Life goes on its merry ol’ way, but then suddenly – everything stops. Crisis comes. We’ll just call it ‘a sickness’ for now, because we can all understand getting the flu.
We just want to get better- as fast as we can!
And when taking medicine, it has been said from ages past that ‘a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.’ And I think we all kind of agree with that!
Well, when it comes to ‘things of God’, I think this statement is true as well.
In life, there are times we find ourselves in ‘crisis’. All of a sudden we feel ‘far from God’. We don’t know what to do or where to turn.It is a time of great anxiety for us all.
So we know we need some spiritual medicine. The sugar? The sugar is the truth that God has said, “Never will I leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5.
The medicine?
It isn’t easy to choke down, but it is powerful. It is truth. It is life transforming when ‘taken’ correctly.
Leviticus 19:2 When the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
“Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them:
“You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.”
Don’t be offended, there is no judgement going on, these are God’s words, and I think we feel far from God because we need to remember,
He is a Holy God.
You might be thinking, “This sounds like some kind of ‘Holistic’ medicine.” Forgive the pun!
No, this is God’s basic formula. Have you thought about the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry? ‘He went about all Galilee, teaching…preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of diseases…And great multitudes followed Him – Matthew 4:24. He saw the multitudes, and ‘He went up on a mountain…Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
“Blessed...(that’s kind of like the sugar!) He said, “Happy”.
That is what you and I want. We want to be happy. But the medicine, or the remedy, is not self-assertiveness and confidence. It becomes quite obvious that God’s ways are not our ways when we remember what He has to say that “Blessed...
“are the poor in spirit”
You see, if you and I took a piece of white cloth, but then held it up to an even whiter piece of cloth, we would look at the white cloth and say, “Hmm, it’s kind of yellow.”
God’s holiness is perfection. No matter who we are, we are not holy and perfect. We all fall short.
But He is holy.
We need so desperately,these days to remember, and remind each other that God is Holy. So that we can become…
poor in spirit. Because “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”Matthew 5:3.
It seems so backwards, but it makes perfect sense. We stop comparing ourselves to ‘the other guy’ and begin to see ourselves in light of a perfect and holy God. God is holy and we are not – we become, poor in spirit.
But ‘O how happy’ we now can become, because we see once again
that we need Him. We need a Savior.
Can we come to Him and honestly ask, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.Psalm 139:23.
Blessed are these words, “The LORD is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works. The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them…”
Once again, the familiar hymn speaks:
“Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth, and sky, and sea…
Only Thou art holy! Merciful and mighty! Perfect in power, In love and purity…”
He alone is holy. He alone is near to all who call upon Him…
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,’ and in His time, He makes all things beautiful. A ‘spoonful of sugar’ is faith, and hope in believing Jesus,…His Name is like honey on my lips, His Spirit washes and cleanses, My Father in heaven Your kingdom is come, I praise and hallow Your Name… and in the praise and in the worship and in the lifting up of my hands,
“Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! Though the darkness hide Thee, Thou the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see. Only Thou art holy; There is none beside Thee Perfect in power, In love, and purity!”
I wait on You, for “Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen.” and even in the waiting, in ‘brokenness of spirit’, Jesus, my health is restored. Praise be to my holy Father, who sent His son because He loves us so, and comforts us continually with His glorious and Holy Spirit!
“Amen, Amen, Amen, Oh! Let all the children say, Amen!”
We just want to get better- as fast as we can!
And when taking medicine, it has been said from ages past that ‘a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.’ And I think we all kind of agree with that!
Well, when it comes to ‘things of God’, I think this statement is true as well.
In life, there are times we find ourselves in ‘crisis’. All of a sudden we feel ‘far from God’. We don’t know what to do or where to turn.It is a time of great anxiety for us all.
So we know we need some spiritual medicine. The sugar? The sugar is the truth that God has said, “Never will I leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5.
The medicine?
It isn’t easy to choke down, but it is powerful. It is truth. It is life transforming when ‘taken’ correctly.
Leviticus 19:2 When the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
“Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them:
“You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.”
Don’t be offended, there is no judgement going on, these are God’s words, and I think we feel far from God because we need to remember,
He is a Holy God.
You might be thinking, “This sounds like some kind of ‘Holistic’ medicine.” Forgive the pun!
No, this is God’s basic formula. Have you thought about the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry? ‘He went about all Galilee, teaching…preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of diseases…And great multitudes followed Him – Matthew 4:24. He saw the multitudes, and ‘He went up on a mountain…Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
“Blessed...(that’s kind of like the sugar!) He said, “Happy”.
That is what you and I want. We want to be happy. But the medicine, or the remedy, is not self-assertiveness and confidence. It becomes quite obvious that God’s ways are not our ways when we remember what He has to say that “Blessed...
“are the poor in spirit”
You see, if you and I took a piece of white cloth, but then held it up to an even whiter piece of cloth, we would look at the white cloth and say, “Hmm, it’s kind of yellow.”
God’s holiness is perfection. No matter who we are, we are not holy and perfect. We all fall short.
But He is holy.
We need so desperately,these days to remember, and remind each other that God is Holy. So that we can become…
poor in spirit. Because “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”Matthew 5:3.
It seems so backwards, but it makes perfect sense. We stop comparing ourselves to ‘the other guy’ and begin to see ourselves in light of a perfect and holy God. God is holy and we are not – we become, poor in spirit.
But ‘O how happy’ we now can become, because we see once again
that we need Him. We need a Savior.
Can we come to Him and honestly ask, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.Psalm 139:23.
Blessed are these words, “The LORD is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works. The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them…”
Once again, the familiar hymn speaks:
“Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth, and sky, and sea…
Only Thou art holy! Merciful and mighty! Perfect in power, In love and purity…”
He alone is holy. He alone is near to all who call upon Him…
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,’ and in His time, He makes all things beautiful. A ‘spoonful of sugar’ is faith, and hope in believing Jesus,…His Name is like honey on my lips, His Spirit washes and cleanses, My Father in heaven Your kingdom is come, I praise and hallow Your Name… and in the praise and in the worship and in the lifting up of my hands,
“Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! Though the darkness hide Thee, Thou the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see. Only Thou art holy; There is none beside Thee Perfect in power, In love, and purity!”
I wait on You, for “Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen.” and even in the waiting, in ‘brokenness of spirit’, Jesus, my health is restored. Praise be to my holy Father, who sent His son because He loves us so, and comforts us continually with His glorious and Holy Spirit!
“Amen, Amen, Amen, Oh! Let all the children say, Amen!”