Perspective: Secularland A.M.

Perspective: Secularland A.M.

"Then Jesus said," Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light." --
Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT)

This morning I am going to be bold enough to say it...This world is crazy!! My work day in "Secularland" can attest to that. Our adversary does a good job of throwing and slinging things that deliberately distract and detour my focus. But once in a while there are moments where the Lord gives me an opening to share the aforementioned verse.

Sometime back I had shared with you that I almost blew off one of those opportunities. I had a co-worker who could have fooled me that he was seeking Jesus, or at least the rest part of Christ's provision. His quest was pretty much masked by foul joke telling and alcohol consummation. At first I wanted nothing to do with this, but who was I not to let this fellow know that the same Jesus who saved me from me could save him from him.

There was infidelity in his marriage and it was eating him alive. He had been betrayed by his spouse and the idol of alcohol had been taking its toll on him. When he stopped his drinking I was able to give testimony to God's grace through Jesus. I would constantly refer to my opening verse. I even got him a Life Application NLT Bible to read. He opened it Brothers. But something happened and then he closed it. This past weekend he went missing and has turned up in a hospital.

No sooner than this news comes to my desk at work when my assistant manager tells me of his own family issue's. His 18 year old daughter from his first marriage has just been tossed into the streets by her mother just days after turning 18. He is fit to be tied. My only advice to him was to be a father of integrity and rise to the occasion.

He has been placed in this position before and the outcome was not too good for him. This is something I have only experienced as the one who got tossed to the street so I can sort of understand what it's like from a teenage perspective but that's all.

So, on my drive home my thoughts could only be those of gratitude. I do not deserve the grace that God gave me but He gave it to me. I do not deserve His mercy but He granted it. I do not deserve His pardon, protection or provision but He gives it to me. God brought me to crossroads many times during my life and I made wrong turns. Praise Jesus for surrendering to Him.

I am still going to share my journey with Christ with these two men. Please lift up Jeff and Bob this morning as they face the crossroads that has been placed in front of them. Praise God that we have an intercessor who knows what it's like to have the feelings of a man and can relate with our struggles. But most of all Brothers, Praise Him for He gives us rest.

A good quote;
"For some people, coming to faith has felt a bit like a bait-and-switch operation. At first, we hear mostly about grace. We hear we are saved by grace and that salvation is a free gift. But after a while, we are encouraged to try to be good. Yet it is exhausting to try to be good. We think, This so-called free gift costs more than my puny self can but. I'll never make it. Consider the disastrous results of trying to be good. When we seem to be successful at growth, our spirituality becomes about us, not about the power of God in our lives. When we try hard and fail, we berate ourselves and spend tremendous energy on guilt and hopelessness instead of letting ourselves be drawn into the divine life by becoming fascinated with the great example of Jesus in the Gospels." -- Renovation of the Heart in Daily Practice -- Dallas Willard & Jan Johnson -- Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 2; Isaiah 14-16; Ephesians 5:1-16

Great Quote: Oh, thrice fools are we, who like new-born princes weeping in the cradle, know not that there is a kingdom before them; then, let our Lord's sweet hand square us, and hammer us, and strike off the knots of pride, self-love, and world-worship, and infidelity, that He may make us stones and pillars in His Father's house. -- Samuel Rutherford

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