God's Good Work

The GOOD work (Phil. 1:6): A work only God can do within man, the work that every person requires to be complete, restored to the image of God, redeemed from sin’s death & despair. God created & it was ‘good’, Jesus said why do you call me good, only God is good. We define a lot of things with ‘good’, but ‘good’ is something that comes from the hand of God the Father. Every good & perfect gift (Ja 1:17). The Father loves to give ‘good’ gifts to his children (Mt. 7:11). The good work is the Christ work, the Divine work. Rom 8:28-work in all things for good-the good being Christlikeness. The restoration of the image of God to the spirit of man, the shalom of God bringing wholeness & completeness to the heart of restless mankind. The good work is bringing order out of chaos (Genesis), the good work is bringing life out of death, redeeming power out of the cross, hope out of an empty grave, life in the person of the Son. Only God can do this. When men do something ‘good’, it is a little spark of the Holy God. The good is holiness, righteousness, justice, mercy, truth-those powers that bring freedom to the human heart. The hope of mankind is that they would allow God the Father to do the good work in them through faith in Christ. All other ‘works’ only treat symptoms, the good work of God is to make the tree good, then the fruit will be good. Ultimately the good work is the life of Christ in us that brings hope, joy, peace, the shalom of the true and living God.

HE IS

Ps 103:8 , The Lord is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger & abounding in love. I have been trying to allow Matt 12:20 (Is.42) to sink into my spirit. It speaks of the compassion, mercy, gentleness of our Lord, and harmonizes with the passage from Ps.103. The Psalmist goes on to say that the Lord remembers we are dust, he does not treat us as our sins deserve. The WOW of that should humble us & bring tears of joy and shouts of praise. The Lord could squash us, destroy us, should destroy us, as the wages of sin is death. But He did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him (Jn. 3:17). That saving presence overflows with grace, compassion, love. HE IS more than we can describe or imagine. HE IS the greatest lover in the universe. HE IS the one who does not break the bruised reed or blow out the smoldering candle. HE IS the One who touches the leper to make him clean. HE IS the hope of the nations as it goes on to say in Mt. 12. He IS my hope because I need, am hungry for grace, compassion, patience, love.

HIS - ABSOLUTELY!

It's easy to miss, Philippians 1:1-'slaves of Jesus Christ' (doulos-Greek word). Not a servant, but a slave. Paul & Timothy belong to Jesus Christ-they are His property. Their will has been swallowed up in the will of Christ, their heart is saturated with the life of Another, their desire is single, undisputed-to please their Master, do His will, bring glory to His name. Wesley captures this spirit in his covenant service, "Put me to what you will, rank me with who you will...". Oswald Chambers says, "Be absolutely His!". Whether in what some would say is a big way, or in a simple way, those used of Christ, those who break the darkness with His light, who overwhelm the harshness & hatred of this world with love, who diffuse compassion in a selfish, uncaring world, those who do so are 'slaves of Christ.' These are the holy ones of God. These are His-bought with a price they glorify God with their bodies. Their lives speak of One greater who has invaded them with holy grace. Those who are filled with the Holy Spirit so that they are HIS! Their sacred journey is the road less traveled, the narrow path that leads to life, they are following in the footsteps of Jesus. The world does not understand, but it doesn't matter: grace produces a life beyond explanation. They are focused on the 'least of these.' Their reward is in the Master's affirmation, 'well done good & faithful servant'. They neither strive for recognition nor glory, Christ is their all. When all else in life is forgotten, they want to remember, I'm His & His forever!

