Betrayed

Tonight is our Good Friday Service. During our choral presentation, I play Judas and have one line, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" I receive the thirty pieces of silver, betraying Jesus.

I hope our director wasn’t typecasting because Judas is a villain we view with disdain. How could he? BETRAY the CHRIST... I’m not a betrayer, a JUDAS. 

Betray – “to deliver or expose to an enemy by treachery or disloyalty; to be unfaithful in guarding, maintaining, or fulfilling (Online Dictionary).  Hmmm. What’s my price? Pride. Saving face. Just getting along. Have I ever bypassed the truth to avoid conflict or an awkward moment? Have I been loyal to Christ’s teaching and example in my everyday life?

Perhaps it won’t be too much of an act. 

 

But there is hope... Sunday's a'comin...

 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13,14)

…Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. (Romans 4:25)

You are what you eat...

If your body could talk what would it say about you?
We’ve all heard the old adage ‘you are what you eat’, but have you ever stopped to think exactly how true that is? Put simply, healthy eating is the key to well-being. 

How about spiritually? A portion of Psalms 115 caught my eye this morning in reference to idol worshipers:

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.

They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.

They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell.

They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk;

and they do not make a sound in their throat. 

Those who make them become like them; 

so do all who trust in them. (Psalms 115:2-8)

The spiritual principle presents itself: "You are what you trust." The idol worshipers of old trusted in a speechless, vision-less, deaf, odorless, unemotional, aimless, voiceless gods. And so they became what they trusted in....without a voice, sightless, deaf to the truth, without aroma, without passion, without purpose. Not too much different today. 

• Those who trust in wealth become greedy. 
• Those who trust in strength become bullies. 
• Those who trust in the government become political. 

And the list goes on, each 'idol' worshiped transforms the worshiping individual into a miniature representation of itself.

Conversely, the principle is evident as we learn to trust our Heavenly Father.

• As I trust in the faithfulness of our Father, I become faithful...
• As I trust in a compassionate Father, I become compassionate...
• As I trust in a patient Father, I become patient...
• As I trust in a providing Father, I become generous...

Lord, 
In this wonderfully difficult walk of trusting YOU, increase my faith...I want to become what YOU are to me every day. Amen.
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 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. (2 Cor. 3:17,18)

A Few Words About Grace

Back in college days, I remember a dorm-mate (David McDonald) sharing his excitement regarding a book he had been studying. I was so intrigued by his passion that I read the material myself and was likewise impressed. Yesterday morning, during a conversation, I was prompted to remember this material and able to locate it on the internet. It made a deep impact on me then and even more so today. The book is "Romans Verse by Verse" by William R. Newell and is available in its entirety here. And now from Mr. Newell (pages 171-173)

A FEW WORDS ABOUT GRACE

I

The Nature of Grace

1. Grace is God acting freely, according to His own nature as Love; with no promises or obligations to fulfil; and acting of course, righteously-in view of the cross.
2. Grace, therefore, is uncaused in the recipient: its cause lies wholly in the GIVER, in GOD.
3. Grace, also is sovereign. Not having debts to pay, or fulfilled conditions on man's part to wait for, it can act toward whom, and how, it pleases. It can, and does, often, place the worst deservers in the highest favors.
4. Grace cannot act where there is either desert or ability: Grace does not help-it is absolute, it does all.
5. There being no cause in the creature why Grace should be shown, the creature must be brought off from trying to give cause to God for His Grace.
6. The discovery by the creature that he is truly the object of Divine grace, works the utmost humility: for the receiver of grace is brought to know his own absolute unworthiness, and his complete inability to attain worthiness: yet he finds himself blessed,--on another principle, outside of himself!
7. Therefore, flesh has no place in the plan of Grace. This is the great reason why Grace is hated by the proud natural mind of man. But for this very reason, the true believer rejoices! For he knows that "in him, that is, in his flesh, is no good thing"; and yet he finds God glad to bless him, just as he is!

