Sunday, April 11, 2010

where i'm at. (and with Him, where i'm headed)

saints, (he calls me that. us that. don't deserve that. but isn't that grace? love that.)

if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love,
if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete
by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. do nothing out
of selfish ambition or vain conceit
, but in humility consider
others better than yourselves
. each of you should look not only to your own interest,
but also to the interest of others. your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who,
being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but
made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to
death - even death on a cross! therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him
the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven
and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

-paul

as i read this yesterday and again tonight, i realize how far i am from living it. so here's the
brutal honesty...my heart doesn't look like paul says it should. i guess the glass half full
thought is that "i've got lots of room to get better." but the truth is, i hate my pride. and i
have too much of it. it doesn't help me. and it sure doesn't help others who desperately need
less of me and more of Jesus. my eyes have been opened to this. i LOVE that about Truth.
He challenges me.

g

oh, and if you've never heard God speak through david platt, take a listen. trust me. be ready to re-evaluate everything. that's honest.

and here's the talk that has created a further stirring in me. make time for this. he reads, AHEM, speaks romans 1-8. dude's got it memorized. after a minute or two of greeting, he starts. Paul's every word for 8 chapters. not kidding. brandon and i were there. he didn't look down. hid it in his heart. God is GREAT in him (paul's thought in colossians). lots of glory to God the Father in that. i want to know Him like that. "if we don't have urgent missiology, then we don't know the Gospel." his challenge at the end is hard and so very true. take the time to hear and be changed. Christ Jesus deserves all of me.

all. of. me.

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