Be Careful

As I read through Numbers 28, the laws for offerings laid down by the Lord for the nation of Israel, I am most struck by a warning He gives at the very beginning of that chapter. 

You shall be careful to present my offering...

Through Jesus we now can approach the throne of grace in gladness, and boldly, for we are His children, redeemed by the sacrifice of our Savior. We have access any time, for any matter.

But I know that I, like many, probably take that for granted much of the time.

Yes, we have unlimited access. Yes, He is concerned about all that concerns us. Yes. He loves us and wants us to approach Him.

But do we always do it with the reverence and awe, with the praise and thankfulness that we should?

I cannot say that I do, after all I am a sinful being in a fallen world; it took the death of His Son for me to be able to come before Him, acceptable in His sight.

Yes, I want to come before my Father continuously, for both praise and worship, to ask for wisdom and mercy.

But let me never take it for granted.

For where would I be if He took me for granted?

Eye Timber

The average Christian is the most piercingly critical individual known. Criticism is one of the ordinary activities of people, but in the spiritual realm nothing is accomplished by it...The Holy Spirit is the only one in the proper position to criticize, and He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding...There is no escaping the penetrating search of my life by Jesus. If I see the little speck in your eye, it means that I have a plank of timber in my own. Every wrong thing that I see in you, God finds in me.
Oswald Chambers - My Utmost For His Highest: June 17 Devotional

Do not judge, do not criticize others, pull that plank out of your own eye. Why is it that we who have been shown the most grace are often the most critical of others (who most likely are no worse and probably better than we are)?

I for one am relieved that I am not held to the same standard of perfection by God that I would in my weakness try to hold others to at times.

God is good. And we certainly need Him to be that way. Because most of us live with a lumberyard sticking out of our eyes.

Be Not An Example To Others

There is another kind of "fear and trembling" [Phil. 2:12], one that, so far from diminishing the assurance of faith, the more firmly establishes it. This happens when believers, considering that the examples of divine wrath executed upon the ungodly as warnings to them, take special care not to provoke God's wrath against them by the same offenses; or, when inwardly contemplating their own misery, learn to depend wholly upon the Lord, without whom they see themselves more unstable and fleeting than any wind.
John Calvin - The Institutes of The Christian Religion 3.2.22

This is one example you do not want to be. And it is the easiest for any of us to be. Not the good, the bad and the ugly. The before picture. The sinner. The proud and self sufficient. If God chose any of us to be an example of divine wrath, would we have a shred of a basis to complain?

No.

Because we are all that He calls us in that circumstance. That there are not more examples of divine wrath and less of divine mercy is only due to one thing.

Divine grace.

We could, I could, easily be this example. Oh, that a merciful Lord and Savior does not require that, but takes it on Himself.

There are many examples to be in life, let's all try harder not to be this one.

Happy Easter!

A brief post, for today is a day of prayer, praise and worship, not blogging.

He is Risen, He is Risen indeed!

Nothing is as victorious as the Lamb, nothing is as merciful in victory, nothing is as gracious in mercy.

A Happy and Blessed Easter to all.

In God We Trust

Then David said to Gad, "I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the LORD for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man." 2 Samuel 24:14 (NASB)

King David was a wise man. Even in times of trouble,even if you feel God is angry with you, the best place to be is in God's hands. That comes from having faith in, from being able to trust a just, perfect, merciful, gracious and loving God.

Pretty sure there is nothing more I can or want to say about that.

Total Surrender

Yesterday I wrote about the true surrender a follower of Jesus should seek after, should strive for.

Today I want to mention another surrender that Chambers talks about:

In our surrender, we must give ourselves to God in the same way He gave Himself for us— totally, unconditionally, and without reservation.
Oswald Chambers - My Utmost For His Highest March 13 Devotional

Or to put it another way:

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
John 3:16 (NASB)

Yesterday's surrender was true if it came from the heart. Today's is total because it comes from the divine. If you were grumbling about yesterday's surrender, you should be convicted by today's.

Yesterday's is not necessary unless you want perfect fellowship with God. Do it, and all you get is more than salvation, you get to grow closer and closer to the Almighty.

Today's is not necessary unless He wants to be gracious and merciful. He does it, and all He gets is us.

Who do you think gets the better deal in surrendering? Do you even have to think about it?

Disobedience vs. Indifference

Which is worse, to actively disobey God, or to ignore Him? Which is more offensive, to scream in His face or to yawn at Him?

Both, in my opinion, are really, really bad. But hey, that's just me.

Following the way of Jesus, sticking on the narrow road of obedience to His teachings in this fallen world requires faith in Him, trust in His finished work, compliance with His commands. What else should you offer to the Lord of your life?

We know what He has given us, the gift he offered in grace and mercy. Yet off the path we go, time and time again. Yes, we come back (most of the times), yes we are sorry (and we usually mean it), but off we will go again. Acting like the spoiled children we are; acting like it is all about us, not Him. I know I do it more often than I care to admit, I know I keep coming back, only to go off the road into the ditch, again and again. I am thankful for a gracious, merciful, loving and patient God. I think this is a very good way to sum up our sin nature: knowing what He has done, knowing what it cost Him; we will freely choose to go off the road, knowing we can come back. Safe in our Father's hands, safe to act out and know He will forgive us. To me, that powerfully demonstrates our sin nature.

In my mind, it is one thing not to turn to a loving God, to ignore what all creation knows; it can be our decision to ignore the stones crying out as it were. It is another to turn away after the gift has been freely given and accepted. Somehow the second seems worse to me. Taking God for granted just seems worse than disobeying Him in the first place.

I think we are all indifferent to God at points in our life, due to His mercy, grace and patience, I think we all take Him for granted from time to time:

• So I ask you, how indifferent have you been lately?
  
• How does that indifference spill over in to how you lead your life?
  
• What are you going to do to get back on the road?
  

If you do not want to answer me, fine, but answer yourself.