Thursday, April 28, 2011

Right or Wrong

I was reading in one of Watchman Nee's books, and he wrote about something that was so beautiful and I remember it always and I want to share it with you.
He was talking about the standard we in the flesh have as far as right and wrong..
Not so much about what is right what is wrong, but about how we feel towards someone we think has done something wrong. So now they have done something "wrong" and so now we might think of something that we have done as "right." And we might be perfectly "right" about all of this. But what Watchman Nee was trying to say, is that the standard of what Jesus thinks is "right" and "wrong" is much different than our standards..Watchman Nee tells us that as christians..people who think we are of God, called of God, who love God, who are ordained of God, etc..need to take another standard. That standard is one of "the Cross." Our standard is to be the one of the Cross. We are called to a higher standard.
So suddenly our "rights" and "wrongs" become nothing but a call to the cross. Our measure of anything that we do ever should always be the Way of the Cross..and this is especially true in the "right or wrong" issue.
The Way of the Cross melts people, it turns their heads and their hearts, it makes a difference. It could be the difference between war or peace..if we weren't so concerned about who is right or wrong we would not have wars. People want to be right. I want to be right. But even more than being right I want to uphold Jesus. He is all that matters to me. And if we want to make a difference we are going to have to take the call of the Cross.
I do not think this is easy, I think in some instances, it will be much easier than others and in some much harder. But what I have discovered is that mostly everything is "hard." So if we just realize that, than half the battle is over.
That being said, what makes it easier to take the way of the Cross? I think truthfully that it is total devotion to God. He has to mean more to you than anything, and that simply makes it easier, He is your goal, so that just turns the tables no matter which way you look at it. But we are not perfect..and I do not believe we should strive to be perfect..that will never happen this side of Heaven. Just make Jesus your goal, make the Cross your goal..and your life will bloom in places you never thought it could.
Jesus Only Jesus..
and then......we leave the rest to Him.

On Eagles Wings..

Knife is in the Hand of the Loving Father

"If the wounds inflicted on your are deep, remember that the knife is in the hand of the loving Father. Our Lord Jesus Christ is a wise and skillful physician, who will not give one unnecessary pain, who wounds only to cure. In the darkest and most trying day, trust Him-hope on-faint not. Remember the experience and exhortation of the psalmist; I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."
"Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait I say on the Lord."
(when I first read this, tears just ran down my face, because it gave me hope to know that God has a reason and a purpose for everything, that He is loving and kind and He wounds only to cure)


This was taken from the book, Basket of Flowers