Scripture
Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!… For just as through the disobedience of the one man {Adam} the many were made sinners, so also through the obedienceof the one man {Jesus} the many will be made righteous.
~Romans 5:9, 19, NIV
Quote
God is by nature merciful but we who need mercy can make no demands.
~Ya’akov
A refuge is of no value unless it is entered. In antiquity, walled cities were places of refuge. Jerusalem was a fortress or a refuge, but to enjoy the safety of such a refuge, one had to enter in. We either deal with the enemies outside the walls or we enter in and have fellowship with those inside the wall. With God Himself being our Refuge, we enter into His holy presence. To take refuge in Him, we have to deal honestly with our sin. Thank goodness He in His mercy has made arrangements to take care of our sin, but there is no entering until we are ready to deal with sin. To enter in requires not only faith but repentance.
When we make Christ our refuge two things happen and both are wonderful. First, we are saved from our dreaded enemies; namely the devil, and hell, but there is a second blessing: we are saved from our wretched selves. Augustus Toplady must have had this in mind when he penned the famous hymn Rock of Ages…
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee;
let the water and the blood,
from thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure.
Did you see the double cure? [1] Saved from His wrath {hell} and [2] Make me pure or holy. Once we enter into Christ as our refuge, He begins to transform us into His own likeness. It will not happen in an instance, but it will happen. Your attitude toward sin will change and your hatred for sin will grow. I am reading George Muller’s journal. It was years after his conversion that he began talking about his desire to be holy like Christ and he confessed that this desire was growing. As a young Christian and preacher, I had no desire to be holy. This was in part due to my misunderstanding of holiness but not all together. Now I think about it everyday and I long to be holy. The best definition of holiness is transparency, being able to think out loud without being embarrassed. Jesus could do that: to this point, I can’t, but I want to be like Jesus. Do want to be like Him?
Extra
We got two more rains. Our corn has survived and so have the tomatoes but the okra is in a low spot and I don’t think it is going to make it. We should have squash by our 49er meeting on May 23. I have thought about hosting another Memorial Day weekend picnic here at the house for our Grace Point family but we can’t do both. I have to decide this week: is it going to be a Friday meal at the church on the 23 or a picnic at our house on 25. The bad news is the picnic will be hot dogs and burgers with chips and baked beans. The 49er meal is fish, chicken, hushpuppies, fried cabbage and only the LORD know what all else. The last couple of meals have been phenomenal. We can have a bean bag tournament if we have the picnic. I need some feedback. I can go either way. The Picnic include more people.
Josh is preaching Sunday and Pat is getting the stuff for the shrimp boil so I am taking the week off {study} and I am going to attempt to build two or three sheds. Joe David and I finished on last Friday but I have two more to go. I have lumber and tin piled everywhere: stuff I have saved from prior jobs. I need to get it up.
Joe David and I heard Jerry Vines {87 year old Baptist preacher} yesterday. He told one funny story that I really relate to. While he was at first Baptist Jacksonville, Florida, he was on TV every Sunday. He ran into an old back slidden member on a Monday after he had preached on Sunday. The old cranky member said, “I heard you on TV yesterday.” Dr. Vines stopped and waited for the compliment, but to his surprise, the old crank said, “You just didn’t have it, did you?” I am glad I am not on TV. I don’t think I have had it for quite some time but our gracious folks don’t complain. Thank goodness.
I hope you have a great day and get enough sunshine to mow your grass. Our rye grass is 6 inches high but it doesn’t stop raining long enough to cut it.