Morning Mullings

Sitting at dinner with friends last night, one of the children mentioned the continuing pain from her sprained ankle. My wife offered some pain reliever if desired. A younger, precocious child immediately asked if she to could have some pain reliever. Wendy asked, “Are you in pain, too?”

Hearing the question, the child pounded her own forearm with the opposite fist and playfully yelled, “OOWWW!!” Given the child, the situation, and my wife’s absolute adoration of this young nymph, the laughter erupted like Vesuvius. It was one of those moments when you laugh until you cry and everyone around you gets tickled as well. Yes, our sides ached as we tried to finish the meal.

As I rehearsed the scene in my mind this morning, several things came to mind. First, thank You, LORD, for friends, children, laughter, and the fellowship of the beloved. Second, thank You for lessons learned in all sorts of circumstances.

How often do I ask my Father for things that I do not need simply because others have them. Like my pre-teen friend, I will often create a need in order to have it filled.

Paul informed young Timothy, “Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.” – 1 Timothy 6:6-8 (NLT)

May we enjoy the abundance of His graces already received today and avoid pounding our own forearms, hoping for some additional, unneeded gift. We are indeed fortunate children of our merciful Father. You are loved mightily!

Chip Ingram, president of Walk Thru the Bible, wrote, “We can never live the resurrected life until we understand and accept that we have already died with Christ” (Holy Transformation, 73). Many Christians desire to know the power of Christ apart from the passion of Christ.

The necessity of death before life is the salient principle of the Christian faith. The sacrificial death of Jesus Christ is the pivot point of all history. The entire Old Testament moves toward its climax in the Gospels, and the balance of the New Testament narrates its resultant impact upon individuals, societies, and eternity.

Paul wrote, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” – Philippians 3:10, 11(NIV)

Christ invites us to come and die. It is a morbid thought to the self-absorbed mind, a disconcerting emotion to the arrogant heart, and a haughty antagonism to the independent will. It strikes against all that we are in our fallen humanity. But the reception of His Life always mandates the relinquishing of our own life. The power of the resurrection is available only to dead men.