What Jesus wants and what I want are one and the same. He wants the Christ in me to grow and permeate the very pores of my body. He wants me to be enfolded and saturated by the sweet Spirit of God until this Christ, this sweet Spirit of God, becomes the very core of my existence. With that I am in total agreement. It is not nearly enough for me to have a mere intellectual knowledge of Christ: I yearn to know Him intimately and as the close Friend without whom I could not live naturally or spiritually.
I have strongly asserted at times that Christ is the core of my existence, and He is. But I want this vital fact to become a greater and greater reality in my life. It should be so overpowering that, if I should be cut off from Him or – God forbid! – if I should leave Him, I would either 1) be compelled to leave the sin that in a sense drove Him from me and to return to my Source of life, or 2) actually die.
At this point in life I do not want to live without my Lord and Master. I have to say with Peter, "Lord, to whom shall [I] go? thou hast the words of eternal life."
'Speak, Lord, If Only in Rebuke'
In the still of the night when the luxury of sleep evades me, God will at times deal with me either in censure or in sweet communion or in both. And even when He censures me, there is still a sweet feeling afterward that He would think enough of me to correct me and set me back on the right track. It is remarkable that in His corrective rod I feel the love that drove Him to the cross. It is reasonable to assume that if He wanted to slay me outright, He could do it without the rod, but He wants always to save me and you and He will use the rod or do whatever it takes to keep us on the right path and to perfect His will in us.
David the palmist cried out to God, "O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure." Psa 6:1. This is supposed to have occurred after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and had compounded the heinous sin by having her husband Uriah slain to cover his sin.
It was a terrible thing that David did and he could find no way to undo it. Encountering the judgments of God against him and knowing the judgments were justified, he did not ask the Lord to still the corrective rod altogether: he submitted to the rod and pled with God not to wield it in anger and judgment. No person can withstand divine judgment for his sins, but when he is corrected in love, even though it is "tough love," he will develop and grow by submitting to it.
Touching Others with the Finger of God
It is not enough that God should deign to speak to me; it is not enough that he should correct me; it is not enough that I should learn more about Him – I have a driving need to channel the grace God has directed my way, to you and you and you, anyone who will read what "thus saith the Lord." Having been touched by the finger of divinity, I cannot let that mighty finger rest only on me. I have written sometime, somewhere, the following:
"God reaches out His mighty hand and touches me, commissioning me and enabling me to do His will. The hand of God is large but not threatening, powerful yet kind and not terrifying; it is a symbol of God's love. It is so thrilling that it makes me bold enough to ask Him, "Lord, let me take your hand of blessing and touch others as you have touched me!" That is a daring request made in the fervor of the moment.
He answers in a voice that sounds like gentle rolling thunder on a day bright with sunlight, 'Do so, my son!'
So I take this mighty, glorious hand that has just blessed me, in both of my altogether unworthy hands. His hand is still turned palm downward with the fingers clenched except for the forefinger pointing slightly down in a gracious gesture as in the Creation of Adam by Michelangelo. I then place the divine finger of blessing on this person and on that person for whom I have a burden to pray. As I place the divine finger of blessing on each person, I too am blessed – again. And I am so very grateful that God graciously allows me to direct His blessings in that way."
What Does God Want from Us?
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." Psa 51:17. To come to God for salvation, we have to come broken and contrite. He cannot use us in that terribly broken state, so He heals us – gives us salvation – in that way mending our brokenness. But it is always imperative that, even while we know He has forgiven us and made us whole, we maintain the attitude of contrition. God can then use us to the full extent of His perfect will and awesome power.
Micah made a reasonable offer to the Israelites of old: "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Mic 6:8.
Isn't it time that we balance the scales somewhat and give to God all we have? In the person of Jesus Christ God gave up all He had for the sake of mankind. Our all may be ragged and tattered, but we can only give our all. That is the full extent of what God requires of us, no more, no less.
Remember that God does not expect overnight perfection in His people; He realizes they are made of faulty clay. What He does demand, however, is an acknowledgment of sin and a submission to the inevitable divine correction that comes with our sins and lapses in love. Divine correction replaces judgment. No one can survive the horrible consequences of the raw, unmitigated judgment of God.
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