Lamenting

Lamentations 3:31-40

For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though He brings grief, He will show compassion, so great is His unfailing love. For He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men. To crush underfoot all prisoners in the land, to deny a man his rights before the Most High, to deprive a man of justice--would not the Lord see such things? Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come? Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins? Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

God Is All, We Are Nothing

Job 42:5-6

My ears had heard of You but now my eyes have seen You. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.

The revelation of God, who He is, showed the inherent sinfulness and shame of Job's humanity. 

God is utterly good, holy, beautiful. When we as humans see the actual Truth of who God really is, we always are fully aware of our own deficiencies. We are never enough in ourselves to stand before Almighty God, but are forced to our knees in obeisance. God is all and we are nothing.

Only in Christ do we have standing and authority.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Job, A Mere Man

Job 40:3-4

The Lord spoke to Job, Then Job answered the Lord, "I am unworthy--how can I reply to You? I put my hand over my mouth."

Job realized how unworthy he was, he had no standing to accuse God or even to defend himself. He had nothing to say to the Lord God of the Universe. He understood that God was the beginning and end of everything and all-good and all-wise; and himself only a man. 

No matter what happens, whether I see good times or trouble and sorrows, God is still in His Heaven, and I am still here on Earth, waiting on Him to accomplish His purposes in His time.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Reconciliation With God

Romans 5:10

For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!

When my bank sends me my statement, I will go through my checkbook register and reconcile it to the statement. If they don't agree on the balance, I don't tell the bank to change the statement, I change my checkbook register. The bank statement is the standard, and the error is in my register. When I correct the mistake, then it agrees with the statement. 

God has reconciled us to Himself. He is the standard and we have made the errors. He forgives our sins through the price of our debt being paid on our behalf by Christ, He corrects our errors, and makes us right with Him, righteous. He writes our sin on Jesus' side of the register, then, to balance the books, He writes Jesus' righteousness on our side. Jesus didn't deserve to pay, and we don't deserve to receive. That's G.R.A.C.E.: God's Riches At Christ's Expense. His mercy is not giving us the punishment we deserve, and His grace is giving us His riches that we don't deserve. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Sin and Righteousness

II Corinthians 5:21

God made Him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus became sin: That means He took upon Himself our very sin-nature, the root and fountainhead of every sin from the least to the very greatest. He did not die for individual sins, but He took the whole basket, and everything in it. While He bore our sin-nature on the Cross, the sun refused to shine, and the Earth could not withstand without the sun, so after three hours it upheavaled and God used the earthquake to rip the curtain in half from top to bottom, revealing the Holiest of Holies to the common people, letting us know that we no longer need any priest or go-between to get to God, each one of us can enter into His very throne room through what Jesus accomplished on the Cross.

So that we might become His righteousness; not to do right things, but be righteousness. Jesus became sin and died; we become righteousness and live, to live out that righteousness. We are to work out in our attitudes, actions and words that great salvation that God has worked into us. To live His righteousness.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Stop What? Start What?

40 Days of Purpose:

Day 4 Question

What is the one thing I need to stop doing today?

What is the one thing I need to start doing today?

I need to stop defending myself and making excuses. This is a habit I started in childhood, and I have continued to practice it in my adulthood. Today I determine not to defend myself and stop making excuses and blaming others for my choices; instead to admit my fault, my guilt, that I only am to blame, and confess it as the sin it is.

I need to start listening, really listening to what my cherished ones are telling me, to listen between the lines to the emotions, pains and wounds that they are suffering, and find my own responsibility in causing the hurts they feel. Only then will I be able to see how God will be able to heal their hearts and minds and emotions, maybe even through me.

O my Father, open my ears and heart to really hear what is on the hearts of those speaking to me, especially those who are dearest to me. Teach me to love them the way You have loved me, and to be a help to them as You heal them.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Changing Others

Proverbs 27:22

Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding him like grain with a pestle, you will not remove his folly from him.

O my Father, I know that I can never change another person. I can only invite and inspire them, to influence them, and even teach them if they are teachable. Please, teach me to apply this wisdom of Yours in my daily life, and not try to change those I care about. Show me how I can inspire them to seek You and how to graciously invite them to Your table.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.