| Daily
Thought – July 21, 2004 |
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| LIVING THE SOLUTION WITH DAILY INSPIRATION |
You didn't
think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at
others you would distract God from seeing all your
misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did
you think that because he's such a nice God, he'd let
you off the hook? Better think this one through from
the beginning. God is kind, but he's not soft. In kindness
he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a
radical life-change. (Romans 2:3-4, the Message)
How many times have we
compared ourselves with others only to say, “Well
at least I'm not as bad as "so-and-so”? How
many of us had no problem criticizing Bill Clinton, or
George Bush, for their preserved faults and shortcomings,
while ignoring our own? Maybe you say “I'm better
than that”.
God is not interested in our opinions of the behaviors
of others. He does not care how we “stack up” against
someone else. Our personal relationship with Him does
not involve others, that is to say, it does not matter
to Him how we compare to others. What matters is how
and what are we doing with what He has given us. Are
we living the way He has shone us? Are we desiring to
live and be how He made us to be or are we still wanting
to call the shots, yet appear to be holy by pointing
out others shortcomings and faults?
If we really believe we can fool God we are only fooling
ourselves. He sees our hearts, He knows us better than
we know ourselves and He loves us right where we are
at. However, He is unwilling to leave us where we are
at. As C. S. Lewis puts it in his book, “The Lion,
the Witch, and the Wardrobe", when describing Aslan,
the lion, (the character that is God): “Safe,
is He Safe? Of course He is not safe. He is a Lion,
but He is good.” God is kind, He loves us, He
pursued us to win our hearts, He died on the cross to
prove His love for us and to pay our debt, but He is
not soft. He did not do this so we could stay in the
same life we were living. He wants to lead us into a
radical-life change; to lead us into a life of adventure
and risk, adventure and faith; a life totally different
than what we were living. It is a life following after
Him no matter where He goes.
Live it with Passion
Pete Reinbold
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Scripture
taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright
© 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All
rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission
of International Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered
trademarks of International Bible Society. Use of either
trademark for the offering of goods or services requires
the prior written consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy
Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used
by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton,
IL 60189, USA. All rights reserved. |
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