- Jan 18, 2019
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looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb 12:2
When I first came to Christ, oh what a fool I was. I was so excited thinking that I was now going to sit back and be made perfect while eating chips and salsa on the veranda in the cool of the evening. It turns out that God's grace is a mean dog. Once you allow it into your heart it goes after sin Fang and Claw. The only way to stop it is to reject Christ and I couldn't do that.
I tried to tame it, leash it, send it to obedience school. But in the end it continues to drag me kicking and screaming toward holiness found only in Christ. The weird thing is that once I get to my next level of relationship with God I'm filled with indescribable Joy and throw my arms around that dog. It's not that God wants to crush us but he wants to crush sin in us and the more it is entwined within us the more painful it is to extract. We can get pretty squashed in the process but in the end it's all worth it and more.
I remember an old song My Father used to sing while strumming his guitar. It was called “Just a Closer walk with Thee” and one of the phrases went like this:
"Just a closer walk with Thee
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea
Daily walking close to Thee
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be"
God either sends or allows the whelming flood to Encompass us to drive us to him and burn away the earthiness in us--or perhaps I should say drown it--and I remember after one such an occasion I was singing this song to myself and it turned into a prayer and I said Lord please grant me just a closer walk with thee and the answer came as a thought to my mind almost immediately, “well then, son, then walk closer!”
He was walking close all the time it was me that was holding parts of myself back from him, afraid that he would change them in ways I didn't want. But when the overwhelming flood is threatening to drown you and all you can do is throw one long arm of love and one long arm of faith around his neck and hold on for dear life you are more than willing to let all that nonsense go and be purified by it.
Yes, God hurts the hell out of us and how beautiful that is. It is our stories and our witness that count and not our knowledge of theology. May God fully Express himself to all of those who love him more than their own lives and desire to be his servants. Humble yourself before the Lord and He will lift you up.
When I first came to Christ, oh what a fool I was. I was so excited thinking that I was now going to sit back and be made perfect while eating chips and salsa on the veranda in the cool of the evening. It turns out that God's grace is a mean dog. Once you allow it into your heart it goes after sin Fang and Claw. The only way to stop it is to reject Christ and I couldn't do that.
I tried to tame it, leash it, send it to obedience school. But in the end it continues to drag me kicking and screaming toward holiness found only in Christ. The weird thing is that once I get to my next level of relationship with God I'm filled with indescribable Joy and throw my arms around that dog. It's not that God wants to crush us but he wants to crush sin in us and the more it is entwined within us the more painful it is to extract. We can get pretty squashed in the process but in the end it's all worth it and more.
I remember an old song My Father used to sing while strumming his guitar. It was called “Just a Closer walk with Thee” and one of the phrases went like this:
"Just a closer walk with Thee
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea
Daily walking close to Thee
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be"
God either sends or allows the whelming flood to Encompass us to drive us to him and burn away the earthiness in us--or perhaps I should say drown it--and I remember after one such an occasion I was singing this song to myself and it turned into a prayer and I said Lord please grant me just a closer walk with thee and the answer came as a thought to my mind almost immediately, “well then, son, then walk closer!”
He was walking close all the time it was me that was holding parts of myself back from him, afraid that he would change them in ways I didn't want. But when the overwhelming flood is threatening to drown you and all you can do is throw one long arm of love and one long arm of faith around his neck and hold on for dear life you are more than willing to let all that nonsense go and be purified by it.
Yes, God hurts the hell out of us and how beautiful that is. It is our stories and our witness that count and not our knowledge of theology. May God fully Express himself to all of those who love him more than their own lives and desire to be his servants. Humble yourself before the Lord and He will lift you up.
