Category: humility

Real Faith and 3D Glasses

Seeing what others cannot

“When He saw their faith.”

Luke 5:20

The healing of the paralyzed man is loaded with lessons for us.  He lies motionless on his pallet, unable to move.  His incredible and loyal friends have dedicated themselves to getting him into Jesus’ presence.  But the house is full; its beyond standing room only, they can’t get close.  They are desperate.  Jesus is so near, they can hear Him teach, and yet so far away.

One of them has a wild idea.  They will lower him down into the room from the roof!  Energized by this thought they put the plan into action.  I can just see them, working feverishly.  When the hole is big enough, they carefully lower the paralyzed man down slowly.  We read that, “Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.” (Luke 5:20).

Example of 3D without glasses

God can see faith.  It is invisible to us, and takes a special work of grace for us to do so.  It is not an easy thing to see faith.  If you go downtown to watch a movie in 3-D the attendant will issue you special glasses.  With them everything is enhanced.

The Lord sees faith, and responds in kind.  His powers of perception and discernment are advanced far beyond our puny human efforts.  But God is pleased when we show our faith by our works. They fascinate Him and He delights when His children prove a living faith by actions.  Our faith can only be seen by what we do.

The faith of the paralyzed man, and the faith of his friends makes them  fluorescent in a black & white world.  It jumps out to Jesus, and it is hard to see anything else.  Faith stands out, and it cannot be hid.

There is so much here in Luke 5, so many lessons and so much wisdom.  Much of it lies at the surface, and can be picked up like gold nuggets.  I think that I could preach six months on this chapter alone.  It is that good.

ybic,  Bryan 

Getting the Pieces to Fit Together

The Wisdom and Prayer of an Anonymous Believer

Lord, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old. Keep me from becoming too talkative, and especially from the unfortunate habit of thinking that I must say something on every subject and at every opportunity.

Release me from the idea that I must straighten out other peoples’ affairs. With my immense treasure of experience and wisdom, it seems a pity not to let everybody partake of it. But thou knowest, Lord, that in the end I will need a few friends.

Keep me from the recital of endless details; give me wings to get to the point.

Grant me the patience to listen to the complaints of others; help me to endure them with charity. But seal my lips on my own aches and pains — they increase with the increasing years and my inclination to recount them is also increasing.

I will not ask thee for improved memory, only for a little more humility and less self-assurance when my own memory doesn’t agree with that of others. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be wrong.

Keep me reasonably gentle. I do not have the ambition to become a saint — it is so hard to live with some of them — but a harsh old person is one of the devil’s masterpieces.

Make me sympathetic without being sentimental, helpful but not bossy. Let me discover merits where I had not expected them, and talents in people whom I had not thought to possess any. And, Lord, give me the grace to tell them so.

Amen.

 

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Back When We Were Grown Ups

 

“I promise you that you cannot get into God’s kingdom, unless you accept it the way a child does.”  Mark 10:15, CEV

“So Jesus called the children over to him and said, “Let the children come to me! Don’t try to stop them. People who are like these children belong to God’s kingdom.”   Luke 18:16, CEV

One of the essential tenets of real discipleship is Jesus’ insistence on his disciples becoming children.  It actually is the entry point for all believers.  Everyone who really believes begins here, at ‘childlikeness’.

It’s interesting to note that ‘religion’ moves in the opposite direction– a level of sophistication is cultivated.  One becomes intellectual, emphasising the ‘academics’ over gentleness and goodness or love.

I think that there is an excessively high appreciation for broad-mindedness, but it is a cultivated, savoir-faire that is really is nothing but an embarrassment to the Kingdom of God.  It seems our discipleship is strongest when it is simplest.  Humbling ourselves is what makes us incredibly authentic– at least from His point-of-view.

And maybe–  just maybe, ‘becoming small’ is exactly what ‘the doctor has ordered’.  We need this, it needs to be imbedded into our hearts, and altering the way we encounter life.  If we are going to be real, then we must become children.  Becoming a child is an imperative.

Who do we think we are?  Often, we start out ‘broken’.  We esteem gentleness and brokenness.  We understand that the most valuable possession we can possess is a ‘childlikeness’. This can be understood by everyone we encounter– especially believers.  But this is only our starting point, we do not outgrow this, never.

Christians are set apart by their childlike heart.

“But I am calm and quiet,
like a baby with its mother.
I am at peace, like a baby with its mother.”

Psalm 131:2

ybic, Bryan

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Prone to Fall, I Feel It

Art by Lynda Finch

“It is true I am weak in faith, and prone to fall, but my very feebleness is the reason why I should always be where thou feedest thy flock, that I may be strengthened and preserved in safety beside the still waters. Why should I turn aside? There is no reason why I should, but there are a thousand reasons why I should not, for Jesus beckons me to come.”

“If he withdraw himself a little, it is but to make me prize his presence more. Now that I am grieved and distressed at being away from him, he will lead me yet again to that sheltered nook where the lambs of his fold are sheltered from the burning sun.”

 

–Charles Spurgeon
Art by Lynda Finch,
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