Nothing in My Hands I Bring

Nothing in My Hands I Bring

Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the scripture is Matthew 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

Blessed are the poor in Spirit means that the gospel will come to you only if you get rid of your middle class Spirit and become poor in Spirit.  Religion is middle class.  It appeals to the people who say, "I can do it if I work hard enough."  But the gospel only comes into the lives of those who are poor in Spirit and say, "I have absolutely nothing of value to give you.   I need to rely completely on the grace of Jesus Christ."

If you are middle class in Spirit, you'll love religion.   Religion says, Try hard, live nobly, be good, be tolerant, and give money to the poor.  The religious person says, "I can do it!  I can summons up all of my strength.  I'm going to turn over a new leaf, and I'm going to start living like this."  The gospel, however, is not religion.  The gospel says that no one is good, not one (Romans 3:10).  There is nothing in your heart that is good.  Even your good deeds have been done to feel superior to other people and to try and get control and leverage over God to get Him to owe you.   Even your best deeds are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).  You're filled with self-righteousness, and you are no better than the person who has lived an immoral life.  There is no love of God in your heart, and there is only one hope. 

The hope-Jesus Christ, the rich one, became poor.  Jesus Christ, the king, became a poor man.  Here is a man who is rejected and who dies naked.  He is buried in a borrowed grave.  Only because He died for you and your sins and then rose from the grave do you have any hope.  You have no merits (works) to offer Him.  When you come to God you must come and say, "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling."  You must not come saying, "I have lived a pretty good life, and you owe me."  Instead, you have to say, "You have every right to send me to Hell, but I want your mercy because of what Jesus Christ did."

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

 

 

Are We A Magnet Or An Excuse

Are We A Magnet Or An Excuse

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Ron Hutchcraft, and he Scripture is 2 Corinthians 5:20. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. . .

There he was in the homes of some ten million Americans every night - NBC's TV news anchorman. The voice that millions trust, or did trust. The most experienced, most watched anchorman in the country facing the worst possible question, "Can we believe him?"

Because of dramatic stories that he told about his assignments in the Middle East and during Hurricane Katrina; except in different tellings, there were different accounts. Accounts challenged by people who actually were there. So an anchorman had lost the one thing that a man with that kind of influence really can't do without - trust.

When you're the one responsible to report the Ultimate Story - God's Story - there's one thing you can't afford to lose - trust - because your life doesn't back it up. A person has to first trust the messenger usually before they will trust the message. So most people who come to Jesus do it because of a Christian they know. And most people who reject Jesus do it because of a Christian they know.

Your life, my life is either a magnet that attracts a lost person to Jesus, or it's an excuse for them to walk away from Him. In so doing, to walk possibly into an eternity without Him. So, I really need to constantly ask myself, "Is my life backing up the message? What is there in my life, what is there in the way I talk, what is there in the way I treat people, what is there in my attitude that contradicts what Jesus is like?"

And if I've lost their trust by my hypocrisy, I need to seek their forgiveness. Because I failed to show them how real Jesus is. I want to be a reason for people to trust Jesus, because they could trust me.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

We Worship Something

We Worship Something

Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the scripture is the first commandment found in Exodus.  The Ten Commandments were written for people that were already believers because they trusted God by sprinkling the blood of the lamb over their doorposts.  God then passed over those home, the Egyptian firstborn sons were not so fortunate.

 

The problem with our heart is not our ordinary desire for bad things, but it is our over desire for good things.  It comes from idolatry.  Kill off the over desires in our heart which are caused by idolatry.  Exodus 20, the first commandment says, I am the Lord thy God.  Thou shalt not have no other gods before me.  Either you worship the true God, or you worship some other finite thing as a god. 

 

Notice that the one thing that is not possible is to have no god.  You are either going to worship God, or you are going to worship something as god.  It is impossible for the human heart not to worship anything and not to have any god.  Lots of people say, "I'm not religious, and I don't worship."  That may be true in the formal sense, but basically there is no such person.  Everybody lives for something that is the basis for your joy and ultimate value.  Whatever that something is, spiritually, it is your life.

 

What is there in my life -- what relationship, what condition, what thing – that if I lost it would make me not want to live?  Whatever that is, it is your life.  You have put into its hands the power of life and death over you.  It's your real Master and Savior and your real worship.  

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining