<BrethrenVoice> <GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY> <10 July 2002> Contents: --------- (1) <Slice-of-Infinity> "Preferring our pain - Part 2" - Ravy Zacharias (2) <Article> "Extra-ordinary Christian" - Connie Giordano (3) <Devotional> "A cup of love?" - John Macduff (4) <Poem> "Thine is the kingdom." - J. Hart (1) <Slice-of-Infinity> PREFERRING OUR PAIN - PART 2 Ravi Zacharias Bret Easton Ellis' novel, Less Than Zero, offers an unsettling depiction of the moral and spiritual poverty behind the contemporary façade of wealth, success, and fame. The book describes the vacuous life of sex, drugs, and violence among the teen-age children of super-rich entertainers. Though fictitious, the book captures a scene tragically all too accurate. Ellis depicts a bankruptcy of the human soul, which is by no means unique to this particular lifestyle. The cry itself is clear and can be heard throughout the story, and heard throughout our own stories: Is there anybody who really loves me? Is there anyone who can help me? Yesterday we dealt with the account of Christ and the paralytic man from the gospel of John. The man had been ill for 38 years and was found sitting at a pool he believed had the power to heal him. And still, Jesus approaches him with the seemingly needless question: "Do you want to get well?" As I shared yesterday, I have come to know deeply that when God asks a question it is never in vain. Indeed, it is often the greatest hint! The cries of the human heart echo throughout history, generation after generation. Sometimes a bitter cry of loneliness, many times a weary cry of emptiness, but always a cry for help. Yet, often our actions and attitudes contradict the cries closest to our hearts, justifying the question: Do you want to get well? Consider the powerful words of poet W. H. Auden : We would rather be ruined than changed; We would rather die in our dread Than climb the cross of the moment And let our illusions die. You see, where Christ asks, "Do you want to be well?" isn't he also asking, "Do you prefer your pain, to the possibility of change?" His question gently pierces the heart of the human condition we all share, bidding us to receive the very thing we ask from the only One capable of giving it. Dear friends, where you seek meaning, are you willing to be changed by meaning? Where you seek understanding, do you really want to find the truth? Where you seek help, are you willing to receive instruction? Where you seek healing, are you willing to be transformed? You see, to every cry of every heart, Christ calls out, "Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." That's His invitation. The question that you have to ask yourself is really clear, isn't it? And think about it carefully as you ask it: "Do I want to get well?" --- Copyright (p)(c) 2001 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. A Slice of Infinity is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. _______________________________________________________________________ (2) <Article> EXTRA-ORDINARY CHRISTIAN Connie Giordano "Consecration isn't our giving anything to God. It is our taking our hands off what already belongs to God." - Walter B. Knight "O Lord, make me an extra-ordinary Christian." - George Whitfield Oh! Don't you just love this prayer of George Whitfield's? Is this your prayer? Do you want God to make you an Extra-Ordinary Christian? Or are you satisfied with living your life, doing nothing out of the ordinary for God? Are you simply satisfied with going to church a few times a week? Or does your heart yearn for the excitement and the adventure that you read about in the Book of Acts? The Apostle Paul, who lived one of the most exciting and fulfilling lives as a Christian, emphatically calls all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ to an unreserved dedication of their lives in Romans 12:1-2 - "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God" - The reason why we should dedicate all that we are, have, and can do to God is because of His Great Mercies that He extended our way. God showed His favor to us as undeserving sinners. His compassion and tender mercies in turn should melt us into compliance whereby we fully present our bodies to Him. "That ye present your bodies a living sacrifice" - The metaphor is drawn here from the animal sacrifices that were brought to the altar of God. The choicest of the flock was selected. It was then brought to the altar. He who offered the sacrifice released all claims to it and devoted it to God to be disposed of at His will. Using the same analogy, the Apostle Paul exhorts all believers to offer themselves to God in the spirit of sacrifice. They are to offer themselves as a free and voluntary offering. They are to be wholly the Lord's property as the burnt offering