Feet upon the Rock
The wind billowing all around me sends my hair up in a whirl, yet my feet seem to stand firm on the rock I have chosen to stand upon. At this vantage point up upon the rocky hillside, I can see out for miles into the sea as the storm rolls in. I close my eyes as I lean my head back to feel the calm within the storm- there is not yet rain upon the beach.
Still with my eyes closed I hear a loud slap of thunder a few miles out. I can imagine the grey clouds like drops of paint in water, how they slowly bulge out and dance about, and within it a sharp burst of light. I open my eyes once again and there it is, the great waltz of the storm not yet upon the beach. Miles still to travel and then the beach will be overcome by lightning and heavy raindrops.
We are Saved, BEING SAVED, and will be saved.
If someone found himself out at sea in such weather and knew no knowledge of how to navigate the boat, they wouldn’t know how to save themselves. This is the same for Kingdom life in the sense of “being saved.” If we are not rooted and grounded in the Word, our inner man is tossed to and fro in the waves.
When I found Jesus back in 2009, it was like a miracle for my whole community. They saw the power of God to turn a hardened heart and to change a life. In the years following I felt this in my daily social life, and it soon caused my heart to become full of self righteousness like I was a living saint or that I somehow held the power to my holiness. (Which is complete poop.)
Since September of last year the Holy Spirit has been bringing this up in my heart and showing me the pride that I still bear. I was so shocked by my own pride. I had read Humility by Andrew Murray where he talked about pride being the root system for all evil fruit, and humility being the root system for every good fruit. In his book the author said that humility and pride were the two building blocks of a persons heart. I was devastated at my depravity!
Over these past couple of months I have learned that I am shipwrecked in my own attempts at perfected religion. I cant live my life in a way where I can save myself. Yes, Jesus saved me, but He still saves me daily. This is what sanctification is. Daily, by the washing and renewal of the Word He saves me.
Now I am disgusted that I was devastated with the depravity of my soul. Now I see that without Jesus I am nothing. I do not want to be like Martha where she thought she had to earn the love of her Maker. For Martha, she was basically saying, “I can do it all on my own.” Which at its very core is denying the work that Jesus did on the cross.
As a Bible School student I have known the value of the Word, but I have learned that its not only enough for me to love it, sing it, and memorize it- I must be in it daily. It is the daily bread that my inner man needs, if not I will be malnourished.
Salvation, sanctification, and justification have always been confusing to me until I found it in the Word! How funny is that? That I found the value and the power of the Word in the Word.
John 17:17, Jesus is praying in the garden to His Father in heaven. He asks that we would be sanctified in truth, for His word is the truth.
