Monday, March 10, 2008

"If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared." (Psalm 130:3-4)

How great our iniquity is! There are some who are mature in Christ and who have grown much and holiness, who love God greatly and are very near to Him, while there are others who are weak and full of fears and doubts, but even for the greatest of saints, if the Lord marked iniquities against them, they could not stand.

Lately in my life I have felt a great sense of weakness. I wish that all my thoughts towards the Lord should be positive and worthy of His honor and glory, but I know this isn't the case. So much about Him transcends my understanding, and a part of me still remains rebellious against Him. After looking at the examples of the great saints of Scripture, I have concluded that I don't even deserve to be called a saint, and yet I have no hope for salvation apart from Christ.

I pray that God would help me to understand that I am accepted on account of the love and righteousness of Christ, and it is the steadfast, undying love of God that is primary and which causes me to love Him. My love for God is a disgrace, an insult. Even the greatest love that any man has ever had for God was an insult to His majesty, for He is worthy of love that is perfect and without blemish. But the love God has for His saints is pure and overwhelming and so He alone receives all the glory.

But there is something about this passage that caught my attention. It says that with God there is forgiveness that [He] might be feared.

Now, why would God forgiving us cause us to fear Him? Well, the answer is quite simple. If God can love us so much after we have scorned Him and shown Him unimaginable injustice, how much greater is our crime if we respond to His love and tenderness with insults and that which grieves His Spirit? His love and forgiveness should cause us to stand in awe and to be ashamed of our own sin and hardness of heart. After seeing how the Lord has atoned for our sin we must consider the following:

"I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD, that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord GOD." (Ezekiel 16:63)

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Post #1

Hey everybody,

My name is Ryan Groene, and I have just started this blog. The purpose of this blog is to manifest the infinite glory of God through many different means including theological meditations, poetry, short stories, personal reflections, humor, and satire (which of course will usually be humorous).

Anyway, I may actually create a schedule in which I post entries 4 times a week and specify a certain type of entry for each day. It may go something like this

Monday - theological meditations

Wednesday - poetry

Friday - humor/satire

Saturday - miscellaneous

So, anyway, until later...
VALETE!!!