Who"s Perspective - Part 1

This week, Michael writes: It's not that Christianity has been tried and found wanting, it's that Christianity has not been tried rightly.  When you approach the Lord Jesus Christ from the world's perspective, Christianity doesn't make sense. We have to approach the Lord on His terms, not ours. The Word of God in the Bible says that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the lord forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Oswald Chambers said in his devotional “My Utmost for His Highest”, "you are not your own."  When a man or woman is brought into the presence of Christ, we're brought into the fellowship of His suffering. When you enter His world, you become a thoroughfare for the world to attempt to tread on. He'll bring His broken people into our lives whether or not we think we're ready to represent Christ. The world looks at us as if we're professing Christians, even when we don't feel like it. The world expects us to turn the other cheek and to love our enemies. They're looking for someone who actually lives the gospel. They haven't seen it in the world. Ironically, the God-rejecting world will call us hypocrites whenever we do what conforms to the world's perverted norms. The world also questioned Jesus. They asked him, "How many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me?" Jesus said, "You have to forgive your brother not seven times, but seventy times seven." There are no bounds to God's forgiveness. When they nailed Jesus to the cross he said, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."

We're not sanctified for ourselves. We're set apart to the fellowship of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's not about us, it's about Him. The things of this God-rejecting world system aren't done for us. Trials and tribulation are for the gospel. The purpose of trials is to crush the “self” out of ourselves. When we come to Jesus with a broken and a contrite heart, He will embrace us in His arms. He'll pick up the treads of our broken hearts and weave them together again. He's called us to be "gracefully broken." As Paul said through his pain and suffering, "Thy strength is made perfect in my weakness, thy grace is sufficient for me."

When Mao came to power in China, there were 50 thousand Christians. Mao attempted to stamp out Christianity by making Christianity a crime against his regime. After Mao died, there were 50 million Christians in China. The underground church had exploded and had outlasted Mao's oppressive regime.

When we suffer, either we can become discouraged and curse God, or we can acknowledge that we're helpless in our own power. When we're crushed in our soul (mind, will and emotions) and gracefully broken, then we will come to the realization that tribulation works patience and patience experience and experience hope and hope makes not ashamed, for the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us. The grace of God is God's gift given by the One who didn't need to give it to the ones who didn't deserve to receive it. We're forgiven not because we're forgivable. We're loved, not because we're lovable. It's not because of who we are but because of who He is. Forgiveness, grace, mercy and loving kindness is the nature of God himself. 

Let's continue Michael's message on "perspectives" in the next post.
In Christ, Brian