Every morning I am brought face to face with my weaknesses. God was pleased to grant me a new day of life and, as I try to focus my soul on Him, I see the stark incongruity between Him, in His sheer beauty, and me, in my utter imperfection. I am brought to despair. I am sick of the failures that arise from the corruption that still festers within me. I want to be free of this ugliness.
In brokenness, I fall prostrate before God. I realize that Christ's life, His perfect righteous life, with its merits imputed upon me, is the ground for my being able to approach the God who cannot tolerate the ugliness of sin in His presence. In Christ, I can "...come boldly unto the throne of grace, that (I) may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb 4:16) Hope is rekindled as I ponder on the grace and favor that God has promised to bestow upon those in whom He sees Christ formed and being formed. And all this in spite of my present disfigurement, for no one can earn by performance the grace and favor of God. I have the holiness of Christ imputed upon me in one sense and the holiness of His character being formed in me by the Holy Spirit in another. And it is for more of this latter holiness that I surrender everything every morning, hoping on His word that "for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." (Ro 8:29)
I worship God for the hope of being as Christ, fully, one day.
In brokenness, I fall prostrate before God. I realize that Christ's life, His perfect righteous life, with its merits imputed upon me, is the ground for my being able to approach the God who cannot tolerate the ugliness of sin in His presence. In Christ, I can "...come boldly unto the throne of grace, that (I) may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb 4:16) Hope is rekindled as I ponder on the grace and favor that God has promised to bestow upon those in whom He sees Christ formed and being formed. And all this in spite of my present disfigurement, for no one can earn by performance the grace and favor of God. I have the holiness of Christ imputed upon me in one sense and the holiness of His character being formed in me by the Holy Spirit in another. And it is for more of this latter holiness that I surrender everything every morning, hoping on His word that "for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." (Ro 8:29)
I worship God for the hope of being as Christ, fully, one day.
Great blog! I'm so encouraged by what I'm finding here. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteGrace & peace,
Derek Ashton
Thank you for the encouraging comment, brother.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonder it is to discover the paradoxes in the faith that magnify the worth of God above man's.