7/19/08
7/15/08
i have been slacking in posting to this blog, and for this i am sorry. by now i've probably already lost the few people who actually read this blog to boredom. While I haven't written, I've been reminded of just how good, how great God always is, and how utterly disappointing I am. Just as I start getting comfortable and used to the status quo, unwilling to put effort into further growth towards my Savior, that is the very moment I have forsaken my first love. John talks to the church at Ephesus about that in Revelation 2. "Remember the height from which you have fallen!"
And yet even in this, the incredible grace of Jesus shines through. For whenever you or I realize that we have indeed forsaken our first love of the Redeemer, whenever we seek to re-climb the height from which have fallen, so the Father graciously greets us back into His open arms. Like the parable of the prodigal son, He actually runs to welcome us back into fellowship with Himself. I think that we sometimes forget this, at least I do. There is no end to God's grace. It is infinite.
David was a man who understood this concept very well, however. He experienced intense breaks in his fellowship with God, and yet he always rushed back to the One who created him and loved him. To sort of sum all my thoughts, I think what David wrote in Psalm 139 is perfect. We can't hide from God, so why not embrace Him?
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
20 They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain!
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
And yet even in this, the incredible grace of Jesus shines through. For whenever you or I realize that we have indeed forsaken our first love of the Redeemer, whenever we seek to re-climb the height from which have fallen, so the Father graciously greets us back into His open arms. Like the parable of the prodigal son, He actually runs to welcome us back into fellowship with Himself. I think that we sometimes forget this, at least I do. There is no end to God's grace. It is infinite.
David was a man who understood this concept very well, however. He experienced intense breaks in his fellowship with God, and yet he always rushed back to the One who created him and loved him. To sort of sum all my thoughts, I think what David wrote in Psalm 139 is perfect. We can't hide from God, so why not embrace Him?
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
20 They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain!
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
7/2/08
"Why were we created? Was it that we deserved to be created? How can nothing deserve something? There was a time when there was no human race. How therefore could a human race that hadn't existed deserve something? How could a man that wasn't yet created earn anything or pile up any merit? It couldn't be so. God out of His goodness created us. Why were we not destroyed when we sinned? The only answer is that God of His goodness spared us. The cordial, kind-intentioned God spared us.
Why would God the Eternal Son bleed for us? The answer is, out of His goodness and lovingkindness. 'Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings' (Psalm 36:7). Why would God forgive me when I've sinned and then forgive me again and again? Because God out of His goodness acts according to that goodness and does what His loving heart dictates that He do."
That last question is one that we all would do well to ask of ourselves daily. Why would God forgive me when I've sinned and then forgive me again and again? The goodness of God is infinite and perfect. It has no beginning and no end, no height and no depth. It touches every atom in His vast universe and comes to rest in the hearts of men who allow it. Do you realize the implications of that? Do you understand how much that can impact a life? Yet it goes much deeper. In His goodness, it follows that God would be just and righteous. It follows that He has plans for us. What I'm saying is this: to realize (as much as our earthly minds can) the idea of God's goodness, there is a required reverence that believes in the miracle of His love and the necessity of His wrath. They are both equally perfect and eternal. To be less loving or less just would cause a forfeiture of His deity.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)