Some claim that the Bible has contradictions (these are usually people who have never read the Bible). I say it is full of wonderful anomalies: redeemed sinners, impoverished rich people, rich impoverished people, blind people with 20/20 vision, dying to live, giving up everything in order to lack nothing--the list could go on.
One of my favorite anomalies is jars of clay holding priceless treasure. (I Corinthians 4:7) Imagine the crown jewels on display in a museum, not on a magnificently enclosed glass case carpeted in velvet, but on a crude dirt pedestal.
We, are indeed dirt and yet if we are Christians, God has gifted us with information so lofty that it can make us the wisest, most emotionally and spiritually mature people on earth--and this without a Ph.D. or even a GED!
We are entrusted with secrets of peace and happiness; with access to true riches and the true meaning of prosperity; with entitilement to royalty; with perspective that lifts us out of this world's worries and fears. We are unworthy vessels for sure, but we are replete with treasures that must be poured out in order for us to stay full.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Grace Today
Is it just me (because I'm his mother), or is my youngest son really funny enough to be rich and famous if he were a stand-up comedian? (OK, I'm glad he's not living that transitory lifestyle). Since I am not on Facebook, he sends me his statis updates by email--I am shocked that already this technology is old-fashioned!
One of his recent posts read: "Matt would like more self-esteem, but he probably doesn't deserve it." Wow, my son for sure, but he was only kidding!
Long ago my husband, Ron, and I were in the audience of a talk on self-esteem and the speaker built dramatically toward the quote: "God doesn't make junk". I leaned into Ron and whispered: "I know that; I got that way on my own." This was not a humble admission of my own human frailty, but a guilt-ridden cry of my own in ability to accept the grace of God. It took years of spiritual growth to embrace the inconceivable mercy lavished upon me by a God who was willing to pay any price to extend forgiveness to me.
"...those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:17) God's gift is abundant--so abundant that I insult the cross by thinking that Christ's death is not sufficient to cover my sins. I reign today--it's not a tentative future promise. Today I am "seated with him in the heavenly realms." (Eph. 2:6) Today I am living eternal life, not waiting for it to begin when I die. "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:3) Today I live in the grace of God; my eternity has begun and I reign!
One of his recent posts read: "Matt would like more self-esteem, but he probably doesn't deserve it." Wow, my son for sure, but he was only kidding!
Long ago my husband, Ron, and I were in the audience of a talk on self-esteem and the speaker built dramatically toward the quote: "God doesn't make junk". I leaned into Ron and whispered: "I know that; I got that way on my own." This was not a humble admission of my own human frailty, but a guilt-ridden cry of my own in ability to accept the grace of God. It took years of spiritual growth to embrace the inconceivable mercy lavished upon me by a God who was willing to pay any price to extend forgiveness to me.
"...those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:17) God's gift is abundant--so abundant that I insult the cross by thinking that Christ's death is not sufficient to cover my sins. I reign today--it's not a tentative future promise. Today I am "seated with him in the heavenly realms." (Eph. 2:6) Today I am living eternal life, not waiting for it to begin when I die. "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:3) Today I live in the grace of God; my eternity has begun and I reign!
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Looking for Jesus
When our granddaughter Sara was barely 2 years old, she was already a veteran Sunday School student. She could say the books of the Bible (if not pronounce all of them correctly); she knew how to craft her own prayers (no memorized rhetoric in her repertoire); she could tell many stories with biblical accuracy and impressive detail. God was very real to her.
Her mom and dad, Greg and Lisa, were going to volunteer at a local homeless shelter to serve the evening meal and planned to take Sara along. In preparation for this event, they spent the first week prior to their visit to the shelter coaching Sara. They explained that they were all going "to help Jesus feed some hungry people who wouldn't get enough to eat without the love of Jesus." This explanation was repeated nightly when they said bedtime prayers with Sara and explained what the evening would hold and what would be appropriate behavior for her. They told her they would help with the cooking, then serve all the men their food and then go sit with them and share a meal and conversation with the men.
As they took their seats at the table, Sara was unusually quiet, her eyes wide as she scanned the table of scruffy men bent hungrily over their plates. After a few minutes she nudged her mother and whispered: "Which one is Jesus?" Sara had expected to help a living and visible Jesus that night.
Her question was a good one on many levels in light of Matthew 25:40, where Jesus said: "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
Her mom and dad, Greg and Lisa, were going to volunteer at a local homeless shelter to serve the evening meal and planned to take Sara along. In preparation for this event, they spent the first week prior to their visit to the shelter coaching Sara. They explained that they were all going "to help Jesus feed some hungry people who wouldn't get enough to eat without the love of Jesus." This explanation was repeated nightly when they said bedtime prayers with Sara and explained what the evening would hold and what would be appropriate behavior for her. They told her they would help with the cooking, then serve all the men their food and then go sit with them and share a meal and conversation with the men.
As they took their seats at the table, Sara was unusually quiet, her eyes wide as she scanned the table of scruffy men bent hungrily over their plates. After a few minutes she nudged her mother and whispered: "Which one is Jesus?" Sara had expected to help a living and visible Jesus that night.
Her question was a good one on many levels in light of Matthew 25:40, where Jesus said: "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
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