Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Purification Through Praise
I'm going to throw something out here for minute. I know it might sound weird, and if you're a reader, perhaps you can help me find some Scripture to reinforce these ideas.
Very simply, I find that through the praise of the grace of God, I am sanctified. Almost instantly. What are the spiritual implications of praise? How do we praise God in Spirit and Truth? Recognizing the goodness of God, and standing in awe of it, that's praise. That moment when the grace of Christ manifests itself to your soul, and you are stricken dumb by the shear majesty of its infinite glory, is when praise overwhelms your heart and mind.
The action of praise unto the glory of the grace of the gospel of God, and even the glory of the grace of the reception of this treasure, and yet still the praise of the glory of the grace of the understanding of our worthlessness: peels the flesh from our soul and we are bare to cling to the Savior. Barren of the fruit of worldliness and fertile with the Seed of Righteousness.
I find that too often, I become numb to the devastation of sin in the lives of men. This brings about a coldness that freezes love, and a comfort that grieves the Spirit. Yes, a comfort that grieves. Strange to say, but in detail, I realize that when I lose the connection with the broken, and when I forget the fallen condition of the lost, I forget my own dependence on grace, and I gradually lose the ability to remain in a state of brokenness. Because I buy into the lie that I am doing well, or rather, that I am well enough on my own. More succinctly, I am well enough now that Jesus has helped me a little, and I can do the rest on my own. I am speaking as I would in the flesh, but in the Spirit, I say I am only as the grace that I have received unto this point, and will only be as the grace I have faith to receive beyond it.
Let us purify our souls from idols, let us shine like a radiant blade in the hand of the Lord. Let the furnace be the love of God, let the anvil be the Cross of Christ, and let the hammer be the Holy Spirit.
Very simply, I find that through the praise of the grace of God, I am sanctified. Almost instantly. What are the spiritual implications of praise? How do we praise God in Spirit and Truth? Recognizing the goodness of God, and standing in awe of it, that's praise. That moment when the grace of Christ manifests itself to your soul, and you are stricken dumb by the shear majesty of its infinite glory, is when praise overwhelms your heart and mind.
The action of praise unto the glory of the grace of the gospel of God, and even the glory of the grace of the reception of this treasure, and yet still the praise of the glory of the grace of the understanding of our worthlessness: peels the flesh from our soul and we are bare to cling to the Savior. Barren of the fruit of worldliness and fertile with the Seed of Righteousness.
I find that too often, I become numb to the devastation of sin in the lives of men. This brings about a coldness that freezes love, and a comfort that grieves the Spirit. Yes, a comfort that grieves. Strange to say, but in detail, I realize that when I lose the connection with the broken, and when I forget the fallen condition of the lost, I forget my own dependence on grace, and I gradually lose the ability to remain in a state of brokenness. Because I buy into the lie that I am doing well, or rather, that I am well enough on my own. More succinctly, I am well enough now that Jesus has helped me a little, and I can do the rest on my own. I am speaking as I would in the flesh, but in the Spirit, I say I am only as the grace that I have received unto this point, and will only be as the grace I have faith to receive beyond it.
Let us purify our souls from idols, let us shine like a radiant blade in the hand of the Lord. Let the furnace be the love of God, let the anvil be the Cross of Christ, and let the hammer be the Holy Spirit.
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