Author: kezha1

A Christian mother, grandmother, and retired nurse living in Illinois. Called into a ministry of encouraging others to find their ultimate plan and purpose in life through Christ.

I John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they didn’t really belong to us.”

We’ve all witnessed things in our Church that leaves us dumbfounded. People who we think are some of the “Super Saints” of the Church suddenly reveal their true colors and the scandal that follows rocks the congregation to the core. Visible membership in the Church doesn’t guarantee salvation, just as spirituality doesn’t mean there’s not something evil dwelling within the heart. Inward apathy or even hostility towards the Gospel can be easily masked by a super spiritual persona and doing “religious things”. But true Christianity is all about serving others all the time…it’s not about us. For where there is ministry there is also our life…co-existing and happening together.

Colossians 2:6-8 ” So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”

Paul is warning the people of watered down, feel good preaching that seems more like theater or a concert than of Church…and his warning continues for us today. Truth and wisdom comes from God and His Word, not from man’s “interpretation” of it for you. And if human “wisdom” cannot be aligned seamlessly to God’s Word…it’s not really wisdom at all but just man’s sentiments. Our dependence on God mandates that we then be willing listeners and humble receivers of His Word, not foolish, senseless, and deceptive opinions of men. Charles Spurgeon put it well when he wrote, “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet. We are walkers through the city of this world, and we are often called to go out into its darkness; let us never venture there without the light giving Word, lest we slip with our feet.”

I Corinthians 1:25 “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”

So let’s just admit it to ourselves…there’s vast amounts of information that we’ll never know, and when it comes to mental strength, we’re just as deficient. Human beings have very finite limitations on gaining wisdom…and what little wisdom we do obtained is tainted and colored by sin and the views of this broken world. Whereas God has no limits to His knowledge and understanding…His discernment and insightfulness far above anything we could ever achieve. But the admission of these facts isn’t meant to be degrading but rather an affirmation of who God is and who we aren’t…a simple way to remember it being, “God is God, and I am not!”

Psalm 103:19 ” The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.”

Ever since mankind got kicked out of the garden, we’ve been battling God’s sovereignty with our lust for self-rule. We struggle to accept God’s reign over our life…bristling with the desire for self-sufficiency and autonomy. But if you really think about it, autonomy is totally delusional! Oh yes, we have free will…but the minuscule power we exert is so tiny to God’s mighty sovereign providence that stands over and above any of our our actions. We are designed to live in worshipful dependence with God and in community with others…and anything other than that is not in God’s Will. Sure, there’s many times we won’t understand what God is doing, and it’s no sin to want to understand. But real trust and resting hope can only come by accepting His Will in our lives… knowing that His Will is perfect. Or as Psalm 33:20-21 tells us, “We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy Name.”

Matthew 7:3 ” Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”

The words of Jesus here have never been clearer. So why do we love to find fault in others but won’t even consider the blatant sin in our own life a problem? It’s because we don’t want to be identified as a sinner, and we’ll go to great lengths to distance ourselves from that dubious title. We seem to forget that the Bible tells us that ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But we’d rather “Gloss Over” our sin and focus on someone else’s. The reality is we’re no where as “Good” as we imagine ourselves to be, or want others to believe about us. The bottom line is, all of us are needy and vulnerable to temptation and sin on a daily basis…and a little humility and self-assessment could go a long way in comprehending what Jesus was saying to us here.

Romans 3:10-12 ” There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

We all have unrealistic expectations when it comes to others, and ourselves for that matter. We live in a very broken world, filled with broken people and broken relationships. The reality is, we are all sinners looking for comfort and contentment…not to be confronted with unlovely people who hurt us and deeply flawed relationships that leave us alone and confused. This brokenness is evident everywhere we look and with whoever we communicate with. So what can we do? First is to be honest with God, others, and ourself. We can be responsible to someone, but not for them…and the only person you’re ever going to change is yourself with God’s help. Next, never be satisfied with the status of an estranged relationship…or as C.S. Lewis put it, “One of the biggest problems for Christians is not that we are dissatisfied, but that we are far too easily satisfied.” Most people hate confrontation…but Jesus confronted people all the time with love and truth, and we must follow His lead. Finally, never lose your joy. People are going to disappoint you, attack you, and even abandon you…but always remember that Jesus is there right in the middle of whatever you are facing.

I Peter 5:10 ” And the God of all grace, Who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”

My husband and I have remodeled several homes over the years. At first glance we saw broken windows, missing shingles, and sagging (or even missing) porches. But on closer inspection we saw solid structures and good bones. And after a lot of hard manual labor, we were able to restore them back to what they once were. But it tells us here that God is also in the restoration business. He isn’t willing for this broken world to stay in its present condition. Just as we looked at a house and saw it’s potential…God looks at the world and sees promise through the work of His people. Sure it takes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to restore a house…but in the end is the hope and promise of something beautiful. In the same way God looks at this world and only sees it’s perfected and finished condition through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Luke 24:6 “He is not here; He has risen!”

This verse is the basis of all of Christianity…and what makes Jesus different from all great religious leaders across time. In the end they all died, including Jesus, but only Jesus was resurrected from the grave. And the words, “He has risen”, then became the greatest words of hope for any Christian today, for in it is the promise of eternal life. II Corinthians 4:14 gives us this blessed hope when it says, “Because we know that the One Who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us…” Jesus is risen and the tomb is empty and because of that we too now have new life to His glory!

Mark 15:46 ” So Joseph of Arimathea bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.”

Jesus did not deserve to die. There were no creditable charges against Him, no probable cause for His execution on the cross. Nothing Jesus had ever done on earth was worthy of this type of conclusion…but yet, here He lay. So why? Why would Jesus willingly die in our place? The simple explanation is Grace. Romans 3:23-24 reminds us that, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Or as the 5th Chapter of Romans tells us, death came through Adam, but life came through Christ. Where sin and all its ugliness and depravity had led to condemnation and death…grace came to renew, restore, and justify fallen man. Through this grace we got what we didn’t deserve…salvation and eternal life…or to put it another way, God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.

John 19:33 ” But when they came to Jesus and found that He was dead already…”

The Roman soldiers were surprised to find Jesus dead, but not nearly as dumbfounded as His disciples. All their hopes and dreams of finally overthrowing the harsh Roman rule were now, before their eyes, reduced to a corpse hanging on a cross. Their minds reeled with one question…What kind of King dies in order to establish His Kingdom? But the kingdom they thought Jesus was ushering in was no where near what He was actually speaking of. They imagined war horses, drawn swords, and liberation from the grip of the Roman Empire…instead they got Jesus, gentle and lowly, riding on a donkey into Jerusalem…not freeing them from Roman rule but rather freeing their souls from eternal damnation. What kind of King dies for His Kingdom to come? Only Jesus Christ…Who died and rose again to deliver, redeem, and offer the hope of salvation to all who turn to Him.