and toes. Who knows, God may have just sneezed! Another reason to say . . . God - bless You!

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I was doing my devotion and I read a comment by an author, of which I am now remiss to remember their name, and it really made an impact. Let me share it with you, then I will will share with you the pretext of the paragraph in which it was written . . .

“He (God) rules by the force of love and energy of goodness.”

Now here is the pretext:

Christ’s reign in His church is that of a shepherd-king. He has supremacy, but it is the superiority of a wise and tender shepherd over his needy and loving flock; He commands and receives obedience, but it is the willing obedience of the well-cared-for sheep, rendered joyfully to their beloved Shepered, whose voice they know so well.

Wow, the force of love and energy of goodness. Think about that. You don’t normally equate force and love in the same phrase, but the attribute of having a force based in love is an amazing characteristic. The thought that Someone is so powerful that it manifest’s itself in love. Now, why this comes to mind I don’t know . . . well yes I do . . . (don’t laugh) but many years back there was a show on television called “BaaBaa Black Sheep” and it was a war show about the life and times of soldiers on an air craft carrier.

The main character was played by an actor whose name was William Conrad, if I remember correctly. Well, he also was infamous for being this tough guy, and Everready Battery Company hired him for a series of battery commercials with the famous line . . . “Go Ahead, Try to Knock it Off My Shoulder”. Below is a pic from that commercial. But knowing that we are talking about force and energy of God, and sheep . . . well . . . I dare you to try to knock the force of love and energy of goodness off God’s proverbial shoulder. You can’t. He is soverign and we aren’t. Check out some thoughts below:

We can see in scripture that God’s sovereign reign is practical in it’s character and attributal. In Micah 5:4 it says that He shall stand and feed. That lets us know that He is actively engaged in providing for His people. He doesn’t just sit down on the throne and watch Jerry Springer or CourtTV eating bon bon’s, although He could since He is sovereign and can do what He wants, when He wants and how He wants. Plus, I don’t think that He would think Springer would be too funny. He is active. He stands and feeds. The word “feed”, means to shepherdize, or to do everything expected of a shepherd. That is to guide by His hand, watch with His eyes, preserve with His will, restore with His grace, tend with His mercy and feed with His love.

We can also see that God’s reign is constant and consistent. In Micah it says that He will STAND and feed, not He will feed now and then, then wander around, then come back, then wander around. God has focus that we can or could never fully understand. We can see His focus in scripture, and the constancy of His focus. Look at the fulfillment of scripture with scripture! You can look in the Old Testament and see it’s fulfillment in New Testament. When you think about it, His own deity is a constant consistency. It is complete and accomplished. His eyes never wander or slumber, as a matter of fact, His hands are never at rest. His heart constantly beats with love, and His shoulders are never too weary to carry our burdens. Constant and consistent. Never failing. Wow, that’s pretty humbling!

And finally I was thinking that His reign is effectually powerful in its action. Wherever Christ is, God is there and whatever Christ does is the will of God. Isn’t it awesome to know that Christ who stands daily and eternally, representing the interests of His children to the Father, is also the very God of very God?! The One true God to whom ALL men with every knee shall bow! Man, it is awesome to know that we belong to such a caring shepherd, who not only lowered Himself to become one of us, yet His divinity protects us! May we have the heart to bow down before Him as the sheep in His pasture.

I wonder sometimes how we, as humans, have made it thus far in life, not just individually, but as a race. God must either have an amazing amount of patience for wandering sheep, or an immeasurable sense of humor! Makes me want to say . . . Baaaaaaa!

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I was wondering about something. As I started reading in Philippians today, God hit me in the face  with a passage of verses. Check this out . . .

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be sure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God.
Philippians 1:9-11

That is a cool prayer! I think that is a cool direction to come from when praying for someone. To pray that their love will grow in having a better knowledge of what is of God. But I wanted to discover more about the fruit of righteousness. What exactly IS the fruit of righteousness? Well we know that it comes from Christ based on this scripture. So, I was doing a little studying and found a cool reference in the “Passage for Peace Among the Nations” from the Book of Common Prayer. It says this:

Almighty God our heavenly Father, guide the nations of the world in the way of justice and truth, and establish among them that peace which is the fruit of righteousness, that they may become the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

In James 3:18 it talks about the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. When it talks about the peaceable fruit of righteousness, it implies that righteousness is itself the true wisdom. The fruit’s seed, or righteousness, when developed into the fullness of being fruit, is the everlasting reward of the righteous. If you look in Proverbs 11:18, it says that the the wicked man earns deceptive wages, but he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward, and in Hosea 10:12 it says to sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love. When we purposefully, and with a heart of giving, sow righteousness into another’s life, the scripture says that we will reap a reward, but what type of reward? I think, personally, that we may, or may not actually witness that reward. If God grants us the ability to see the fulfillment of a reward, it will be an effectual outcome on someone else’s life, but if we don’t, we can take comfort in knowing that we honored God by doing unto others. Let me give you an example, say you are a parent, and your teenager is hanging out with some other kids, and a questionable topic comes up such as premarital sex. And your teen says something along the lines about waiting until marriage because that is what God commands. Now you personally don’t “receive” a physical reward, but we will see the reward of knowing that as a parent you instilled the influence of Christ in their thoughts, which affectively turned to wisdom, changed their hearts, and that they are living according to what you have taught, and what God commands. Wow! What better reward?! Do you see where I am going? The fruit of righteousness, or the “reward” of righteousness isn’t necessarily something that happens TO you, but something that happens FROM you.

