In my house, we love Italian food. I mean we really love it. We have a theory that the greater the amount of garlic in a recipe, the greater the satisfaction to the palate! The only thing better than the enticing fragrance as the dish cooks is the savoring of each delicious bite. But tomorrow always comes. The garlic that delighted the previous evening greets everyone you meet with its noxious odor for the next couple of days. You try scrubbing. You try soaking. You try brushing. But try as we may, we can't get rid of the smell. Each breath delivers a whiff to those who dare to stand close. In short, we stink!
Did you know that when we fill ourselves up with Christ and His power, we can smell up a room for HIM. Not the noxious odor that comes along with last night's spaghetti. But the sweet, sweet aroma of a saving GOD who reaches to all the senses of the lost! The "fragrance of the knowledge of him" that "through us" Christ "spreads everywhere". Why that makes me hungry! For HIM! A hunger that is satisfied only with this God who fills up our lives, and penetrates all our senses. I want to be the child that with just one sniff, others will know whose I am. I want each exhaling breath to deliver a whiff, a whiff of an incomparable God! Who, when we are in HIM, makes us a new creation. Not a fixed up reproduction of our old selves, but a totally new creation! (2 Corinthians 5:17"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!")
So breathe deep. What do you smell? May each breath deliver a whiff of Christ who is in you. Anything else just stinks.
2 Corinthians 2:15 "For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing."
Praise HIM!
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Monday, February 4, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Diligent Pursuit
Have you ever been on a long road trip when suddenly you looked up and noticed that there were no longer any other cars with your states' license plate on them? Where do all those cars that started out side by side with you on the highway go? When did they all exit? When did you become the lone car from your state en route towards your set destination?
I was thinking about that as I spoke with a student recently about his career plans. This young man, a senior in high school, with great theatrical talent, told me how others constantly remind him of how few people really "make it" in the theater. I agreed that those he had talked to were correct. Indeed, many of my students do dream of performing on stage or film and yet, historically only a few are living that dream. But I wanted him to focus on those who do "make it". What was different about them? Some would say it is luck. But most successful people, of any field, will tell you that what kept them on the road toward their destination was hard work. Diligence.
At just over the two week mark into 2008, I am finding that I need to be reminded of just how this "diligence" thing works. For I am quite sure that diligence doesn't mean "try hard for the first few days of the year and then coast". Nope. Diligence is defined as "constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken", "steady effort", "attentive care". Constant, earnest, steady, attentive. Not quick. Not temporary. Not rash. It is a life change that He seeks, not a momentary blink. It is a renewing and not a short term fix. It is a steady endurance of all that may come our way in order to reach our final destination. It is this constancy, earnestness, steadiness, and attentiveness that He is characterized by. So when Christ calls me to be diligent, He is calling me to follow on His road. For He himself, our Savior, traveled down a path that had a lot of exits available, none of which He took. Hebrews 12:2,3 finishes with "who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. "
Lord, let me remember your own endurance of the cross when I grow weary on my sometimes long road.
Ezra 7:23 says:
"Whatever the God of heaven has prescribed, let it be done with diligence for the temple of the God of heaven..."
I was thinking about that as I spoke with a student recently about his career plans. This young man, a senior in high school, with great theatrical talent, told me how others constantly remind him of how few people really "make it" in the theater. I agreed that those he had talked to were correct. Indeed, many of my students do dream of performing on stage or film and yet, historically only a few are living that dream. But I wanted him to focus on those who do "make it". What was different about them? Some would say it is luck. But most successful people, of any field, will tell you that what kept them on the road toward their destination was hard work. Diligence.
At just over the two week mark into 2008, I am finding that I need to be reminded of just how this "diligence" thing works. For I am quite sure that diligence doesn't mean "try hard for the first few days of the year and then coast". Nope. Diligence is defined as "constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken", "steady effort", "attentive care". Constant, earnest, steady, attentive. Not quick. Not temporary. Not rash. It is a life change that He seeks, not a momentary blink. It is a renewing and not a short term fix. It is a steady endurance of all that may come our way in order to reach our final destination. It is this constancy, earnestness, steadiness, and attentiveness that He is characterized by. So when Christ calls me to be diligent, He is calling me to follow on His road. For He himself, our Savior, traveled down a path that had a lot of exits available, none of which He took. Hebrews 12:2,3 finishes with "who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. "
Lord, let me remember your own endurance of the cross when I grow weary on my sometimes long road.
Ezra 7:23 says:
"Whatever the God of heaven has prescribed, let it be done with diligence for the temple of the God of heaven..."
Lord, I pray that whatever you prescribe along this long road, I will do it with diligence. For my body is Your temple, the temple of the God of heaven.
1 Timothy 4:15 reads:
"Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress."
Lord, I desire to give all my desires, dreams, and goals wholly to You, being diligent in my pursuits so that all will know I am Yours.
1 Timothy 4:15 reads:
"Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress."
Lord, I desire to give all my desires, dreams, and goals wholly to You, being diligent in my pursuits so that all will know I am Yours.
Oh Father, forgive me for so often taking the exit ramp instead of persevering down this road. Help me to stay on the path you have set before me. I await the day I arrive at my final destination, looking up into Your Devine presence. For the fullness of Your Glory awaits me! That is worth the long road!
Praise HIM!
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