Transitions

As I read God's Word, it's about people in transition. Those in the O.T. narrative attempting to follow God's leadership and be the people they were created & redeemed to be-for His glory. In the N.T. the story continues. Those who encounter Jesus are always in transition. About the time the disciples think they have it mastered, Jesus takes the road less traveled. Those who cried out for mercy from Jesus were in transition. Their life became a 'new work of God'. The sacred journey, life, is a process with a purpose. Our tendency is to confine the process to what makes us comfortable, secure, applauded. To confine the process is to minimize our discovery of the purpose-ruthless trust in the Father. As I am in transition, learning new roles, listening to hear what the Father wants & being willing to jump off a cliff if I need to, fear creeps in. Blackaby in Experiencing God Day by Day (2/3) states, 'Most fear is fear of the unknown. We do not know what lies ahead of us so we become apprehensive...fear is no excuse to disobey God." Life is one continuous transition-no matter how much we think we are in control. Our false sense of security in the picture we put together can hinder us from exercising trust in the Father. A resounding message from God's Word is 'FEAR NOT'.

The Pharoh In Us

Reading the Exodus story. Pharoh is an interesting person. As I read about his stubborn refusal to cooperate with God's plan, I thought about the Pharoh in all of us. Pharoh showed a few flashes of remorse, regret, or something, but never really got on his face before God in repentance. I wonder how much the Pharoh in all of us is hindering the Lord from doing a new work in His church. Our refusal to repent, our attempt to manipulate the situation, our personal sin that we sweep under the rug, all hinder the Lord from pouring out the Holy Spirit upon us. How desperately the body of Christ in America needs an exodus from our current status into the promised land of victory over sin and world. A life of power and victory, of light and love awaits us in the promised land of the Spirit filled life. The pharoh in us resists any call to repentance. We run to our comfort zone of experiences from long ago, and rationalize our personal and corporate coldness and lethargy. We blame the culture and Christ remains outside knocking on the door. Hard and cold hearts fill our churches. We have become like the Jewish leaders of Jesus' day, thinking we are the holy ones, we have moved into the abyss of self delusion and spiritual darkness. Lord, remove the pharoh spirit from our hearts in order to do your new work in us and through us, for your glory. I repent-revive me again O Lord.

Christmas Hope

Reality sets in as another Christmas has arrived and another year is about to begin. During the course of time, much changes, and yet many things remain the same. The change in our culture during my lifetime has been startling. We have abandoned truth for individual happiness. At the dismissal of right and wrong, man is doing what is right in his own eyes. Darkness deepens as our culture moves away from the Light and into the abyss of self centeredness and ignorance. What remains the same is the reason for season. Jesus Christ is born. The incredible grace and mercy of our Creator is always enough to sing about-no matter how deep the darkness, and sordid the sinfulness of man. Because Christ came and because He lives and is coming again, there is always hope for mankind. This hope penetrates the darkness, and confronts our selfishness with a call to repentance and faith. As mankind looks in the mirror this Christmas season, we must confess we are masters of an ever increasing mess. The Anointed One has come and men love darkness instead of light-some things don't change. A child is born, a Son is given and the message of hope rings loud and clear at this Christmas time. Thank you Father for the gift of the Son! I have hope!

Advent Hope

Hope is not about escaping the reality of today, it is a way of living in time, in the moment, no matter how painful and disappointing that may be. Hope is knowing that each day, each moment is working for Christ's people a greater glory (2 Cor. 4:16, Rom. 8:18). We live in hope, and our hope is in His name-Jesus Christ. His kingdom, His rule over us today is our foundation for hope. I believe, therefore, I hope. This hope is not in Mohammed, Ghandi, Joseph Smith, Mother Mary, L. Ron Hubbard. These are mere mortals who need to find hope outside themselves. Our hope is in the One who came from above, who ascended back to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. We must repent for placing our hope in anything but Christ. All around the birth of Jesus was the annoucement of hope. Good news of great joy-a Savior is born-Glory to God in the highest. When Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God, it was a call to hope. A call to look forward, to live forward, to believe something greater is still to come and all that we encounter today is working toward that end. God is not dead nor does He sleep-Christ's people are a people of hope. Christmas is a time to rejoice in the hope we have in Christ.