August 6
Ezra 3:1-4:23 | PS 28:1-9 | Prov 20:24-25 | 1 Cor 2:6-3:4
Oswald Chambers wrote, "God called Jesus Christ to what seemed absolute disaster. His life was an absolute failure from every standpoint except God's. But what seemed to be failure from man's standpoint was a triumph from God's standpoint, because God's purpose is never the same as man's purpose." It is easier to sometimes see this in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus' life, because those of us who believe understand the end of the story. But can we see this in our own story, and in those around us. What is our standard of measure? If we align ourselves with God, we will often be rejected, misunderstood, and seen as failures when we are measured against the world's standards. This is when we need to remember that our citizenship is in heaven, and we are God's ambassadors on planet Earth.
Paul explained this difference in perspective to the Christians in Corinth, as we read in 1 Corinthians 2:6-8, "However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." Paul goes on in 2:12-14, " Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God...But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." We are either governed by the Spirit, or by the principles of the world.
Those of us in the Spirit will err, and sadly, we do so often. But even when we fail, we who are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, must remember what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:16, "But we have the mind of Christ." Those who returned to Jerusalem from Babylon, had made so many mistakes, and struggled terribly with the flesh, but notice their song in Ezra 3:11, "For He is good, For His mercy endures forever toward Israel". When we walk in faith, our own sin and failure is obvious, and everything good that we receive is a matter of God's grace and everything bad that we don't receive is a matter of God's mercy. Our flesh and the Spirit will always be at war while we live on this planet, but if we keep a proper perspective we will not see our earthly failures, but our upward calling to follow God, which the world will not recognize and often not respect.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: