"God sees in us what we can not see ourselves"
We live in a world that is consumed by entertainment, technology and feeding our fleshly appetites. The first step of John Climacus ladder is renunciation of the world. God is both dark and radiant light. We like living in the light of God's love and power but what about the depths of God's purifying dark fire? Only in the dark do we discover if at all who we really are and how far God will go to redeem us.
Recently I was at a store where a man cut in line in front of me. All day long I sensed the Lord teaching me to not let anything bother me. This man was so completely consumed within himself that he did not really care about anyone else around him but only himself. Suddenly I was greatly disturbed but why? I was not in a hurry. He may have been in a hurry but I was not so why did it bother me so? Then like looking into a mirror I saw what I would look like without God in my life. The reason it bothered me so was because I was looking at myself but I did not know it at the time.
I remember another time when I was driving down the road and saw a crippled man with no legs. He was scooting along the side walk and as I was looking at him I heard God's quiet voice say, "there goes Jesus!" May God help me to see Jesus in every person around me. May others see Christ in me as I see Christ in them.
I do not renounce the world because I don't love the world but because I am a man from another world. I am called to be a citizen of heaven on earth. When the Chinese government was persecuting Christians several decades ago, they asked Christians if they were an earthly person or heavenly person. If they said heavenly, then that means they served God over their government and they kept them in prison. Many were brutally tortured, starved, and mistreated. If someone said they were an earthly person, then they would let them go because that was like renouncing Christ and God's heavenly kingdom.
We must be constantly on guard against the flesh. The Holy Spirit shows us how powerless we are to live for God and how flawed and limited we are when it comes to standing up against the powers of this world. God is also teaching me not to grumble or complain for that is a sign of unbelief (Hebrews 3:7-14).
God is removing my attachments to this world and even the concerns for daily life. My mind is preoccupied with Christ and everything else is like a blur compared to his surpassing greatness. I can not even do the simple things of life anymore without God's help. On my own I simply am a man of unclean lips. Only power on high can give us the strength to overcome the world with all its distractions, deceptions and demonic attachments.
No comments:
Post a Comment