Obtaining Mercy

 

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. II Corinthians 12:9

 

"Christ is building His kingdom with earth's broken things. 

Men want only the strong, the successful, the victorious, the unbroken, in building their kingdoms; but God is the God of the unsuccessful, of those who have failed. 

Heaven is filling with earth's broken lives, and there is no bruised reed that Christ cannot take and restore to glorious blessedness and beauty. 

He can take the life crushed by pain or sorrow and make it into a harp whose music shall be all praise. 

He can lift earth's saddest failure up to heaven's glory."

~J.R. Miller

 

 "..and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:" Romans 1:25b-26

 

"…and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;" Romans 1:27b

 

So, let us glory in our brokeness.

When our strength has been set aside, God's mighty power may be clearly seen!

 

 

"…and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was." Exodus 20:21

 

"When you seem loneliest and most forsaken, God is nigh. 

He is in the dark cloud. 

Plunge into the blackness of its darkness without flinching; under the shrouding curtain of His pavillion you will find God awaiting you."

~Streams in the Desert

 

Sin is bad.  We know this.

However, we often choose to sin anyway.

Why should we stop allowing ourselves to indulge in sin?

 

Romans 8

[6] For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

 

Well, I want life and peace, don't you?  And besides,

[7] Because the carnal mind is enmity against God…[8] So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

 

I want to please God, too. 

[12] Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
[13] For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die…

 

And I certainly don't want to die!  I want to live!

[13]…but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

 

If I am in the Spirit, I am God's child:

[14] For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

 

If I am His child, then I am His heir and have available to me all that is in Christ:

[17] And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ…

 

And if I suffer with Him, I will be glorified with Him:

[17]…if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

 

So then…by mortifying the flesh (refusing to meet the sinful demands of my body), as a child of God, I will be glorified with Him.

But is it really worth it?  Heaven seems so far away sometimes.  My sin is not "bad" sin…it's just a little sin.  I'm not hurting anybody with it.  I'm not a murderer, for goodness' sake!

Why should I give up my sin?

[18] For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

 

Do I want God's glory to be revealed in me?  You betcha! 

Is it hard to give up sin, to turn to Christ in obedience?  Oh yeah!

Does my sinful flesh demand its rights?  Daily.

Is it worth it to see sin as it truly is…disobedience against my Father God?  Most definitely!

 

Romans 6:[12] Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
[13] Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

God promises that the suffering we may endure by refusing to sin cannot even be compared to the glory that He will reveal in us.

Let's take Him at His Word…

And turn from our sin!

 

 

"If we went from spring to spring to spring, we would never know thirst…That's why we have to walk through the barren places." ~Steven Carter

 

Are you in a dry, desert place today? 

Are you parched, needing desperately the waters of relief? 

God will not leave you without provision.  As we seek His face, His deliverance will come to us.

 

"He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river."  Psalm 105:41

 

"…I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert…I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen." Isaiah 43:19b-20b

 

In the midst of our dry places, God offers relief. 

The Water of His Word flows freely to all who will drink from its pages.

 

Why stand in the desert dying of thirst, when you can simply turn to the Rock?

 Christ offers rivers of Living Water to all who will receive them.

 

 

 

"Now the just shall live by faith…" Hebrews 10:38

 

"Believe God's Word and power more than you believe your own feelings and experiences. 

Your Rock is Christ,

and it is not the Rock which ebbs and flows,

but your sea." ~Samuel Rutherford

 

"Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast…" Hebrews 6:19

 

Resist the push and pull of emotions today. 

Tuck yourself into the Cleft of the Rock and hide there from the rushing tide. 

You will be safe. 

You will be sheltered. 

You will survive the storm!