Tuesday, November 22, 2011

A Poem About Redemption

Deserving not the life He gave
With selfish pride I tried to save
My soul from its lost state depraved
By moral deeds while still a slave
To sin, and death, and to the grave.

The depth of my iniquity
Is greater than the deepest sea.
Yet still He chose to die for me
And bear my sin upon the tree
While I was still His enemy.

His blood was spilled to pay my debt.
God's wrath for me He did offset
By dying on the cross and yet
Defeating death. He rose to beget
A people in His silhouette.

I owe Him more than I can give.
So out of love I choose to live
A slave to Christ and let Him sieve
Dross and sin to which I was captive
Out of my heart to never relive.

My heart rejoices for in Him I've found
Life eternal. His praises resound!
By my sins I am no longer bound.
My chains are gone and I am crowned
With His righteousness for His renown.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Pudding and Faith

What do pudding and faith have in common?  They should both have a beautiful consistency.  If you took a bite of butterscotch pudding (Yes, butterscotch because it is the best, clearly.) and it was full of lumps that had not been smoothed out, would you go back for another bite?  It would make you pause.  What if the lumps were huge and in your mouth the powder exploded leaving you with a mouth half full of wet pudding and half full of dry pudding mix?  Would you still eat it?  Wouldn't you first at least attempt to beat out the inconsistencies; stirring it or mixing it until the lumps were gone?  Well, the same is true with our faith.  It should be consistent in all areas.  It should not just affect who we are at church.  It should affect every aspect of our lives.  Our faith must be in itself consistent on a day to day basis, but it also must be consistent with our words.  Just as we would spit out a mouth full of pudding that did not have a beautiful consistency, God will do the same to those whose faith lacks consistency because it is not true faith.  True faith is consistent.

"'I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.  For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.  Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.  The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'" Revelation 3:15-22

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.  But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing." James 1:22-225

In our own power, we can never be consistent.  We must remain dependent upon Christ.  He often beats out our lumps through trials.  In the good times, we might be oblivious to the "lumps" in our faith, but the bad times help point them out.

So, for the believer, I encourage you to persevere and keep working out your faith with fear and trembling(Philippians 2:12)  and to examine yourself daily to see if you are truly in the faith. (2 Corinthians 13:5).  Do not just give the Lord lip service, obey Him!

"So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.  But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified."  1 Corinthians 9:26-27