What is it about the Lord that is most reassuring? It is the fact that He never never changes. That's why He is called the ROCK. The ROCK is stable, and is not washed away like the sand. A house built on the ROCK will never be blown off with the wind, neither will the floods rise and be able to wash it away, nor will the rains destroy it. Because the solid foundation of the Unchanging is the strongest foundation possible for ANYTHING.
This is something that the Lord has revealed to me. But there's more to it than just the revelation. Action!
If you want to be a leader in God's kingdom, you have to be like Jesus. You have to be stable. You have to learn to be dependable and trustworthy in God's kingdom. Through thick and thin, you have to learn to be as He is. No matter what we do, God is always the same to us, always merciful, always good, always slow to anger and abounding in mercy. But we are the most fickle, blown off by the weakest of storms in life, the most unstable and undependable. This applies to me as well. But, if we continue to be like this, it will never be a surprise to see ourselves at the sidelines all our life. We will never get to the high places, unless we learn to depend on the Lord and unless we become dependable ourselves. How could God possibly use us to lead others, when we ourselves are struggling to stand on our own two feet?
This is not just food for thought, its something major, that we ALL need to work on. And this can only happen when we confess our weakness before God and allow His Spirit to change us on the inside and make us more like Jesus. I also learnt from a friend of mine, that its a different thing to say, "Lord I have little wisdom", and its very different and rather difficult to accept and say, " Lord I have no wisdom". The Lord can only fill those who empty themselves. Those who are full of themselves will never be filled, simply because there is no space in them to be filled.
After all, it is not without cause that the Lord Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven". Oswald Chambers puts it this way - 'blessed are the paupers in spirit...'
Makes sense.
Think about it...
Friday, May 30, 2008
Friday, May 02, 2008
"I will bring you out from your cruel hard labour. I will rescue you from slavery. I will buy you back, with great acts that will amaze you. I will adopt you, and you will be mine. I will bring you to that lovely, beautiful and plentiful place where you've always wanted to live. "
Wow, that sounds like a great promise to make to someone who's been beaten till she's lost all her hopes of ever escaping. She's been troubled, stripped and made to work till her back is almost broken. Her grief knows no end. Throughout her life, she's cried out for help and no one answered. She's so discouraged, that she doesn't know where to turn. Even a word of hope seems to be too much to ask, and indeed, she has no hopes of hearing anything hopeful anymore. How terribly heartbreaking. And when she finally hears the words of hope from some funny man who calls himself the messenger of the Redeemer, she doesn't even listen -- because she was beaten down in her slavery and hard labour.[Exodus 6:9]
Indeed, discouragement and cruel bondage had had their toll on Israel. No wonder, when Israel finally heard its LORD, YAHWEH calling out to His children and saying, "I will redeem you, I will rescue you from slavery." It seemed to be a cruel joke. Did she not cry out to God all those years that she was in bondage? Would God indeed come NOW..when the chapter seems to almost be over. NOW..when there was indeed no way they could escape from Egypt. NOW..that Pharaoh had increased their workload and things seemed to just have worsened ever since they listened to this man who called himself the messenger of "I AM THAT I AM" !! Incredulous... But true nonetheless.
God did come to rescue His beloved Israel. With great and mighty works of judgement, God intervened. Exodus chapter 3 says clearly, that God Himself confesses, that He has SEEN the affliction of Israel, He HEARS their cry for deliverance and He KNOWS their pain. How intimately the Lord is acquainted with all our ways!
Why He must wait till there seems to be no way out, I don't understand. Why did He wait when Lazarus was dying, and come to give hope only after he had rot in the grave four days, I don't know. But I know that He came. And I know that He came to save Israel, and He always comes when He says so. He has never deserted anyone, and never will. "If we believe not, yet he abides faithful: he cannot deny himself." [2 Timothy 2:13]
Praise the Lord for His everlasting faithfulness and most gracious mercies that are made evident every morning. Glory to His name forevermore, because He is worthy of our praises.
Wow, that sounds like a great promise to make to someone who's been beaten till she's lost all her hopes of ever escaping. She's been troubled, stripped and made to work till her back is almost broken. Her grief knows no end. Throughout her life, she's cried out for help and no one answered. She's so discouraged, that she doesn't know where to turn. Even a word of hope seems to be too much to ask, and indeed, she has no hopes of hearing anything hopeful anymore. How terribly heartbreaking. And when she finally hears the words of hope from some funny man who calls himself the messenger of the Redeemer, she doesn't even listen -- because she was beaten down in her slavery and hard labour.[Exodus 6:9]
Indeed, discouragement and cruel bondage had had their toll on Israel. No wonder, when Israel finally heard its LORD, YAHWEH calling out to His children and saying, "I will redeem you, I will rescue you from slavery." It seemed to be a cruel joke. Did she not cry out to God all those years that she was in bondage? Would God indeed come NOW..when the chapter seems to almost be over. NOW..when there was indeed no way they could escape from Egypt. NOW..that Pharaoh had increased their workload and things seemed to just have worsened ever since they listened to this man who called himself the messenger of "I AM THAT I AM" !! Incredulous... But true nonetheless.
God did come to rescue His beloved Israel. With great and mighty works of judgement, God intervened. Exodus chapter 3 says clearly, that God Himself confesses, that He has SEEN the affliction of Israel, He HEARS their cry for deliverance and He KNOWS their pain. How intimately the Lord is acquainted with all our ways!
Why He must wait till there seems to be no way out, I don't understand. Why did He wait when Lazarus was dying, and come to give hope only after he had rot in the grave four days, I don't know. But I know that He came. And I know that He came to save Israel, and He always comes when He says so. He has never deserted anyone, and never will. "If we believe not, yet he abides faithful: he cannot deny himself." [2 Timothy 2:13]
Praise the Lord for His everlasting faithfulness and most gracious mercies that are made evident every morning. Glory to His name forevermore, because He is worthy of our praises.
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