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"Encourage one another daily" (Hebrews 3:13).
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Thursday, March 24, 2005

"The Powerless"

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6).
   
I recall in my early days of following Christ listening to Bible teacher J. Vernon McGee, who is now with the Lord. He had a very distinct voice that I am sure any who remember him will recall. He tells the story of a young boy down South who wanted to join a church.  So the deacons examined his spiritual knowledge. 

They asked him, "How did you get saved?"  His answer was, "God did His part, and I did my part." They thought there was something wrong with his doctrine, so they questioned him further, "What was God's part, and what was your part?" He said, "God's part was the savin, and my part was the sinnin."  That's good theology!
   
I've got good news for each of you today.  No, it's not new news.  It's the old, old story of Jesus and His great love and His sacrificial death on the Cross.  We are all powerless apart from the work of Christ. This is true for all of us concerning our sin and separation from God. We simply can't pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We can't be good enough. We can't earn God's favor.

The recognition of our own powerlessness is critical in accepting the true gospel. We don't need a little extra help, we are dead and need spiritual resurrection (see Ephesians 2:1-10).

But with current events in mind as I write this I consider another dimension to powerlessness. An amazing aspect of God's character is His interest in the powerless. And as His redeemed children we reflect His character when we value the powerless. I have seen and experienced this and it's an outstanding dimension of love. (I have written a separate perspective on this which I will share below today's encouragement. I encourage you to read it.)

The blessings of our salvation are outstanding and I encourage you to focus on one phrase from the daily text, "Christ died for the ungodly."  Do you believe that today?  I do, with deepest gratitude to the omnipotent (all powerful) God.


Be encouraged today!


Stephen C. Weber

Ephesians 2:1-10

A Perspective On Powerlessness

This is a special perspective that may at times come off as a rant. I am extremely distressed by the Terri Schiavo situation, which most here in America (and I presume many around the world) are aware of.

God cares for the powerless. Now certainly I don't have all the facts concerning this situation and for that matter absolutely no one but God does. All who have followed are aware that it concerns a brain injured woman from Florida. Her parents and family want to keep her alive and provide therapy. They have hopes that she may improve but they also love her just the way she is. Some doctors feel her case is hopeless, other disagree. (Of course doctors on both sides have a world view and agenda.) Her "husband" (who indisputably is living with another woman and has two children by her) claimed (many years after her injury) that he recalled hearing her say she would not want to live under these circumstances. Courts have ruled in his favor and as of this morning I am not sure where things stand. She and the Schiavo family are certainly in my prayers.

Every ounce of spiritual discernment I have tells me something is awfully, awfully stinky here. It has again polarized the division in America. The proclamations of the left are outstanding.

The absolute moral bankruptcy of the left in defending this is just outstanding, contending such points that her "husband" is a decent and honorable man who just wants what's best for his wife, (one talking head even contends he is merely keeping his marriage vows!). That her parents and family who want to save her are just misguided religious zealots (they happen to be devout Catholic). That the experience of dying while being starved and deprived of water is pleasant, even euphoric, etc. etc. ad nauseum.  One liberal mocked the belief in the afterlife by contending that he thought since Christians believe heaven is so wonderful they should see her death as good since she will go to heaven. Oh my.

I am especially disgusted at the religious left who claim to be the arbiters of compassion and contend that religious conservatives are uncompassionate. A prominent national group who claim to have religious motivation and contend liberal policy is the way to express compassion (Sojourners - www.sojo.org) does not even reference the current issue on their website, even though it's national news on virtually every secular! What utter hypocrisy.

Thankfully many Christian sites such as Focus on the Family, CBN, Family Research Council and many, many others properly recognize this as a critical moral and spiritual issue and certainly worthy of consideration as compassionate Christians. For more information check into these sites and perspective. (I prepare this Thursday morning March 24 and of course if you read this at a later date these sites will change.)

My personal experience - My Mom had a very severe brain injury in 1999. For weeks and weeks she was in rehab. It was really a hard time and she still deals with the injury. She's 84 now and lives with us and we care for her. My daughter is a heart kid who has ongoing overcomings and challenges. Now certainly I know these aren't the same as the Terri Schiavo situation but the point is who are we to make the determination concerning what degree of quality of life is needed for life to be precious and meaningful.

We have in place a system concerning living wills/advanced directives. I have one and I believe it's a good idea. But the disputable issues in this case are so great I can't imagine not erring on the side of life. Terri did not have a written directive, only the belated verbal recollection by her "husband".

I greeted my Mom when she awoke this morning and she indicated how parched her mouth was. I said "what can you do?" and she said "get a drink of water". I said "Terri Schiavo can't." Jesus said, "And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward" (Matthew 10:42).


Stephen C. Weber

This is clearly a rush transcript and subject to modification. I have also placed it on the web and may spend more time working on it when I have an opportunity. It really is on my heart for I believe it portends a much bigger spiritual battle.
"Helping the Powerless"

Longtime readers know that I have enjoyed placing audio files on this site as a musical supplement to the daily message. I am aware that these may not work on every computer system and I also get confused by legal type issues and certainly want to do all things well. Here's a separate page concerning this.

Here's a song I found that I have never heard before that expresses my heart as a result of today's message.
Here's the site where this song file is found.


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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission; and the King James Version.
 
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."

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