Today I opened an email and found this story by an unknown author. I was greatly encouraged by it because I feel so cracked sometimes that I am sure that I am more of a stumbling block than an asset to my Lord. Praise God He can use anyone for His purposes and His glory. Enjoy!
THE CRACKED POT
Author unknown
An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.
Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of that it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."
The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?"
"That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them."
"For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."
Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them. So, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
No Cross, No Crown
Tonight at our Good Friday service, the choir sang several songs. One of those songs really struck me - "No Cross, No Crown" (lyrics below).
Such amazing grace and love... how can it be? Christ the Lord, He died for me. He died for you. Praise be to God!
"From robes to rags, bettered and torn,
From heaven's praise to earth's dark scorn.
Alone He stands, clothed in my shame,
He knew the price, He took the blame.
No corss, no crown, no debt repaid,
No thorns, no throne, no sentence stiad.
No death, no life, no grace come down.
His loss, our gain, no cross, no crown.
His Father's will, a higher call,
He gives His life to save us all.
Yet death has failed the Crucified,
The Lamb still lives, the tomb denied.
His cross, our srown, all debts are paid,
Before the throne, all riches laid.
His love endures, His grace comes down,
His loss our gain, His cross our crown."
(I do not know the composer - if you do, please send me a note- thanks)
Such amazing grace and love... how can it be? Christ the Lord, He died for me. He died for you. Praise be to God!
"From robes to rags, bettered and torn,
From heaven's praise to earth's dark scorn.
Alone He stands, clothed in my shame,
He knew the price, He took the blame.
No corss, no crown, no debt repaid,
No thorns, no throne, no sentence stiad.
No death, no life, no grace come down.
His loss, our gain, no cross, no crown.
His Father's will, a higher call,
He gives His life to save us all.
Yet death has failed the Crucified,
The Lamb still lives, the tomb denied.
His cross, our srown, all debts are paid,
Before the throne, all riches laid.
His love endures, His grace comes down,
His loss our gain, His cross our crown."
(I do not know the composer - if you do, please send me a note- thanks)
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Grace - God's gift
Ephesians 4:31-32
"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you."
It seems that God wants me to learn more about grace... it keeps coming up from different sources. Has God ever done that in your life? He surrounds you with a message or a verse from totally unrelated sources? It's kind of like layers of an onion, He just keeps peeling back the layers to reveal the next one. This seems to be one BIG onion!
Anyway, that has been the case with grace for me lately. The most recent source (layer) came this week in our Sunday adult fellowship class. I am so glad I was there to get the message, Lord knows I have a long way to grow to become a conduit of His grace. Will you walk through this lesson with me? Here we go...
Briefly our teacher pointed out that in verse 31 there was a negative progression.
Step One: attitude = bitterness (resentment) which we allow to fester in our hearts and minds.
Step Two: disposition = anger/wrath here is the first visible evidence of our inward festering.
Step Three: speech = clamor/slander, now the inward issue bursts out like a volcano erupting.
Step Four: action = malice/evil, finally what is in our hearts pours out in a sinful manner.
Next he pointed out that the first word in that same verse is "let". He said that in the Greek it is a passive word meaning that it is done to us, that it is a work of the Spirit to be done to us. Our part is to let it be swept away from us. We must quit clutching to our bitterness which is at the root of the problem.
The encouragement and application came next. He showed our class the godly replacement in verse 32. The most enlightening thing was that the word translated "forgiving" is from the root word grace, he pointed out that "being gracious" was a better translation. The idea being gracious includes forgiveness but is broader. Graciousness is the antithesis of bitterness.
Here are the replacements he listed for us.
1) In place of bitterness display a graciousness of attitude.
2) In place of anger cultivate a gracious disposition.
3) In place of shouting and abusive speech develop a habit of gracious speech.
The reason for this change?
~We are recipients of the lavish grace God manifested toward us in Christ (Eph. 1:7-8)
~We are bought with a price and we are not our own (I Cor. 6:20; 7:23)
~While we were yet sinners, enemies of God, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8)
~We are to be gracious toward others because God through Christ has been gracious to us (Eph. 4:32)
You see, it is HIS grace given to us in order to pour it out on others in His name and... He requires it of us.
Oh that I would become a free flowing conduit of His grace to those around me, not just to those I love but especially to those who are hard to love. Unfortunately I think I must also fall in the "hard to love" category too which means I need God's grace to be demonstrated toward me by you too. Praise be to God that although with men many things are impossible, with God all things are possible! (Matt. 19:26; Mark 10:27)
"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you."
It seems that God wants me to learn more about grace... it keeps coming up from different sources. Has God ever done that in your life? He surrounds you with a message or a verse from totally unrelated sources? It's kind of like layers of an onion, He just keeps peeling back the layers to reveal the next one. This seems to be one BIG onion!
Anyway, that has been the case with grace for me lately. The most recent source (layer) came this week in our Sunday adult fellowship class. I am so glad I was there to get the message, Lord knows I have a long way to grow to become a conduit of His grace. Will you walk through this lesson with me? Here we go...
Briefly our teacher pointed out that in verse 31 there was a negative progression.
Step One: attitude = bitterness (resentment) which we allow to fester in our hearts and minds.
Step Two: disposition = anger/wrath here is the first visible evidence of our inward festering.
Step Three: speech = clamor/slander, now the inward issue bursts out like a volcano erupting.
Step Four: action = malice/evil, finally what is in our hearts pours out in a sinful manner.
Next he pointed out that the first word in that same verse is "let". He said that in the Greek it is a passive word meaning that it is done to us, that it is a work of the Spirit to be done to us. Our part is to let it be swept away from us. We must quit clutching to our bitterness which is at the root of the problem.
The encouragement and application came next. He showed our class the godly replacement in verse 32. The most enlightening thing was that the word translated "forgiving" is from the root word grace, he pointed out that "being gracious" was a better translation. The idea being gracious includes forgiveness but is broader. Graciousness is the antithesis of bitterness.
Here are the replacements he listed for us.
1) In place of bitterness display a graciousness of attitude.
2) In place of anger cultivate a gracious disposition.
3) In place of shouting and abusive speech develop a habit of gracious speech.
The reason for this change?
~We are recipients of the lavish grace God manifested toward us in Christ (Eph. 1:7-8)
~We are bought with a price and we are not our own (I Cor. 6:20; 7:23)
~While we were yet sinners, enemies of God, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8)
~We are to be gracious toward others because God through Christ has been gracious to us (Eph. 4:32)
You see, it is HIS grace given to us in order to pour it out on others in His name and... He requires it of us.
Oh that I would become a free flowing conduit of His grace to those around me, not just to those I love but especially to those who are hard to love. Unfortunately I think I must also fall in the "hard to love" category too which means I need God's grace to be demonstrated toward me by you too. Praise be to God that although with men many things are impossible, with God all things are possible! (Matt. 19:26; Mark 10:27)
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