"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy — to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord before all time, and now, and for all eternity. Amen."
~ Jude 1:24-25
No? Maybe that's just me then.
I had been jumping around in the New Testament recently and came across the story of the scribes and Pharisees.
"Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples: 'The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders... But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers... Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Christ... For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted...'" ~ Matthew 23:1-12 (excerpts)
In the margin of my Bible, I wrote "* Be careful of this."
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!"
As someone endeavoring to be a voice for faith, this can be quite the confronting piece of Scripture.
From there, my brain bounced back a chapter to Matthew 22 and the Parable of the Wedding Banquet.
When the moment of festivities arrived, those who were invited had not arrived, so everyone found in the street was called in to enjoy what had been prepared.
The wedding hall is filled with guests.
The king comes into a room bursting with all sorts of people.
When the he observes his new guests, he notices one without a wedding robe.
The unprepared guest is bound and thrown out into darkness.
It is in that moment we hear the words, many are called, but few are chosen.
The guest knew of the king. The guest was even in the right place at the right time.
I once asked someone, how do you know if it's enough, if you're enough? There are some pretty gritty bits of the Bible that make that a question worth asking.
The answer was simply, all you have to do is choose it in your heart, authentically and truly, the gift of the Savior.
But then, I wonder if that wedding guest thought they had.
We can get a little in our heads on these things, rather than turning our eyes where they belong, bowing our heads, humbling our hearts, saying a prayer, and listening.
"Enough" can lead us to stress and striving and anxiety and worry and even fear.
We must be cautious of this word, enough.
For years and years, whenever P.T. was too hard or the pain of injury was too much, I have prayed, "Thank You, Jesus, that You have the strength for this."
In the worst moments, I would squeeze my eyes shut, envision His walk to Calvary, and know in every fiber and cell of my being that He does indeed have the strength for any suffering.
Someone recently reframed that prayer for me in light of this overall conversation...
"Thank You, Jesus, that You are enough."
Whenever we find ourselves in doubt or any kind of concern...
Thank You, Jesus, that You are enough.
Because, the reality is, we're human.
When we hold ourselves up to the ideal, we will always fall short.
Rather than steeping in shame and guilt, we can bow our heads, lay it all down, and pray, Thank You, Jesus, that You are enough.
Sweet surrender.
Abba Father,
We surrender.
We come before You today and in each new moment always, and we choose You.
Thank You for helping us to live and move and be as You would have us live and move and be.
Thank You for coming alongside our lives and choices and helping us to ever walk with You and trust You.
Thank You for helping us to know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that with You, we are enough.
In the name of Your Son Yeshua we pray,
Amen
"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." ~ Hebrews 12:2
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." ~ Proverbs 3:5-6
"“I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing." ~ John 15:1-5
"For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life." ~ Ephesians 2:10
May the Good Lord bless you and keep you, friends... always, in all ways. Amen.
Bonus song of praise... ♥
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