Being stripped of our glory

It is in our nature to hold on to our world view or to be conformed to the worlds view point. “Worldly wisdom” becomes our refuge for it doesn’t call us to die. It is a scary thing to have our world turned upside down, to be called to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus. However, that is what the Gospel does. It takes us into a world that is unknown, a world that strips away our “worldly wisdom”, that strips the very essence of who we think we are. In Christ, our daily walk is one of having our world view, this veil that keeps us from seeing the glory of God, stripped away from us, so that we can see truth and beauty. In this act of presenting our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, we rest in God as our refuge and He boldly takes us into His arms and brings us close to Himself.

If we stubbornly hold on and are unwilling to have our world views crushed and broken, and that on a continual and ongoing basis, we will miss out on the goodness and the joy of the Lord, that are found in the wonders of the Gospel. Therefore, let this false wisdom fall away, let my world be crushed and my heart broken as God calls me into His Holy presence and I am changed and conformed into the image of Christ and brought into a love that will consume me.

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.   – Romans 12:1,2

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. – Psalm 51:17

Thus says the Lord,

“Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool.
Where then is a house you could build for Me?
And where is a place that I may rest?
“For My hand made all these things,
Thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord.
“But to this one I will look,
To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word. – Isaiah 66:1,2

Let the blow come

"Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it." Psalm 141:5

Our sinful nature endears us to defend and attack those who bring a rebuke into our lives. We want to defend our worth, our righteousness. How dare they attack me? And look at them anyways, they are so messed up. Who are you to confront me? Go repent of your own sins?

We hide our sins. We hold them down like a beach ball in water, wavering and struggling as we try to keep them from coming out in the open. We keep people away. The water may be murky but if they are too close they might see the beach ball. And if someone should come close enough to see this beach ball in the water, we create elaborate lies to defend our kingdom and to keep them out. Because we are so focused on keeping this beach ball out of view, our view becomes so narrow, and we miss so much.

And if someone does come close enough to see our beach ball and say something, no matter how slight. We are like a bear defending her cub. This is how dear our sins are to us. We will rip anyone up for even possibly coming close or having any hint of rebuke. We are like a ruthless lawyer not concerned with truth or the others, only that we defend our appearance of worth and righteousness, even if it destroys those around us.

Not allowing rebuke is destructive to our lives and to our relationships. Our lives become a cycle of living a lie, by keeping people away and ripping them apart if they get too close. And if the beach ball does come out of the water it comes out explosively, destroying those around us. Not only do we do this with others, but we also push God away. We look and focus on protecting our sin, instead of looking to Jesus.

The scripture teaches us a different approach to rebuke - put your guard down, let the blow come. And as we let our guard down and that blow comes, we become covered with the oil of kindness and joy and delight. When we get the gospel and it becomes rooted deeper and deeper into our hearts, the more we want our hearts to be exposed. The more we want our ugliness to be laid bare. The more we long for our brothers and sisters to love us enough to rebuke us. Because in this we have freedom. We no longer have to struggle to hold the beach ball under water. We have the freedom to be honest about our sin and we have the freedom to grow in intimacy. It is refreshing and a joy to be rebuked, because it is in these rebukes that our sins which once hindered our view of Jesus become revealed and are cast off, and we get to behold more and more the beauty of our Lord.

 So let your guard down and let the blow come . . .

the Gospel pursues beauty, Legalism holds back

The Gospel pursues beauty, wisdom, growth, and the best in life knowing that it is accepted. Legalism pursues only those measures seen as obtainable and is ruled by fear and anxiety and a desire to be accepted.

Come those who are heavy laden

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

God doesn't want us to come to Him all sorted, figured out, fixed. He wants us to come to Him broken, heavy laden, tired, and messed up. We come to Him as sinners. Stop laboring in your own ways to fix your self or pursue false rest and joy. Come as you are. And allow Him to give you a yoke that will give the deepest rest for your soul.

It is a comfort knowing I can come to Him with all my heavy ladeness and insanity, because that I am.