Some parting thoughts on Christmas

Today I received this e-mail message from the director of TEACH, the home school accreditation association I was with in MN. Mr. Newhouse is a very wise man who is passionate about the Gospel of Christ. I could not pass up the opportunity to share his words (I especially love the quote by Oswald Chambers, author of "My Utmost for His Highest"):

Caesar Augustus was the grandson of Julius Caesar.Julius Caesar was very
popular and the Roman people loved and obeyed him. After he was killed, (on the
ides of March) the Roman empire was thrown into chaos. Anarchy threatened it’s
very existence. When Octavius (another name for Caesar Augustus) came into
power, he was incapable of uniting the empire. Factions refused to acknowledge
that he was the rightful Caesar. The only way to restore order and peace in the
empire was for Caesar Augustus to require all Roman citizens to acknowledge that
he was God in the flesh. This gave him authority to rule the empire and tell
people what to do. If he was merely a human, they would see him as an equal.)
Now that he was considered God, he was above people and they had to obey his
rule or suffer the consequences.

It worked! It brought about peace on earth. It worked so well that he decided
to export the concept throughout the land. Caesar Augustus then coined the term
“gospel” (or good news) and used it to describe this new world order – he was
finally bringing peace to the earth.This was the environment Jesus was born
into. The world’s counterfeit came just before the real God in the flesh was
born, bringing the true Gospel to the people.

Every day we make the decision which road we will follow – the true Gospel or
the world’s gospel. Will we obtain real peace in our souls, or the false peace
of ignoring conflicts in our soul and ignoring conflicts with others?

Oswald Chambers said, “The hindrance in our spiritual lives is that we will
not be continuously converted. There are wedges of obstinacy where our pride
sits on the throne of God and says – I won’t. We deify independence and
willfulness and call them by the wrong name. What God looks on as obstinate
weakness, we call strength. There are whole tracts in our lives which have not
yet been brought into subjection, and it can only be done by this continuous
surrender and conversion... Our natural life must not rule, God must rule in
us.

BTW- Pontius Pilot was married to the granddaughter of Caesar Augustus.

Lori here again - I love that phrasing by Mr. Chambers - "continuously converted". I remember growing up and hearing people testify that they were "saved, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Spirit"...as if it were a one time thing. My life experience has taught me that I WAS saved, I AM (being) saved, and I WILL BE saved. Same for sanctification. Oh, how I wish that were a one time clean-up job and I were set for life. Unfortunately, like a pig, I often seem drawn time and time again to the mud and need a good washing over and over again. And as for the Holy Spirit...well, if I do not refill my cup daily with the water I need, it doesn't matter how much water I drank yesterday...I will still become dehydrated. So the life of a believer is continuous battle between the flesh and the spirit. A continuous conversion, a continuous sanctification, a continuous crucifixion of self. Even Biology reflects this, for a cell does not reach a point of equilibrium and stays there, there is constant diffusion and osmosis going on along with a myriad of other processes to keep that homeostasis - to stabilize the internal environment. Just when you reach it here, it changes over there. And so it goes with our souls - back and forth like a pendulum. Between natural and supernatural...but as OC said, our natural lives must not rule. I've seen my natural life. It can be bitter, vindictive. It can be mean spirited and unforgiving. It can be hateful, merciless, deceptive and manipulative.

Thanks be to God for His everlasting love. His love is strong. He never lets go of us, but He will not force a surrender...that must be our own free will. And, oh, the glorious creations we can be if we allow His rule in and through us!

I am also thankful that I belong to a God who is willing to let me fight with Him. I have strong feelings and words out with Him from time to time and today was a day. I cannot describe to you the feeling of security that comes from knowing that the God of the Universe who spoke everything into existence and to whom I hold an awesome reverence for is also close enough and friend enough to allow my rants and occasional accusations...and I have no fear of Him. He is Emmanuel - God WITH me. He is judge yet pardoner. King yet friend. Sovereign ruler yet daddy. It's because of that relationship that I always come back to the place where Job says "I have spoken where I do not understand...I will repent..." and I know He understands my anger and frustration.