The Ministry of Righteousness

So, last thursday I was talking to my friend Cory who used to go to Truett and shares many mutual friends with me. One friend in particular we started talking about was Jerry St. Pierre. Shocked to have made this connection of an old friend, I began to listen to Cory's description of Jerry as he encompassed his personality flawlessly. You see, my friend Jerry is someone who, as it says in 2 Corinthiains 2, brings the "aroma of Christ" to those who are perishing. I think about that phrase "aroma of Christ"....you see, I have a thing for smells. Taking the risk of sounding creepy, I love the to smell people. haha. yea that was creepy. But I do! Just after a hug, as the smell of someone's shampoo or cologne or perfume lingers, I just love it! I can generally detect someone by their smell. yea yea yea...make your jokes. But anywho, I guess the thing that gets me here is that if we are the aroma of Christ, He should linger with people as we leave them. They should automatically be able to detect that we have been spending time with Him. Jerry is one of those people. The first time I met him, he walked up to me, shook my hand and asked me if I was a Christian. Taken a back and feeling a bit overwhelmed, I answered. But even with such a bold question, I still felt comfortable talking to him about it. I assumed he was a new Christian. Because in my experience, no one that had been a Christian for a long time was so bold in their faith. But God is all he talked about. And the more I got to know him, the more I saw God was real to him, and his love for the Lord seemed so fresh.

Sunday at church, Jerry popped into my mind again. Jarrod started out the sermon by proposing the thought that we too often by into the lie that good things just don't last. Then we looked at 2 Corinthians 3:4-18 which states:

Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

v 4-6: First, just seeing that our dependency on Him is essential because we are to be made competent to live as ministers of the new covenant. And in that, dependency is an engaged and active battle

v 7-11: the glory of God in us, does not fade away. We have been taught our entire lives that a healthy spiritual life is merely a "high" and it will not last. But what these verses talk about is very different. Paul is talking about the law that moses brought down and he saw it as a law of death because it pointed out the sins of people without giving them a way to save themselves from it. Paul makes it clear that this law had so much glory because people couldn't even look at Moses. So how much more will a doctrine that brings us freedom be glorious?! God's glory is not transient. It is constant. He never walks away from us. We walk away from what could be a lifetime of being in close communion with the Lord (Isaiah 59:1-3). We buy into this lie, and so we just leave what God has to offer. Because why would we risk throwing everything we are and have into something that we have been told and believe will fade? We are believing a lie straight out of the mouth of satan himself! And I pray that we turn from this falsehood. We serve a Jesus who has a permanent priesthood (Hebrews 7:22-25) and ever-increasing glory!!!!! HE NEVER FADES! the lies: Nobody can love God that much, all the time....Nobody can live that way all the time.

Like I said, these are lies and we have to stop buying into them. We have to start believing in God's plan for our lives. We have to believe the truth in His word that says He will do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine.

Besides just believing in the lies, we also are not willing out put out the effort to be that close to God all the time and see what He has to offer. It takes zero effort to be who you have always been. But to fight and battle and strive for communion with God against your flesh? that's so hard!

some truth to support this:

Philippians 2:12-- Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling

Hebrews 11:6- And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

We must develop a habit of dependency daily. We must awaken from our laziness and CHASE after God like never before!

Lord I pray that we believe this truth. We believe that you are constant. That your spirit within us is constant. May you press us onward so that we may constantly battle for communion with you!

Embracing the Battle

1Ch 29:12-13 丰富尊荣都从你而来，你也治理万物。在你手里有大能大力，使人尊大强盛都出於你。 我们的神啊，现在我们称谢你，赞美你荣耀之名！

That's chinese. :)

I know that we are 3 months and 5 days from China but I am so excited. Each day the Lord brings me reminders of the trip and gets me stoked about it! But that will have very little to do with this blog. hehe...Our campus director Wyatt told me about this program called E-sword that you can download on your computer. It has a ton of resources for scripture and journaling and writing notes and sermons...it's the jam! Hence why I can now post verses in Chinese--which I will continue doing!!! :)

so in English:

Both riches and honor come from You and You rule over all. In Your hand are power and might, and in Your hand it is to make great and to give strenth to all. But who am I, and what is my people that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from You and of Your own have we given You.

This is a commentary from one of the resources from the program, very cool.

Both riches and honour come of thee,.... Whatever of either the children of men have is not owing to their merits, nor to their diligence and industry, and wise conduct, but to the providence of God, Ecc_9:11 so the gods with the Heathens are said (o) to be givers of riches:

and thou reignest over all; govern the world by wisdom, and dispose all things in it for the best:

in thine hand is power and might; to do whatsoever he pleaseth:

and in thine hand it is to make great; in worldly things, and so in spiritual:

and to give strength unto all; against their enemies, and to do the will and work of God; of all which David had had an experience.

My thoughts this past week have been anxious. I have not been trusting the Lord. I am so anxious. Constantly trying to fight off feelings and thoughts that I don't want to accept. But these verses, along with thinking about Philippians 4, reminded me that I am to submit all my anxious thoughts to the Lord with thanksgiving...and His peace will surround me. Since these thoughts have been progressing, I have been whining to the Lord instead of surrendering my thoughts with thanksgiving. I have been seeing the negative in all I am dealing with rather than seeing God's provision, purpose, sovereignty, strength and comfort. So...let's embrace this. He refines my through a fire of affliction, not a bubble bath. It's supposed to be hard. But my attitude is not suppose to be anxious. I have been nothing but unfaithful these past few days. It stops here. You rule over all.

Now it is true that we were made for God and that in Him we live and move and have our being. Yet such is the immersion in the world even of the most prayerful and most watchful that the approach to God with the whole heart demands a concentrated effort.