Just recently I was having a 'heart to heart' with the Father and telling him how unqualified I feel for the things He keeps calling me to do. He wasn't too impressed with my pitiful "I can't" party, but instead reminded me of who I am, and more important than that.....who HE IS. Then He reminded me of a verse that He spoke 15 years ago to me that began to transform my thinking and how I saw myself. It's become a sort of 'life verse' to me, repeatedly calling me to change the way I think.
"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world, and the despised things - and the things that are not- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him."
He loves taking the 'are nots' and doing something magnificent through them just to show off His awesome glory and power. Inside of every 'are not' is a treasure waiting to be released and displayed for His glory!
I think we get hung up on our weakness, but scripture doesn't ever tell us that we are strong in our natural selves. If we are looking for that, or waiting for that before we move forward, we will always be disappointed. In fact, 2 Cor. 4:7, says that "we have this treasure in jars of clay". And the reason? To "show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us".
This is the message of Acts 4:13. When God's power shows up in an 'are not' like Peter, who cowardly denied Jesus 3 times, the world takes notice. I think many times we feel that our weakness is too much. Too much for Him? What are we thinking? He's the Creator of the Universe! We view ourselves through our natural eyes, but this whole transaction is nothing natural. It has to be supernatural!
So what is my place in all of this? The key is found at the end of the verse...."these men had been with Jesus". My place is just to "be" with Him. I've spent too many hours of my life 'doing' when I should have been 'being'. Someone wisely said that we are 'human beings' not 'human doings'. I love that!
If I hear anything at all, I'm hearing a clarion call coming from the Father's heart to come and 'be' with Him. He really wants to hang out with us. And it is in the "being" with Him that we are transformed.
For whatever reason, sometimes we settle for less. We get infiltrated into this natural world around massive amounts of mediocrity and start thinking that this is normal. Then, a Peter or John walks into our life and we see that there is something different and that there is real love to be encountered and real power to be demonstrated. (see Acts 4:14)
Once we see and touch and taste the more, we are ruined for anything less. At least I have been.
I'll be honest, I've tasted some of the more and it's really, really good stuff. But, I want so much more. Way more.
Father, deliver us from mediocrity and mundane abnormal Christianity. Touch us with your love, then touch us with your fire. Reveal Your glory in us that the earth might be filled with the knowledge of Your glory. Amen.
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