This little globe is shaking these days. Money troubles abound. Nations are in uproar. I'm getting old! (Hey, that shakes my world!) There are some big things that hang like the sword of Damocles over the future. The Middle East is a pressure cooker, steaming and hissing. Americans have grown accustomed to living in ways that cannot be sustained this this economy. America's health care system, justice system, and educational systems appear to be collapsing under the weight of entitlement and unrestrained selfishness. Immorality of every kind is burying us in filth, injustice, greed, and unfaithfulness. From the porn merchants that fill the Internet with sexual perversion, to the rich whose greed ruins the poor, to the politicians who use the trust of power to make themselves secure, to fathers who abandon their children in pursuit of pleasure; selfishness is everywhere!
The one place where real answers can be found: the Church: is often irrelevant and ignored! Some local congregations are so locked up in tradition, they cannot engage the community in which they are to be 'salt and light.' They speak in languages no longer understood. Or, worse, they are consumed with things that nobody cares about, impotent, and self-absorbed. Rather than be known as a place to find a cure for soul-sickness, they are kept swept and clean, museums to past glories that once were meaningful and connecting the eternal Christ with a dying world: "having a form of godliness but denying its power." (2 Timothy 3:5, NIV)
Still, I have hope! Why?
Because I know that God reigns; that the Empty Tomb is on the far side of the ugly Cross! Our Christian hope is found in our secure place in the Kingdom of God, a place where "nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below-indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-40, NLT) That rock solid footing lets us reach into the troubled world to minister God's grace, speak His wisdom, and offer His salvation. We are not fearful for not even death itself cannot destroy us because it did not destroy our Lord, who died and lives again.
Too many Christ-followers see the sin-sickness of their world as reason to withdraw and to abandon it to evil. They create escapist prophetic scenarios. Often they attack and drive away those in most desperate need from the One who could save them from their sin.
Jesus demands a different response: "Stand steady against the onslaught of evil! Don't compromise and slide into spiritual apathy." Those of us who know the Eternal God, who live in His purposes, who have accepted the promise of Resurrection Life are equipped to deal a death blow to the evil around us. How? Not with the typical power tactics. We love, a kind of love that gets engaged, gives up comfort, forgets about personal preference, and cares nothing for recognition. Our love makes us look a little like Don Quixote, 'dreaming an impossible dream.' But, if our dream is inspired by the Spirit, we find power to make it a vision, and that vision becomes a blueprint for transformation in ourselves and in this generation.
Difficult times provide great opportunities for the advance of the Gospel of Christ.
Are you praying each day for opportunities to do good?
Are you asking the Lord to create a new and deep holiness in your day to day words and actions that reflects the beauty of Jesus?
Are you open to the Spirit's fullness, willing to go wherever He leads you, including across the street to your neighbor?
Here's a word from the Word to take to heart today.
"So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.
Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare.
Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out. " (Ephesians 6:11-18, The Message)
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Take my life and let it be
Consecrated Lord to Thee
Take my moments and my days
Let them flow in ceaseless praise
Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee
Take my voice and let me sing
Always only for my King
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee
Take my silver and my gold
Not a mite would I withhold
Take my intellect and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose
Take my will and make it Thine
It shall be no longer mine
Take my heart it is Thine own
It shall be Thy royal throne
Take my love my Lord
I pour at Thy feet its treasure store
Take myself and I will be
Ever only all for Thee
Take My Life And Let It Be
© Public Domain
Frances Ridley Havergal
Louis Joseph Ferdinand Herold
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