The Holy One calls to me this morning. My wandering thoughts flit from subject to subject. The early hour and darkness speaks of yesterday's frustration not left behind.
"Can I never get cut a break? Do I always have to wake up to the war?"
The Holy One knows my sense of humor so He responds, "I told you long ago, you need to learn to love the war, 'cause it's going to be your life."
"OK, OK, but could you help me get into my armor today? It's all kind of disheveled. The buckle of Truth is half way around my waist, my Peace laces are untied, my Breastplate is a little crooked, my Shield is very heavy and I'm still fumbling with my Sword! At least my Helmet is secure, but I really need your help today just getting dressed for the battle." (Ephesians 6)
And so it goes. We laugh together and cry together and look out over the landscape like Lewis and Clark. So what priceless nugget of wisdom am I about to receive from the Holy One? It's not long in surveying the horizon that I hear Him say, "Count the cost".
He takes me back to the words of my Jesus in Luke 14:28, "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?" The same passage talks about a King going to war against another King and the necessity of considering what it means and whether or not he has the resources to fight and win the war.
The point is well taken. The Holy Spirit touches on the subject of being a Disciple of Jesus Christ. To be a Disciple of Jesus requires sacrifice. Jesus does not want a blind naive commitment that expects only blessings. As our relationship with Him grows, so does the requirement to surrender to His ways.
That is why so many fall away. The cost to be a Disciple, after a while, can be like a bucket of cold water on our hot passionate heart. The road is narrow and treacherous. Sometimes we lose sight of Him. Dark forces call out to us to abandon Him; to join in the revelry of rebellion and the comfort of a flesh way station. A way station which is, in reality, a dark prison from whence there may be no escape.
The cost of being His Disciple is complete surrender. And complete surrender is costly to our flesh. The good news is that once we go there, once the mental battle in resistance has been won, the Holy Spirit takes us the rest of the way in His strength. While the highway of Holiness is a difficult path, for every temptation to turn back, there is a way of escape. I Corinth 10:13.
Today I look at the war and I remember. For a moment (or for days) I forgot the cost and what has already been invested. Today, I am brought back to the moment when I said, "Here I am Lord, send me".
Counting the cost also requires vision. It's not just what must be sacrificed in counting and paying the cost but we must also remember the goal and the reason. Jesus, when looking at humanity in the depths of our depravity and what it would take to redeem us, counted the cost and paid it willingly.
I wonder what the vision of redeemed humanity was like for our Savior? As He suffered so much alone on the Cross of Calvary, was He thinking of the day He would hold us in His arms?
The battle we fight, the race we run, the puzzle we work; however you look at life to compete and complete, it's in Eternity with our Creator, in the arms of our Savior and in the paradise of where we truly belong that we will find our reward. This life is but a vapor in the context of Eternity, a passing through on our way to the real place of ultimate contentment.
I am thankful for our early morning conference today. When the road is hard and the cost to inch forward seems high, I am thankful to be reminded by the Holy One of the end, when all my hopes and dreams will become reality. And, when the cost of following Jesus will seem as nothing compared to the cost He paid for me.
"The one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind, and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" Phil 3:13-14
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
"Can I never get cut a break? Do I always have to wake up to the war?"
The Holy One knows my sense of humor so He responds, "I told you long ago, you need to learn to love the war, 'cause it's going to be your life."
"OK, OK, but could you help me get into my armor today? It's all kind of disheveled. The buckle of Truth is half way around my waist, my Peace laces are untied, my Breastplate is a little crooked, my Shield is very heavy and I'm still fumbling with my Sword! At least my Helmet is secure, but I really need your help today just getting dressed for the battle." (Ephesians 6)
And so it goes. We laugh together and cry together and look out over the landscape like Lewis and Clark. So what priceless nugget of wisdom am I about to receive from the Holy One? It's not long in surveying the horizon that I hear Him say, "Count the cost".
He takes me back to the words of my Jesus in Luke 14:28, "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?" The same passage talks about a King going to war against another King and the necessity of considering what it means and whether or not he has the resources to fight and win the war.
The point is well taken. The Holy Spirit touches on the subject of being a Disciple of Jesus Christ. To be a Disciple of Jesus requires sacrifice. Jesus does not want a blind naive commitment that expects only blessings. As our relationship with Him grows, so does the requirement to surrender to His ways.
That is why so many fall away. The cost to be a Disciple, after a while, can be like a bucket of cold water on our hot passionate heart. The road is narrow and treacherous. Sometimes we lose sight of Him. Dark forces call out to us to abandon Him; to join in the revelry of rebellion and the comfort of a flesh way station. A way station which is, in reality, a dark prison from whence there may be no escape.
The cost of being His Disciple is complete surrender. And complete surrender is costly to our flesh. The good news is that once we go there, once the mental battle in resistance has been won, the Holy Spirit takes us the rest of the way in His strength. While the highway of Holiness is a difficult path, for every temptation to turn back, there is a way of escape. I Corinth 10:13.
Today I look at the war and I remember. For a moment (or for days) I forgot the cost and what has already been invested. Today, I am brought back to the moment when I said, "Here I am Lord, send me".
Counting the cost also requires vision. It's not just what must be sacrificed in counting and paying the cost but we must also remember the goal and the reason. Jesus, when looking at humanity in the depths of our depravity and what it would take to redeem us, counted the cost and paid it willingly.
I wonder what the vision of redeemed humanity was like for our Savior? As He suffered so much alone on the Cross of Calvary, was He thinking of the day He would hold us in His arms?
The battle we fight, the race we run, the puzzle we work; however you look at life to compete and complete, it's in Eternity with our Creator, in the arms of our Savior and in the paradise of where we truly belong that we will find our reward. This life is but a vapor in the context of Eternity, a passing through on our way to the real place of ultimate contentment.
I am thankful for our early morning conference today. When the road is hard and the cost to inch forward seems high, I am thankful to be reminded by the Holy One of the end, when all my hopes and dreams will become reality. And, when the cost of following Jesus will seem as nothing compared to the cost He paid for me.
"The one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind, and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" Phil 3:13-14
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
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