The greatest barrier that comes between me and my communion with the Lord is most certainly myself. My preconceived notions, presumptions and stubborn self Lordship. In order for Christ to take His rightful place upon the throne of my soul, I must first relinquish the authority of my life to my king. Acknowledging, that as a victim of the fall I have iniquitously avulsed Christ since the time of my conception. He stands humbly awaiting His reprisal to His throne, though He would be undoubtedly justified in vindicating His honor by eternally shunning me. I stand as an undeserving vessel to be indwelt by His presence, yet without reason Christ extends His hand and even more so encourages my own hand to grasp Him. A simple gesture, with overwhelming blessing.
I then ask, do we see ourselves as mutual sufferers of the same condition, depraved vessels, suitable for noting less than summary destruction?
I think not. Rather we have taken pride in our sanctification, something Paul explicitly warned us against.[1] Reveling in our unearned sanctification, we parade the gifts that our Father has blessed us
with, as though they were the wages of our own sweat. But the sweat is not our own, it has dried up long ago, and returned to the ground along with the blood soaked wood that exists now only as dust. Have we forgotten who paid for our sanctification? Are we so ignorant that we honestly think others want remember? We display our blessings, as craftsman would display the fruit of His labors. But we are not craftsmen, were indentured servants incapable of creating anything of substance without the explicit will and ability of our capable Lord.
Do not pawn the treasures which our Lord, our Christ paid for with His flesh, treating our blessings as trinkets for which we can reap meaningless pennies. You sully there value, disregard their cost, ignore Christ sacrifice and swindle His gift into which He has poured Himself. For when you disrespect His sacrifice, by devaluing the worth of Christ’s precious gift, not only are you a perjurer, taking the credit that you do not deserve. You are abusers of those around you, for you deny them access to the life giver, posing yourselves as the giver of life. Knowing with certainty that the substance you sell is certain death. So not mere abusers, but murderers, every man that looks to you and not the Lord, for truth and hope and life, their blood is on you hands. You have not simply deceived them, but knowingly dragged them from the path which leads to our Lord. Liars, abusers and murderers of the confused, weak and ignorant. This is the sin of the prideful and arrogant man who takes pride in His works, in His sanctification.
We are mere vessels, undeserving of Christ’s gift of the Holy Spirit within us. We then should not judge the man who does not yield Himself to the Spirit, this man suffers enough pain simply being removed from the communion with the Lord of which we are blessed to partake.
Instead of shaming your fellow man, grieve with him. Enter into His pain and suffering, then you will know the value of the Spirit which dwells within your soul. Then you will attribute what little good that comes from you to the true source. Then you can praise Christ and know why you praise Him. It may seem you are merely ministering to the broken man, but you are not, you are acknowledging your mutual brokenness and suffering not only in his pain, but the pain of your own depravity. In doing so you join in communal suffering and grieving, with a God who grieves along side and with us.
Reflect on these attributes and see if you can enter into another mans suffering, it will most assuredly reveal your own weakness and suffering, as well as the pain that Christ suffers with us.
I then ask, do we see ourselves as mutual sufferers of the same condition, depraved vessels, suitable for noting less than summary destruction?
I think not. Rather we have taken pride in our sanctification, something Paul explicitly warned us against.[1] Reveling in our unearned sanctification, we parade the gifts that our Father has blessed us
with, as though they were the wages of our own sweat. But the sweat is not our own, it has dried up long ago, and returned to the ground along with the blood soaked wood that exists now only as dust. Have we forgotten who paid for our sanctification? Are we so ignorant that we honestly think others want remember? We display our blessings, as craftsman would display the fruit of His labors. But we are not craftsmen, were indentured servants incapable of creating anything of substance without the explicit will and ability of our capable Lord.
Do not pawn the treasures which our Lord, our Christ paid for with His flesh, treating our blessings as trinkets for which we can reap meaningless pennies. You sully there value, disregard their cost, ignore Christ sacrifice and swindle His gift into which He has poured Himself. For when you disrespect His sacrifice, by devaluing the worth of Christ’s precious gift, not only are you a perjurer, taking the credit that you do not deserve. You are abusers of those around you, for you deny them access to the life giver, posing yourselves as the giver of life. Knowing with certainty that the substance you sell is certain death. So not mere abusers, but murderers, every man that looks to you and not the Lord, for truth and hope and life, their blood is on you hands. You have not simply deceived them, but knowingly dragged them from the path which leads to our Lord. Liars, abusers and murderers of the confused, weak and ignorant. This is the sin of the prideful and arrogant man who takes pride in His works, in His sanctification.
We are mere vessels, undeserving of Christ’s gift of the Holy Spirit within us. We then should not judge the man who does not yield Himself to the Spirit, this man suffers enough pain simply being removed from the communion with the Lord of which we are blessed to partake.
Instead of shaming your fellow man, grieve with him. Enter into His pain and suffering, then you will know the value of the Spirit which dwells within your soul. Then you will attribute what little good that comes from you to the true source. Then you can praise Christ and know why you praise Him. It may seem you are merely ministering to the broken man, but you are not, you are acknowledging your mutual brokenness and suffering not only in his pain, but the pain of your own depravity. In doing so you join in communal suffering and grieving, with a God who grieves along side and with us.
Reflect on these attributes and see if you can enter into another mans suffering, it will most assuredly reveal your own weakness and suffering, as well as the pain that Christ suffers with us.
Concerned, yielded, contrite, broken, humble, teachable, sensitive, impressionable, repentant, attentive, reflective, introspective, compassionate
[1] Romans 3:27, 1 Corinthians 1:5, 1 Corinthians 4:7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?