I am part of His cathedral!

I drove by site of construction of a stone wall in front of a residence. After a few days I could see this guy was no mason. The wall was crooked and there were large gaps between poorly placed stones. About a week later, I saw a truck parked that bore the lettering of a professional mason. The work that had been done was torn down.  The man who knew what he was doing started over and a couple of weeks later a straight, nicely laid wall was in place. I still notice it when I drive by, the stonework beautifully setting off the old home.

God, the master builder, invites us to become part of His amazing and beautiful work in this world.  Peter writes "As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2:4-5, NIV)  Reading that, my mind goes to the cathedrals built from limestone, blocks of rock that are carved and shaped to become part of something wonderful. Ordinary blocks of stone, pulled from the quarry, of little worthy or beauty individually, are formed into an awe-inspiring place where God is worshiped.

Are you willing to ‘fit in’ with God’s design and rest in His plan?  Yes, friend, God calls us into the Body of Christ where we are His Temple, a place of spiritual sacrifices that please Him. Peter, who is nicknamed  'the rock,' by Jesus, points to secure foundation, the Cornerstone, on which we, the ‘living stones’ rest.  "Come to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by the people, but he is precious to God who chose him. ... As the Scriptures express it, “I am placing a stone in Jerusalem, a chosen cornerstone, and anyone who believes in him will never be disappointed.”  (1 Peter 2:3-6, NLT)

Our ideals are often about wanting to make our mark, to be 'known,' to stand out.  We work at differentiating ourselves from the crowd, don’t we?  We use dress, style, accomplishments, and so much more to make a statement - "I exist! I am me!"  Part of maturity as a Christian is coming to realization that we are at our best when we are melding into God’s Church, shaped and formed by the Spirit for a place of service that magnifies the Living Stone!  The paradox of faith is that our individual beauty and worth increases when we let go of ‘me’ and enter joyfully into His plan to be a part of His cathedral!

Meditate today on the solidness of God's work in you and through you.

Praise Him for working to cause you to 'fit in,' and rejoice in the opportunity to be part of a great Temple where His Presence lives and is shown in beauty to the world.

Here is a word from the Word.  "Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit." (Ephesians 2:20-22, NLT)

Lord, make us secure in Your design, for Your Glory. Amen

________________

Cornerstone

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus' blood and righteousness

I dare not trust the sweetest frame

But wholly trust in Jesus' Name

Christ alone cornerstone

Weak made strong in the Saviour's love

Through the storm He is Lord

Lord of all

When darkness seems to hide His face

I rest on His unchanging grace

In every high and stormy gale

My anchor holds within the veil

My anchor holds within the veil

He is Lord Lord of all

When He shall come with trumpet sound

Oh may I then in Him be found

Dressed in His righteousness alone

Faultless stand before the throne

Edward Mote | Eric Liljero | Jonas Myrin | Reuben Morgan | William Batchelder Bradbury

© 2011 Hillsong Music Publishing (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

He knows . . . it all!

Clear lines of cause and effect are comforting to me.  I like to think that if I do this, I can expect that result; if I put in the time and effort, I will find the results I desire.  Mostly that is true, but then it happens.  In spite of doing good, pain comes.  Four and half years ago, my dear wife, a godly and good woman who took care of her health, who had loved God and others for her entire life, was diagnosed with a cancer that eventually ended her earthly journey after a long slog through suffering.  It still feels unfair to me!  “Why her?” I ask. “She did not deserve this.” A hundred people have offered me ‘explanations.’ I know the philosophical arguments for God’s goodness and human free will – and that helps, a little, but still there are moments when I wonder if He is, in fact, a “good, good Father.”  (That is one of the hardest songs for me to sing to this day.)

Bitterness is not part of my life because I match my doubts with declarations that do not explain my pain, but which offset the anger I might otherwise experience.

One of those facts that I learn from the Scripture is that the whole script is not written on this side of eternity. God asks me to trust Him with the parts hidden in that realm that exists as surely as this present world. That does not release me from responsibility for making the best choices possible, for realizing that there actions taken by others that are affecting my life of which I am completely unaware.  My greatest comfort and strongest faith grows out of the heart-deep conviction that ‘He knows … it all!”   "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." (Hebrews 4:13, NIV)

That is no threat to me. How about you?  I am glad He knows … it all! I am comforted that He does not evaluate me based solely on the last 24 hours of my life, that He sees the totality of my life and the context of my choices; good and bad.  Best of all, I rest in the declaration that He knows me as a son, beloved, and dressed in righteousness through the grace-gift of Christ Jesus.  Am I deluded about the sins and failures of my life? I surely hope not. I fail Him and others. I grow impatient, I am not loving.   However, faith closes that gap between my profession of faith and the actions of a still as yet imperfect man.  God be praised.

The rest of the story is told by Peter - "Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear." (1 Peter 1:17, NIV)  Precisely because God knows … it all –  there are no excuses for our failure to take the grace and power for godly living that that will hold water.  God looks at us completely impartially. We are loathe to attach the word “fear” to our Father but if we make Him too small in our mind, we risk living carelessly, thinking that He can be swayed like an old, gentle grandpa.

