The Holy One calls to me this morning. The mystery of His Presence draws me at first light. What will we talk about today? I grab my coffee and notebook in anticipation.
He begins our conversation with a known fact, "Salvation saves you from judgement". But in His gentle insistence He moves on, "Why then, do you use your salvation as an excuse to judge others? You must let go of your judgements".
It is surely unnerving to realize how the Holy Spirit knows my every thought and the human motive behind every action. Nothing is hidden no matter how hard I try to cover up or shore up my weaknesses, my internal Counselor nails me every time. The Holy One cuts through all the chaff and lingering vestiges of legalism I picked up early on in my "religious" life.
Strongholds are sometimes not so easily broken. A stronghold is a power grip, usually flesh, that we identify with dark forces and blame for our helplessness when we feel that grip. A stronghold is a flesh habit but it starts with a mental tendency that controls us and holds us in bondage to the "tendency" Substance abuse begins with a stronghold, as does immorality, as does legalism.
The Holy Spirit fulfills His role by helping me identify the strongholds in my life and gives me the ability and strength to break the grip so that I can be set free. This is critical to the process of "sanctification" since His goal after salvation is to make me more like my Christ.
Sanctification stalls if I get to the place where I think I have "arrived" and I am beyond indictment with no further need for Holy scrutiny or Divine correction. For me, the struggle against legalism seems to be endless and the Holy Spirit detects where the tentacles are wrapped around my thoughts.
We all know and love John 3:16 NIV, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life". But then right after that statement in John 3:17, He said, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn it but to save the world through Him". And again in John 12:47, Jesus said, "As for the person who hears my words but does not do them, I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world but to save it".
The base of legalism is judgement and that is completely contrary to the life and mission of my Lord. Legalism in me has to be obliterated if I am to represent a true picture of my Lord to the world around me. Legalism assaults the very nature of Christ and can serve as a blockade to any works the Lord might otherwise do through His servant. Legalism fosters a judgement of the people we seek to help and serve in Jesus name. By and through legalism, we can look at the weaker vessels and judge their condition rather than call upon the might of our Lord to fix it.
When the disciples questioned the Lord about the man born blind in John 9:3, "Rabbi. who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?", they reflected the thinking of the day that suffering was a consequence of personal or generational sin. Jesus answered their legalistic question and spoke to them from a different perspective, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned", said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent Me." Jesus cut through a whole lot of legalistic thinking with His explanation of the man's condition and the reason for it.
Depending upon how deep we want to go in grasping God's sovereignty, Jesus provided a picture of an eternal plan that is set over our lives. Nothing is random. God knows the end from the beginning. There are things God wants to do throughout our lives that reveal His personal love and interest in each one of us, If we dare trust Him, His intervention will provide the very testimony that speaks of His love and desire to fix what is broken in our lives.
Add to that the privilege Jesus extended to those who call Him Lord and notice, that Jesus did not say, "I" must do the work of Him who sent Me. Jesus said "WE" must do the work. Jesus included others in the "work" He was sent to do. Jesus set about the work of fixing what was, for this man, a debilitating condition in his life having been blind since birth. Jesus came and in His ministry set up precedents for us to follow as we commit to His Lordship in our lives.
Connecting more of the dots between my thoughts and His gentle rebuke, I can see how my human judgements can affect His Divine intervention. Looking for flesh reasons for for the suffering I see, can stop me from asking my Lord to enter into the places of wounded humanity. I am beginning to see His point: I can devote so much time and thought looking to the cause of human suffering that I fail to just ask for the cure. Could it be that personal judgements are a link in a chain that end in faithless unbelief? Jesus said that if we have the faith as small as a mustard seed, we would be able to move mountains. Forming a personal judgement about why the mountain is there, stalls me in my mission to see it removed.
