Brian preached on Joseph and Judah in church this morning-- what a beautiful message of love and redemption for the losers who just can't get it together, no matter how hard they try. (You can listen to it here if you like.) How often I put myself in that category-- and wear it as a badge of shame. But that's not right-- it is my only glory. As Paul says in Phillipians 3:
"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."
O Lord help me to stop trusting in myself-- Help me to accept myself as flawed and broken and to see any good thing that does happen as a testimony to Your grace and glory, and not the beginnings of some broken runged ladder that I can try to use to climb to You.
But I still struggle with how sanctification fits in-- how does one strive to be like Christ without relying on that performance to please God? Reading in 2 Corinthians 12, I wonder if thorn in my flesh can be my yet uneradicated sinfulness? Maybe God doesn't take it away to remind me of how much I need him? Can that apply to this verse? I've certainly never thought about it that way before. Here is the passage I'm thinking of:
"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.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
So here's to walking or limping rather, in weakness, and praying that the Lord would accomplish all His purposes to His glory.
1 comment:
"some broken runged ladder that I can try to use to climb to You." What perfect imagery to describe how we can try to work for the standing that we've already attained via simple trust in the completed work of Christ. Now if I can just keep my trust & focus in the right place, I'll stay off that rickety thing! Love you Jordan!
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