Monday, March 05, 2012

A Daily Revelation

Good Monday morning! I don't know what kind of day it is yet. I don't hear the wind trying to beat down my house though. I'll take that as a good start to the day. Did you get up expecting a revelation today? I am wondering if we should not learn to expect some sort of revelation each day from our Lord Jesus. Not, perhaps, something like John saw from the island of Patmos, but rather a revelation of God's love and grace. We read through most of Revelation of God's judgment. Until that tribulation arrives, we have the opportunity to see God's grace and love each day. Furthermore, we have the time to share the good news of God's grace and love with a world in dire need of a better message. All of us can go to any media outlet to get our fill of bad news for each day. The good news of Jesus should be a welcome change for many in these dark times.

However, we must be understanding and gentle in this. The Holy Spirit first convicts the unbeliever of sin, and we know from prior experience that is not a comfortable time for the sinner. I recall a spiritual writhing going on in myself during that time. "Me? I can't be as bad as all that? Look at this person or that other one, they are much worse than me." Conviction of the unbeliever can be an unbelievably painful experience for the spirit, and we should not forget that when we bring the light of God's grace. We may not even want to look back at our own experience of that very thing. The Spirit knocked gently at the door to our hearts and the dark corners of sin stood out harshly in the light of God's love. Pride didn't want us to open the door of grace. That old serpent liked having us covered in the muck of the world. That first acceptance of grace included an acceptance of our sinful condition, and the cleansing hurt the sinful man inside of us. Jesus called it a new birth and being born again brings a bursting forth of new life.

Yes, the new birth is painful to the sinful nature, but what of that? All we remember is the liberation from death and Hell. When Jesus brings us home we will no longer remember the pain of this life at all. Like the beauty of the firework, we will not remember the flash and burst of the explosion that produced it. We will be the loveliness of the flower and no longer feel the separation of the petals. When the time comes for God to see all of us in our sanctified state, will we want to put on a show with just a few of us, or with as many as we can reach in this short time we have? Trust Jesus to put on a big unveiling for the Father in the proper time. But for today, look for a little revelation yourself.

Have a great new week!
Bucky

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