Work and Strive or Rest and Receive?

 As human beings subject to the flesh that clothes and houses our bodies and souls there are more than enough opportunities for us to “work” on ourselves. Male and female alike, though as a girl I can vouch that every girl does this, looks at themselves and about all we see are our flaws. Slight flab there, not quite the chiseled jaw line here; that kind of thing. I believe it would be the same with our souls, if we could look at them in a mirror. We would notice only the many imperfections, both slight and obvious.

Paul the Apostle, a righteous fellow who recognized how very flawed he himself was, encouraged believers to “work out” their own salvation with fear and trembling. He certainly wasn't hinting that we are responsible for saving ourselves, but only that the gift of salvation would be an intimate and personal journey, not exactly the same for each of us.

This weeks dilemma that we will consider is how we might respond to the biblical instruction that we are to "Be Holy even as God is Holy" (Leviticus 11:45 & I Peter 1:16) while realizing that we cannot ever attain that state in and of ourselves. We cannot work for it, earn it or make it happen no matter what we do, so God graciously provided an absolute solution. Through the work accomplished on the Cross where Jesus freely sacrificed Himself for us, we can be clothed in the righteousness of Christ Jesus.

When we rest in, recognize and accept that truth then our energies and efforts will be freed to move forward doing the activities God has instructed us to do because our focus isn't wasted on trying to do for ourselves that which God has already done. These include to:

• feed the hungry
• clothe the naked
• visit those in prison
• remember the orphans and the widows

I think of it as similar to the story in the Old Testament when God told the Israelites “I place before you Life and Death”. (Deuteronomy 30:15 – 19) I think He made it so they could see the goodness, light and joy of life. They could also see the darkness, misery and emptiness in Death. On top of all that God GAVE them the right answer. CHOOSE LIFE. Yet still some chose DEATH! (Oh why do we do that?!?)

I see so many people in the Church who read that we are freely clothed in the righteousness of Christ. They read and hear about the effortless joy of choosing to trust and believe and REST in the peace of being clothed in the righteousness of Christ Jesus. Yet even though we can see the exhaustion that results from constant activity we still tend to strive uselessly and hopelessly to clothe ourselves in righteousness thorugh our works. Even though we are taught clearly that our own righteousness will NEVER be anything but filthy rags. We see it, yet we cannot seem to help but attempt on our own to gain that which God has already freely given us.

James 2: 14-26 offers a marvelous solution with understanding, bringing out the importance of faith while acknowledging the necessity of actual actions being taken. It isn't enough to talk about the things that need to be done. And it doesn't make sense to do things without really understanding the how and why of them. Blending and balancing the two leads to making what may be the finest choice you ever make.

God does such a fine job and needs no help from us, so lean back into His loving arms and let Him clothe you in righteousness. Then you get the joy of fulfilling His plan and purpose for your life. Simple. Joyful. Peaceful. Isn't that grand?

Expectations

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...

Have you ever wondered what God wants of you? 

God asks us to:
walk humbly before Him;
recognizing that we are not able to be holy, perfect, clean, righteous on our own, God provided a way for us to humbly receive ability to be clothed in Christ the Redeemers Righteousness

God asks us to:
love mercy;
thinking about all the mercy that has been poured into us should make it very simple to give away as much as possible, but God didn't even say "give mercy" or "be merciful".  He just said Love Mercy, for yourself and for others.  He knows that what you love will be manifest in your life

God asks us to:
do justly;
and since we are not capable of complete objectivity and balanced justice, we are NOT to judge, but do justly - according to what is morally right or fair - and that is ONLY Gods department, so we have the added understanding that vengeance is the Lords!

In essence, God has given us a framework to work within, in order to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.  He made each of us individual, unique and special.  He isn't looking for cloned Christians, all looking, speaking and acting the same.  He is looking for His particular, peculiar children to be witnesses OF Jesus His Son, each in our own unique way.

This isn't a comprehensive, all inclusive or exhaustive study.
I've read Oswald.
I've devoured Tozer.
C.S. Lewis
Jonathan Edwards
and many, many, many other authors who know a lot more than I ever will.

and I've read the Bible.  Over and over and over again for the last 49 of my 55 years.  My understanding has grown with each reading.  My life has changed dramatically over time as I've gained new understanding, insight and wisdom.

One of the main things I've discovered is that God is sovereign.  We, the created beings, cannot put Him in a neat package of our making without losing all that He is!

• He is INFINITELY CREATIVE
• He is BEYOND OUR COMPREHENSION
• He is THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY

Until the day we see Him face to face, the best we can hope for is to imitate Him in some manner so others will see how great HE IS.  Everyone relates differently, so He created many different ways for His greatness to be seen, heard, experienced and understood.  He set a frame.  Boundaries if you will.  

Within those boundaries, there are no limitations except those we set up ourselves, denying ourselves the fullness of all HE IS.

Scripture to consider: (New King James Version)

Micah 6:8

Psalm 139

Ephesians 1 and 2

Philippians 2:12

Acts 1

I Corinthians 13:12

Every time without fail

Every time I open a bible and read; a little bit, a big chunk; reading for pleasure or reading for comfort or seeking an answer; even when I open this enduring Book just casually - 

the words on the page cease to be ink forming letters forming words forming sentences

and it becomes LIFE to me.

II Peter 1-3 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

ALL things pertaining to life ~ everything we NEED to know to live the abundant life Jesus came and sacrificed Himself to give us

ALL things pertaining to godliness ~ so we can fulfill our purpose, giving glory to the God who created us

The attitude I see portrayed around me, that of "why should I give glory to God?  What has He done for me?" saddens me so deeply, for that is an attitude that hurts no one quite so much as it hurts the person who is holding it in their hearts.

They THINK they are doing what "they" want to do!  They aren't!  They are pawns used by satan, the devil, the god of this world.  They are fulfilling his deceitful, selfish desires, having been deceived into thinking these are their own desires!

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is LIBERTY.  Through Christ we find our sufficiency, our hope, our very lives!  Going "our own way" or doing our own thing is a way that simply leads to destruction.  Proverbs tells us rightly when its words instruct us "There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is a way of death."  This idea is so important it is repeated in Proverbs 14 and again in Proverbs 16.

Our hearts might think they know and understand what is best for us.  The truth is, God has plans and purposes for each and every one of us which ARE BEST FOR EACH OF US.

Reading His words on a regular basis, daily even, will give us the information we need to live lives that are full.  Full of joy, and blessing and purpose and happiness and peace and strength and overcoming power of the Holy Spirit.  Full of true worth, true value and true abundance that never fades away.

READ the words of life.  I dare you.  I double dare you to commit to just 30 days of daily reading.  Read along with us, read on your own schedule.  Read a paragraph, a chapter or a book.  Read from the Old Testament or read from the New Testament.

30 days is the challenge.  Read EVERY DAY without fail, and if you do not find that your life is changed for the better, I will be shocked for certain.  Because I know, if you do it, every day, for even 30 days, something in your life will change for the better.

Perhaps you will feel happier, calmer or stronger.  Perhaps you will forgive an old hurt.  Perhaps you will behave a little gentler and kinder with others.

We'd really LOVE to hear how reading the word of God daily changes your life!  Be sure to write and tell us!  
Meanwhile, we'll be praying for you!!