II

The Place of Man under Grace

1. He has been accepted in Christ, who is his standing!
2. He is not "on probation."
3. As to his life past, it does not exist before God: he died at the Cross, and Christ is his life.
4. Grace, once bestowed, is not withdrawn: for God knew all the human exigencies beforehand: His action was independent of them, not dependent upon them.
5. The failure of devotion does not cause the withdrawal of bestowed grace (as it would under law). For example: the man in I Cor. 5:1-5; and also those in 11:30-32, who did not "judge" themselves, and so were "judged by the Lord,-that they might not be condemned with the world"!

III

The Proper Attitude of Man under Grace

1. To believe, and to consent to be loved while unworthy, is the great secret.
2. To refuse to make "resolutions" and "vows"; for that is to trust in the flesh.
3. To expect to be blessed, though realizing more and more lack of worth
4. To testify of God's goodness, at all times.
5. To be certain of God's future favor; yet to be ever more tender in conscience toward Him.
6. To rely on God's chastening hand as a mark of His kindness.
7. A man under grace, if like Paul, has no burdens regarding himself; but many about others.

IV

Things Which Gracious Souls Discover

1. To "hope to be better" is to fail to see yourself in Christ only.
2. To be disappointed with yourself, is to have believed in yourself.
3. To be discouraged is unbelief,-as to God's purpose and plan of blessing for you.
4. To be proud, is to be blind! For we have no standing before God, in ourselves.
5. The lack of Divine blessing, therefore, comes from unbelief, and not from failure or devotion.
6. Real devotion to God arises, not from man's will to show it; but from the discovery that blessing has been received from God while we were yet unworthy and undevoted.
7. To preach devotion first, and blessing second, is to reverse God's order, and preach law, not grace. The Law made man's blessing depend on devotion; Grace confers undeserved, unconditional blessing: our devotion may follow, but does not always do so,-in proper measure.

Added Note: 4/1/2019

This article continues to impact me and I add a conversation from Brother Lawrence "The Practice of the Presence of God"

That when an occasion of practising some virtue offered, he addressed himself to GOD, saying, LORD, I cannot do this unless Thou enablest me; and that then he received strength more than sufficient.
That when he had failed in his duty, he only confessed his fault, saying to GOD, I shall never do otherwise, if You leave me to myself; ’tis You must hinder my falling, and mend what is amiss. That after this, he gave himself no further uneasiness about it. (p. 4) emphasis added.

Life-Song

The life-song reverberates deep within my soul

As the Great Composer directs each note.

Some stanzas ring praise for His grace-filled provision

Others mourn doubts stirred by my earthly struggles.

My spirit yearns for melodic resolve

Only to find the song half-sung...

For here…

Today…

I will not see…

What God completes in eternity.

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” Phil 3:12

 

Genetic Engineering or God's Grace

Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks.  He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink,  the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. (Genesis 30:37-39)

 Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me. (Genesis 31:9)

 Would Jacob have prospered if he hadn’t  ‘manipulated’ the breeding of the livestock?

In retrospect, we say it was God at work to bless Jacob. His ‘work’ of tending the breeding flock would not have had an impact one way or the other. And in light of what we know now regarding genetics, even his actions are laughable.  I can understand the motivation of Jacob….in a difficult situation, we HAVE TO DO SOMETHING! Imperfect faith trusts imperfectly. Trust is earned and, having been burned by our human counterparts, either intentionally or not, we still are wary to trust. And so we do what we can to help God out. 

I understand Jacob…I would do the same…. I DO do the same! I pray, ‘Lord, help me with this situation.’ And then I get down to working out the details and hope God helps me. But God’s grace extends even to our feeble faith as witnessed with Jacob. It is recorded to reflect man’s flailing trust, unnecessary efforts and God’s amazing patience and understanding of our weakness. It makes no judgment on Jacob’s actions but very poignantly demonstrates man’s actions vs God’s provision.  God's grace grows us from faith to faith, patiently enduring our worthless efforts while divinely providing all that we need.

 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.