"Strengthen the Feeble Hands, Steady the Knees That Give Way."
Archive for October, 2007
A Thousand Reasonable Justifications
Oct 21st
A friend of mine has reached his limit and I sympathize. In his words, “I have tried it that way for 25 years and now I am going to try it this way!” This way is a relationship with a person who does not know Christ. This way is the finding of a “soul mate” whose soul is as yet—unredeemed. Years of failed relationships with Christians, years of failed attempts have made him willing to try it “this way” for a while. He has come to a point of compromise.
Compromise is a spice that hides the bitterness of sin beneath the sweet savor of self-deception. When conviction will not do, when integrity does not bear the fruit we seek, compromise entreats us, promising all we desire. And in order to have all we desire we ignore the warnings that dare suggest we wait a little longer for the Lord’s blessings to come. The world whispers, “Compromise!”
Comprise promises an easier meal than the steady diet of trials found at the Lord’s table. It tells us that sweeter morsels are to be had elsewhere without the rigor of righteous living . It whispers that Christ is too slow in coming, too slow More >
An Audience With The Holy
Oct 5th
If we do not see God as holy perhaps it is because we do not perceive our own wretchedness. Perhaps the cloths we wear, the people we know and our own ability to achieve great things have brought us to the brink of spiritual bankruptcy.
Or perhaps we have suffered greatly. Perhaps our lives have been filled with such misery that we now see ourselves as deserving the New Life in Christ. Neither wealth nor poverty can purchase an audience with the holy. We could no more intrude on His holy presence than we could dance barefoot on the surface of the sun.
When God is called holy means “separate,” and in this case it means that God is in every way “other.” Not like us, not of us, completely, distinctly “other.” This understanding is critical to the Christian life. For that matter—it is essential to the non-Christian’s hope. Should we draw near God without this mind set, wearing only those things we have earned by wealth our suffering, we might hear what Moses heard:
“‘Do not come any closer,’ God said. ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground’” (Exod. 3:5). If the ground itself became More >
