Gleanings From The Word: May 2018

Friday, May 25, 2018

The High One Lives with the Lowly

For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,
“I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.

Samuel Brengle

(Isaiah 57:15 NASB)

Isaiah describes what has always been and always will be the path to God. The Lord hears the plight of the humble. The way up is always down.

In many Christian circles, unfortunately, there is a belief that to gain the favor of the Lord, you have to achieve the high or exalted place in our spiritual pursuits. From our scripture, it appears that just the opposite may be true. God takes note of the lowly with a contrite heart.

General William Booth was the founder of the Salvation Army. He was known for raising up godly leaders. At one point in time, prominent Pastor, Samuel Brengle, from a large church in the US came to England to join the mission. The Pastor was a little surprised by the first job Booth gave him. He told him to go down to the cellar and blacken (shine) the boots of the other recruits. It was not long before he was wondering what a successful pastor was doing shining shoes. Brengle was having second thoughts about his decision to join Booth’s mission. Then suddenly in his mind’s eye, he saw Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. “Lord”, he whispered, “you washed their feet, I will black their shoes.” This man eventually rose to the level of Commissioner in the Salvation Army.

Are you walking so high God does not see you? The way up is always done.

Image used with permission by Microsoft,

Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places” YWAM Publishing
Email: kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website:https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Thursday, May 17, 2018

Rend Your Heart

“And rend your heart and not your garments.” (Joel 2:13a NASB)

Joel was grieved over the religious hypocrisy of his day. He saw the need for repentance that just did not tear their outer garments but broke their hearts over their sin.

One of the greatest enemies of true faith has always been a false religion. False religion tries through self-effort to change our external behaviors to make ourselves good. It seeks to improve us from the outside to the inside. True worship always starts with the heart and proceeds to alter external actions. The problem with changing our behavior first is that these modifications are never permanent. When the external stimuli from religious peoples’ opinions and observations are gone, then we revert back to old habit patterns. Why? It’s because our heart motivation that drives our behaviors has never been changed. We rend our outer garments as a smokescreen to hide the sinfulness of our hearts.

Self-effort can never produce a brokenness. It is only God that can change a heart. What then must we do? We must first recognize our need. We must see ourselves as destitute and spiritual paupers without any ability to save ourselves. The Beatitudes tell us that “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3 NASB). People who practice false religion never recognize their need and therefore are the most difficult people to reach with the Gospel. Trying to be good enough to go to heaven is the fatal attraction of most false religions.

Are you trying to change yourself from the outside in, or the inside out? If you are choosing the former, brokenness over your sins will elude you, and the rending of your heart will never happen.

Image used with permission by Microsoft.