I am reading an insightful book about how to counsel one another the way Jesus did (Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands by Paul David Tripp). As we seek to understand our own hearts and what God is doing in our lives, it is so important to understand God's timeline and his character. When we think about how many years it took for God to send Jesus, it doesn't always make sense to us, until we understand His timeline. He says that it was the perfect time. Historical events, the economy, political upheaval, etc. made everyone's hearts ready for Jesus. If he did all that for Jesus' coming, he'll do that for us in our lives, too.
"The time has come. Jesus is saying, 'This is what God has been working on. All of history has been moving toward this one moment.' God had not forgotten or lost interest in humanity. Since that horrible first fall into sin, he had been bringing the world to this day. What looked pointless and out-of-control was, in fact, the unfolding of God's wonderful story of redemption, which reached its crescendo with the coming of Christ."
"As sinners, we have a natural bent to turn away from the creator to serve the creation." We are constantly seeking to fill the void in our lives with various things and we end up spending so much of our time digging under a mound of trash and untruths in order to find a small shred of insight that we think provides the answers we have been searching for. This insight gives us hope and order but this is only temporary. It doesn't give us the long-lasting hope and change that we so desperately need. Jesus is the only one who can do that.
As believers we are called by God to help others see that truth. "We gently turn them away from the mound, and joyfully turn them to the man, Jesus Christ. This is the essence of personal ministry. "
I'm excited to learn more about how to do this so I'm sure I will keep sharing.
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