Saturday, July 31, 2010

Gone Because of My New Computer

I haven't posted in months because we got a new computer. Nice...but it will not allow me to cut and past from Word. Weird. As a result, I have been lazy and not posted because I did not want to re-type what I had already worked on. (If anyone has any clue how to fix this, let me know.) Anyway, I was looking at many other blogs today and decided that I need to get this going again. I have been reading in Isaiah lately. Here are todays musings:

Is 57:15 "For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose Name is Holy: 'I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."

This is a picture in contrasts. God is High and Lofty. He is exalted and lifted up. (Kind of interesting that the word for lofty is "nasa". I wonder if the people who named the North American Space Agency had any clue?) This God sets His tent up, tabernacles, lives in eternity. Just in case you were wondering, this high and lofty, exalted and lifted up One who lives in eternity is also holy. His Name is Holy. His reputation is Holy. He is totally set apart from anything or anyone that we know or have experienced. He is so far out of our league it isn't even funny.

So, here is this high, lofty, eternal, holy One. There is no way we can reach Him, right? There is no way that we could even consider being in His presence. Wrong. Not only does He make His home in eternity, but he makes His home somewere else as well...He lives with a certain kind of people...those who realize that they are not Him. Those who realize that in comparison to the high and holy One, they are nothing. Those who are contrite, who consider themselves dust, whose spirit and mind are humble. With those who understand their low position. He lives there. That is where God makes His home. Sure, His home is in eternity, but it also is with those those who are truly humble before Him.

Georgann and I went out to dinner last night. It was really nice. We got to eat some great food in a hopping area in the city. Part of the fun was watching people. Now, I can't judge their hearts, but you could just tell that humility was the farthest thing from their minds. The problem is, humility can be far from my mind as well. I want to impress. I want to win. I want to prove that I am good, better, or best. When that happens, God is far from me. I am a competitive guy, but why? So I can just have fun, or because I want to prove something? If it is the later, God is not living there. I need to undertand that the way up is down. The way to truly live is to understand brokenness. This verse tells us that God will take those who are humble, those who know who they truly are before Him and He will do something extraordinary...He will revive them. He will breathe life into them. His life.

So the choice is mine: Keep tryingto prove how great I am and live away from the presence of the One who dwells in eternity, or realize how low I am and experience God's presence and life. Looks like a no-brainer.