So let’s look at that passage in Philippians again - And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be sure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the REWARD of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - and then he ends it with the ultimate reason for that sowing the righteousness into others . . . to the glory and praise of God. And notice in that passage from the Book of Common Prayer - that God will establish among them that reward of righteousness, which is justice and truth! Wow, what a calling out to the nations of the world. Seek peace. Seek justice. Seek truth! But sadly, we don’t live in a world that confines it’s attributes within the parameters of what God has commanded. When we as a world seek out, actively practice, and spread peace, I think that God will be honored, and God will show His favor on the world. (This is the point where I exhale, and take a deep inhaling breath of which I will hold, for naught, as I know the outcome!)

In Galatians 6:8, it has an interesting implication on the sowing that we do in each other’s lives. It says that the one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

This little diatribe of mine is simply for this - It is a call to action. A call to action for myself. It is a call to action for all those who claim to have an active relationship with Christ. Not those who are religious or spiritual. God does not call us to be religious or spiritual because both will cause motives of heart that are in direct opposition to the fruit of righteousness. We as Christ followers are to sow righteousness into the lives of others, not because we want to be patted on the back, or have an “Eat At Joe’s” type of sign blinking in blue neon on and off, pointing to our heads as to ascribe some sort of ownership to “helping a brutha out!” Sowing into someones life has to be selfless. It has to be an act based in humility, bathed in the Spirit of God, with an the understanding that we may or may never see it come to fruition. May we never take ownership in the working of God through our words. That is the fruit of righteousness . . . the hope that we have sown a seed in someone else’s life, heart, mind. Whether it be the message of the gospel, or a message of hope based in scripture, or just the proverbial helping an elderly lady with some yard work. When we share these God thoughts, or act in these small opportune events, we are sowing the love of God, acting on the commands of God, and sowing a reward of righteousness.

So, I end with this question . . . as a call to action - What would Chuck Norris do?! Haigh Karate!

(And I am still holding my breath! I multitask well - type, hold breath, type, hold breath . . . )

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Jesus! what a Strength in weakness!
Let me hide myself in Him.
Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing,
He, my Strength, my victory wins.

This verse is from an old hymn by J. Chapman titled “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus!”. Throughout this hymn the writer shows the counterpoint of our nature, sinner, sorrowful, wayward, failure, and with each one, he shows the awesomeness of how Christ counterbalances and completes our inabilities and that which we lack, with His abilities and fulfillment through our weaknesses. As a sinner He makes us whole. In our weakness, He makes us victorious. In our sorrow, He comforts us. When we are wayward, He is our Guide and Keeper. The writer wraps up this hymn with the following encouragement . . . .

Jesus! I do now receive Him,
More than all in Him I find.
He hath granted me forgiveness,
I am His, and He is mine.

Wow! How awesome is that? More than all in Him I find! So we can see that not only does God want us to be weak and lowly, but He wants to show us that He is the completion of our inabilities. He is the solution to our problem. He is the only One Who can take that which is “negative” and glorify Himself by making it a “positive”. Again, do you see a theme? All things will glorify God. Whether we do it by humbling ourselves to be used, or whether He humbles us Himself so that we can be used . . . either way . . . we will be used, and we will be elements used by God to glorify Himself.

With that said, we really do need to look at an important fact, that affects has affected every man from the beginning of time. This fact will help us see, in greater detail the concept of weak and lowly, so, let’s look at the concept, or better yet - fact, of the lack of the authority of man. I think that in order to look at this theory on the authority that man has, or has not, we have to investigate a term called total depravity. What exactly is total depravity? The doctrine of total depravity is this . . . as a result of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden, also known as the Fall, that every part of every human being has been infected with the virus of sin. “Total” refers to every part of man’s being, which would include, body, soul, heart, mind, strength, emotions, intentions, will, etc., has been corrupted by sin. The taint of sin makes every person, and every part of a person, unacceptable before God. This virus of sin also prevents all man from doing anything that would be meritorious for salvation, and makes every person hostile, in nature, toward God, and that unless prompted by the Holy Spirit unto salvation, he cannot and will not repent of his sin or accept the gospel message of Christ crucified, risen and coming again. Now that doesn’t mean that people are as sinful as they CAN be. People can ALWAYS be worse than they are. Though sinful, people still do “outwardly” things all the time. Matthew 7:11 further emphasizes that fact.

