Mar
12
2013
Under The Radar
Posted in Salvation 2 Comments
I was on the phone this morning with a sweet woman.
She is in the hospital and the phone is the best way to connect with her right now.
It is so easy to get discouraged when you feel cut off from everyone.
It is so easy to struggle with your outlook when circumstances affect your perspective.
We talked about many things.
I listened to many things.
I wanted to hug her through the phone and tell her it will be alright.
My words and my heart…coming through…had to be enough.
As most conversations go, we got to the important things just before we hung up.
She needed to go to physical therapy and we had about five minutes left to talk.
Personal goals are being set in order to get well again.
Personal goals are not being met, which leads to more frustration.
I heard in her voice a…I have to pull up my own bootstraps mentality.
I prayed, Lord give me the words.
I reminded her that God has a unique plan for her life.
What is fatal for most people was not fatal for her.
Then we got to the crux of the matter as she continued to talk.
God has blessed me with my husband, my children, my grandchildren.
I don’t deserve any of them.
If He only knew what I was really like…He wouldn’t think I was worthy.
I just want to stay under the radar with Him…so He won’t see how unworthy I really am.
My eyes filled with tears as I listened to her lament…which is the lament of so many.
How could God possibly love ME?
If He only knew…
I don’t deserve…
I’m not worthy.
Actually, she is closer to the Kingdom than she thinks.
Knowing you have nothing to bring to the table, but your brokenness and your sin, is all He ever wanted in the first place.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken spirit and a contrite heart.
O God, You will not despise. (Psalm 51:17)
The world despises broken things.
Our utilitarian culture sees the sick, the elderly, the disabled, even the unborn as liabilities.
God sees assets…NOT liabilities.
God made man and woman in His own image.
His image is what makes us beautiful.
His image is what gives us worth and value.
The enemy consistently brings our mistakes and our sin before us.
The enemy. Satan. The accuser.
Diabolos. (Dia means “across” and bállō means ” to throw”)
Satan literally throws across accusations at us.
Did you see what she just did? What about this? What about that?
Jesus, who is at the right hand of the Father, stands in front of His Father, as our advocate.
He holds out His nail scarred hands and shows His pierced side.
What about this?
He points to His scars…to His wounds…the marks of our salvation.
God the Father has accepted Jesus’ perfect sacrifice.
We must come to Jesus in faith…knowing that we can’t save ourselves.
We must trust in Him alone for our salvation.
On the cross, Jesus became sin for us when He took our sins upon Himself.
Jesus’ perfect righteousness is imputed to us…credited to us…the moment we believe.
When God the Father looks at us, we are covered with His Son’s righteousness.
This sweet woman was right.
On our own, we are NOT worthy.
In Christ alone, we are righteous, clean, forgiven.
We deserve death…eternal separation from God.
When we trust in Jesus alone for our salvation, we are justified.
We are declared NOT GUILTY!
That is Good News!
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)
The Pharisee was self-righteous.
He thought that He deserved God’s favor because of all the “good” he has done.
We can never do enough good things to earn eternal life.
Self-righteousness will never get you into heaven.
Only Jesus’ perfect righteousness is acceptable to the Father.
The tax collector knew that he had nothing to offer God but his sin.
He humbly asked God for what he knew he didn’t deserve…MERCY!
In his humility and his brokenness, the tax collector received the gift of salvation.
He was justified, declared NOT GUILTY, by the Father.
Many people have the same fears.
If God only knew what I was really like, He would never love me.
God DOES know everything about you.
He made you after all!
If staying “under the radar” means hiding from God…you can’t!
He knows and He sees.
Even knowing and seeing, He still loves you with great mercy and compassion.
Come to Him, in humility…knowing you have nothing to offer Him.
Come to Him knowing that you don’t deserve His mercy…but you are asking anyway!
You will leave Him justified…NOT GUILTY…forgiven…free!
Rejoice…above the radar…so that the world may know!
“He is not finished with you yet; there is something you have yet to do.” That is what the nurse said as I was released from the ICU unit. I half-jokingly said back to her, “Well I sure wish he would send a note with a clue because I surely don’t know what that task is!” She smiled at that and replied, “He did….it’s called the Bible.”
Barb,
When there is concurrence like that…God is trying to tell us something. I’m here for you…always!
Gina