Anticipation

Just can't wait

To see

What the Lord has

For me

Today

:-)

How about you?

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Breaking the Chains

One of the things that separates Christianity from other religions is our understanding that the practice of good works and religious disciplines cannot buy our way into Heaven. Only the acceptance of God's free gift of redemption for us through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross can get us that ticket to Paradise. This is not to say that we are not supposed to follow the commandments. One of the ways we know we have truly accepted and believed in Jesus is that his transforming power in our lives creates a desire in us to obey God's directives to study his word, love others, etc. Our human natures, though, are rarely satisfied with this approach to holiness and would much rather practice religion on our own terms than live a life of Christ-centered faith and daily obedience. If the former wins out over the latter, then the "faith" we follow is more about self-improvement than anything else.

For example, studying the Bible is wonderful, but if the motive in doing so is to somehow seem wiser than others then the goal is wrong. Helping out at a soup kitchen is admirable, but is our motivation to show others the love of Christ or stemming from the erroneous belief that in doing so we can earn points with God? Fasting can be a useful means of personally experiencing sacrifice for a day in order to draw us closer to God, or it can be a useless exercise in self-martyrdom designed to make us feel holier while keeping us from true sacrifice for others.

God wants to use us to help break the chains that are binding others. We can hardly do that if we have shackled ourselves to a self-centered religion.

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes.
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

--Isaiah 58:5-7 (NIV)

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Never Alone

Selecting Christian videos every weekend for Soul Strokes is not always an easy task. Too many of the modern ones seem hard to follow, are poor in quality, or have virtually no depth to them. Picking a style of music is also difficult, as everyone has a different preference as to what they like to hear or view. The primary factor I use in choosing one, therefore, is whether the lyrics convey a message I think needs to be shared. Such is the case with this Sunday's video by Barlowgirl. Enjoy.



--Barlowgirl - Never Alone

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Setting Your Priorities

The following song has received a tremendous amount of airplay. True, the tune is catchy, but the words are the best reason to play it. Listen carefully to what TobyMac is saying about what is truly important in this world.



--TobyMac - Lose My Soul

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Content In All Circumstances

CONTENTMENT

A great teacher once told a story in his preaching about a man who for eight years besought God to show him a man who would make known to him the way of truth. While he was in this state of anxiety there came a voice from God and spake to him: Go in front of the church, and there shalt thou find a man who will make known to thee the way of truth. He went, and found a poor man whose feet were chapped and full of dirt, and all his clothes were hardly worth twopence-halfpenny.

He greeted this poor man and said to him, God give thee a good morning. The poor man answered, I never had a bad morning. The other said, God give thee happiness. How answerest thou that? The poor man answered, I was never unhappy. The first then said, God send thee blessedness. How answerest thou that? I was never unblessed, was the answer. Lastly the questioner said, God give thee health! Now enlighten me, for I cannot understand it.

And the poor man replied, When thou saidst to me, may God give thee a good morning, I said I never had a bad morning. If I am hungry, I praise God for it; if I am cold, I praise God for it; if I am distressful and despised, I praise God for it; and that is why I never had a bad morning.

When thou askedst God to give me happiness, I answered that I had never been unhappy; for what God gives or ordains for me, whether it be His love or suffering, sour or sweet, I take it all from God as being the best, and that is why I was never unhappy.

Thou saidst further, May God make thee blessed, and I said, I was never unblessed, for I have given up my will so entirely to God's will, that what God wills, that I also will, and that is why I was never unblessed, because I willed alone God's will.

Ah! dear fellow, replied the man; but if God should will to throw thee into hell, what wouldst thou say then? He replied, Throw me into hell! Then I would resist Him. But even if He threw me into hell, I should still have two arms wherewith to embrace Him. One arm is true humility, which I should place under Him, and with the arm of love I should embrace Him.

And he concluded, I would rather be in hell and possess God, than in the kingdom of heaven without Him.

--by Johannes Eckhart (c. 1260-1327) from the book Light, Life, and Love by William Inge

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