Rescue Me....

Wow... Haven't written here in forever.

I have still been writing notes for a variety of studies and devotions but for personal reasons...and maybe this is personal too.

Today I was reading in Galatians... and when I hit verse 3 I had to stop...and think about it. Let me refresh your memory:
³Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, ⁵to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.


So I bolded a couple of parts that stood out to me. You know, one more time... it isn't anything we did...it is what He did. That seems to be such a hard concept. Once we are saved we feel the need to not only perfect ourselves but also everyone around us...

Think of it this way.... when someone is rescued it is because they are helpless and unable to fix thier situation. When someone is rescued they are beyond their own capabilities. The rescuer MUST be stronger or have more ability than the rescuee, right?

Stick with me here...

So on my desk I have this little day by day devotional. After I had done my Bible reading and run errands I came home to work..I sat down and instinctively turned it to today's page....

Note well the words of Jesus... It is not "Go, labor on, " as perhaps you imagine [but]... Come to me and rest."
Never, never did Christ send a heavy laden one to work; never never did He send a weary one, a sick or sorrowing one away on such service. For such the Bible only says, "Come, come, come".

There are tons of hurting people in churches...right now. Spiritually exhausted, beat up, rejected.... and rather than being able to rest and be real they are encouraged to "Get over themselves... Lay down rights..... Speak Life...." as if somehow working for the Kingdom will heal them...deliver them.... make them whole.

It is like slapping someone who is paralyzed because they can't get up. If you don't put your pain aside (notice I did not say get healed) and get over it then somehow you are unspiritual, backslidden, or worthless.

The answer of course is Jesus. Purely, unadultrated, with no bells and whistles. Jesus. Jesus in my mind, Jesus in my heart, Jesus in my soul/spirit/life. He says in scripture that He is the Way the Truth and the Life...He is the Living Water...no one else can quench your thirst... and if He leads me beside still waters as the psalms say...and He goes searching for me when I wander, then I am secure in knowing that my life is secure in Him.

Nothing else matters. It doesn't have to make sense to anyone else. It does not have to be confirmed by anyone else. We are being rescued and set on track over and over and over and over......

Sick and hurting people cannot minister, they cannot counsel, they cannot correct...They will always see the other person through the haze of thier own pain, like a cornered and hurt animal that bites anything that comes near to protect itself.

I have thought a lot about accountability, about correction, about counsel...and I have come to the conclusion...for me....that ultimately my accountability is to Christ, ultimately I am in no position to correct or counsel anyone... I can pray for them... I can encourage them that they are precious and dearly loved...and that He will never let them out of His sight... but how dare I play the Holy Spirit in another's life? I have been guilty of that too many times.

So... I recognize my need to be rescued by someone bigger than myself...and folks, that isn't another human. Your opinion of someone else's actions is only based on what you can see or perceive through your own haze of pain. Worth prayerfully considering ... but that's all. If you are tired tonight.. spiritually beat up.... there is no need for you to pretend to be a spiritual giant. Being humble is not degrading yourself in front of your peers... it is being able to say with certainty... It's not who I am... it's Who He is.

When children are tired and refuse to rest they are cranky and difficult. I don't think it is much different for us.
Just sayin'