Thursday, January 07, 2010

Not what I've done, but what He Provides! - January 7, 2010

Good Thursday morning! Good and cold that is. We have the honor of a temperature below 0 again today, and a wind chill that is too cold to think about. Getting out of bed to turn up the thermostat is just indescribably fun on a morning such as this. However, downing cup after cup of your favorite hot liquid helps make up for some of that fun. Speaking of fun; how do you tell the difference between those who speak of their accomplishments in Christ and want you to follow their organization, and those who speak of what Christ has done through them and want you to follow Him?

I don't know either, but we are right to be suspicious. Jesus warned us that many would come in His name in the end times proclaiming this or that and leading many astray. The good news in this is that the Holy Spirit is still here in you and I. When all is revealed at the end, we may be surprised to find some ministries on the wrong side of the fence, so to speak. For that matter, as our relationship with Jesus is the most important thing in life, how do you and I not fall into the trap of boasting about our own accomplishments and trying to get people to follow us instead of Jesus?

In this the Bible tells us to humble ourselves. Realizing that all of our accomplishments and all that we have has come from or been made possible by God will help us to stay away from the "look what I've done!" desire we all feel. Any of us might feel the desire to be acclaimed as wise or knowing, but all wisdom comes from God. Even the knowledge we gain in this world is only the learning about what God has already created; how can we boast about that? We should and do boast about what God has done for us. Remaining in the love of Christ, we proudly proclaim the good news of what Jesus does for us each and every day.

Lots of folks around the world are quite cold today; pray that everyone will help out those in need and that God will watch over us all.

Bucky

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