The church where Patti grew to know and to love Jesus Christ is Central Assembly in Boise, Idaho. Patti and I were married there in 1987 and we were honored to have Pastor Ted Buck be a part of the ceremony. Patti’s parents are still members of Central. I appreciate the years of faithful ministry by Pastor Ted. Recently, he commented on how Achan’s subtle sin brought disaster right after Israel’s wonderful victory over Jericho. Pastor Ted shared:
1. When you do what God wants you to do and you do it His way, the way that He tells you to do it, you will have the result that God intended. You will be the recipient of a victory in your life courtesy of God’s power. Think of it like this:
God’s Plan + Your Obedience = Victorious Life
2. When you choose to do things your way, even just a little differently than how God said to do it, it will always usher some type of defeat or failure into your life. You will not like the result.
God has good plans in mind for you today, but yielded obedience is necessary. “I am grateful that God always makes it possible for Christ to lead us to victory. God also helps us spread the knowledge about Christ everywhere, and this knowledge is like the smell of perfume.” (2 Corinthians 2:14 CEV) As you yield to God’s plan with obedience, you will enjoy the blessed life prepared for you.
Ultimately, God’s master work, His Will is for you to conform to the image of Christ: “God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son.” (Romans 8:29 MSG) God is THE Master Artist and “we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:10 NLT)
Michelangelo is a name synonymous with artistic aptitude. Yet of the forty-four sculptures he attempted, he finished only fourteen (Ken Gire, Shaped by the Cross, p. 115).
Then there is the final work of his life, the Rondanini Pietà, on which he worked for ten years. [Giorgio] Vasari [a Michelangelo contemporary] writes that Michelangelo “ended up breaking the block, probably because the latter was full of impurities and so hard that sparks flew from under his chisel.” The sculpture was rescued by a servant and survives to this day. It bears the marks of Michelangelo’s chisel, but none of the beauty of his earlier work Pietà. . . .
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The same dilemma exists for those of us who are the work of God’s hands. In an attempt to free the image of Christ that is encased with the stone of the self, God begins chipping away everything that isn’t Jesus. The stone of our lives either submits to the chipping or it resists.
If it submits, features of the Savior begin to emerge from our life. If it submits long enough, the Savior himself emerges. If, however, it resists, and continues to resist, there will come a day when God will let the stone be stone.
C. S. Lewis said as much when he stated that there are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, “Okay, go ahead and have it your way.” (Shaped by the Cross, p. 116).
I pray that you will surrender to God’s plan and live in obedience. Victory and Christlikeness is God’s will for you. Don’t settle for less.
When you finish reading today’s blog, I encourage you to go and watch “God’s Chisel”. I enjoy the humor and lessons of TheSkitGuys and “God’s Chisel” communicates!
