"Strengthen the Feeble Hands, Steady the Knees That Give Way."
Archive for July, 2009
An Audience With The Holy
Jul 24th
If we do not see God as holy it is because we do not perceive our own wretchedness, do not perceive the depth of our own sinfulness. If we do not see God as holy it is because the clothes we wear, the people we know and our own ability to achieve have clouded our judgment. We have been brought to the brink of spiritual bankruptcy and filled with self-pride.
Or perhaps we have suffered greatly. Perhaps our lives have been filled with such misery that we now count ourselves as deserving the New Life. 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.
Holy means that God is in every way, shape, and form—other. He is not like us, not of us but completely and distinctly other. While we may enjoy the privilege of calling Him Abba Father, while it IS a name of familiarity, we dare not grow too familiar. We may stand on the precipice to observe the majesty of the mountain but dare not forget we stand on a precipice. He loves us and cares for More >
No Great Mystery
Jul 23rd
I know not where He will lead,
the things He will ask,
how much He will demand,
by what means He will work,
or when it shall all be.
I don’t know what it will cost,
how much I must expend,
how deep shall be the pain,
or what I must suffer for His name.
But the unknown with Him,
is better than all I do know,
more certain than my frail wisdom,
more comfort than all my hopes,
more real than all I am.
Where cost is concerned…
I am certain His Deposit in me will cover the cost,
that what I expend He will provide,
and quite certainly His pain,
is sweeter than any earthly pleasure.
Consider for a moment who it is that speaks. If it were just anyone, if it were the musings of a confused mad man it would make sense that doubt pervades our senses, but it is God who speaks. God who beckons us to take up our cross. No great mystery.
To follow Christ is to take up your cross. It is to walk that long inglorious road towards the hill of the skull. It is to stumble along the way and be cut by the splintered wood. It is to arrive, too late for that crucifixion and be told, “Now, you More >
The Least of These
Jul 23rd
I pray to God I never outgrow my love for people. I pray He continually gives me a ministry to “the least of these.” God desires that we care for the least of these. You will know them by their stature, or rather, their lack of stature. We know them by their weakness, brokenness and inability to return the favor. We may not know them at all, but their maker knows them as —“the least of these.”
After fleeing from Saul we read of David, “All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader.” Do you know anyone in distress, in debt, or discontent? I am in at least one of these categories daily. My maker knows me as the least of these. A great test to who I am is, do the least of these trust me. Would they come to me in their distress?
I pray to God I never become so large in my own eyes that I am burdened by the disturbance of a child. I pray I am never overly impressed by the length of my own shadow. My substance, the who I am, must always be More >
