Issue 993 – Wrong Way Around – February 27, 2023
Last week I shot this picture of a pond at the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve in Chilliwack. I love the reflections of the sky above.
If you look closely at the image, you will see a problem. I have posted it upside down. Anything more than a casual glance will reveal ripples in the “sky” above.
I have written before about the truth that the kingdom of God is upside down and counter-cultural. Christianity flies in the face of any worldly “wisdom.”
The world believes that Christianity is closed-minded, yet anyone, anywhere, no matter their culture, gender, social standing or level of sin, is welcome at the foot of the cross.
The problem is not that Christianity is backward. The world is upside down, all topsy turvy. One writer says, “I once saw a toy clown with a weight in its head. No matter what position you put it in, it invariably assumed an upside-down position. Put it on its feet or on its side, and when you let go, it flipped back on its head. Unregenerate people are just like that! Do what you may with them, and they always revert to an upside-down position.”
By the world’s standards, we are misfits. By God’s standards, we are the redeemed in Christ. Our desire to be righteous seems bizarre to a culture where unrighteousness is the norm.
Even though the world views us as upside down or backwards, we cannot afford the luxury of looking down on the lost. Without the grace of God, we would still be with them and sharing their fate.
We have no reason to brag and boast. None of us will be wholly sanctified (made holy) until we get to glory.
The Apostle Paul understood that struggle.
For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. Romans 7:15-25
We will struggle, but we have victory in Jesus. Our deliverance and security are in Him and not by our feeble efforts.
The world sees us as upside down and backwards, but by God’s grace, perhaps we can draw a few of them to the truth.
We will win them by our love, not by our condemnation.
Be Blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
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All contents, “Gleanings From The Word” and “Experience an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Life,” are © 2001, 2023 K.F. “Kevin” Corbin Gleanings From The Word.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from the English Standard Version (ESV).
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