The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity. (Msg)
His ascension gives us hope. What we want to be, Jesus already is. (BF)I want to be honest: I am refreshed from a long weekend of inconsistency, thoughts of condemnation and angst. It has been a fight to NOT have the busy-ness that I am so normally accustomed to. Its Spring BREAK, so there are no subbing jobs here, for now. So when I sit and rest, it is important to have thoughts of TRUTH and not lies. But a few lies crept in this weekend. So I had to get in deep in truth and I am so excited that you are reading this, I think the Lord wants to tell us both something. This is what Job tells me today...
...to know wisdom and to have understanding.
"But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell?
- Man does not comprehend its worth; it cannot be found in the land of the living.
- The deep says, 'It is not in me'; the sea says, 'It is not with me.' It cannot be bought with the finest gold, nor can its price be weighed in silver.
- It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or sapphires.
- Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it, nor can it be had for jewels of gold. Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention;
- the price of wisdom is beyond rubies. The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it;
- it cannot be bought with pure gold.
It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
concealed even from the birds of the air.
Destruction and Death say,
'Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.'
God understands the way to it
and He alone knows where it dwells,
for He views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
When He established the force of the wind and measured out the waters, when He made a decree for the rain and a path for the thunderstorm, then He looked at wisdom and appraised it; he confirmed it and tested it.
And He said to man,
'The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.' "
Because Jesus reigns now, we have hope. Even though my eyes are weak and greedy and judgmental and lustful, there stands Christ, with eyes filled with burning purity, holy passion, and selfless love...(p 42-3)
...Some may ask, is it possible to be truly transformed? Yes, indeed--especially when we see the ascended one now reigning...the Christian life is about surrendering to the work Jesus is currently doing; it's opening ourselves up to Christ's presence, wisdom, and power rather than trying to make an impression by relying on our gifts and abilities...(p 44)
The Beautiful Fight: Gary Thomas. Zondervan, 2007.
So where does all this leave me (Amy)? Comforted, in the middle of this life, full of the mistakes that I make--on this rainy Tri-Cities afternoon wondering why I constantly am worried about what the next step is going to be...THIS GIVES ME PEACE...It reminds me I will never be good enough and I will especially fail miserabley if I KEEP TRYING TO DO IT MYSELF! So I will focus on listening to the voice that is the one of TRUTH--"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt...(Jer 31)
This has given me an immense PEACE; I pray it does for you, too:
When You hide your face,
they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.
When you send your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD rejoice in His works-
He who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
I will sing to the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
May my meditation be pleasing to Him,
as I rejoice in the LORD. (Psalm 104...)
Father, I ask that you hold me close to you so that You may ever be honored and glorified by what flows through my heart and when my thoughts are not held captive by You, then I hold in my heart this word: We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor 10:5)
And in the Message, once again, this is a powerful word from 2 Corinthians:
The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.
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