True then are these two sayings: Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works. Bad works do not make a bad man, but a bad man does bad works. Thus it is always necessary that the substance or person should be good before any good works can be done, and that good works should follow and proceed from a good person.
–Martin Luther
What kind of person am I?
What kind of person are you?
“Getting Into A Muddle”
by brian rushing
Many of us often wonder: “How in the world has this world gotten in such a mess?”
We might also ask: “How in the world has my family gotten into such a mess?”
And even more personally, at some point we will probably all ask: “How has my personal life gotten into such a mess?” I like the way J. I. Packer asks it: “How on earth have people got into such a muddle?”
His answer?
One is that people have gotten into the practice of following private religious hunches rather than learning of God from his own Word; we have to try to help them unlearn the pride and, in some cases, the misconceptions about Scripture which gave rise to this attitude and to base their convictions henceforth not on what they feel but on what the Bible says.
A second answer is that modern people think of all religions as equal and equivalent—they draw their ideas about God from pagan as well as Christian sources; we have to try to show people the uniqueness and finality of the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s last word to man.
A third answer is that people have ceased to recognize the reality of their own sinfulness, which imparts a degree of perversity and enmity against God to all that they think and do; it is our task to try to introduce people to this fact about themselves and so make them self-distrustful and open to correction by the word of Christ.
Do you see yourself holding to any of these misconceptions? Have you ever found yourself in a muddle?
Too often we want to “feel” that God should be a certain way, when the Bible presents Him in another light. Too often we want to think that there are many ways to God, when the Bible is clear that Jesus is the only Way. And too often we want to think that we are good enough on our own, when the Bible tells us that our righteousness is worthless in God’s eyes and that we must take the righteousness of Jesus to be made holy.
To get out of our mess… our muddle… we have to decide to “grow up” and look at things from God’s perspective, instead of demanding that things always be our way.
(Quotes in today’s post are from Knowing God by J. I. Packer)
Remember the story where we encounter obscurity as a young boy brings Jesus two fish and five loaves of bread to help feed the group of more than 5000 people:
…in none of the Gospels are We even given his name, and he is never mentioned again. Have you ever been asked in one of those small group ice-breaker questions, “What Bible story character would you like to be?” Would this be yours? Would you want to be “the young boy”? Would you be Willing to remain nameless, offering up your meager portion to your Savior, with no promise of return or guarantee of notoriety, but in complete obedience allow God to work His magic through your small “lunch”? That’s what embracing obscurity is all about: Being content with being “relatively unknown” so that Christ can he made more known. Temporarily going hungry, so that many more may be filled.
–Anonymous, in Embracing Obscurity
Ugh. My pride.
I don’t know about you, but my pride resists wanting to pick “the young boy” as the Bible character I’d want to be. The unknown, nameless one who offers all he has so that Jesus can be made more known…I mean I’m all for Jesus to be made more known through what I provide, BUT can’t I also be made more known in the process as well? That’s more along the lines of what I usually want. To get the pat on the back and be made known. I need God to keep helping me become a person of true humility this year.
Regarding God’s Story, Gabriel Fackre once said that:
–We need to get the story straight by learning how to give the content of God’s story and ours;
–We need to get the story out by developing natural communication skills;
–We need to take the story in by learning to depend on the Spirit’s power; and
–We need to learn how to defend the story to others by being prepared to answer the common questions people ask about the gospel.
God help me to better learn Your story, take it in personally, get it out to others, and be able to defend the story. Your story of love for this fallen, corrupted world is the best news that has ever been told. Help me to love to remember it and tell it!
Regarding the idea of a “Sabbath Rest” day:
…In the biblical Sabbath of the Old Testament, God afforded the poor the same amount of rest as the wealthy – which is certainly not the case of today’s society. …One key measure of whether you are experiencing a true Sabbath is to ask, “Can someone in poverty experience this?” The Sabbath won’t come up and embrace you; you have to embrace the Sabbath.
–David Goetz
Too many times I do not experience a true Sabbath on Sunday (the day of rest and worship for most Christians). Even though I am planning to go to church on that day, I do not come to the day with a proper thought about resting and meeting God. Instead, I come to the day with the idea that I will carve a portion of it out for God (a few hours at Sunday school and worship services), and I’ll keep the rest to do what I want to do. I need to have a change of mind and heart to give the day back to God. I’ve just spent six previous days on my plans, and God has ordained one day to be His in a different way. I pray that in 2015, I will embrace the Sabbath in a more intentional way. I hope you’ll join me in the attempt.