was the Lord's. No part is to be used for any other purpose. Their entire person is to be presented to the service of God. They are to devote their bodies - their whole selves - their living, vital energies - to God, releasing all claims on their lives. "Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" - The sacrifice of ourselves unto God must be "holy." In other words, it must be without spot, blemish, or defect. When bringing a sacrifice before God, the Jews were forbidden to offer that which was lame, blind, or deformed. That which was without defect was considered as "holy," set apart, or consecrated for God. The sacrifice of ourselves must be free from Sin. It must not be done with a divided heart or a polluted service. It must be offered with the Best affections and the Best faculties of our hearts and lives. What makes the sacrifice "acceptable unto God" is when our highest aim is to please God and to do all things according to the written Word. Our "service" is our worship or homage rendered to God. It becomes "reasonable" when it is offered according to the true intent and meaning of the law. It is "reasonable" when our heart and soul are fully engaged in the service. It is only "reasonable" for we as God's property - by right of creation and redemption - to live for His glory in strict obedience to His Will. "And be not conformed to this world" - Do not put on the form, fashion, or appearance of this world, age, or generation. Do not be conformed to the habits, style, and manners of this wicked, luxurious, and idolatrous age. Do not take on the pride, vanity, extravagance, and riotous living of this particular generation. "But be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind" - Be transfigured. Change the form of this world for Christianity. Appear as a new person with new habits. Undergo a radical, thorough, and universal change noticeable by all. How does this happen? "By the renewing of your mind." - This involves making the spirit, temper, and disposition of the mind new. It involves a complete change for the better. It involves the making new or changing the mind to have new views and feelings. "That ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." - The word "prove" here refers to the operation of testing or trying metals by fire. Hence the word means to examine, scrutinize, and test by a renewed mind what God purposes to do with our lives. Through a renewed mind we are able to determine God's inclination, desire, purpose, or choice. The "will of God" pertains to His commands and demands in regard to our conduct. It is "good" because it promotes the honor of God and deals with the interests of His creation. It is "acceptable" because it calls us to do that which pleases God. Nothing pleases Him more than to have us live separated from the vices, follies, amusements, and gaieties of this fallen world. It is "perfect" because it is finished and complete, lacking no parts. It is free from defect, stain, or injury. It is "perfect" when it is consistent, carried out, and evinced in all of our circumstances and relations of life. In order to be an Extra-Ordinary Christian, we must make Romans 12:1-2 a reality in our lives. We must offer ourselves unreservedly to God in a spirit of sacrifice. That means that every part of our being is to be presented to God for His service, releasing all claims on our lives. We cannot offer God a portion of us or a life that is riddled with Sin. We cannot offer to God a divided heart. We must give Him our very Best - our Best affections and our Best faculties. We must make it our highest aim to please God in all things and to live for His Glory. How can we possibly do this? We must make a break with this world and its habits, forms, fashions, and manner of living. We must undergo a radical change for the better. This involves changing our minds to have new views and feelings unlike the world's. Then we will be able to discern God's general inclination, desires, purposes, and choices for our lives. Then we will be able to please God by living separately from the world and consistently carrying out the Will of God for our lives. Do you want to be an Extra-Ordinary Christian? Then don't hesitate to obey God's Word today. Surrender all to Him without reservation. Consecrate yourself afresh to the Lord. Take your hands off what already belongs to God. Then watch and see how God will use your life for His Glory, Honor, and Praise. May God Bless His Word. Connie --- Copyright 2002 by Connie Giordano _______________________________________________________________________ (3) <Devotional> A CUP OF LOVE? John Macduff Affliction has always been God's peculiar method of dealing with His own people. It is because He loves them He chastises them. 