Thoughts in Worship
Message Magazine's Online Devotional for Monday, April 15, 2019
Audio Link: http://bit.ly/ThoughtsinWorship
This is devotional thought number 4 in our devotional series titled, “The Faith I Live By”
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9).
You can be dirt without being dirty! You can be humble without being humiliated. You can be down without being out. You can be low, and yet be exalted. Now that I have your attention, let’s GO!
Do you realize that God formed your original ancestor, Adam, from dirt? I know, you read that God formed him from the dust of the earth. You get the point, though, right? The most powerful, handsome, stately intelligent man was created from dirt! But, it was dirt in the hands of God, with the divine breath than made Adam a living soul. He was perfect. His wife, whom God made especially for him, and to be the mother of all living was also perfect. She was the standard to which all women would aspire. Humankind was created from the dirt, but our original ancestors were not dirty; they were not tarnished when they came from the Creator’s hands. Of course, you can see in your own life, never mind the lives of others, that something went wrong. We all have made choices that continually tarnish our characters, but God still loves us! He makes provision to transform us and make us holy despite the challenges.
The Bible tells us the story of a man who was born blind. He lived during the time of Christ. To make an incredible and long story short, the Lord used that man’s experience to bring God glory. He used dirt and then mixed it with his spit, and anointed the man’s eyes as he healed him. Dirt? Spit? Yes! Jesus used the basic element, from which he made humanity, and healed the man. Jesus used dirt, but not to make the man dirty. He made the man whole. Little becomes much in the Master’s hands.
Consider our sin predicament for a moment. We are helpless and hopeless without God. Without Him, our lusts and worldly habits will take us right to the bottom of the ocean of sin and drown us. But, God gives us eternal life as a gift. In the process, He strips our mindsets of the pride that puts self and all of our wonderful so-called accomplishments first, and lets us know that when we humble ourselves, getting back to basics like the dirt in our thought for today, God will exalt us. Dirt cannot be boastful; afterall, it’s dirt. However, if we were to cherish pride instead of the blessed gift of salvation through Christ alone, we would become dirty. That which is defiled cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
You can be dirt without being dirty! You can be humble without being humiliated. You can be down without being out. You can be low, and yet be exalted. “It is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Accept it!
By God’s grace, this is the faith I live by, let this be the same for you, in Jesus’ name.—L. David Harris (http://bit.ly/BQuotable)
#theprotestisnotover #thefaithiliveby
