Waves of Mercy

Luke 1:48-50 (MSG remix)

What God has done for me will never be forgotten, the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others. His mercy flows in wave after wave on those who are in awe before him.

Go Shine.

But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 2 Corinthians 4:3-7 NKJ

Today, I pray that we would shine truth and salvation into the lives around us. Lord, I pray that all fear and intimidation would be destroyed that we might accomplish your will. Let us die out to ourselves and confidence in you arise. That you might shine freely in us.

Go Shine, Shine Bright.

The Old Cross and The New; A.W. Tozer

The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, "Come and assert yourself for Christ." To the egotist it says, "Come and do your boasting in the Lord." To the thrill-seeker it says, "Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship." The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.

The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross.

The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said good-by to his friends. He was not coming back. He was going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.

The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life.

God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death.

Dare we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the truth? Dare we ... alter the pattern shown us in the Mount? May God forbid. Let us preach the old cross and we will know the old power.

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(A. W. Tozer, Man, the Dwelling Place of God, 1966)

Pursue.

"Greatness is not in where we stand, but in what direction we are moving. 

We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it -- but sail we must and not drift, not lie at anchor."  

Oliver Wendell Holmes

O Lord, Let us follow you without hesitation. Let the wind of Your desires guide our every move as we pursue, constantly moving, seeking your face. Let your greatness be manifested in and through our lives - We surrender it all to you. Let the wind blow. 

A Cry.

Daniel 9:18-19

O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

The Way of Wisdom

Proverbs 4:4-9, 12-15, 18

Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.

When though goest, they steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life. Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. 

But the path of the just is as a shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

The Cost of Discipleship: Grace

Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace. Cheap grace means gracesold on the market like cheapjacks’ wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church’s inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing.... 45

Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian 'conception' of God. An intellectual assent to that idea is held to be of itself sufficient to secure remission of sins.... In such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin. Cheap grace therefore amounts to a denial of the living Word of God, in fact, a denial of the Incarnation of the Word of God. 45-46

Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything they say, and so everything can remain as it was before. 'All for sin could not atone.' Well, then, let the Christian live like the rest of the world, let him model himself on the world’s standards in every sphere of life, and not presumptuously aspire to live a different life under grace from his old life under sin....

Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession.... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. 47

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man’ will gladly go and self all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.

Costly grace is the sanctuary of God; it has to be protected from the world, and not thrown to the dogs. It is therefore the living word, the Word of God, which he speaks as it pleases him.

Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus. It comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

On two separate occasions Peter received the call, “Follow me.” It was the first and last word Jesus spoke to his disciple (Mark 1.17; John 21.22). A whole life lies between these two calls. The first occasion was by the lake of Gennesareth, when Peter left his nets and his craft and followed Jesus at his word. The second occasion is when the Risen Lord finds him back again at his old trade. Once again it is by the lake of Gennesareth, and once again the call is: “Follow me.” Between the two calls lay a whole life of discipleship in the following of Christ. Half-way between them comes Peter's confession, when he acknowledged Jesus as the Christ of God....48 

This grace was certainly not self-bestowed. It was the grace of Christ himself, now prevailing upon the disciple to leave all and follow him, now working in him that confession which to the world must sound like the ultimate blasphemy, now inviting Peter to the supreme fellowship of martyrdom for the Lord he had denied, and thereby forgiving him all his sins. In the life of Peter grace and discipleship are inseparable. He had received the grace which costs. 49

As Christianity spread, and the Church became more secularized, this realization of the costliness of grace gradually faded. The world was Christianized, and grace became its common property. It was to be had at low cost....49

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, Macmillan, 1963, pps. 45-49

Down To Earth

When it all began, Heaven was here on Earth. 

The physical plane, more than any of the higher spiritual worlds, was the place where the Divine Presence yearned to be.

But Man, step by step, banidhsed the Divine Presence from it's home, with a tree of knowledge, with a man who murdered his brother, with all those things that human beings do...

Since Man chased it away, only Man can bring it back. 

And this began with Abraham, who proclaimed Oneness for all the world. 

And it ends with us.

Our generation will bring Heaven back down to Earth.

Bringing Heaven Down To Earth, 

Rabbi Menachem M Schneerson

Lose the Gentile mind. Seek Him.

Matthew 6:31-34

Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear? For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all. But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides. So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.

Lives are consumed with anxiety, but God has promised to supply all of our needs!  The trick is, He already knows them and has said that he will take care of them.If we loose our natural our "gentile" minds - seeking, craving the things of this world. In exchange we must let our thoughts become captivated, totally saturated in Him!

Let the desires of this world pass us by!

Two keys : Seek His Kingdom

            Seek His righteousness

1) Seek the kingdom of God

Kingdom or Basilela: 

(1) royal power, kingship, dominion, rule

(a) not to be confused with an actual kingdom, but rather the right or authority to rule over a kingdom

(b) of the royal power of Jesus as the triumphant Messiah

(c) of the royal power and dignity conferred on Christians in the Messiah's Kingdom

(2) a Kingdom, the territory subject tot he rule of a king

(3) used in N.T. to refer to the reign of the Messiah

When we truly allow and seek for the Kingdom of God we are allowing Him to reign in total dominion: royal power. As we walk after his ways, thoughts, wishes, plans, and purpose our lives and thoughts become subject to His rule. 

2) Seek his righteousness

Righteousness or Dikaiosune: 

(1) in a broad sense: state of him who is as he ought to be, righteous, the condition acceptable to God

(b) integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking, feeling and acting

In the multitude of my [anxious] thoughts within me, 

Your comforts cheer and delight my soul  [desire, emotion, passion!].

Ps. 94:19

O Lord, You are the delight of our souls! Our desires, emotions, passions must come from you! Let our every thought be taken captive, subject to You! That our thoughts, feelings and actions would be correct in your sight. Let our eyes be blinded to the cares of this world as we seek your kingdom & righteousness. Our eye fixed, truly trusting, looking to you!