Monday, December 9, 2019

682 - What It Is ... and Is Not

Spirituality Column #682
December 10, 2019
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

What It Is … and Is Not
By Bob Walters

“Be still, and know that I am God.” – Psalm 41:10

Peace is not absence of war, of strife, or of anger; it is calm trust in God and knowing Jesus, our peace.

Obedience is not the absence of sin; it is working for the Glory of God.

Patience is not the absence of hurry; it is the acceptance of God’s timing.

Joy is not absence of concern; it is assuredness in God’s truth.

Righteousness is not me being better than you; it is God being best all the time.

Love is not the absence of hate; it is the art and insistence of putting others first.

Salvation is not the absence of Hell; it is the excitement of Heaven.

Forgiveness is not the absence of blame; it is freedom from the past.

Divine rewards are not a pending “let’s see” transaction; they are God’s promise.

Grace is not the absence of judgment; it is the action of sacrificial love.

Judgment is not the opposite of mercy; it is the proper complement of mercy.

Mercy is not turning a blind eye; it is seeing things God’s way.

Thankfulness is not a debt; it is the joy of recognizing God’s gifts.

Freedom is not the selfish exercise of my rights; it is my recognition of God’s will and my responsibilities – to Him and to humanity.

Rebellion is not only Satan’s example; it is our failure to accept God’s love and assert God’s freedom.

Truth is not just the absence of a lie; it is the presence of the person Jesus.

Eternity is not just the absence of time; it is the quality and substance of the life of God.

Science does not replace God; it reveals God.

Doubt does not have to be the absence of faith; it may be the discipline of curiosity.

Hope is not a gamble on the future; it is our awareness of the reality of God.

Faith is not a blind idea; it is our living experience with God.

Church is not for being fed; it is for feeding each other.

The Gospel is not just the Good News of Jesus Christ; it reveals the perpetual light of the Spirit, truth of Christ, and love of God.

The Incarnation is not just the birth of a Savior and Emanuel-God-now-with-us; it celebrates humanity’s reunion with the Kingdom of God.

The Crucifixion is not just a horrible settlement for sin; it is the glorious, gracious, selfless, and complete obedience of Jesus Christ; it is Jesus’s human nature surrendering to God’s divine nature.

The Resurrection is not just the defining evidence of the love and power of God; it is our release from sin, the end of death, and the promise of life everlasting.

God’s glory is not merely God’s pride; it is His love He shares with us and the freedom He affords for our own response to the gift of His son Jesus, our savior.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) first dashed off this column as punctuated verse, but alas – as his wife Pam the retired English teacher pointed out – Walters is not a poet.  Walters is however sensitive to and observant of positive vs. incomplete, simplistic, secular, and/or negative doctrinal proclamations (and somewhat panicked by the latter). Humans tend to rebel against God rather than seeking to replace our nature with His.

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