God descended into His own greatness

We glorify Christ’s ascent to heaven but it was His descent that was the crowning achievement of His life.
The Bible makes it very clear that Jesus came down into this world and He came down from the very top.
The One worthy of all worship and the Source of all power was born as a helpless baby in a dirty animal stable. Once His life on earth began, Jesus never stopped descending.
Omnipotent, He cried;
The owner of all things, He had no home.
The King of Kings, He became a bondservant;
The source of truth, He was found guilty of blasphemy;
The Creator, He was spit on by the creatures;
The Giver of life, He was crucified naked on a cross–bleeding, gasping for air.
From the pinnacle of praise in the universe to the ultimate debasement and torture of death on a cross. It was Christ life and His death as a man that violated every tenet of heaven and earth.
The Sustainer of all things came to pour Himself out upon the cross.
The one who possessed everything became nothing.
From the world’s perspective He was a fool and the cross became a symbol of that foolishness. But it was through this downward plunge that Jesus truly received a name that is higher than every name.
God descended into His own greatness.

Thank You Lord!

In the Bonds of Calvary,

He Will Be Back!

I heard the story of a pastor who would go to visit a child in the countryside of Florida every Saturday.  The boy’s mother had died, and his father was an alcoholic.  The Pastor said that every Saturday he’d go out to the house at about eleven o’clock and the little boy would always be standing at the end of the sandy lane waiting.  He’d run up to the Pastor in dirty clothes and bare feet and give him a bear hug.  The father, if he was sober, spent most of his time watching television. 
The Pastor said that one Saturday he was delayed and didn’t make it to the boy’s home until late that afternoon.  He said that when he got there the boy was still standing at the end of the lane.  When he got out of the car the little boy ran up to him and with tears in is eyes said, “I’ve been waiting for you all day!”

   That is the kind of childlike trust that will enable us to keep looking, to keep waiting for our coming King when everything and everyone around us says “He’s not coming back, He’s forgotten you.”  In an hour when ye think not, the children of the Kingdom will still be praying, will still be watching, will still be waiting.  Why?  Because He’s never let us down.  He’d said He’d be back, so we know He’ll be back.  We don’t know when, but whenever it is, childlike faith will keep us looking heavenward.

in the bonds of calvary,

The Power of God

The story is told of a Welsh woman who lived in a remote valley in Wales.
She went to a great deal of trouble to have electrical power installed in her home.
Officials at the power company noticed she didn’t use very much electricity at all.
In fact, her usage was minuscule.
They sent a meter reader out to check on the matter. The man came to the door and said, “We’ve looked at the amount. Don’t you use electricity?”
“Oh yes” she said. “We turn it on every night to see how to light our lamps and then we switch it off again.”
I hope that this is not the way I apply the power of God in my life

In the Bonds of Calvary,

Deliverance ?

Deliverance doesn’t necessarily mean having all the problems solved.
It doesn’t mean that the difficult people will be removed.
The pain may not be assuaged, the disease may not be healed, the crisis may not be eliminated.
Deliverance might mean to be carried safely through it or being given the ability to face it or being preserved in it by the grace of God.
Things may not change, but we do.
Circumstances may remain the same, but God enables us to overcome.
In this life, grace to sustain us may be a greater deliverance than removal of the obstacle!

In the Bonds of Calvary,

Full of Faith? Faithful?

You know, English is a kind of strange language.

You would think that full of faith and faithful would be the same thing — but they are not.

They are related, but they are not the same thing.

To be full of faith is to have faith; to be faithful is to keep the faith.

It is being true to the trust placed in us by others and by God.

Everybody appreciates the person who is faithful, who will never betray a trust, and who will never fail to keep a commitment.

When we have not been faithful, it is because some doubt, however momentary or tentative, has crept in

I asked myself these questions to determine whether I can consider myself faithful to God’s church or not:

 ”If everyone had the same level of faithfulness that I do, what kind of church would this be?”

 ”If everyone had the same level of faithfulness that I do would anyone be here, other than for Sunday morning worship?”

 ”If everyone had the same level of faithfulness that I do, would there be any teachers for our children’s classes?”

 ”If everyone had the same level of faithfulness that I do, would the church be growing, both numerically and spiritually?”

 ”If everyone had the same level of faithfulness that I do, would the church even exist?”

