Tag: wisdom

The King Concept

“Power and peace will be in his kingdom
       and will continue to grow forever.
    He will rule as king on David’s throne
       and over David’s kingdom.
    He will make it strong
       by ruling with justice and goodness
       from now on and forever.
    The Lord All-Powerful will do this
       because of his strong love for his people.”

Isaiah 9:7, NCV

Things are now finally falling into place.  Jesus brings with Him a very definite sense of the Kingdom.  Darkness has been tricked.  It has been totally overcome by His presence.  The twin attributes of power and of peace are penetrating everything they touch.  We will no longer have to put up with deception and sin.

This intervention will continue, forever.  All I can do, is witness to its power.  Nothing phases it.  It continues to advance without melodramatics or manipulation.  He fully intends to sit on the throne of David; it is His by right and by deed.  Because, after all, He is the true King.

He is not just a token king, or a king in idea or theory.  He does rule, fully and completely.  He fortifies the kingdom and brings an intentional awareness to His subjects of true love and peace.  The concepts of justice and goodness, which have never really been considered, are released into the lives of the people.

There is a pervasive sense that this will continue and endure.  The King and the kingdom has come  (and there isn’t a thing we can do about it.)  This is not a ‘flash in the pan’.  It has the idea of eternity stamped all over it.  What He is doing is eternal.  It is not temporary or fleeting.  What He is doing is nothing more than revolution in the spiritual realm.

Our verse in Isaiah 9, speaks resoundly about ‘love’.  It is His love that pushes through all this turmoil and confusion.  He loves us to the extent of dying in our place.  Love is what energizes Him, it causes Him to look for us.  Love are the ‘rails’ He moves on, to come to us.  When He finally locates us, He purchases us with His own money off of the slave block.  No questions and no demands.

Because He is all-powerful, He cannot be limited to the status of a ‘quasi-God’. His complete strength allows Him the option of doing whatever He chooses.  There are voices, scattered and strained, that have the audacity to claim that they really rule.  But if we think about, we discover that this is nothing more then a spiritual comedy being played out.

As we think about Isaiah, and his prophetic awareness, we are brought to an understanding that absolutely ‘rocks’ our world.  Jesus flips it all on its head, and the weakest become the strongest. He alone is our hope.  And He has done it all.

&

ybic, Bryan

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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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A Fatal Disease Called Sin

“Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

Hebrews 7:25

This defies reason.  No matter how diseased your spirit, or black and vile your sin, Jesus reaches you.  He takes extreme cases, and loves each person who comes.  Mercy is the real currency of the Kingdom of God.

“Our Saviour kneels down and gazes upon the darkest acts of our lives. But rather than recoil in horror, he reaches out in kindness and says, ‘I can clean that if you want.’ And from the basin of his grace, he scoops a palm full of mercy and washes our sin.”

Max Lucado 

The Kingdom is thriving.  “Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more.”  The behavior of our Lord is astonishing.  He cleanses us daily from the sin and darkness we commit.  He stands in a place of intense intervention for us.  He is a gifted intercessor and prays consistently and efficiently. 

Dialysis is a medical procedure that works to cleanse and purify a person’s blood. Those with sick kidneys can hook up to a device that filters out toxins and wastes out. It is an intervention that exists until a healthy kidney can be found. Often, in times of prayer and worship, I picture my own heart being cleansed from sin. People sometimes miss their dialysis– this can lead to confusion and mental impairment. You might say that Jesus is God’s mechanism for healing my soul.

Being touched by Him is the only reason we live.  We have no reason and there is no relevance without being with Him.  Our issues (which some call weaknesses) are His way of blessing us.  “In our weaknesses, we become strong”.

@

ybic, Bryan

 

 

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