Meditation: September 30

For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2

The strong language used by Paul was to express how he directed his will to block out all information that would in anywise compete with the knowledge of Christ that he had attained. This knowledge would serve as the filter because it was the highest level of knowledge ever made available to mankind. He was not limiting what was being made known to his intellect. He was in addition speaking of his experiences. His entire life was to be governed by the dimensions of Christ yet to be known and the deep meaning contained within His death on the cross. There are so many distractions in this life competing with our knowing the things that are most essential to life. Many will major in minors and minor in majors. But none of their information can produce anything that produce a permanent resolve to their challenges and survive beyond this life. To know Jesus is to have eternal life. To know Him as crucified is to identify with His death, thus possessing resurrection life. As with Paul, we must determine to close the door on all that would appear to be objective knowledge and bring it into subjection to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Meditation: December 7, 2013

“The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong,” Ecclesiastes  9:11

The race may begin with speed and the warrior may show both courage and strength. But when the battle continues beyond the allotted time, the soldier grows weary.  Even when he is nearing the completion of the battle, it appears as if strength wanes and the possibility of surrender increases. It takes the second wind of the soldier to push beyond the discouragements that are sure to come. It requires that extra effort in remaining consistent regardless of fatigue. This where losers give in and are defeated.  What is most important is winning the race and finishing the course that is before us.  When our eyes are upon the right prize, we would settle for nothing less. What is before us is greater than anything left behind.  Therefore, we must keep moving forward, putting one foot before the other. This is the race of life to become like Jesus as we press into His Kingdom. We are laying aside every weight and the sin that would otherwise hold us back. It is because we are desperate to fully possess what we are coming to understand and know.

Meditation: April 12, 2013

“Their job is to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, to show them how to discern between unclean and clean.” Ezekiel 44:23

 The job of the preacher is not merely to entertain people or to build buildings. Neither is he successful when he possesses the ability to draw large crowds. God has assigned us to teach the difference between the sacred things and the secular. We must do all to the glory of God, but not all things warrant the same attention. The neglect of foundational truths will erect structures of wood, hay, and stubble that cannot withstand the waves of adversity or the strong winds of erroneous doctrines. Only those who are well taught will be able stand being fully equipped with the full armor of God. They are led in the path of holiness and righteousness thus developing their discernment between good and evil, the clean and the unclean. The paralyzing sin of sameness has dulled the senses of many. But God will raise up His priests who have not bowed their knees to Baal and remain faithful for such a time as this.