God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… —Galatians 6:14
When a person is newly born again, he seems inconsistent due to his unrelated emotions and the state of the external things or circumstances in his life. The apostle Paul had a strong and steady underlying consistency in his life. Consequently, he could let his external life change without internal distress because he was rooted and grounded in God. Most of us are not consistent spiritually because we are more concerned about being consistent externally. In the external expression of things, Paul lived in the basement, while his critics lived on the upper level. And these two levels do not begin to touch each other. But Paul’s consistency was down deep in the fundamentals. The great basis of his consistency was the agony of God in the redemption of the world, namely, the Cross of Christ.
State your beliefs to yourself again. Get back to the foundation of the Cross of Christ, doing away with any belief not based on it. In secular history the Cross is an infinitesimally small thing, but from the biblical perspective it is of more importance than all the empires of the world. If we get away from dwelling on the tragedy of God on the Cross in our preaching, our preaching produces nothing. It will not transmit the energy of God to man; it may be interesting, but it will have no power. However, when we preach the Cross, the energy of God is released. “…it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.…we preach Christ crucified…” (1 Corinthians 1:21, 23).
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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
We look at Paul going thru tough circumstances, seemingly with a calm demeanor and without wavering. And we see Jesus going thru the crucifixion week also resolutely and without wavering. Of course both Jesus and Paul had their moments. If not, it wouldn’t have been “a cross, an instrument of death” Father, why have you forsaken me? … I do what I don’t want, etc Paul. But after those moments both Paul and Jesus yielded to the circumstances and “went on thru” … And came out the other side. It seems that Jesus had his moment in Gethsemane, but after that, he was resolute and calm. Is that the goal for us? And how do we get there if we find ourselves falling short of that model and stressing out, etc?
The reason that the stories are in the Book is for your study and growth in faith. You will note that lots of shortcomings are also recorded in the Book. They are for your learning and shaping as well. The saying that you must build your barn before the storm applies here. If you want to go thru tough circumstances with an inner calm… that ability and trust must be built before the storm hits. You are doing that as you wrestle with these issues. Stay connected with me and know that each little issue that comes your way is a practice opportunity for larger challenges.
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