The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
It is hard for a church to balance the lamb and the lion. Both of which are Christ. They may focus on the lamb and the forgiveness. To the detriment of the people. For they do not know of the punishment that will come for sins. Our sins are forgiven ... but it isn't like you get to keep them in your pocket and take them into heaven.
Or they may focus on the lion and the fires of hell. To the detriment of the people. For they do not know of the grace of forgiveness. God will execute judgment upon the world. And those not right with Him will know eternal punishment. But, the only way to God is to accept Christ's sacrifice for your sins. To accept His forgiveness.
With all things we need balance. There is forgiveness and wrath. We need to know and understand both.
I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
Like a child ... we feel closest to the one who turns their face to us and listens. In all things God will listen to our daily conversations with Him.
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people — not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.
The sinners of the world do not effect the body of Christ. We are not "dirtied" by being with them. We are called to be with them. To model Christ and to let the Light of the World shine through us. To help show the way to salvation.
For the one who calls themselves a 'Christian' and they live a life of sin. Now the body of Christ has a problem. For we have a wolf in sheep's clothing amongst us.
Sometimes I find myself coasting. I know enough of what is "right" and "wrong", not just in my heart, but in the eyes of others. So you learn to talk the talk. You spend time speaking on how to live for the LORD and not enough time actually living for the LORD.
This is a real risk for those that lead in the church and those that teach. Mainly because we know more than enough to coast for a very long time. If your car engine is idle and out of gear you may go a ways before problems come upon you. And at the first hill that shows up a coasting life will be very easy to see. Because you will not make it over.
LORD ... engage my life. Help me to look first to you and tap into the power you have for me.
I don't like cleaning. Strangely, I do like to vacuum. My wife likes to clean though.
We were going through our house and cleaning out all the drawers with junk in them and under beds and in the storage room and in the closets and on and on. Of course to me the stuff she was going through and throwing away wasn't junk ( yes ... it was ... I just don't like to admit that ). And thinking about it, the reason it really bugged me was because I didn't want her to see all the junk I did keep instead of getting rid of.
It is the same with God and the sin in my life. You don't want to deal with it and expose it to God. But your body is God's temple. Unlike your salvation keeping it clean isn't a one shot deal. Cleaning out the mess of your life is a continual process. As the temple in Jerusalem was cleaned and repaired time and time again. So we need to work on our spiritual life. Open up the windows and throw out the trash. That amazing feeling you have standing in your cleaned up room is nothing compared to standing before God with a cleaned up soul.
We have grape vines in our backyard that I need to clean up. Part of that is finding the branches that no longer produce and cutting them from the vine. And another part is finding the ones that do produce and shaping them, by cutting them back, to become healthier.
The LORD is our vine dresser. He cuts away that which doesn't bear fruit and cuts into those that do as well. We may focus on the parts that are cut away and cast into the fire, yet it is what is left that interests me. Being fruitful in the LORD isn't about being left alone. It is about being pruned. To be cut into the shape the is best for us and is most pleasing to God.
This isn't an easy process. Pruning stresses the branch so that it will do what the vine dresser desires. Likewise God will allow many painful events into our lives. Nothing that will break us as simple branches in His faithful hands. But events that will rather shape us to produce the fruit He desires from us.
When I pray with my sons at night this is one thing I tend to always cover. That tomorrow they will listen to God as He speaks to their hearts.
Snips and snails, and puppy-dogs' tails are what little boys are made of. We, men and boys, tend to be creatures of action. Of running and feeling the moment. Not of listening to the pull of the Spirit upon us in the moment.
So I'll continue to pray with my sons for us to listen when God speaks.
We may want to be great. To have wealth and power. To be liked and loved. To do great things that will be remembered.
But, none of that can happen without ability and action. An athlete wouldn't dream of doing well by putting on 15 pounds of fat and sitting on the couch all day every day. Likewise we can't just do nothing and then ask God to fulfill our desires.
Solomon asked for the ability to do the task set out for him. For the tasks in your life what abilities do you need from God? Then ask for them and follow it up by using them.
"I don't believe ... I don't believe ... I don't believe ... I can't believe ..."
Ever been faced with a miracle? Do you sit there afterwords with your eyes closed and fingers in your ears crying "I don't believe".
Do not be so insistent on your own strength that you will deny God's power. God works in your life and in the life of others. In ways that make you sit back and be amazed. In ways that are foolishness to the world.
When I was a kid I dreamed of being a super hero. Saving the day and all that. You faced villains and still came out on top. Or maybe the heroic death that everyone remembers.
One part of that dream was that it never dealt with the personal pains and sacrifices that the real living breathing hero lives with. The loss of a father to war. The police office having to deal daily with the worst emotional traumas of humanity. Cleaning up the bodies of a mother and child after the drunk driver ran them down.
Getting a double portion from God means that you will be on the front lines. To those that God gives much ... much is required.
Pray that we may be people that God requires much of.
... the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around ...
Sometimes is takes a little perspective. The mountains in our lives can be daunting. You look up and never expect to conquer them. You feel the weight of your sins in life. You see the difficulty of raising a family in a world that is set against God. You can taste the hate rolling off those aligned against God.
Well, I suppose that would be cheating. It isn't like we don't have the entire Bible. We can read ... we can listen ( as I hope you are by coming here ) ... we can learn about Christ and all that He accomplished for us.
Our road to Emmaus is just the time we choose to sacrifice to God in learning His word. All together, by the time I finish this, it will only have been about 70 hours of my time to listen to ALL of God's Word.
I thought it best to include the videos from the Redeeming Ruth series from Mars Hill Church. The below videos just cover the words of the book itself.
I really wanted to focus on verses like this when I can. Maybe to point out how we need to listen. Listen to the Bible. Listen to the LORD. Listen to each other.
Rarely does someone's ears get them into trouble. Our mouths ... well, that tends to get me in trouble at least. As Ruth and Boaz listened wisdom and to the calling of the LORD. So should we.
