“People who find it difficult to forgive don’t see themselves realistically. They are either terribly arrogant or tremendously insecure. Though hanging onto a grudge gives some people a feeling of satisfaction, the truth is people who do not forgive are hurting themselves much more than they’re hurting others.”
John Maxwell
Be A People Person
Life is about coming to an understanding of God and the life he would have us to live. In God and his attributes there’s immense depth (Romans 11:33). In fact, the depth is such that we struggle to ascertain how far we will plunge in discovery.
For example, the “love of Christ” is said to surpass all knowledge. His love is immeasurably deep, wide and tall, yet it’s still comprehendible (Ephesians 3: 18-19).
Consequently, there is great depth to us as well. “The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out” (Prov. 20:5). It’s not surprising; after all, we are made in his image (Genesis 1:26-27).
It’s intriguing how children, and at times even adults, even though they might know how to swim, are often fearful of going into deep water. Why? There is security at the shallow end. It’s much safer where you can touch.
I think the same thing is true when we look at God and our own lives. We tend to want to deal with things, exclusively, as we see them on the surface. So we rest in what we can perceive through the senses, which never allow for us to venture out of the shallows. And yet, if we are to understand where we fit into God’s plans, we must delve into the depths of both the divine and ourselves.
Truth, life, providence, but most of all a diligent, contextual study of God’s word have changed how I view God. I’m no longer afraid to ask the big, tough questions, because I am no longer content with just seeing what’s near the surface. I can venture into the deep because God is on and by my side, and believe me, the swimming is great in the deep end.
Absurd: “Opposed to manifest truth; inconsistent with reason, or the plain dictates of common sense.” (American Dictionary of the English Language)
Outside magazine has a The North Face ad for its CHINSCRAPER shoe and AGILITY shorts, as used by The North Face Endurance Athlete Joe Kulak. The ad reads,
You drink gallons of coffee on Monday because…
? Mondays are Mondays.
? You didn’t get much sleep over the weekend while completing one of your 29 100-mile races, each in under 24 hours, just like Joe Kulak.
There are a lot of things that to us seem absurd, but running for 100 miles seems patently absurd. It’s the equivalent of me running from my home to Atoka, OK. It’s almost inconceivable to me, but people do it more often than you’d think.
For some, the story of Jesus is absurd. For others, the story isn’t beyond belief, but the thought of living for him accord to the Way is. Even his own disciples struggled to grasp they Way Jesus was laying down for them to live, along with the things they would be able to accomplish through faith. Even a “mustard seed” faith could move mountains (Matthew 17:20). But what’s impossible for mortals is possible for God (Matthew 19:26).
Mankind is blessed with immense talent and ability, focus and drive, strength and courage, but think of what can be accomplished spiritually with a power that is of God! “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly hat all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).
With God, can we do what to us seems absurd?
In what we call The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declared, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8, ESV). Many, myself included, have wondered just what exactly Jesus was getting at in that statement. Most seem resigned to the fact that this is an afterlife promise for the faithful. While those who make it to heaven will indeed see God, I don’t believe that such was what Jesus meant.
Jesus came to the earth as a visible manifestation of God (John 1:1, 14; 1 Timothy 3:16; Colossians 1:15-20, 2:9). Jesus’ ministry was a declaration of his divine identity (John 8:42-58). Unfortunately, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:11, ESV).
When he uttered the words, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,” he was suggesting that it was going to take a certain kind of heart in order to see him for who he really was. The tainted, defiled and prejudiced heart would ignore the evidence, but those whose hearts were “pure” would see him for who he was and believe on him. He was God, and the pure in heart would see him as such.
The same holds true today, in more ways than merely accepting the premise of his divinity. If not careful, we might find ourselves believing that he is God’s son, but still not see him for who he really is: our way, truth and life (John 14:6). It’s easy to formulate an image of Jesus for ourselves that isn’t of Scripture. It seems like some want Jesus to be white and Republican, but he was neither. Purity of heart will help us to see that!
Scripture reveals, in no uncertain terms, that kingdom life is a life of holiness. Holiness is expected (1 Peter 1:15; Hebrews 12:14). The sanctification process in redemption is the initial means by which this comes about. Sanctification, though, is the work of God the Spirit (2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2;1 Corinthians 6:11). Our working with God (Philippians 2:12-13) in the maintaining of the holiness distinction is where we struggle.
The Christian life is a life with God in us (Romans 8:9-11) and us in God (John 17:20-23; Colossians 3:3). In conversion we are “born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5) and given a “new spirit” from God as promised (Ezekiel 36:25-27). This new spirit is the convergence of God’s Spirit and our spirits into one. “But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him” (1 Corinthians 6:17). Hence, God is in us and we are in God.
If God’s presence made the ground upon which Moses stood “holy,” then doesn’t it follow that if God’s presence is in us, then such is what allows for us to be “holy”? The pursuit of holiness, then, is about sustaining the presence of God in one’s life!
For an excellent post on the subject of Holiness, see this one by Matt Dabbs.
