Incomparable?

(07.06.21– Living in God! –2 Corinthians 13:11)

My friend, may I ask you a question? When you look back over the course of the last century we see all kinds of gains in education, communication, publishing and a whole gamut of "advances" in the spread of the gospel. But, is this the measure of perfection that can somehow pull us closer to our God?

My friend, Life’s a story, welcome to This Passing Day.

I'm M. Clifford Brunner.

When you think of God as "perfect," what does that mean? Perfection is a relative term. Take, for example, my truck and my son’s car. On a nice day in early summer you might find both of us striving for perfection, washing, waxing and buffing our vehicles. In the end it's unlikely that both will be equally shiny and brilliant. That's the nature of human imperfection. Dan might apply more wax, wipe it off earlier and take more time to buff it out. In the end the product of my efforts was perfect, at least according to my standard of perfection. Dan’s efforts, however, might appear more perfect because his standards are much higher. In terms of understanding perfection, our understanding, since it is open to our relevant standards, is something less than perfect. God, on the other hand, has no such standard since His standards aren't achieved. He IS perfection; so there is no need for relevancy. There’s nothing to base the comparison on.

Unfortunately, from a spiritual perspective, as Christians we often find ourselves setting standards of perfection that strive to make us more perfect, like God, but using relevant standards of perfection unknown to Him. This is a dangerous misconception. We may build better and sturdier churches, but, in the end, God doesn’t really need them. We may keep people "going to church” but, by God's standards, church attendance isn't relevant. When you look back over the course of the last century we see all kinds of gains in education, communication, publishing and a whole gamut of "advances" in the spread of the gospel. But, is this the measure of perfection that can somehow pull us closer to our God?

"Hallowed be your name!" I believe Jesus gave us this part of the Lord's Prayer to remind us that God is perfect and the holiness of His name is important beyond measure. Look back over the course of the last century with His holiness in mind. Have we as Christians gained or lost in our "fear" of God? Or, have we compromised that fear in favor of a God that better fits our worship, our recreation, our home life and employment? Has God become too familiar, too ordinary? If so, we don't know Him properly and we don't know perfection either. Perhaps it's because we seem to have lost an appreciation of what makes God awesome. He's eternal, invisible, all-powerful, all knowing, all loving and just. To stand in the presence of a God like this must be fearful, awesome and just, plain perfecting. A communion with our God is a fearful and awesome experience. In this communion we can find the perfection in His majesty that we ought to be striving for. We can't build enough churches to ever make Him happy or convert enough people to please Him. Why? He requires our love, a love that compels us to do good works. In that love is true perfection defined.

We pray. Heavenly Father, help us to know You properly and perfectly. May we always maintain an appreciation of what makes You awesome. You are eternal, invisible, all-powerful, all knowing, all loving and just. To stand in your presence is a fearful, awesome and perfecting experience. A communion with You is a fearful and awesome experience. Help us to continually find the perfection in Your majesty that we ought to be striving for. You require our love, a love that compels us to do good works. In that love is true perfection defined. You are a truly awesome God In Jesus name we pray. Amen!

Therefore my friend, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry for itself; each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt 6:34) This Passing Day. May this passing day honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be a blessing to you and everyone you meet. Find a stranger and say hello. Don't let another day pass without your day blessing someone else.

If you have a special prayer request, please send your request to ”This Passing Day!”

<thispassingday@gmail.com> From Beech Springs, God bless you for Jesus sake.

Incomparable?

(07.06.21– Living in God! –2 Corinthians 13:11)

My friend, may I ask you a question? When you look back over the course of the last century we see all kinds of gains in education, communication, publishing and a whole gamut of "advances" in the spread of the gospel. But, is this the measure of perfection that can somehow pull us closer to our God?

My friend, Life’s a story, welcome to This Passing Day.

I'm M. Clifford Brunner.

When you think of God as "perfect," what does that mean? Perfection is a relative term. Take, for example, my truck and my son’s car. On a nice day in early summer you might find both of us striving for perfection, washing, waxing and buffing our vehicles. In the end it's unlikely that both will be equally shiny and brilliant. That's the nature of human imperfection. Dan might apply more wax, wipe it off earlier and take more time to buff it out. In the end the product of my efforts was perfect, at least according to my standard of perfection. Dan’s efforts, however, might appear more perfect because his standards are much higher. In terms of understanding perfection, our understanding, since it is open to our relevant standards, is something less than perfect. God, on the other hand, has no such standard since His standards aren't achieved. He IS perfection; so there is no need for relevancy. There’s nothing to base the comparison on.

Unfortunately, from a spiritual perspective, as Christians we often find ourselves setting standards of perfection that strive to make us more perfect, like God, but using relevant standards of perfection unknown to Him. This is a dangerous misconception. We may build better and sturdier churches, but, in the end, God doesn’t really need them. We may keep people "going to church” but, by God's standards, church attendance isn't relevant. When you look back over the course of the last century we see all kinds of gains in education, communication, publishing and a whole gamut of "advances" in the spread of the gospel. But, is this the measure of perfection that can somehow pull us closer to our God?

"Hallowed be your name!" I believe Jesus gave us this part of the Lord's Prayer to remind us that God is perfect and the holiness of His name is important beyond measure. Look back over the course of the last century with His holiness in mind. Have we as Christians gained or lost in our "fear" of God? Or, have we compromised that fear in favor of a God that better fits our worship, our recreation, our home life and employment? Has God become too familiar, too ordinary? If so, we don't know Him properly and we don't know perfection either. Perhaps it's because we seem to have lost an appreciation of what makes God awesome. He's eternal, invisible, all-powerful, all knowing, all loving and just. To stand in the presence of a God like this must be fearful, awesome and just, plain perfecting. A communion with our God is a fearful and awesome experience. In this communion we can find the perfection in His majesty that we ought to be striving for. We can't build enough churches to ever make Him happy or convert enough people to please Him. Why? He requires our love, a love that compels us to do good works. In that love is true perfection defined.

We pray. Heavenly Father, help us to know You properly and perfectly. May we always maintain an appreciation of what makes You awesome. You are eternal, invisible, all-powerful, all knowing, all loving and just. To stand in your presence is a fearful, awesome and perfecting experience. A communion with You is a fearful and awesome experience. Help us to continually find the perfection in Your majesty that we ought to be striving for. You require our love, a love that compels us to do good works. In that love is true perfection defined. You are a truly awesome God In Jesus name we pray. Amen!

Therefore my friend, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry for itself; each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt 6:34) This Passing Day. May this passing day honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be a blessing to you and everyone you meet. Find a stranger and say hello. Don't let another day pass without your day blessing someone else.

If you have a special prayer request, please send your request to ”This Passing Day!”

<thispassingday@gmail.com> From Beech Springs, God bless you for Jesus sake.