Meek Not Weak part 5
The best kind of strength is meekness; strength under control. Knowing what you're capable of, and doing what you can do, without bragging about it. Without making a big show of it. You don't have to just settle for things. There are things you should stand up for. There are things you should not accept. And when you need strength--when you're weak--the joy of the Lord is our strength. In our weakness He is strong. Because when we stop trying to do it ourselves... that's when God CAN do it. I believe, and I've said many times, that God is too much of a gentleman to force things on us. Love does not demand its (HIS) own way. And, I mean, there ARE times when God does what's best for us no matter what we think about it. When Jesus was lifted up from the cross and drew all men into Himself, for example. We had nothing to do with Adam's "original sin." And we had nothing to do with God's redemption of mankind. Its not by works. We couldn't do anything about it. Its by faith. God did everything about it and we just need to believe it. So we have nothing to boast about. Our "strength" didn't amount to anything. The Law of Moses had us in a hampster wheel of religion where no matter how hard we tried there was always (at least) one thing we lacked. The Law demanded perfection without being able to produce it. All it could do was point out what was wrong with us. So that's what we believed; we believed there was something wrong with us. So we tried to "fix" that "problem." We tried to better ourselves. But I've always wondered, if there was something wrong with us from the beginning, if we were missing something, wouldn't that mean that--by definition--we couldn't fill that void? Especially when you consider that it was a God-shaped, love-shaped void. Only God can fill that. Only love. Which, of course, is why we spent our lives, our three t's (time, talent, treasure) looking for love in all the wrong places. We were willing to try to earn our bread by the sweat of our brow because we wanted it so desperately. We were willing to do anything to earn that thing (love) that we thought we were missing. But no matter how high the tower was that we built in order to try to make a name for ourselves, no matter what we did to try to show that we were worthy of love... the bottom line is you can't earn a gift. You just can't. A gift is freely given and must be received. That's where the Holy Spirit comes in. The Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth by testifying of our true identity by testifying of Jesus. That's why we can be kind, and have humbleness of mind, and be longsuffering, and be meek--because Jesus is kind, and the mind of Christ is what gives us that humbleness, and because Jesus is longsuffering, and because Jesus is meek. He is our true identity. He is the joy of the Lord. God's BELOVED Son. He is our strength. Especially when we are weak. When we can't, that's when He will. When we work God will rest. And when we rest God will work. He doesn't dominate and push people around though. He kills 'em with kindness. Loves the hell of out them. He destroys His enemies by making them His friends. And on the cross He laid down His life for His friends. He was strong enough to surrender. To show us what love really is. So that we can love each other with that same love!