Luke 6:41-42
I grew up without glasses, I
never wore glasses until my late forties and then my arms got too short and I
needed cheaters, (reading glasses from the drug store). My sight to discern what was best for my
future hopes and dreams was always a little clouded. But when it came to others my sight was
twenty-twenty, it seemed I had the gift of seeing the smallest flaw in their
character, skill-set, and abilities, all based on my very misguided and messed
up world view.
Then at the age of 27, one night
in a motel room in Victoria, Texas, I read these verses in Romans 10:8-10, “The word is near you, in
your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth
that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and
with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” That night I acted on those verses and by the
faith God gave me, I ask God to forgive me of my stupidly, my sin of trying to
live life by my desires and will and not His.
That night I became a new creation, that night God’s Spirit came to live
in my life, and my vision problem was all gone, wrong! I was a new creation, Jesus sent the Holy
Spirit to live in me, but my flesh did not die, it had learned patterns for 27
years, it was very much alive and it battled with the Spirit living in me.
I began to learn that my world view needed changing, the way
I looked at others needed changed, and this may not encourage you, but at 72 I
am coming to understand these truths:
I am the easiest person in the
world for me to deceive.
I am the easiest person in
the world for me to get in trouble.
I have a sight problem, it’s
the same one Jesus is talking about in verses 41-42, “Why do
you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that
is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out
the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in
your own eye? You
hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see
clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.” You and I do not enjoy being called a
hypocrite, but when we act like something we are not, when we act like the
world, we are being hypocrites.
Yes, there is good news, you
will not find it in your own abilities, but in the Helper the one Jesus
promised to send into your life. Jan and
I were blessed to meet Major W. Ian Thomas, and these are a few of his many
quotes: “The measure of a man's worth is the measure in
which he no longer lives "to and for himself," but "to and for
Jesus Christ." No more and no less!”
A
mighty truth, “The
One who calls you to a life of righteousness is the One who by our consent
lives that life of righteousness through you!”
And this one, and I do not want to be this person, but for
much of my life as a follower I was; “There are those who have a life they never live. They have
come to Christ and thanked Him only for what He did, but do not live in the
power of who He is.” No one
but Christ can live the Christian life through you, I can’t nor can you, and
you will not find in the Scriptures where you are told you can apart from
Christ doing it all for you, so ask for help with life, with your sight, with
every aspect of life.
From
the back Porch,
Bob
Rice
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