|
|
For Our Benefit
by Rocky Chambers
I listen, and I watch as I see people struggle
Somehow they have gotten this vision that God desires our lives to be
hard
That the things God has commanded are to be difficult
That the point of it all is our perfection
How vain
How proud
How foolishly arrogant is such a mentality
If I sin, what does that do to God?
How does it affect the almighty?
If I obey how does that benefit Him?
God's value in me is not my worthiness
It is not my goodness
It is not the works I do, or even how well I believe
God's value in me is His choice to love me
Jesus came for our benefit
The scriptures were written for our benefit
And God deals with us for our benefit
This is obvious
So why then do we see so many working to please Him
Without faith God can not be pleased
And that faith is not in ourselves, but in His love
Now ask yourself
How has God shown me His love recently
Have I even been looking for it?
The truth here is too good for many to believe
And even those who believe it find it hard to fully accept
For all God has done has been for our benefit not His
Meditate on that and be changed by His perfect love
And when you see that perfect love of His
You’ll know the meaning of the Lord's words "fear not"
Any man who is foolish enough to claim he is fearless is headed for a
fall
For pride comes before the fall
Anyone who avoids his fear will never overcome
Only when you see His love can you overcome
Only when you see it is all for our benefit
John 3:16a “For God so loved the world that He gave….
… for our benefit
Rocky Chambers
"No destination is beyond the reach
of one who walks with God"
Without Spot or Blemish
As I gazed on Him I knew He was perfect
Without spot or blemish
Then I saw the perfect lamb sent to be sacrificed
The knife was raised and the lamb was slain
Then the lamb rose up and spoke to me
‘son of man, be perfect as I am perfect’
But as I looked at Him He was no longer without spot or blemish
No, there He was lying on the road beaten and bleeding
I cried out, ‘somebody help Him’
I saw a man coming by, he looked like a Priest
I begged the man to help
But he said, ‘no, I am on my way to prayer I can not be made unclean’
Then another man came, he looked like a minister or an evangelist
I asked him to help
But he said, ‘no I am on my way to preach I can not be made unclean’
I began to sob as no one would help
Then I saw a man who looked like a salesman
He saw the perfect lamb who had been slain and beaten
He picked Him up and dressed His wounds and cared for Him
Then I heard the lamb speak again
‘son of man, be perfect as this man is perfect
for perfection is not found in being
without spot or blemish
but in the love you walk in’
And again I looked and I saw a marvelous thing
I was the man lying on the side of the road
And the good Samaritan dressing my wounds was the Lord
And I heard a voice say,
“He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him
but He was familiar with sufferings”
He doesn’t call us to be a cut above
That is the illusion of becoming without spot or blemish
He calls us to reach out and walk in love
That is the reality of Christ
God sacrificed the spotless
And reached down in love
He calls us to do the same
To be perfect as He is perfect
Rocky Chambers
"What stars are to the night time sky
servants of God are to a darkened world"
Hear and Love
I stood in the airport
Watching and listening
Then I heard her voice and was lifted up
My heart rejoiced at the sound of the one I loved
Mark 12:29-30 The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The
Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy
strength: this is the first commandment.
I’ve often wondered
Is love a decision or is it a response
Or maybe perhaps it’s both
When the voice of the one who loves us speaks
Do we not sometimes choose to drown Him out
Preferring to hear other voices instead
When we do hear the voice of the one who loves us
Do we not sometimes choose to ignore Him
Pushing Him away
But when we hear and love
Isn’t that when wonderful things happen
Isn’t that when the truth sets us free
Every day many voices speak to us
We can not hear them all
We can not love them all
So we must filter and ignore
But how often do we filter out the voice of the one who loves us
How often do we choose to ignore Him
I believe everything Jesus said was deliberate
That every word had purpose
So consider when He says the greatest commandment is
Hear….and love
The heart of a child is lifted up
When he hears … and loves
Are you watching and listening?
Rocky Chambers
"No sound is as beautiful, no song is as sweet
As the voice of the one who loves you"
Love Edifies
I often have tried to fully understand God
Now I realize it is arrogance to try to do so
For what man, or men could possibly reason perfectly the almighty
Theories abound, but knowledge puffs up
So they argue back and forth with the same scriptures
In a vain attempt to convince each other
In foolishness they try to explain everything
So many attempts to know a comprehensive theory of God
But what do we really know?
Yet I see something marvelous
I don’t have to know everything
I only need to know one thing
That one thing is the key to everything
It is the secret to life
That one thing is
“the love of God”
Daily now I seek to see the scriptures in my life
For the word of God is living and active
Not just to study them, but to live them
To allow God to breathe life into them for me
I know the scriptures very well
But the scriptures themselves are not life, nor do they produce it
They are but a witness that testifies of the one who is life
John 5:39-40 (NIV) You diligently study the Scriptures because you think
that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify
about me, {40} yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
So many times now has He breathed life into the scriptures for me
So many times now has He turned my knowledge upside down
Now I realize how little I know
Yet that one realization opens up the greatest door
It opens the door to walking by faith!
And that faith relies upon and works by one thing I know
Love
It is the anchor of my soul
God is love and love edifies
So I no longer am building myself on the things I learn
Instead I have learned on thing
Lean on Him to show me the way in all things
Trust He has the knowledge and wisdom and freely gives it
In this way I have embraced the first commandment
On which all the law and prophets hinge
Love God
That’s easy to do when you have faith in his love for you
When you have made it your life to know only one thing
The love of God
What else do you need to know?
Rocky Chambers
"Spend less time memorizing scriptures
and more time living scriptures"
|