'I have chosen you,' says He, 'in the furnace of affliction.' Was it not needed? Has not the world been becoming too much to you; engrossing your affections, alienating your love, dimming your view of 'the better country'? Ah! commune with your own heart, and say, was not this affliction (terrible though it be) the very discipline I required? Less would not have done to wean you from the poor nothings of earth. You were lulled in a guilty self security. You were living in a state of awful forgetfulness of God, insensible of His mercies, unmindful of His goodness, taking your blessings as matters of course; a secret atheism! Dear Reader! if this is a truthful picture of your heart, I ask you; was it not kindness, unspeakable kindness in your covenant God to bring back your truant, wandering, treacherous heart, and fix once more your traitor affections on Himself as their only satisfying portion? "Your Heavenly Father never thought this world's painted glory a gift worthy of you, and therefore He has taken out the best thing it had in your sight, that He might Himself fill the heart He had wounded with Himself." (Evans). The threads of life were weaved into too bright a cord; God had to snap them. The loved one you are now mourning was a clay idol. He had to break it in pieces. He had to drag it from the usurped throne that He might resume that throne Himself. He gave you prosperity but you could not or would not use it for His glory. It was a curse to you! He would not allow you to be left alone, to settle in the downy nest of self ease and forgetfulness. He has roused you on the wing, and pointed your upward soarings to their only true resting place, in His own everlasting presence, and friendship, and love. Your wayward heart was throwing out its tendrils on every side and rooting them down to earth. He had to unroot them; to wrench these groveling affections from the things that are of 'earth, earthy,' and fasten them on Himself as their all in all. Child of God! there is not one drop of wrath in the bitter cup you are now drinking. He took all that was bitter out of it, and left it a cup of love! Seek to exercise simple faith in the wisdom of God's dealings, the unswerving rectitude of His dispensations. He does all well. Nothing can come wrong to you, that comes from His hand. He has dealt tenderly, wisely and lovingly, with you. Confide where you can not understand. Trust where you can not trace. Repress all guilty murmurings. Check all rebellious thoughts. The Refiner of silver sits by the furnace of His own lighting, tempering its heat; regulating the fury of the flames; quenching the violence of the fires; designing all, ALL not to consume and destroy; but to purify, brighten, refine! Glorify God in the fires. Think often of heaven! Every day is bringing you nearer that home of joy! Nearer to Him who is now standing with the hoarded treasures of eternity in His hand, and the hoarded love of eternity in His heart! How will one brief moment there, banish in everlasting oblivion, all the pangs and sorrows of this present valley of weeping! Soon the last ripple of sorrow will be heard murmuring on the other side of Jordan, and then every vestige of its sound will die away, and that forever! Entering the triumphal arch of Heaven, you will read in living characters the history of a sinless, sorrowless future: "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eye; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away." Rev. 21:4. _______________________________________________________________________ (4) <Poem> "THINE IS THE KINGDOM" J.Hart Matt. 6. 13; John 17. 2 (1) Ye souls that are weak, and helpless, and poor, Who know not to speak, much less to do more, Lo! here's a foundation for comfort and peace - In Christ is salvation; the kingdom is his. (2) With power he rules, and wonders performs; Gives conduct to fools, and courage to worms Beset by sore evils without and within, By legions of devils and mountains of sin. (3) Then be not afraid; all power is given To Jesus, our Head, in earth and in heaven; Through him we shall conquer the mightiest foes; Our Captain is stronger than all that oppose. (4) [His power from above he'll kindly impart, So free is his love, so tender his heart; Redeemed with his merit, we're washed in his blood; Renewed by his Spirit, we've power with God.] (5) Thy grace we adore, Director divine; The kingdom, and power, and glory are thine. Preserve us from running on rocks or on shelves, From foes strong and cunning, and most from ourselves. (6) Reign o'er us as King, accomplish thy will, And powerfully bring us forth from all ill; Till, falling before thee, we laud thy loved name, Ascribing the glory to God and the Lamb. _____________________<BrethrenVoice>_____________________ [facilitates free flow of Christian information. 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