The Good Life

Jesus told us not to rejoice that the demons fear us but that our names are written in heaven.  Christianity has become to a large degree a results oriented club rather than what God intends, the opening in which we all build our lives in Christ.    We can feed our lusts by doing this or that, all good and noble activities perhaps, but the Lord isn't interested in those things.  He wants to form Himself in us that what is found as we are uncovered in the light of human scrutiny is Christ there.  The crucible is not the great place, the thrilling spot, the electrifying moment but it is at the sink where the dishes we wash are for God's glory and we do not just tolerate the task but thank the Lord that He might shine there.  As we make the presentation or help an ungrateful child with his homework we have the form of Christ jutting out from the task and it is up to us if we are going to let Him be seen.  We can complain about our classmate or gossip about our co-worker and all the while entertain someone with our craftiness but is that what we want our lives to be?  Are we satisfied with the same personality as Adam and Cain or do we most want to be joined to Christ?  Sodom was not destroyed because it was the center of homosexuality; it was wrecked because God could not do anything with the people who lived there. They resisted to the end the love and mercy of God and if we can't let Christ seep out of us when the work gets tedious and our efforts go unnoticed, then what good are?  It is just when Jerusalem hated Christ most that He did His greatest work.  Can it be said of you too that the love of Christ and His mastery of your soul takes the stage when you future looks grim and your fruit is blighted?  Do you have the look of God as you come to your own Cross?  The imitation of Christ is not some sort of faking it, the play acting of a movie script; it is the deliverance of the human heart from sin by the blood of Jesus Christ resulting in His life working His way through ours in real moments of common actions.

Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.  3 John 11-12 NIV

Untested Gifts

Be careful of the gift that seems so timely and needed.  Hagar probably was given to Sarai during her sojourn in Egypt and that gift became a terrible snare for Sarai and Abram.  Hagar eventually was the out for each of them as they frantically searched for a way to make God's promise of a child come true.  Rather than trusting solidly in the Lord Himself, they took the gift of Pharaoh as the solution to the difficulty they faced.  Later Abram proved his growing awareness that not every gift should be accepted willy-nilly by rejecting the offer of wealth from the king of Sodom.  But in Egypt, with his mind clouded by the affluence surrounding him, Abram saw nothing wrong with gathering everything offered him there including the lovely maiden Hagar.  It can seem like such a minor issue, taking this, accepting that and yet there may never have been a more haunting image for Abram all his days than the moment he turned his back on Sarai (albeit at her demand) and fathered the son Ishmael with Hagar.  We must be suspicious of what we mark as a blessing and what we decide is a curse.  The wounds of God are sweeter and more lovely than the poisoned presents of Satan and it takes discernment to know what you have in your hand at any given moment. A job offer, an open door, an opportunity for change may not come from who you think.  Be careful about the gifts you accept and the difficulties you reject.     Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your very great reward.  Genesis 15: 1 NIV