Basically it boils down to this . . . No One is Innocent of Sin! No one on their own merit is righteous in God’s eyes! Everything that man does comes from a heart that hates God, which fundamentally states that anything man does is unacceptable in God’s sight. Wow! That’s a pretty intense statement! But the scripture does say that our hearts are as filthy rags, with no evidence of good. But glory to God . . . this PROVES the fact that man’s natural state can never be good enough to save himself, which in turn - Glorifies God! What?!?! How does man’s inability to hook up with God glorify God? Because our inability causes us to completely rely on God to be the initiator, the fulfiller, and accomplisher of salvation in our lives. All of God and not of man, as the old hymn goes. God once again shows us that only He can save that which is unholy. The Holy saves the unholy! It is the potter that creates the vessel from the clay. We are weak because of our sin, and we are lowly because we are unjustified and unable to stand in the presence of an holy God . . . until He saves us! Notice - HE saves us. Until the church realizes who it is not and Who God is, then I believe that we will never know the fullness of life, and the satisfaction of grace, and the only love that is complete. We need to see that He is the One who placed the stars in their specific places in the heavens. It is He Who causes the winds to blow where they go. It is He Who causes the sea shores to wash onto the beaches that contain sand granules that He has an individual account of. He has made a way for us, as the creation, to know a Soverign Savior Who completely and finally provides eternal life, and a way for us to worship Him and honor Him in all we do. Now, I am going to say something that is going to really, really, really, (did I say really?!) upset most Christians. I am going to start off with the first question and answer in the Westminster Catechism. Here it goes:

What is man’s chief end and purpose?
The answer is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Where in that question and answer does it say that man’s chief end and purpose is to go to heaven. OUCH! It is not. Man’s purpose is to point to God and acknowledge Him for Who He is and let other’s know . . . Not of I, lest I should boast! Salvation is not fire insurance. I know that flys in the face of the old time evangelists and pastors who eat, live, and breathe, the “fire and brimstone” methodology of evangelism. I am not saying that their methodology of evangelizing is not valid in merit, for many have come to a saving knowledge of Christ through it. But there is so much emphasis on “Scare to Hell” theology, that the true reason God saves us is to in turn . . . glorify Him. He wants us to have a relationship with Him. He wants us to worship Him. He wants us weak and lowly to rely on Him. It’s all about Him . . . what does that worship song state - It’s all about You Jesus, and Not about Me. Let’s face it, until we as the church universal come back to the reality of the true relationship of man to God and God to man, and the natures of Holy and unholy, we will never experience the true relationship, or live in the fulness of who Christ saves us unto and from. May God be praised, continually with all our being. May we flesh our faith and glorify God in our lives, to point others to Him. I pray we continue being weak and lowly so that we will have the heart’s mindset of total reliance on God. Apart from Him we are nothing, we can do nothing, we can be nothing. When we are weak and lowly we are in the perfect position to be used full and free for the purpose of God.

Born we are weak and lowly. Saved we are weak and lowly. Being used of God we have to be weak and lowly. In death we are weak and lowly. Eternally we are strong in our weakness, and lifted up in being lowly.

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So, I was reading in Psalms 113, and God opened my eyes to verse 6 where it says, “He takes up the weak out of the dust and lifts up the poor from the ashes. He sets them with the princes, and the princes of his people.” Wow . . . think about it in terms of “levels”. The weak are at the lowest of low - in the dust! But God, infering His awesome ability and love, picks up the weak, wipes the dust off their brow and places them high next to the princes. I have yet to find in scripture a reference where we, on our own, are to pick ourselves up from the proverbial dust and go and sit with the princes, but I do read many references where God does the work of grace in someones life to move them from a stature of weakness to a stature of usefulness. Lets look at Mary Magdalene. Christ Himself cast demons out of her, and she ended up having the greatest account of Who Christ was, what He did, and His accomplishment in fulfilling scripture. Let’s look for a second at Mark 16:9, “He appeard first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven devils.” What a change! From delirium to delight, from despair to peace, from hell to heaven! She became a CONSTANT follower of Christ, catching His every word, and became a generous helper, (which emphasized her being used by God). God made her His messenger of good news to the disciples! Wow, what a transformation, but notice again who she WAS, what HE did, how He used her, and what she did in His name! She remained weak and lowly throughout her “tenure” in the presence of Christ, and man . . . to be the one who tells the others that He was risen from the dead?! What’s also amazing is if you look at the “role” or the pervasive view of women during that time, and in light of that, that Christ was revealed to her first. A woman! The weakest and lowly, used, broken, and poured out! Glory be to God, that He may MAKE me weak and lowly in spirit so that I am willing to be used, because let’s face the facts . . . when I am unable to make myself humble and weak . . . God can, has, and can even eliminate me from the picture . . . and in the end it will always point back and glorify Him. Part Three is just a short time away . . . stay tuned folks!

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