(by Brennan Manning, in his book "The Ragamuffin Gospel")
Most of the descriptions of the victorious life do not match the reality of my own. Hyperbole, bloated rhetoric, and grandiose testimonies create the impression that once Jesus is acknowledged as Lord, the Christian life becomes a picnic on a green lawn - marriage blossoms into connubial bliss, physical health flourishes, acne disappears, and sinking careers suddenly soar. Idyllic descriptions of victory in Jesus are more often colored by cultural and personal expectations than by Christ...
The New Testament depicts another picture of the victorious life...Jesus on Calvary. The biblical image of the victorious life reads more like the victorious limp. Jesus was victorious not because He never flinched, talked back, or questioned, but having flinched, talked back, and questioned, He remained faithful.
What makes authentic disciples is not visions, ecstasies, biblical mastery of chapter and verse, or spectacular success in the ministry, but a capacity for faithfulness. Buffeted by the fickle winds of failure, battered by their own unruly emotions, and bruised by rejection and ridicule, authentic disciples may have stumbled and frequently fallen, endured lapses and relapses, gotten handcuffed to the fleshpots and wandered into a far country. Yet, they kept coming back to Jesus.
After life has lined their faces a little, many followers of Jesus come into a coherent sense of themselves for the first time...Where sin abounded, grace has more abounded.
Laugh & Lift at http://www.laughandlift.com/list.html
My Comments: I hesitate sometimes to make comments at the end of these devotionals, because I think the comments begin to sound super-religious, like I have attained some special level of Christianity. I haven’t. I struggle every day to just do what’s right at that given moment. I am so weak, but He is strong, and He promises to make me strong through Him. I must remain faithful.
Most of the descriptions of the victorious life do not match the reality of my own. Hyperbole, bloated rhetoric, and grandiose testimonies create the impression that once Jesus is acknowledged as Lord, the Christian life becomes a picnic on a green lawn - marriage blossoms into connubial bliss, physical health flourishes, acne disappears, and sinking careers suddenly soar. Idyllic descriptions of victory in Jesus are more often colored by cultural and personal expectations than by Christ...
The New Testament depicts another picture of the victorious life...Jesus on Calvary. The biblical image of the victorious life reads more like the victorious limp. Jesus was victorious not because He never flinched, talked back, or questioned, but having flinched, talked back, and questioned, He remained faithful.
What makes authentic disciples is not visions, ecstasies, biblical mastery of chapter and verse, or spectacular success in the ministry, but a capacity for faithfulness. Buffeted by the fickle winds of failure, battered by their own unruly emotions, and bruised by rejection and ridicule, authentic disciples may have stumbled and frequently fallen, endured lapses and relapses, gotten handcuffed to the fleshpots and wandered into a far country. Yet, they kept coming back to Jesus.
After life has lined their faces a little, many followers of Jesus come into a coherent sense of themselves for the first time...Where sin abounded, grace has more abounded.
Laugh & Lift at http://www.laughandlift.com/list.html
My Comments: I hesitate sometimes to make comments at the end of these devotionals, because I think the comments begin to sound super-religious, like I have attained some special level of Christianity. I haven’t. I struggle every day to just do what’s right at that given moment. I am so weak, but He is strong, and He promises to make me strong through Him. I must remain faithful.
No comments:
Post a Comment