"Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." - Mark 9:50 ESV
This weekend when we were meeting with the men P Butch Veader brought up the idea of posture and it intrigued me. I have been working on mine the last year or so. Technology like phones and computers tend to erode this. We bend over to look at things. Keeping our back straight (chin up, shoulders back and chest out) is important on several levels. As men we are stronger and look stronger. We can stay healthier with a straight strong back and core. Our circulation is better. Other men who go by appearances will be more likely to listen to a man who looks strong then one who looks lazy and weak. That is how the world is.
The concept of righteousness in the Hebrew involves the ability to look someone in the face. Posture is involved in that.
Good posture takes effort. As we get older it can take more effort. Our shoulders need a degree of tension... not much... but some tension in a continuous way and once good posture is achieved it can be maintained with less effort but if we relax too much for too long it will be lost.
The end of Mark chapter nine throws a few concepts at us about restraint and this idea of saltiness...
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire... And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell... And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,... For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." - Mark 9:42-43, 45, 47, 49-50 ESV
Salt was added to certain offerings in the Hebrew scriptures. It is a needed ingredient. What will i say? What will i do? Can i endure for someone else's sake or do i have to run my mouth and get relief? Will i be a man who pulls his shoulders back and stands upright or a weak minded person who slouches and does not have strength in situations? Will i react or respond with proven gracious principles?
If we wait until the situation happens to prepare we may well be unprepared and the 'little ones' that need to see someone who has fortitude won't be covered and protected.
Salty people can be at peace with one another. I know a few men who have been salted with fire. They have endured hardship. They have had the fires of difficulty and they have also had the fire of the Holy Spirit function in their lives and they are not tasteless. They have depth.
Everyone reading this can be a person of substance. It isn't going to come by effort. Uprightness is a gift from God. God gives us the posture of His Son. That is mystical and amazing to think about. Taking time with Him and hearing His word makes us want to to put our shoulders back and walk looking God in the face. Grace works in us and our thinking and emotions become 'straight' again.
God gives and we receive. We see Him and we become like Him in transformation. Then we walk that way.
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Showing posts with label Endurance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Endurance. Show all posts
Monday, June 4, 2018
Monday, December 8, 2014
I Am Not Ready To Stop
Last night we had a wonderful worship time at Church. I raised one hand in worship like I sometimes do and my arm began to get tired so I raised both arms. Then both got tired but the presence of God was so strong and rich that I didn't want to put my arms down. Instead I ignored this small momentary pain refusing to let my bodies wants dictate the expression of my spiritual desire.
This may sound strange to some. Worshiping through the pain. Praying on your knees even though your knees hurt. Studying past tiredness. Knocking on one more set of doors. Deciding to rest when I don't want to rest so that I can have more to give the next day. Resisting the resistance.
"Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber; save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler. Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man." - Proverbs 6:4-11 ESV
The ants are not legalistic. They are not trying to impress anyone. They have no ruler driving them. They have a kind of focus and organization that bears mentioning in the scriptures.
"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me." - 1 Corinthians 15:10 ESV
At times I know it is grace working in me. Other times I'm not sure. There are time when God convicts me that what I am doing is being done in the flesh and to repent by turning to Him and entering into a fresh focus.
"For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe." - 1 Timothy 4:8-10 ESV
Anyone who has trained for anything and has stuck it out for a period of time knows that bodily exercise is of great value. The last set of push-ups when your chest is burning and your arms are shaking is the most valuable set. The lap you didn't want to run is what pushes you from good to great.
If exercising the body is good, and it is, then exercising Godliness has that value and more. I want to live on Earth as if I am already in Heaven. The world, the flesh and the devil will say, 'Let's be realistic. That isn't possible.' I say back, 'My spiritual bones are unbreakable.'
Some might say, 'Great. You are just going to reinforce the legalist's works program with this approach. You are in one yourself.' I say the source is everything.
The fundamental motivation of grace is paramount. I refuse to live in mediocrity. I have been given an instrument and I want to play it. Grace has made me free to give my all. God gave His all to me. Now He is all in all and this old body, mind and soul is getting thrown into the mix by faith.
I choose to exercise my will to function in the quickening available to me in little ways by saying, 'No. I am not ready to stop. This is too good.'
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This may sound strange to some. Worshiping through the pain. Praying on your knees even though your knees hurt. Studying past tiredness. Knocking on one more set of doors. Deciding to rest when I don't want to rest so that I can have more to give the next day. Resisting the resistance.
"Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber; save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler. Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man." - Proverbs 6:4-11 ESV
The ants are not legalistic. They are not trying to impress anyone. They have no ruler driving them. They have a kind of focus and organization that bears mentioning in the scriptures.
"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me." - 1 Corinthians 15:10 ESV
At times I know it is grace working in me. Other times I'm not sure. There are time when God convicts me that what I am doing is being done in the flesh and to repent by turning to Him and entering into a fresh focus.
"For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe." - 1 Timothy 4:8-10 ESV
Anyone who has trained for anything and has stuck it out for a period of time knows that bodily exercise is of great value. The last set of push-ups when your chest is burning and your arms are shaking is the most valuable set. The lap you didn't want to run is what pushes you from good to great.
If exercising the body is good, and it is, then exercising Godliness has that value and more. I want to live on Earth as if I am already in Heaven. The world, the flesh and the devil will say, 'Let's be realistic. That isn't possible.' I say back, 'My spiritual bones are unbreakable.'
Some might say, 'Great. You are just going to reinforce the legalist's works program with this approach. You are in one yourself.' I say the source is everything.
The fundamental motivation of grace is paramount. I refuse to live in mediocrity. I have been given an instrument and I want to play it. Grace has made me free to give my all. God gave His all to me. Now He is all in all and this old body, mind and soul is getting thrown into the mix by faith.
I choose to exercise my will to function in the quickening available to me in little ways by saying, 'No. I am not ready to stop. This is too good.'
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Saturday, January 4, 2014
Rest Has The Resources
Caring about people is a byproduct of knowing God's grace. I'm not giving up on anyone who is breathing air. That is my conviction
The number of people in the world is overwhelming. The number in our lives can seem that way. Needs go beyond us. We can only be in one place at a time. The beach is littered with starfish. We can only throw one back in at a time. Etc... etc...
Rest can live never giving up. It has the resources to live that way. Jesus sits in Heaven never giving up.
The next step after 'I'm never giving up' is 'I'll never be offended if rejected.' One enables the other. Try these two without the relaxation that grace brings and the fire will consume you. Jesus is fire that frees us and sends us while preserving us.
So, if you have ever been in my life you will always be in my life. God will sort it all out at the Bema seat (judgment for believers) and the White Throne (Judgment for unbelievers). As for me I'm not here to judge anyone. I'm just here to love people.
Jesus' life and words will separate the sheep from the goats in the end anyway.
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The number of people in the world is overwhelming. The number in our lives can seem that way. Needs go beyond us. We can only be in one place at a time. The beach is littered with starfish. We can only throw one back in at a time. Etc... etc...
Rest can live never giving up. It has the resources to live that way. Jesus sits in Heaven never giving up.
The next step after 'I'm never giving up' is 'I'll never be offended if rejected.' One enables the other. Try these two without the relaxation that grace brings and the fire will consume you. Jesus is fire that frees us and sends us while preserving us.
So, if you have ever been in my life you will always be in my life. God will sort it all out at the Bema seat (judgment for believers) and the White Throne (Judgment for unbelievers). As for me I'm not here to judge anyone. I'm just here to love people.
Jesus' life and words will separate the sheep from the goats in the end anyway.
--
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