Good Morning Friends,
“For this is what the high and lofty One says
-- he who lives forever, whose name is holy: ‘I live in a high and holy place,
but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of
the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.’ I will not accuse forever,
nor will I always be angry, for then the spirit of man would grow faint before
me -- the breath of man that I have created. I was enraged by his sinful greed;
I punished him, and hid my face in anger, yet he kept on in his willful ways. I
have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort
to him.” (Isaiah 57:15-18)
The contrast between God and man is great. God
is high and lofty, eternal, and holy. Man is lowly, mortal, and sinful. There
is a gap between God and man that is so great that it cannot be crossed, not by
anything man can do.
But God has crossed the gap to reach man. He
came Himself, God in flesh, to do it. We didn’t deserve it and we didn’t earn
it, but God did it of His own initiative and out of His own heart of love for
us.
He has reached out His hand, not in anger or
in an accusing manner. He has reached out His hand in love and grace, extending
it to man. And here’s the condition upon which He extends it: He extends it to
those who know they need it! He extends His hand of grace and love to the humble,
those who know they can’t do it on their own. He extends His hand of grace and
love to the contrite, those who know their own wickedness and seek forgiveness
from Him.
We deserve God’s anger, His rage, His
punishment. He offers His grace, His love, His forgiveness. He offers these to
the humble and the contrite, not to the proud and those who justify or minimize
their sin.
It’s not how good you are that will help you
make it to God. It’s how honest you are about your sin and your need and how
willing you are to grasp God’s hand as He reaches out toward you.
His, by Grace,
Steve
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