Today may the fact that He knows … it all both comfort and challenge us.  When life is hard, when sorrows come, when temptation appears to be overwhelming make the faith statement that He knows and has not forgotten. And, as you feel His gaze, reject disobedience as you choose holiness.

Here is a word from the Word - "Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." (Proverbs 1:7, NLT) "Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God." (Proverbs 2:3-5, NLT)

____________

Blessings

We pray for blessings

We pray for peace comfort for family

Protection while we sleep

We pray for healing for prosperity

We pray for Your mighty hand

To ease our suffering

And all the while You hear each spoken need

Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

And what if a thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You're near

And what if trials of this life

Are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom

Your voice to hear

We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near

We doubt Your goodness

We doubt Your love

As if ev'ry promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desp'rate plea

And long that we'd have faith to believe

When friends betray us

When darkness seems to win

We know that pain reminds this heart

That this is not this is not our home

It's not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

And what if a thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You're near

What if my greatest disappointments

Or the aching of this life

Is a revealing of a greater thirst

This world can't satisfy

And what if trials of this life

The rain the storms the hardest nights

Are Your mercies in disguise

Laura Story

© 2011 Laura Stories (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.)

New Spring (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.)

CCLI License # 810055

Saved by grace? Act like it!

There’s a saying in Texas: “All hat, no cattle.”  It’s a shorthand way to describe a person who is all talk, pretentious, who lacks substance. A guy might drive a King Ranch™ Ford pickup, wear Tony Lama™ boots and a Stetson hat;  he might even own a horse-  but all that does not make him a rancher.   

A common human temptation is to pretend to be someone we are not because we want to ‘fit in’ so desperately.  Sometimes this is harmless, but when a person confuses fantasy with reality too long, there are serious consequences. In the long run, being phony destroys the very relationships that person is trying so hard to gain.  Authenticity lays a foundation for a deep, lasting relationship.

Peter, writing to us, spoke of the amazing gift of God’s grace. We are given ‘new birth’ and an inheritance of a Heavenly home. All of this was no spur of the moment decision by God. He planned from ages past, told the prophets about it, and then sent Jesus to reveal our salvation.  "Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:13-16, NIV)  

“Since you are saved by grace,” Peter says, “act like it!”  Where we read, “prepare your mind for action,” in the original text there is a much more colorful and compelling metaphor.  In some older translations the idiom was translated literally – “Gird up the loins of your mind.”  In order to get ready to work, men gathered their long robes at the waist and secured them with a belt so they could move freely.  There are choices we must make as a Christian that involve real, sustained effort; more than Sunday singing and church pew warming.

“Take control of your passions,” Peter says.  Are you ruled by impulses, pulled this way and that by appetites for food, sex, pleasure, ease?  Are you temperamental, quick to quit, unwilling to take on service that has no glamour or immediate reward?  Grow up in Christ.

“Look forward to the eternal promise.”  One of the marks of maturity is appreciation of delayed gratification, the grasp that what I do today can pay rich dividends farther down the road. Christians who are living maturely in Christ need to understand this, to live in faith.  Sometimes doing what is right is costly in the present. Who enjoys saying “no” to themselves?  We will do it more readily IF we have our hope resting on God’s promise, not just our desires.

“Don’t be stupidly sinful.”  There is a time when we are forgiven the things we do ‘in ignorance.’ We simply do not know any better, but the Word and Spirit bring correction and instruction. The conviction of the Spirit speaks to us and says, “Stop it.”  Or, “Forgive him.” Or, “Give generously.” Or, “Love that person beyond your words.” Will we respond maturely and with the help of God, the Holy Spirit, become mature?

“Grow to be more like Me,”  the Father directs. “Be holy!”

Let me clear up on e misconception.  This is a work in progress for each one of us. We will have bad days when we fall flat on our face. Fatigue, frustration, and plain old foolishness will trip us up from time to time, but there is grace to recover. God does not practice ‘three strikes and you’re out.’  He works patiently, persistently, to bring us to beautiful maturity.  So, let’s get on with it.  Since you’re saved by grace, act like it.

The word from the Word comes from Paul, who also reminds us to be authentic Christians, who grow in grace. "And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." (Romans 12:1-2, NLT)

_________________

No Longer Slaves

(listen and worship)

You unravel me with a melody

You surround me with a song

Of deliverance from my enemies

Till all my fears are gone

I'm no longer a slave to fear

I am a child of God

I'm no longer a slave to fear

I am a child of God

From my Mother's womb

You have chosen me

Love has called my name

I've been born again into Your family

Your blood flows through my veins

You split the sea so I could walk right through it

My fears were drowned in perfect love

You rescued me so I could stand and sing

I am a child of God

Brian Johnson | Joel Case | Jonathan David Helser

© 2014 Bethel Music Publishing

CCLI License # 810055