 Just doing a little self-evaluation……

 In the Bonds of Calvary,

“I Don’t Have Time”

Sometimes I run out of time before I finish all that I have set out to do.

When it comes to not having the time,  I looked at the example of Jesus.

He was never too busy. He always had time to invite the little children to sit on His knee. In the middle of a busy itinerary, the disciples tried to shoo them away, but Jesus found the time. He had time to heal a woman who touched the hem of His garment when thousands thronged about Him. She saw how busy He was, and thought, “He will never have time for me, but if I could just touch His clothes” and what did Jesus do? He stopped the procession. He canceled the parade so that He could minister to that one shy little lady in her personal moment of need.

Jesus always had time for those who needed Him!

He still does!

In the Bonds of Calvary,

I HAVE AN ATTITUDE OF OPTIMISM

There are several definitions of optimism I’ve heard:

 ”An optimist is a man who marries his secretary and thinks he’ll be able to continue dictating to her.”

George Nathan says, “the optimist is the kind of person who believes a housefly is looking for a way out.”

Zig Ziglar said, ” I’m such an optimist I’d go after Moby Dick in a rowboat and take the tartar sauce with me.”

Or picture this scene:

Two prisoners are shackled to the wall of a deep, dark, dungeon.

Spread-eagled, they are securely lashed by manacles in chains and actually hanging suspended, side by side, a few feet above the damp floor of the dungeon.

There is only one small window high above their heads, maybe 30 or 40 feet up.

They are immobile and alone, pinned inescapably to the wall.

One prisoner turns to the other and whispers, “Here’s my plan!”

If I am to overcome in the conflict I must have an attitude of optimism.

In the Bonds of Calvary,

All About SELF!

 In the last decade man has had an insatiable appetite that has driven him in seeking affirmation of SELF. Today “self” is being used as the criterion for evaluating life. We should tell ourselves: “You’re okay. You can make it. Nothing is too great for you to conquer if you believe in yourself.” “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe man can achieve.”

 Certain words have subtly crept into our vocabulary. You may have noticed the words too: Self-acceptance. Self-actualization. Self-confidence. Self-consciousness. Self-control. Self-deliverance. Self-discipline. Self-enlightenment. Self-evaluation. Self-fulfillment. Self-gratification. Self-help. Self-image. Self-empowerment. Self-knowledge. Self-pity. Self-reliance. Self-talk.

 We are hoping an understanding of self will give us an explicit vantage point from which to view life and solve our problems.

It is as though Paul’s words in Ephesians chapter three and verse nineteen have been interpolated and rewritten to say, ” . . . that you may be filled with the fullness of self . . . ” Paul actually says, ” . . . that you may be filled with the fullness of God ”

 ”Self” is at the heart of each word and the problem of each heart. These “self” words are pointing the way to other “self” words: Self-absorption. Self-centeredness. Self-deception. Is it any wonder that individuals, marriages, organizations, churches and nations are experiencing SELF-DESTRUCTION?

 We must place our confidence in God. We must envision self through the eyes of God. I have exchanged each of the “self” words with “God.”

Wow! What a difference that makes.

 In the Bonds of Calvary,

Absence does what…..?

Over the years I have heard it said that “absence makes the heart grow fonder”.

For a time I even bought into that fable but now I realize that it can’t be so.

I am a people watcher. I observe action and reaction. And, I have noticed that when people are not in fellowship…..when they are apart, they don’t grow fonder. Often they separate or grow apart.

I have never seen any relationship improved upon without the participants in that relationship spending time with one another.

It’s that way with my relationship with God too.

In the Bonds of Calvary,

SALT !

While having lunch at a a local restaurant today I noticed a man at a nearby table salting his food. He was vigorously shaking the container so that he could get enough of the substance.

 I remembered that I am called to be salt and wondered if I am vigorous enough.

Like a little salt, we have an immense influence on preserving a great mass of society.

 For the sake of the world, the spiritual vigor of the church must be preserved. It will not do to learn how the world wants it done. It will not do to compromise to the standards of the world.

 If the GRACE of God…If the SPIRIT of Christ….If the HOLY GHOST of God….If the DIVINE LIFE….If SINLESSNESS, If PURITY, If the POWER OF THE WORD, vanish from the church…..the corporation may still exist, but its mission will have ceased.

 The church is SALT….Right?

The people of the covenant are the people of SALT….Right?

 In the Bonds of Calvary,