Nurtured in His Viewpoint
"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: That God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them.
And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Cor. 5:16-21 NIV.
Even in the light of these two amazing scriptures: you may be stuck in regarding yourself from a worldly point of view. You may feel like the old has not gone and the new is a cruel mirage in the desert of your poor performance. You may even feel dis-jointed and alone instead of reconciled. And even worse; you may feel like you only display the righteousness of a billy goat!
The reality: You could spend the remainder of your life trying to wrap your heart and mind around these glorious truths! Don't try! Cease from moral and religious striving. Trust Him and let Him be who He already is; in and through you today. Even if today is crying foul and your convinced life is a sham! Your tears will become the melody of a new song. Your darkness will become the window through which new light will appear. Your doubt will become new ground, solid ground, on which to stand.
The result: His righteousness; as opposed to your self-righteousness, your old-history is gone; cast into the sea of forgetfulness, as for as the east is from the west; your present struggles, failures and even ‘sin’ are covered by the blood of Jesus; His love covers a multitude of sins; an emerging heavenly point of view and perspective will shine on all you see and don't see today; and being a human being instead of working to become a human doing will become your new reality.
Then you can walk in rest, shalom, and quiet-instead of being decimated by stressors you cannot change. You must daily enter and enjoy His rest. His reconciliation and redemptive purpose makes you an ambassador of Christ!
As you allow yourself to be formed in His image; you will become radical reformers. As such; everything around you will change, transition will occur, and it won't look anything like what you could’ve possibly imagined. A radical reformer knows that Jesus gives no guarantees that He’ll protect them from “bad things” or even that He’ll heal their insecurities, only that He’ll lead them through to knowing Him better.
In the grip of Papa's reforming grace! Ron Ross
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