No Hypocrites!

In reading the devotional, Pearls of Great Price, I came upon this just this morning:

"One of the goals of my life is exactly the same as yours. I don't want to be a hypocrite. Every day I want to shorten the distance between that which I profess and that which I actually live. I want no gaps between my "talk" and my "walk".

It's why I like to repeat every day for the next month, this "Text for Self-Evaluation," proposed  by John Wesley. The questions reflect the heart of Scripture, so every morning we should ask ourselves:

Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I'm a better person that I really am?
Do I laugh at the mistakes of others, reveling in their errors and misfortunes?
Do I insist on having my own way?
Is there a tendency for me to put others down so that I'll be thought of more highly?
Do I pass on to others what is told to me in confidence?
Am I thoughtful in expressing 'thanks' to people for what they've done for me, no matter how insignificant it seems?
Am I a slave to dress, friends, work, or habits?
Am I self-conscious, self-pitying or self-justifying?
Did the Bible live in me yesterday?
Did I disobey God in anything yesterday?
Did I insist on doing something about which Whenmy conscience was uneasy?
Did I handle discouragement well or did I have to be coddled?
Am I enjoying prayer?
When did I last speak to someone about Christ?
Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, or hold resentment toward? If so, what am I doing about it?
Is Christ real to me?

As I read these questions, I was convicted of areas in my life that I need help in. Areas where I fall short and need to change.  In light of eternity,  we are only here for a short time and this helps me make the most of each and every day.  This will be posted on my refrigerator, not only so I can read it, but others can too. Perhaps it will speak to their hearts and perhaps they'll see a change in me.

Blessings.

The Passion of the Christ

The Passion of the Christ

"He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

Colossians 1:17

When I saw the movie The Passion of the Christ, I was struck by the brute cruelty with which the soldiers treated Jesus. Like a bunch of poorly paid drunken legionnaires, they couldn't wait to take out all their frustrations on who they thought was a stupid, luckless Jew. They beat and abused him mercilessly.

The face that Moses had begged to see - was forbidden to see - was slapped bloody (Exodus 33:19-20). The thorns that God had sent to curse the earth's rebellion now twisted around his brow. The back of Jesus' legs felt the whip - soon the body of the Savior would look like a plowed Judean field. By the time the spitting is through, more saliva is on Jesus than in him. When the soldiers raised the mallet to sink the spikes into Jesus' hands, it occurred to me that the Son of God whom they were crucifying was the very One sustaining their lives! Someone must sustain their lives minute by minute, for no man has this power on his own. Who supplies breath to his lungs? Who gives energy to his cells? Who holds a man's molecules together? Only by the Son do "all things hold together" Colossians 1:17. How amazing, how incomprensible that the Son, the victim, is granting breath and being to his own executioners!

Close your eyes and think deeply on the things you just read. Consider so great a Savior who would submit himself to such torture ... for your salvation. Think of the cost and sacrifice involved in Jesus' crucifixion. Then, commit afresh and anew to live on a higher, more sanctified level as you trust and obey him with new resolve. Praise your Savior for granting you breath and being, as well as life eternal.

Dear Savior, I am awestruck that you did not turn away from the cross, but traveled the road to Calvary for me. May my life today reflect my love and devotion to you.

From The Pearl of Great Price by Joni Eareckson Tada, April 1

What the Son Endured...

What the Son Endured

"Anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse."

Deuteronomy 21:23

The pain and humility Jesus physically suffered leading up to his death was a mere warm-up to the real dread he faced. As he hung on the cross, he began to feel a foreign sensation. Somewhere during those hours that his body was impaled, an earthly, foul odor must have wafted, not around his nose, but in his heart. He felt dirty. Human wickedness began to crawl upon his spotless being - the living excrement from our souls. The apple of the Father's eye began to turn brown with the rot of our sin.

From heaven, the Father roused himself like a lion disturbed, shook his mane, and must have roared against the shriveling remnant of a man hanging on a cross. Never has the Son seen the Father look at him so, never felt even the least of His hot breath. It was the wrath of God being poured our like hot oil on the wounded heart of the Son of Man. And the Father watched as his heart's treasure, the mirror-image of himself sank drowning into raw, liquid sin. Jehovah's stored rage against humankind exploded in a single direction. The Trinity had planned it. The Son endured it. The Spirit enabled him. The Father rejected the Son whom he loved; the God-man from Nazareth, perished.

This is who asks you to trust him when he calls you to suffer. This is the One who asks you to obey him when it's hard, when your flesh is itching to have a little worldly candy. This is the One who asks you to honor him when you face tough choices. Jesus Christ bore the wrath of hell so that you might enjoy a home in heaven with him, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. Celebrate this marvelous gift as you reflect on Easter Sunday.

Father, thank you for giving me the gift of your Son. May my life be to the praise of Your glory!

From the devotional Pearls of Great Price, by Joni Eareckson Tada, April 2

Devotionals...

"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

"I will never forget the day they moved me away from 'acute care' to 'chronic care' in the hospital. As they wheeled my stretcher under the sign, I got a lump in my throat. It meant 'the doctors don't know what else to do, and I won't regain use of my body'. My condition was chronic.

Why do some hardships never go away? You and and plead until your knees are sore, yet the pinched nerve doesn't heal, the multiple sclerosis doesn't halt, the Alzheimer's doesn't regress, the marriage doesn't get better, the job promotion never comes, and the engagement ring never arrives. After decades in a wheelchair, this is my conclusion:

The core of God's plan is to rescue us from sin and self-centeredness. Suffering - especially the chronic kind - is God's choicest tool to accomplish this. It is a long process. But it means that I can accept my paralysis as a chronic condition. When I broke my neck, it wasn't a jigsaw puzzle I had to solve fast or a quick jolt to get me back on track. My paralyzing accident was the beginning of a lengthy process of becoming like Christ.

May I share with you one of my 'chronic' Bible verses that won't go away?  James 1:2-4 says 'When all kinds of trials crowd into your lives my brothers, don't resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed' (Phillips). When that finally happens, the only thing that will be chronic is joy!

Lord, help me to embrace the chronic conditions in my life. I want endurance to be fully developed in my life. Help me to hang on."

This was today's reading in the devotional "Pearls of Great Price" by Joni Eareckson Tada and it spoke to my heart about the chronic conditions I live with. There is a good and Godly purpose to them. May her words minister to you today.

Blessings!