God's desire for loving connection with us absolutely captivates me! I don't believe the depths of even the basics of Christianity can ever be fully comprehended by our human minds, but I sure enjoy trying. Walk with me for a couple minutes and rejoice at the beauty of the Lord.
My morning journey began in Romans--listening to Paul speak of the battle to apprehend what Christ has provided. So often the passages are used to validate a weak and sickly Christian life: "Oh, woe is me, I can't help myself. I'm only human." That is so not what God intends! There IS a battle in which the flesh tries to dominate our lives' but the battle is already won. The victory is not in trying harder and doing more in that same flesh. We don't need to excuse our human-ness; we need to confront it, refuse to be controlled by it and rejoice in His divine-ness. HIS faith is our victory--not our faith.
It's a tough concept to grab hold of...but that is what Paul says. We press on to apprehend what Christ has done. We must realize it is not what we do or what we feel. Our victory is rejoicing in Truth as God describes it AND then experiencing the reality of what He says. We cannot do it the other way around. We can't feel it and then see it. We live in Christ by HIS faith. Righteousness and justification come by the faith of Christ. Here's one verse (but there are more) that says it:
My morning journey began in Romans--listening to Paul speak of the battle to apprehend what Christ has provided. So often the passages are used to validate a weak and sickly Christian life: "Oh, woe is me, I can't help myself. I'm only human." That is so not what God intends! There IS a battle in which the flesh tries to dominate our lives' but the battle is already won. The victory is not in trying harder and doing more in that same flesh. We don't need to excuse our human-ness; we need to confront it, refuse to be controlled by it and rejoice in His divine-ness. HIS faith is our victory--not our faith.
It's a tough concept to grab hold of...but that is what Paul says. We press on to apprehend what Christ has done. We must realize it is not what we do or what we feel. Our victory is rejoicing in Truth as God describes it AND then experiencing the reality of what He says. We cannot do it the other way around. We can't feel it and then see it. We live in Christ by HIS faith. Righteousness and justification come by the faith of Christ. Here's one verse (but there are more) that says it:
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all
and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: Romans 3:22
After drinking at that exciting oasis, I journeyed to the book of Hosea. One of my favorite verses bursts from these pages. As God speaks of the unfaithfulness of Israel--and His plans for moving her back to Himself--He speaks of the Valley of Achor...or the valley of trouble and unrest. That valley is the door to hope.
The Valley that walls us in is to guide us to the Light of His Love! He is the One who sows seeds of blessings in our lives; blessings we have used to serve false gods. Rather than reject us or destroy us, He blocks our paths with thorns and allows us to struggle with consequences that we might discover our own wrong choices. And then He speaks with love saying, "You will call me 'dear husband' not 'slave master.'" THAT love is what draws me to the scriptures every day and prompts these devos!
God does not want auto-matons. He could have created robots; He desires love. May visions of the love draw us ever closer to Him!
No comments:
Post a Comment