We serve the One who God sent to save the world and not judge it. Jesus spoke that "We must do the work of Him who sent Me". Jesus wants my participation. Miraculous solutions are waiting to be asked for and claimed, and it is not for me to let personal judgments get in the way.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
He begins our conversation with a known fact, "Salvation saves you from judgement". But in His gentle insistence He moves on, "Why then, do you use your salvation as an excuse to judge others? You must let go of your judgements".
It is surely unnerving to realize how the Holy Spirit knows my every thought and the human motive behind every action. Nothing is hidden no matter how hard I try to cover up or shore up my weaknesses, my internal Counselor nails me every time. The Holy One cuts through all the chaff and lingering vestiges of legalism I picked up early on in my "religious" life.
Strongholds are sometimes not so easily broken. A stronghold is a power grip, usually flesh, that we identify with dark forces and blame for our helplessness when we feel that grip. A stronghold is a flesh habit but it starts with a mental tendency that controls us and holds us in bondage to the "tendency" Substance abuse begins with a stronghold, as does immorality, as does legalism.
The Holy Spirit fulfills His role by helping me identify the strongholds in my life and gives me the ability and strength to break the grip so that I can be set free. This is critical to the process of "sanctification" since His goal after salvation is to make me more like my Christ.
Sanctification stalls if I get to the place where I think I have "arrived" and I am beyond indictment with no further need for Holy scrutiny or Divine correction. For me, the struggle against legalism seems to be endless and the Holy Spirit detects where the tentacles are wrapped around my thoughts.
We all know and love John 3:16 NIV, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life". But then right after that statement in John 3:17, He said, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn it but to save the world through Him". And again in John 12:47, Jesus said, "As for the person who hears my words but does not do them, I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world but to save it".
The base of legalism is judgement and that is completely contrary to the life and mission of my Lord. Legalism in me has to be obliterated if I am to represent a true picture of my Lord to the world around me. Legalism assaults the very nature of Christ and can serve as a blockade to any works the Lord might otherwise do through His servant. Legalism fosters a judgement of the people we seek to help and serve in Jesus name. By and through legalism, we can look at the weaker vessels and judge their condition rather than call upon the might of our Lord to fix it.
When the disciples questioned the Lord about the man born blind in John 9:3, "Rabbi. who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?", they reflected the thinking of the day that suffering was a consequence of personal or generational sin. Jesus answered their legalistic question and spoke to them from a different perspective, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned", said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent Me." Jesus cut through a whole lot of legalistic thinking with His explanation of the man's condition and the reason for it.
Depending upon how deep we want to go in grasping God's sovereignty, Jesus provided a picture of an eternal plan that is set over our lives. Nothing is random. God knows the end from the beginning. There are things God wants to do throughout our lives that reveal His personal love and interest in each one of us, If we dare trust Him, His intervention will provide the very testimony that speaks of His love and desire to fix what is broken in our lives.
Add to that the privilege Jesus extended to those who call Him Lord and notice, that Jesus did not say, "I" must do the work of Him who sent Me. Jesus said "WE" must do the work. Jesus included others in the "work" He was sent to do. Jesus set about the work of fixing what was, for this man, a debilitating condition in his life having been blind since birth. Jesus came and in His ministry set up precedents for us to follow as we commit to His Lordship in our lives.
Connecting more of the dots between my thoughts and His gentle rebuke, I can see how my human judgements can affect His Divine intervention. Looking for flesh reasons for for the suffering I see, can stop me from asking my Lord to enter into the places of wounded humanity. I am beginning to see His point: I can devote so much time and thought looking to the cause of human suffering that I fail to just ask for the cure. Could it be that personal judgements are a link in a chain that end in faithless unbelief? Jesus said that if we have the faith as small as a mustard seed, we would be able to move mountains. Forming a personal judgement about why the mountain is there, stalls me in my mission to see it removed.
We serve the One who God sent to save the world and not judge it. Jesus spoke that "We must do the work of Him who sent Me". Jesus wants my participation. Miraculous solutions are waiting to be asked for and claimed, and it is not for me to let personal judgments get in the way.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
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