25 Woods Lake Road, Building 8, Greenville, SC
We all know about the Apostle Paul and the astounding ways God used his life, but do we know the man who stood up for Paul when no one else wanted him, and who actually put Paul in a position to be used by God? The truth is, God’s work is not sustained and enriched by the prominent people in the spotlight, but by the mostly unknown men and women serving faithfully behind the scenes. Are we willing to be that person?
When we read in the Bible that Jesus left heaven and came to earth to save us, do we have any idea just what that really means? The King of glory laid aside His royal robe and wrapped Himself in human flesh. He exchanged His home in heaven to have no place to lay His head on earth. He willingly endured mocking and slander, was abandoned by His closest friends, suffered an excruciating death on a cross, and He did it all for you!
In Luke 17 Jesus heals ten lepers but only one returns to gives thanks. Though Jesus did not command them to return and give thanks, he was surprised that only one did; and that he was a foreigner. What can we learn about being thankful from this? Was this man simply being respectful, or was there more? Why should we be thankful, and what does that mean?
Knowing that God doesn’t change, we understand that He is reliable, dependable, trustworthy, truthful. He is a rock; a cornerstone or foundation stone which secures a whole building. He will be our firm foundation for the trials and storms of life, we must simply be obedient. His attitude toward sin is always the same, his attitude toward a repentant sinner is always the same. We must live our lives in humble obedience to God.
White light, shone through a glass prism, reveals all of the colors. Pure white light contains all of the colors; you do not have pure white light if you remove one of the colors or if they are out of balance. God’s attributes are like the colors in the color spectrum. If the God you know only consists of some of his attributes, do you really know who He is. You cannot accurately understand pure white light if you are missing certain colors, and you cannot accurately understand who God is, if you are missing certain attributes. If you do not know the God of “White Light”, do you actually know God … what’s stopping you?
God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all. He is perfectly pure; altogether, in himself complete. He is altogether Righteous; altogether Just; altogether Good. He has revealed himself to us in various ways, but in order to understand that revelation, we must be humble before the Lord; for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
It is staggering to think of everything Jesus left behind to come to earth and save us! He set aside all His kingly rights, made himself nothing, and became a humble servant to show us what sacrificial love really looks like. However, it is not enough for us to admire His humility from a distance. The Bible calls us to humble ourselves in exactly the same way and to love others as Jesus loved us.
The Bible says that our lives must bear fruit that gives evidence of our repentance, but in order for fruit to grow, God must prune away any areas that are not of Him. This process is often painful, but in the end, it is the only thing that brings true life and true joy! What areas of your life are you holding back and not allowing God to trim away? Surrender yourself to His skillful hands and allow Him to shape you into the image of His Son.
When you hear the word “repent,” who do you think of? Is there a person or a group of people who, in your mind, are doing something terribly sinful of which they need to repent? It is so easy for us to point a guilty finger at others, while completely overlooking our own need to humble ourselves before God and repent of the things in our life that are breaking His heart. Repentance always comes before revival. Are we willing to turn from whatever wrongs God wants to reveal to us… including the subtle sin of indifference?
We usually don’t have trouble seeing sin in the newspaper or sin in the neighborhood, but we’re not so good at seeing sin in the mirror. God longs to bring revival to our hearts, but sin is the one thing keeping that from happening. The Bible says our sins have separated us from God and hidden his face from us. Once we see how our sin breaks God’s heart, we will never look at it the same way again.
