R-rated Hearts

THE way I feel about being around unbelievers will tell me a whole lot about my concept of God and how I stand before him. Jesus put it this way: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:1-2 NIV).

In other words, you get what you give out. You want a loving God? Then be loving. You want a merciful God? Then be merciful. Want God to forgive you? Then forgive your fellow man. Want God to condemn you? Then be an accusatory person. Want to put yourself above the rest of the world? Then get ready for a God who is going to strain out every judgmental thought you’ve ever had and measure all the thoughts and intents of your hidden heart by the same standard.

That’s enough to send me to my knees, because I know my heart. You and I as Christians need to realize that however  acceptable our lives my be for the general audience, we still possess an R-rated heart, and we’re as good as dead if we want God to meet us on any other ground than his grace and forgiveness.

The joy of this truth is that once I can believe that forgiveness for myself, then I can believe it for anybody. I have new eyes to see beyond my neighbor’s sin and love him or her with the love of Christ.

When we search the Gospels, we never find a place where Jesus was offended by a sinful person. But there are repeated accounts of his being offended by the self-righteousness of so called holy people who set themselves apart from the rest of humanity in their own eyes. For these people, he didn’t even have the time of day, except to warn them of the judgment to come, a judgment brought about by their refusal to see themselves as needy as the next guy.

AUTHOR: John Fischer. Taken from TRUE BELIEVERS DON’T ASK WHY  by John Fischer.  Copyright 1989 by John Fischer. Bethany House Publishers.  Extracted from Men’s Devotional Bible New International Version Page 1044. Copyright 1993 by Zondervan Publishing House.

Give Us the Light

ALL of us who have been baptized in Christ and have “put on Christ” as a new identity are bound to be holy as he is holy.  We are bound to live worthy lives, and our actions should bear witness to our union with him.  He should manifest his presence in us and through us …

We are supposed to be the light of the world.  We are supposed to be a light to ourselves and to others.  That may well be what accounts for the fact that the world is in darkness!

What then is meant by the light of Christ in our lives?  What is “holiness”?  What is divine son-ship?  Are we really seriously supposed to be saints?  Can a man even desire such a thing without making a complete fool of himself in the eyes of everyone else?  Is it not presumptuous?  Is such a thing even possible at all?  To tell the truth,  many laypeople and even a good many religious do not believe,  in practice,  that sanctity is possible for them.  Is this just plain common sense?  Is it perhaps humility?  Or is it defection,  defeatism and despair?

If we are are called by God to holiness of life and if holiness is beyond our natural power to achieve  (which it certainly is)  then it follows that God himself must give us the light,  the strength and the courage to fulfill the task he requires of us.

He will certainly give us the grace we need.  If we do not become saints it is because we so not avail ourselves of his gift.

AUTHOR:  Thomas Merton from LIFE AND HOLINESS.  Copyright 1963 by the Abbey of Gethsemani, Inc..  Taken from Men’s Devotional Bible New International Version Page 1014. Copyright 1993 by Zondervan Publishing House.