Welcome (and welcome back, some of you) to the (woefully neglected) RST blog, and especially welcome Bonita Valley Adventist Church folks who are reading Steps To Christ this quarter. As Sharon said, we'll post here early in the week (well, it'll be "early" starting next week -- this week, not so much :-) Feel free to jump in, comment on these or any posts (or the emailed questions), wander through the archived RSTs, whatever, make yourselves at home. Alrighty then -- here we go! Here's what really jumped out at me from Chapter 1 (as you'll notice, most posts are much shorter than these so don't panic).
God has bound our hearts to Him by unnumbered tokens in heaven and in earth. Through the things of nature, and the deepest and tenderest earthly ties that human hearts can know, He has sought to reveal Himself to us. Yet these but imperfectly represent His love. Though all these evidences have been given, the enemy of good blinded the minds of men, so that they looked upon God with fear; they thought of Him as severe and unforgiving. Satan led men to conceive of God as a being whose chief attribute is stern justice--one who is a severe judge, a harsh, exacting creditor. He pictured the Creator as a being who is watching with jealous eye to discern the errors and mistakes of men, that He may visit judgments upon them. It was to remove this dark shadow, by revealing to the world the infinite love of God, that Jesus came to live among men...In describing His earthly mission, Jesus said, The Lord "hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised." Luke 4:18. (pp. 10-11)
I'm always struck, when I allow myself the time/space to think about deeper things, by the relentlessness of God's pursuit of me, of His immeasurable love for me and His unflagging drive to make me aware of His actual, literal, tender affection and mercy toward me. He's not mad; He loves me, yes, tenderly, and fiercely, but mostly irrevocably. Turns out He's crazy about me.
And then I'm also struck by the flip side: the relentlessly malevolent, angry, and bitter assault of the Adversary. He is the Father of Lies, and lie about God he does. Too many of us buy it, too. Before you think about it too much, take a quick inventory and see: do you feel like God is warm and affectionate and darned-near mushy crazy about you? Or does He feel cold, hard, distant, judgmental, vindictive? Read Jesus' own words above from Luke 4 (reading about Himself from Isaiah 61). That's what He said He was about; why do I (sometimes? often?) believe otherwise about Him?
Jesus did not suppress one word of truth, but He uttered it always in love. He exercised the greatest tact and thoughtful, kind attention in His intercourse with the people. He was never rude, never needlessly spoke a severe word, never gave needless pain to a sensitive soul. He did not censure human weakness. He spoke the truth, but always in love. He denounced hypocrisy, unbelief, and iniquity; but tears were in His voice as He uttered His scathing rebukes ... His life was one of self-denial and thoughtful care for others. Every soul was precious in His eyes. While He ever bore Himself with divine dignity, He bowed with the tenderest regard to every member of the family of God. In all men He saw fallen souls whom it was His mission to save. (p.12)
I love how Christ did the consistent living-out of who He was and what was written about Him in scripture (like the passage from Isaiah above). He truly exemplified for us CHRISTians what The Way looks like. Now for the pointy end of the stick: how am I doing living out my credo? Do I look like Him, or do I just say I do?
The more we study the divine character in the light of the cross, the more we see mercy, tenderness, and forgiveness blended with equity and justice, and the more clearly we discern innumerable evidences of a love that is infinite and a tender pity surpassing a mother's yearning sympathy for her wayward child. (p. 15)
Yep. That about covers it; it takes effort, and a little faith, to see beyond the deception the Adversary crafts and sells so effectively. God is love. No, seriously; God is so loving He actually is love. I just have to look around at the "innumerable evidences" and remember.
You've been prayed for today...
J
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