Cold. Barren. Colorless winter. And, then we wait for it. Standing on our balcony Saturday morning, my husband and I see it rising over the tops of the trees and not long after filling our home with a radiant glow; sunshine.
A picture of the gospel.
The gospel reveals our cold, empty, colorless souls. Our inability to radiate with anything worthy of eternity with our holy, perfect God. But, the gospel does not leave us there! In the dead of winter—when we are without hope—the Son rises, warms our hearts with His love, and fills our lives with His beauty, a beauty that God the Father welcomes into His presence. Because when we believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus and confess our need of His forgiveness, Christ justifies us—declares us righteous—and we have peace with God (Romans 5).
Through Christ we gain access to the Father. Through Christ we are liberated from sin's power and its guilt. Through Christ we have all that we need!
The journal continues…
'I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.' Philippians 4:13
'I can—through Christ'
was Paul's motto.
All of nature depends on hidden resources. Trees send their roots down into the earth to draw up water and minerals. The most important part of a tree is the part you cannot see, the root system. And, the most important part of the life of the believer is the part that only God can see.
'Unless we draw upon the deep resources of God by faith, we fail against the pressures of life.'*
Paul depended on the power of Christ at work in his life. Am I drawing upon the power of Christ for every responsibility of the day? Or, am I trusting in my own faithfulness, my supposed own ability to please God? The latter yields no joy.
Jesus said in John 15, that He is the Vine and we are the branches. Communion with Christ is my hidden resource that yields life in abundance.
My Dare:
To pause in my day and talk to my God. Little rich moments of exchanging small stresses for sufficient strength.
"Mom, I found the missing piece to my Lego train," my 7-year-old son exclaimed today, nearly out of breath after running up the basement stairs, "and guess how?"
"How?" I responded in my half-listening voice as I chopped an onion.
"I prayed to Jesus and then He helped me find it!"
Now I was listening. To the simple, great faith of a child.
Sadly, as we "mature" into adulthood our faith fades and we feel much more grown up when we say, "I'm a realist." Join me tomorrow as we see that having faith does not mean living on a cloud; but rather, real faith lives on a Rock.
*Warren Wiersbe, Be Joyful
No comments:
Post a Comment