Ponderings and a prayer....

My hubby preached last night at church. I am always amazed when I hear him. The Lord definitely uses him and I am so thankful for that. I know that is it truly a work of God and not R (and he knows that too). I believe that anyone can get an awesome word from God if we will just spend the time to actually get it. I have been thinking about one of the verses he spoke about. He mentioned that he had just been in awe of this verse.... and I think it's one that we (I)should soak up & meditate on.

Philippians 2:8- "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross."

Now of course this is talking about Jesus here. First, I think it's important to remember who Jesus is. Jesus is God. John 1:1 says- 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.' Jesus was not created in the womb of a woman. He has been since the beginning of time.
He humbled Himself. I could spend forever thinking about that phrase. All Mighty, Creator God humbled himself. The One who placed the stars in the sky, formed the mountains and valleys, set the world in motion... humbled Himself.
Jesus came to this earth, became a man... identifying with us. He humbled himself to pay our sin debt. Sinless, spotless, pure and holy... Jesus Christ bore our sins and died.
Jesus was obedient to the Father.... unto death, even death on the cross.

Until we realize the depravity of our state without Him ,we cannot even begin to understand the beauty and magnificence of a verse like this. Many people might read it and it mean nothing to them at all. What a sad place to be. And I say that with a broken heart because there are so many people I know who don't know the wonderful saving grace of Jesus Christ. They are fooled with a shallow dose of religion... a warm, fuzzy feeling they get when they hear a hymn sang or read a poem that talks about God's love that they got in an email... they live a life that does not reflect the powerful work of the Holy Spirit. I am broken over the fact that so many people lead this lifestyle. It's the deceptive work of the devil.

But, as I read this verse, my heart wants to burst with thankfulness... and my prayer for those who don't know...

Lord, I pray that their eyes will be opened to your truth. Bind the devil from them... Holy Spirit break their heart... burden them with their sin. I pray that they will see You for who You are. Reveal their need for You and their hopelessness without you. Break the chains of fake Christianity and pour the truth of Your Holy Word into their life. You are mighty to save.....