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| This from my first trip to Israel - I'm standing just north of the Sea of Galilee, near the City of Capernaum; this is the site most scholars believe Jesus preached His famous message entitled: The Sermon on the Mount! |
Working through a personal quandary this week; namely, the difference between doing & being. Being raised in a home that was all about effort, sweat and hard work (and the rewards thereof...) & reading through the Word of God over the past few years, I have some internal conflict raging in my spirit. My specific issue is there seemingly needs to be movement in order to effectuate anything; however, as I'm preparing an eight week study on the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 for our fellowship in Morro Bay, I'm discovering that these eight characteristics are realized in who we are and Whose we are, not in the realm of production on my nor your part. In other words, if I'm to embrace these truths, then these traits Jesus speaks of truly have to flow from within me and not be reduced to something I do. Am I making sense? Jesus says that I'm - you'll - we'll be blessed, happy, stoked when these are part of our life. And, the humbling reality is that I can't manufacture or conjure up these Godly gems in my journey - its all Him...in and through me. I guess what trying to communicate (and learn!) is that these Beatitudes are present in the life of a believer are just that: BE and not do attitudes. And the doing flows from the being, not the other way around. In short, the lesson I'm trying to own and apply is that for a guy that lives in a fast paced world, being a triple A type and one who is, sad to say, validated by hard work, Psalm 46:10 is in order: Be Still and Know that I Am God! All to say, if you're the busy type like me, look at the picture above and imagine yourself sitting at the feel of Jesus. Its 78 degrees and the Master Himself says, "...come unto Me and I will rest you. For My burden is light and My yoke easy!" Relax, kick back and let the Person of Jesus saturate your life today! As you do, He will flow through you and draw others to His love!
Pastor Randy - Those are some great thoughts and I so get what you are saying, but how do we bridge the gap between the concept and the behavior?! Just last night I prayed that since it is God who created me, my sense of belonging and security in who I am would solely come from Him! The Holy Spirit allowed me to see that my significance and identity needs to come from Him and not from all that I do and am. It is who we are that determines what we do, not what we do that determines who we are. We are saints (Eph 1:1), sons of God through faith (Romans 8:14, 15), the salt of the earth (Matt 5:13), righteous and holy (Eph 4:24), chosen of God, holy and dearly loved (Col 3:12), a citizen of heaven and seated in heaven right now (Phil 3:20), and chosen and appointed by Christ to bear His fruit (John 15:16). Pretty amazing. His love edifies. I pray that we would allow Him to edify us, and that our love might edify each other. I pray that He would be the center of our lives, not us!
ReplyDeleteIn Jesus' name, and with love,
Your sister in Christ, Heidi
(...a friend of Dr. Larry~)
Yeah, it is the Mary-Martha thing again!
ReplyDeleteWell, my sister is working on her Ph.D. and I am a physician, so you can see what kind of home I grew up in. Sound a lot like yours.
All I can say is: great post, but please hit enter and give us a new paragraph from time to time. I need to breathe.
I know, I'm a smart-a**.
ReplyDeletewhat a bummer that I can't "like" Captian & Crew's last post~ jk!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a massive lesson. Sometimes I feel like in order to "be" it, we have to start with the "doing" it. You know get out of the boat already! Then let God shape your heart from there :) Thanks Pastor!