Wednesday, November 14, 2012

fear both in failure and forgiveness‏

Daniel 10:17-19


17 How can someone like me, your servant, speak with someone like you, my lord? Now I have no strength, and there is no breath in me.”
18 Then the one with human likeness touched me again and strengthened me.
19 He said, “Don’t be afraid, you who are treasured by God. Peace to you; be very strong!”
As he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”

Praise God for His grace in allowing us to be devastated before Him. It is only by His Spirit that we see ourselves for who we are in light of seeing Him as He is. This unequivocally puts to death and dispells the divorce of humility and holiness and marries them perfectly. Our response to God's holiness revealed is devastation. We lose strength and breath. In God's mercy He imputes strength to stand and serve in response to Him.


He lifts up the knelt down.

If you are standng in your spirit, you are prime to be knocked over.

If God has given you strength, you have that which empowers you to be before and receive His Word. If we merely hear His Words, we are destroyed and despairing of our inability to be in His presence and do what He commands. If He provides that which He demands, we can stand confident.

In Christ, God has lifted up the broken to serve before Him in confident humility. We succeed because He succeeded. We live because He lived perfectly. We die to sin because He died once for all.

"Let my Lord speak, for you have strengthened me."

The only right response to our Lord's kindness is to ask Him to speak more. The Good News unstops our ears to hear more from Him. It is not imposing or unyielding in its severity, but delightful and liberating in its delicate resurrecting of our fragile persons. As violent as the stroke is that strikes fear into our soul, is the gentle kindness that lifts the frightened corpse to life.


We are given fear to repent and fear to revere. 

In Him we have BOTH reason to remember and reason to forget our sin.

At first, His words disarmed. 
Now in Christ they empower. 

The lifeless receives life. 
The breathless gets breath. 

Life to live unto God. 
Breath to breath His Gospel.

1 comment:

  1. i've been thinking about this a lot lately. since i've been reading 'lies women believe,' it's often that it comes to mind that, if God commands it, he gives us the capacity and strength to obey it. it is not of our own strength, but his. he loves empowering our obedience, if we will only remember that, by his spirit, we have the full power to obey.

    ReplyDelete