Call out

And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”Acts 7:59 (ESV)

Today the phrase "called out" keeps circulating in my mind. Jesus called out for Lazarus to come forth. And here Stephen calls out for his home. 

 

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. Hebrews  11:8

Hmm....I am calling out today. In return of Him coming down and rising again I call out. In the midst of misunderstanding, joy, trial, and excitement I call out. You reign! Though I am weak you are strong. Even in this You Are.

 

Faith as big as a mustard seed.

Faith as simple as a child.

Faith that can move mountains.

mmmm.....

One Tocsin

After listening to YouTube link:

Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus || Spoken Word 

 I am a tad bit perplexed. Again I refer to The Valley of the Vision and the paradox of the Christian life. Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful when I see young people, especially men, speaking out about faith. This poetic response is raw and bold. I am stirred up to think that people in this present generation are looking for a life resembling pure Jesus. 

Then there is a yellow flag that rises up in my self. Are we not calling the kettle black? Just a tad? When we call these law keepers out? Many well meaning people who do their best to follow Christ, come across as "religious" we might say. We believe them to be demeaning with their judgments and harsh in their accusations. Aren’t their intentions that they lead others toward honest repentance? 

I think of John 2:  

The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me." 

So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. 

Here Christ responds to the waywardness of the people and the intentions of their hearts. I am sure some of them had pure shock, not knowing the disgrace that their actions were bringing to God's Worship Center.  And some, also not at all surprised, because of the guilt they had felt in the past regarding their actions. 

Zeal to make things right. Was it the Zeal set before him to endure the cross? Is that where frustration was coming from. Knowing he was giving up so much and they were willing to give up so little? Here is where I come to my concern.

Humility is a fine line. In the timeline of our faith, we see Christ for who He is. We are raised up from our ashes of a life. Where there was once cheating, lying, beating down, back stabbing, frustration, self preservation and dissension, we now have grace. We are no longer empowered by self righteousness and false emotions, we have the Holy Spirit with the Sword. The Creator of This Universe's words written plainly for us to hide in our hearts that we may live a life pleasing to Him. And in doing that we start thinking that we know more than this world. That we have a one up on the people that don't know. That those who are being manipulated by evil and don't see the full picture of the death, burial, and resurrection concerning this life and the one to come are somehow the bad guys. So we shout "You should have more grace!" at those we feel judge us. All the while we are blinded. That is not grace. We cheer "Yeah world, take that!" But the people of this world are not the enemy. There is only one of those and he was defeated approx 2000 and 12 years ago. 

I think if we are really going to set out to remove boundaries of religion, we need to stop clumping people. Aren't those who are most wounded hurt other the most? What should we say then? 

Tenth Avenue North wrote it well in their song "Love is here".

"Love is here.
Love is now.
Love is pouring from
His hands, from His brows.
Love is near, it satisfies.
Streams of mercy flowing from His side.
Cuz love is here."

Let's face it. Who wants to be a resounding gong? Let all this world go. Let love reign. Maybe some of us in our desire to bring God glory just use all that He has done for us as a platform to gain something in this world that is not ours. There is only One who can be lifted up. And I am not it. I have been guilty of this. This daily struggle of self-promotion. Using God's grace, His love and mercy, His wisdom and blessing to even further my own ego. I am one breath away-everyday from being a gong. 

May our lives be the temple. Full of Mercy and Grace. I pray Lord today that you raise us up. Make us vessels of your loving kindness.

 

Crafted

He can do all things. All things are possible though Him. He can change people's lives. No man on his own can dramaitcally change his life for good. He can practice will which will lead to change to some degree, but it is only God that can change the heart of a man. Each of us has a fingerprint. A stamp of our originality given to us by the Creator. We are marked all over with the thoughtfulness and intentionality of His will for us to exist. His own heart poured out . We are the finishing touch of His creation.

We grow. We mature. Shaped by environment and knowledge. We see from every growing inch. The world in a different way. And God sees it all. We come in this world with hands clasp tight and we work hard all our days. Toiling, relating, laughing, hurting, worrying, singing, and all for one purpose. To pry our hands open toward God. The Only One. Who in his loving kindness can fill us. Who can pour life changing Truth into our Holy handcrafted shells and bring alive the fruit of His Spirit that we are worthless without.

"To God be the glory, great things he hath done!
So loved he the world that he gave us his Son,
who yielded his life an atonement for sin,
and opened the life-gate that all may go in.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, 
let the earth hear his voice!  
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, 
let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son, 
and give him the glory, great things he hath done!

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, 
to every believer the promise of God; 
the vilest offender who truly believes, 
that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Great things he hath taught us, great things he hath done, 
and great our rejoicing thru Jesus the Son; 
but purer, and higher, and greater will be 
our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see."

 "To God be the Glory"  by: Fanny J. Crosby