Beyond Mediocrity Blog

(Image courtesy of http://st-takla.org.) How could Paul be so joyful before God when he knew his sin was deserving of death? This is the man who hated Jesus, God’s anointed, with intense zeal. Why, then, after the truth was revealed to him on the road to Damascus did Paul not take part in penance or self-mutilation or self-loathing to absolve himself from his sins? Is that not what our guilt-laden nature requires of us: restitution for our wrongs? Do we not all feel that payment is necessary for our sins? Yet, there is no joy found among self-mutilation or self-loathing, for there is no absolution from sin apart from Jesus Christ.

(Image courtesy of http://www.bible.ca.) God told Abraham in the book of Genesis, "I will bless you and make you a great nation.  The number of your descendants will be as numerous as the sand on the seashore, or the stars in the heavens."  This promise was given when Abraham was 100 years old and his wife was ninety - and they had zero children.  But God is always faithful in fulfilling His promises.  Fast forward past Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph and his brothers, and the promise is fulfilled.  During Israel's captivity in the land of Egypt around the time of Moses, God blessed Abraham's descendants so that they were in the millions.

(Image courtesy of http://bibleencyclopedia.com.) This saying is trustworthy and true: "History repeats itself." Most everyone has heard the phrase, but why is it true?  It is true that history repeats itself, not because all the individual circumstances and characters line up exactly as they were in any given historical account, but because the natural world has not undergone extensive, redefining changes.  Nature continues its constant, un-rushed, consistent pattern of absolutes. Here are a few examples of nature's absolutes that I am referring to: Men and women still attempt to usurp the throne of God as sovereign ruler and law-giver.  The earth's heating and cooling patterns cycle every once in a while because God designed it that way.  There is no such thing as global warming.  The seasons continue their changes, uninterrupted and certainly never rushed.

(Image courtesy of http://www.lifenews.com.) One of the most common phrases among young people today is, "don't judge".  This short phrase is packed with intended meaning and it stems from the humanistic belief of relative truth.

(Image courtesy of https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/16/f3/25/16f32512f9eda761a847a01389c71375.jpg.) "And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee" (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).

(Image courtesy of http://blogs.ancientfaith.com.) This morning I was playing basketball with some other men before school. I was growing frustrated because I wasn’t playing up to the level I wanted and I was letting it negatively influence my mood. I was starting to get mad and think negatively of myself and my team. In between games, I went to get a drink of water. I was alone, so I began talking to myself. “Okay, I gotta change my attitude. I need to be more positive.” Then it hit me: What was I attempting to change? My attitude. This I could do. I had been trained in morality by my parents to have self-control, to be kind, to do unto others as I would have them do unto me, and to be patient. Having upstanding moral character is definitely a good thing to possess, and it is part of what separates the believer from the non-believer, but it is not what justifies a man before God. This is where, I fear, many professing Christians have been deceived.

(Image courtesy of https://brianlolson.files.wordpress.com.) Over the last few days, I have had a difficult time reading any chapter in the Bible without seeing the Gospel in action.  I cannot stop meditating on the wonder of the supernatural power of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His resurrection from the dead. Today, I am going to be even more vulnerable with you than I have been in the past. I am going to share with you a prayer I wrote as I sought God for more knowledge of Him. May the Spirit of our great God guide you and I into the fullness and knowledge and height and depth of His Gospel.