Teach us courage as we struggle
in all liberating strife.
Lift the smallness of our vision
By Thine own abundant life.
This verse haunts my sleep. I cry you mercy, at the outset, your flesh will not like what I'm about to say. But it hates everything that would do you good and bring you holiness. It would be easier for me to keep it in, but as Jeremiah says, "I'm weary of holding it back, for indeed I cannot."
The moment you surrender to the burning Christ brings, your life should begin to look less like the world and more like Christ. He alone will overcome our sinful calmness and rouse us with redemptive shame. He still bears the sword of His word that pierces our hearts and conforms us to His image. In these things alone will we find freedom from complacency, mediocrity, and sin. The next step in this refining process is found in this verse from "Thou Whose Purpose is to Kindle." Teach us courage as we struggle in all liberating strife.
Brethren, we have been limp-wristed about our sin for far to long. We tolerate the flesh in our lives, families,and churches and it is championed under the banner of God's "grace." Friends it takes a courageous man or woman like Joshua of old to challenge the flesh and sinful nature. We need the "new Joshua," Yeshua (josh. 1), to teach us the courage that sustained the Apostles, the Saints, and the Martyrs. These "men of renown" did not cower in the face of their sin, they overcame it by the blood of the Lamb. We need the courage of Jesus (the New Joshua) to confront this battle. Your self will not like this attitude towards sin. It will cringe. It will hate me the message bearer, it will hate you, it will hate the Risen, Conquering Christ.
Thus, the hymn-writer coined it well when he calls it "liberating strife." The mark of a maturing Christian is their delight in conviction (Rom 6:6, 1 Cr 5:17, Eph 4:22, Col 3:9). When you sense by the Holy Spirit that sin is in your life, you should eagerly accept the correction of our loving Father. But I guarantee you, it will be "strife," it will be intensely difficult to submit to Christ, yet the yielded life will find it's deepest delight in surrender to His holiness, to His "liberating strife!"
You may be saying, "Wait, this isn't loving, this isn't grace. You're being a pious legalist. After all God is love." My friend you must understand that sometimes the most loving thing to do is to point out sin and flesh and allow holiness to occur in your life. It would be UNLOVING for me to not say these things!!!
Finally, possibly my favorite phrase in this entire hymn is, "Lift the Smallness of our vision by Thine own abundant life." If I could shake myself, the church, and you (my dear reader) it would be with this statement! Bride of Christ...get outside of yourself and fix your gaze solely on the grandeur of a great, mighty, awesome, terrible, abundant, loving, holy, just, righteous, gracious King of the universe! He is our lover and our judge. We have such a small vision when it comes to our faith and how it relates to our daily lives! It is not in comfort that we find abundance it is in a risky God-centered, God-saturated life that we find abundant life. Stop thinking about the off-key singer on the praise team, stop thinking about the football game, stop thinking about convenient morality, stop thinking about business meetings, and trite messages about "grace," and catchy songs, and hip books, and fancy witness wear! My friends, GOD is the King of the earth and we daily fail to live as His humble subjects! Get OUTSIDE your small little box of faith. Trust God for your daily bread and your every need! He is more than able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according His power that is at work within us. to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations!!!
Further, it is not by any self-will, or self-righteousness that the lifting of the smallness of our vision will occur. It is by "God's own abundant life." When we realize that God has a bigger plan for the universe than your comfort and "personal religion," you gladly surrender your life for His daily abundant life. Not abundance materially, but abundance of joy, of faith, of prayer, of everything He calls "good."
Almighty King, we acknowledge the smallness of our vision! Forgive us for delighting more in passing sinful pleasures than the pleasure of knowing Thee deeper, fuller, more abundantly! God, I pray that these words pierce like a sword and that any of these words are of my flesh, that it would be revealed for rubbish and that it would be burned away. Father, by the grace of Thy Holy Ghost, let Thy church feel the sting these words brings. God of Heaven and Earth, You will achieve Thy glory upon the Earth. Amen, Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus and establish Thy kingdom in our lives. Though Father, we need the Courage of Yeshua to rid the flesh in our lives. So do it now Father. In the name and through the blood of Thy perfect Son Yeshua Christos, Almen!
For His renown,
BenZ
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment