Month: September 2015

Jesus turned upside down the accepted wisdom of the day. Pharisees believed that touching an unclean person polluted the one who touched. But when Jesus touched a person with leprosy, Jesus did not become soiled — the leprous became clean. When an immoral woman washed Jesus’ feet, she went away forgiven and transformed. When he defied custom to enter a pagan’s house, the pagan’s servant was healed. In word and in deed Jesus was proclaiming a radically new gospel of grace: to get clean a person did not have to journey to Jerusalem, offer sacrifices, and undergo purification rituals. All a person had to do was follow Jesus.
–Philip Yancey

God’s wisdom is not, and never was, pledged to keep a fallen world happy, or to make ungodliness comfortable. Not even to Christians has He promised a trouble-free life; rather the reverse. He has other ends in view for life in this world than simply to make it easy for everyone.
–J. I. Packer

Wow. Great insight.

God is not all about health, wealth, and prosperity for His followers. Instead, God is all about glory being ascribed to His Holy Name. And that takes place when we follow the example of Job and praise God even when we are in the midst of the storm.

And when we do that, we will be in the center of His will and we will experience the abundant life of living in His presence, which is so much better than having health, wealth, or worldly prosperity!

In those days, foot washing was considered so degrading that a master could not require it of a Jewish slave. Peter blanched at the provocation. The scene of the foot washing stands out to author M. Scott Peck as one of the most significant events of Jesus’ life: “Until that moment the whole point of things had been for someone to get on top, and once he had gotten on top to stay on top or else attempt to get farther up. But here this man already on top — who was rabbi, teacher, master — suddenly got down on the bottom and began to wash the feet of his followers. In that one act Jesus symbolically overturned the whole social order. Hardly comprehending what was happening, even his own disciples were almost horrified by his behavior.”
–Philip Yancey

And yet, we are also called to get down on the bottom and “wash the feet” of others – to serve them, instead of choosing to be served.

A hard mindset to embrace.

How well are you following Jesus’ servant leadership example?

There’s a startling trend in Christian thinking about suffering. Though subtle, this misconception is no less dangerous than many other of Satan’s lies. I call it the “Joseph Principle,” and it goes like this:
     If I am suffering in obscurity today, God must be preparing me for something greater, better, or more prominent later in life.
     …the hard truth: Sometimes suffering only leads to our greater obscurity, but His greater glory.
–Anonymous, Embracing Obscurity

Joseph (and several other biblical characters) seemed to go through trial and suffering so that they could come out on the greater end with more prominence later in life. Joseph was sold into slavery by his own brothers, but his suffering led him to become the 2nd highest official in all of Egypt. This “Joseph Principle” has us telling ourselves that we will come out of our suffering like Joseph – in a place of higher prominence and status. But we must remember that this life is not all about us and having our names become great, but rather is all about God and having His Name be made great.

Therefore, the suffering that we endure may not give us more status, more wealth, or more power. In fact, it might just do the opposite. But if we will hold onto God’s hand through the midst of our suffering, He will get greater glory as others see that we continue to praise Him in the midst of the storm. And if He gets greater glory, than we are fulfilling one of the key purposes of our life on earth.

Your suffering today may not make you greater tomorrow, but if you walk through it with God, your suffering today can make God look glorious and great to others – and that is a goal worth suffering for.

Father, help me to endure whatever trials, pain, and suffering come my way by holding onto Jesus and sharing with others how great You are.

Zeal in religion is a burning desire to please God, to do His will, and to advance His glory in the world in every possible way. It is a desire which no man feels by nature — which the Spirit puts in the heart of every believer when he is converted…. A zealous man in religion is pre-eminently a man of one thing. It is not enough to say that he is earnest, hearty, uncompromising, thorough-going, whole-hearted, fervent in spirit. He only sees one thing, he cares for one thing, he lives for one thing, he is swallowed up in one thing; and that one thing is to please God.
–J. C. Ryle

Has your life been swallowed up by that one thing?