|
|
Topic: Two Things, Two Things Only by Francis Frangipane
|
|
Author
|
|
Julie Gilbert
Senior Member
Joined: 07/29/2007 Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2593
|
Posted: 01/06/2009 at 9:18pm
|
IP Logged
|
|
|
Two Things, Two Things Only by Francis Frangipane www.frangipane.org
There
are so many things to occupy our minds: so many books, so many
examples, so many good teachings that deserve our attention, that say,
"here is a truth." But, as I have been serving the Lord these past
years, He has led me to seek for two things and two things only: to
know the heart of God in Christ and to know my own heart in Christ's
light.
Knowing the Heart of God I have been seeking God,
searching to know Him and the depth of His love toward His people. I
want to know Christ's heart and the compassions that motivate Him. The
Scriptures are plain: Jesus loved people. Mark's gospel tells us that
after He taught and healed the multitudes, they became hungry. In His
compassion, Christ saw them as "sheep without a shepherd" (Mark 6:34).
It was not enough for Him to heal and teach them; He personally cared
for each of them. Their physical well-being, even concerning food, was
important to Him.
A lad with five loaves and two fish provided
enough for Jesus to work another miracle, but this miracle had to come
through Christ's willing but bone-weary body. Consider: Christ brought
His disciples out to rest; "For there were many people coming and
going, and they did not even have time to eat" (Mark 6:31).
Consider:
Jesus personally had come to pray and be strengthened. For John the
Baptist, Jesus' forerunner, had been beheaded earlier that very week at
the hands of Herod. It was in the state of being emotionally and
physically depleted that Jesus fed the multitudes---not just once or
twice but over and over again "He kept giving [the bread and the fish]
to the disciples to set before them" (Mark 6:41).
Thousands of
men, women and children all "ate and were satisfied" (v. 42)! Oh, the
heart of Jesus! The miracle was for them, but we read of no miracle
sustaining Him except the marvelous wonder of a holy love that
continually lifted His tired hands with more bread and more fish. Out
of increasing weakness He repeatedly gave that others might be renewed.
So, if my quest is to know Him, I must recognize this about
Him: Jesus loves people---all people, especially those society ignores.
Therefore, I must know exactly how far He would travel for men, for
that is the same distance He would journey again through me. Indeed, I
must know His thoughts concerning illness, poverty and human suffering.
As His servant, I am useless to Him unless I know these things. If I
would actually do His will, I must truly know His heart. Therefore, in
all my study and times of prayer I am seeking more than just knowledge;
I am searching for the heart of God.
Knowing Our Hearts At
the same time, as I draw closer to the heart of God, the very fire of
His presence begins a deep purging work within me. In the vastness of
His riches, my poverty appears. The psalmist wrote, "Who may ascend
into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who
has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to
falsehood, and has not sworn deceitfully" (Ps. 24:3-4).
We
cannot even find the hill of the Lord, much less ascend it, if there is
deceit in our heart. How does one serve in God's holy place if his soul
is unclean? It is only the pure in heart who perceive God. To ascend
toward God is to walk into a furnace of truth where falsehood is
extracted from our souls. To abide in the holy place we must dwell in
honesty, even when a lie might seem to save us. Each ascending step
upon the hill of God is a thrusting of our souls into greater
transparency, a more perfect view into the motives of our hearts.
It
is this upward call of God which we pursue. Yet, the soul within us is
hidden, crouching in fears and darkness, living in a world of untruths
and illusions. This is our inner man, the soul God seeks to save. Have
you discovered your true self, the inner person whom truth alone can
free? Yes, we seek holiness, but true holiness arises from here; it
comes as the Spirit of Truth unveils the hidden places in our hearts.
Indeed, it is truthfulness which leads to holiness.
God, grant us a zeal for truth that we may stand in Your holy place!
Men
everywhere presume they know the "truth" but have neither holiness nor
power in their lives. Truth must become more than historical doctrines;
it must be more than a museum of religious artifacts---mementos from
when God once moved. Truth is knowing God's heart as it was revealed in
Christ, and it is knowing our own hearts in the light of God's grace.
As
members of the human race, we are shrouded in ignorance. Barely do we
know our world around us; even less do we know the nature of our own
souls. Without realizing it, as we search for God's heart, we are also
searching for our own. For it is only in finding Him that we discover
ourselves, for we are "in Him."
Yet, throughout that searching
process, as I position my heart before the Lord, it is with a sense of
trembling that I pray the prayer of King David, "Search me, O God, and
know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be
any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way"(Ps.
139:23-24).
Let us wash the cosmetics from our souls and look at
the unadorned condition of our hearts. I know God has created us
eternally complete and perfect in Christ. I believe that. But in the
first three chapters of John's Revelation, Jesus did not tell the
churches they were "perfect in His eyes." No! He revealed to them their
true conditions; He told them their sins. Without compromise, He placed
on them the demand to be overcomers, each in their own unique and
difficult circumstances.
Like them, we must know our need. And
like them, the souls we want saved dwell here, in a world system
structured by lies, illusions and rampant corruption. Our old natures
are like well-worn shoes into which we relax; we can be in the flesh
instantly without even realizing it. The enemies that defeat us are
hidden and latent within us! Thus, the Holy Spirit must expose our foes
before we can conquer them!
Concerning man's nature, the
prophet Jeremiah wrote, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and
is desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9). Quoting
another of David's prayers, a similar cry is heard, "Who can discern
his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back Thy servant from
presumptuous sins; let them not rule over me; then I shall be
blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great transgression" (Ps.
19:12-13).
There may be errors inside of us that are actually
ruling us without our awareness. Do we realize, for instance, how many
of our actions are manipulated purely by vanity and the desire to be
seen or accepted by others? Are we aware of the fears and apprehensions
that unconsciously influence so many of our decisions? We may have
serious flaws inside yet still be either too proud or too insecure to
admit we need help.
Concerning ourselves, we think so highly of what we know so little!
Even
outwardly, though we know our camera pose, do we know how we appear
when we are laughing or crying, eating or sleeping, talking or angry?
The fact is, most of us are ignorant of how we appear outwardly to
others; much less do we know ourselves inwardly before God! Our fallen
thinking processes automatically justify our actions and rationalize
our thoughts. Without the Holy Spirit, we are nearly defenseless
against our own innate tendencies toward self-deception.
Therefore,
if we would be holy, we must first renounce falsehood. In the light of
God' grace, having been justified by faith and washed in the
sacrificial blood of Jesus, we need not pretend to be righteous. We
need only to become truthful.
No condemnation awaits our honesty
of heart---no punishment. We have only to repent and confess our sins
to have them forgiven and cleansed; if we will love the truth, we shall
be delivered from sin and self-deception. Indeed, we need to know two
things and two things only: the heart of God in Christ and our own
hearts in Christ's light.
__________________ See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you. Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing
|
Back to Top
|
|
|
|
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first
login
If you are not already registered you must first
register
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
|