Today's meditation: Philippians 2:12-18 which, incidentally, was also brought up yesterday during ag. mm.

i suppose one of the biggest reasons for doing things right (there the phrase is, again), is because we are shiny people. shiny, shining, you know. like lights. there are many ways to say this, and many approaches that have already been expounded on, but i suppose in philippians Paul is saying that our starting point is this: we shine as lights in the world, so do all things without murmurings or disputings, that we may be blameless and harmless in what we are called to be. geddit?

and i guess the whole point about shining is that it is for the sake of noticing. the shining testifies to something. Or rather, Someone. The greatest Love that redeems all our lostness and despair, even when we have nothing to give in return.

and lest we say we are inherently good: do you know what we are each capable of?

matthew 15:19- "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies"

Initially we trust in our ignorance, calling it innocence, and next we trust our innocence, calling it purity. Then when we hear these strong statements from our Lord, we shrink back, saying, "But I never felt any of those awful things in my heart." We resent what He reveals. Either Jesus Christ is the supreme authority on the human heart, or He is not worth paying any attention to. Am I prepared to trust the penetration of His Word into my heart, or would I prefer to trust my own "innocent ignorance"? If I will take an honest look at myself, becoming fully aware of my so-called innocence and putting it to the test, I am very likely to have a rude awakening that what Jesus Christ said is true, and I will be appalled at the possibilities of the evil and the wrong within me. But as long as I remain under the false security of my own "innocence," I am living in a fool’s paradise. If I have never been an openly rude and abusive person, the only reason is my own cowardice coupled with the sense of protection I receive from living a civilized life. But when I am open and completely exposed before God, I find that Jesus Christ is right in His diagnosis of me.

The only thing that truly provides protection is the redemption of Jesus Christ. If I will simply hand myself over to Him, I will never have to experience the terrible possibilities that lie within my heart. Purity is something far too deep for me to arrive at naturally. But when the Holy Spirit comes into me, He brings into the center of my personal life the very Spirit that was exhibited in the life of Jesus Christ, namely, the Holy Spirit, which is absolute unblemished purity.

- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest


guess i can relate to what chamber calls the disgust at the possbilities of the evil and wrong within me. i've been seeing more and more of what i can be, and it's horrible. i would hate me. i would be bitter, i would be scheming, i would be shallow. i would be absolutely cold.

thank God, then, for Christ! He who was sent to save me from myself, and who did what was necessary to overcome all that is evil and ugly. He has begun a work within me.