Recently, seeing a nearby field, the question came to me, “How green is the grass?” There are days we look upon the fields and because of our complaint, fail to see anything. Other times, we are passing by way too fast, thinking way too many things to realize the grass is green for a reason. The answer I received is; it all depends upon the prism thru which you look, either through the humble eyes of a ‘suffering servant,’ or the angry heart of an ‘indentured slave’. Only Jesus, can cancel the certificate of debt by the power of His cross to those decrees against us that hold us in pledge to this world and its lusts with an extreme precision to release us from slavish thinking and cruel bondage. The power of the cross is for the humble who will draw near with confidence to surrender their thoughts of care and ambition for this life to understand the statement, ‘Have this same attitude which was in Christ Jesus who although He existed with all the attributes of God, He humbled Himself as a slave, becoming obedient to God by taking up His cross.’ His cross, calls us higher under the influence of a still small voice, mighty in power, rich in service, and green as the grass. Philippians 2:6-11
Tag: Jesus
The Miry Clay
In Psalm 40, David says of God, ‘He took me out of the miry clay and put my feet upon a rock!’ The miry clay is a picture of something, it represents a horrible place, but a timeless reminder of what to do when you get your feet stuck. While hopeless for the unbelieving, it holds a truth that there is great hope for all who call upon the name of the Lord by faith. Hear the lessons from the miry clay. It’s a place of waiting, but with expectation. There’s an expectancy that God will deliver. It is a place God uses to bring about patience, but with it the ability to endure because God is faithful and He sits in the place of confident victory. David says in that place, “He inclined to me.” Do you recognize that place holds the inclinations of God’s heart. If you go on to read, it continues by saying, “many are your thoughts to me and too vast to number.” He inclines himself toward us by making that place abundant with his thoughts to lead, to guide, to encourage, to strengthen, to rise above, and to make our footsteps firm. The picture here is one producing a place of foundation out onto a rock. The land longs for foundation, for when the foundations are shaken and men no more live by the principles of God’s word, things begin to crumble, and so goes the evolution of societies that failed to recognize God as Almighty! But God has a foundation for those who cry out to him there in that horrible stuck place–it’s a place on the Rock, and it’s a place of comforting refuge! The miry clay represents a place of melody and song because David says out of that place, “He has put a new song in my heart a song of praise to our God”. It is the sound of praise and singing that establishes us as victors and not victims. It will be a song that will call many to worship His name because of the testimony that the clay produces for the believing. It’s a super-natural place of Divine influence with a power able to raise us up because of Jesus Who says, ‘because I live, so shall you’. Verse 4 of that same chapter says, “How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust”.
The Eye Doctor
“Then Jesus told them, I entered this world to render judgment, to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.” John 9:39; (NLT) What Jesus said then, he is still saying to us. He came for a great revelation, one that would obliterate our thinking making us fit to take up his cause. As with the blind man, when Jesus heals the eyes he does so to reveal himself in a way as to involve us in a greater, more devoted worship (Jn 9:38). This revelation knowledge has the power to destroy speculations that severely limit our potential to believe him and see great and mighty things. It obliterates the thoughts and intentions of the heart that held us guilty and bound and of no use to God (Jn 9:41). ‘This knowledge’ truly is power to remove the blindness we so easily stumble over. I don’t know about you, I can only speak for myself, but I need the “eye doctor” who can remove my limitations caused by sin and failure to see things clearly. I need the eye doctor! He changes my view so that I might be able to see from his perspective thinking less of myself and more of him. He changes my slavish thoughts and the way that I think in an incorruptible fashion consistent with his potential to overcome my inadequacies. And finally, he changes my motives and the intentions of my heart, so that I am no longer stumbling for bread, but I’m owning the things that he gives me, so I may be used to reveal His cause and His glory. Do you need the eye doctor? If so, get in line and be willing to wait your turn. Get everything else off your agenda, you just need to see him. He will come to you, and He will find you at your lowest point when you cry out to him. And If you’re wiling, he will show you great things you did not see.
She’s Only Asleep
Lk 8:49..; (amp) ‘Your daughter is dead!’ came the word to Jairus, ‘Don’t bother and weary the teacher anymore’, they said. Jesus addresses that situation and those words by saying to him, ‘don’t let your heart be seized with alarm and struck by fear, simply believe that I am able and she shall be made well’. There’s just something about His name, His presence and believing that He can make a way when everyone else gives up hope! They said, ‘don’t bother Jesus’, that sounds just like the ‘spirit’ of the the enemy who want you to ‘stay away from Jesus’. I mean really, consider the alternative as staying away from Jesus so the devil can have the power over your life to keep you bound and alarmed by fear–really? I don’t see Jesus settling for that alternative. Jesus instead urges Jairus to a simple faith and nothing else. He is not interested in mere casual relationship that only wants an encounter with Him because of an urgent or pressing need. He wants to prove Himself to you by arresting your fears resolving them to simple trust by faith in His ability to call back the spirit and say, ‘My Child live!’ He’s interested in the relationship that changes your life and revolutionizes your world changing your belief system, so that in the face of what people say is dead and gone, you see and experience His power over ‘life as we know it’! The little girl in the story had died, her body lifeless, yet Jesus knows how to call her spirit back to life. When Jesus says in Luke 8 (nlt), ‘she’s only asleep’, He meant it. It wasn’t that He didn’t recognize death, but He was ‘The Life’ and her condition was not fatal in His hands. The enemy is likely saying to you right now ‘don’t bother Jesus..don’t bother with Him anymore.’ Jesus, on the other hand would say differently; He would say, ‘seek Me now, I Am the Resurrection and the Life, he who believes in me will live though he dies.’ Look it up, (Luke 8:50) Jesus is saying, ‘do not be afraid any longer only believe’ which is to say, put away your fears of failure, loss, or your lack of ability to change anything and walk with Me and watch and see!
GraceLife 