"....to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified." (Isaiah 61:3)
The Christian life is a changed life, but not in the way that many of us imagine. God works by the principle of exchange. Fundamentally, it is Christ in place of the nature that we inherit from Adam.
In experience, God works in our lives to effect this exchange. According to His righteous nature, He must do this without violating our free will. How is this possible?
We are born independent. In the world, independence is valued and promoted. In God's kingdom, independence is unacceptable. God must rid us of this curse before we can be of any use in His kingdom work.
God will allow us to fail. When we do, the answer is not to sink into despair and hopelessness. We should come to Jesus with the "ashes" of failure and give the ashes to Him. He will give us His beauty in exchange. Are we mourning over the loss of a job, a breakdown in relationships or some other personal catastrophe? Come to Jesus and receive His oil of joy in place of mourning. Do we do nothing but complain about how hard life is? Come to Jesus, give Him all your complaints and receive the garment of praise instead.
When things go wrong, we should run to Jesus, not turn away. When Lazarus died, Martha came to Jesus but Mary stayed home. It is clear from the account in John 11 that Martha witnessed Lazarus coming out of the tomb. Mary is not mentioned. Was she still at home, grieving?
Let's not miss God's best for our lives. Let's be like Martha and come to Jesus when everything goes wrong. We will see the amazing power of God to bring life out of death, and bring the best out what seems to be the worst possible situation.
The Christian life is a changed life, but not in the way that many of us imagine. God works by the principle of exchange. Fundamentally, it is Christ in place of the nature that we inherit from Adam.
In experience, God works in our lives to effect this exchange. According to His righteous nature, He must do this without violating our free will. How is this possible?
We are born independent. In the world, independence is valued and promoted. In God's kingdom, independence is unacceptable. God must rid us of this curse before we can be of any use in His kingdom work.
God will allow us to fail. When we do, the answer is not to sink into despair and hopelessness. We should come to Jesus with the "ashes" of failure and give the ashes to Him. He will give us His beauty in exchange. Are we mourning over the loss of a job, a breakdown in relationships or some other personal catastrophe? Come to Jesus and receive His oil of joy in place of mourning. Do we do nothing but complain about how hard life is? Come to Jesus, give Him all your complaints and receive the garment of praise instead.
When things go wrong, we should run to Jesus, not turn away. When Lazarus died, Martha came to Jesus but Mary stayed home. It is clear from the account in John 11 that Martha witnessed Lazarus coming out of the tomb. Mary is not mentioned. Was she still at home, grieving?
Let's not miss God's best for our lives. Let's be like Martha and come to Jesus when everything goes wrong. We will see the amazing power of God to bring life out of death, and bring the best out what seems to be the worst possible situation.
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