“Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind;”
~ Psalm 26:2
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you know a guy, gal or kid who seems to be the perfect model or example of what a Christ-follower guy, gal or kid is to be like? Do you know a guy, gal or kid who seems to be living a blameless or sinless life? Do you know a guy, gal or kid who really enjoys fellowshipping with other Christ-follower guys, gals and kids and who is really blessed by the Christ-follower community of guys, gals and kids that he or she is an adherent? Do you know a guy, gal or kid who has an unwavering trust in God and a genuine delight is serving God? Do you know a guy, gal or kid who does all that he or she can do to have nothing to do with deceitful, dishonest guys, gals and kids, with hypocritical, two-faced guys, gals and kids, with evil, immoral guys, gals and kids and with wicked, depraved guys, gals and kids? Psalm 26 is all about a guy – who is David, scribing about what he is doing to live an authentic life that honors God. David does not claim to be living a life that is absolutely sinless; David’s claim is that he is striving to do his very best to live a life of moral integrity. David does not claim to be living a life without any persecutors and enemies harassing him; David’s claim – which is this psalm song prayer, is his very real desire that is born out of his life commitment to live his life obediently obeying God’s truths and knowing that he will be vindicated by God from bloodthirsty guys – guys who make up wicked schemes, and from guys who bribe other guys. David says in verse 2, “Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind;” If God were to give you today your life report card grades on how faithful that you have been in finding times to talk with Him, how committed that you have been in pursuing ways to serve Him, how obedient that you have been in doing things that are pleasing Him and how fearful that you have been when you did evil against Him, what do you think that your grades would be?
Transformation is the operative word today in circles of Christ-follower guys and gals. Transformation today is used in the context of a personal metamorphic change in the life of a Christ-follower guy or gal that the guy or gal who is a Christ-follower senses happening in himself or herself. The metaphysical transforming of something or someone today – such as a church, mission, life, etc., is being structurally packaged and man driven by goals and objectives versus being delivered spontaneously or organically within a God-ordained context. Your grandpaa has been intrigued but also concerned with an unfolding morphing that is happening within Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals and in the lives of individual Christ-follower guys and gals that promotes self-seeking and pursues self-development. Your grandpaa is totally for a transforming life if the life of a guy, gal or kid is being transformed by God – as God the Spirit, versus the life of a guy, gal or a kid being transformed mechanically by manmade rules that are purportedly based on Biblical mandates. Your grandpaa knows that whenever the words that are found in the Bible – words that are living that were sent from God – as God the Father, through God – as God the Spirit, to guys to scribe in books, letters, a diary, poems, psalm songs, to be adopted and applied today by a guy, gal or kid who becomes a Christ-follower to promote a Christ-centered life and lifestyle – are accepted unconditionally as living words that have been sent to him or her will invariably transform the life of the Christ-follower guy, gal or kid. Your grandpaa is bothered that guys and gals will sometime take human credit for the transformation or changes that can be seen in a growing Christ-follower community of guys and gals, in a focused outreach effort and in a changing life of a Christ-follower guy, gal or kid when in reality, everything that happens happens because that it is exactly how God – as God the Father, has predestined how everything in His predetermined, ordered plan will happen.
Do you grade yourselves on how you have been living your Christ-follower lives? If you have been grading yourselves on how well that you have been doing being a Christian, you have a failing report card. If you have been grading yourselves on how poorly you have been doing being a Christian, you have a failing report card. Being a Christ-follower guy, gal or kid is to be in the environs of arenas that are filled with other Christ-follower guys, gals and kids who will help you to be the very best Christ-follower kids that you can be. As you are being helped by other Christ-follower guys, gals and kids to be the best Christ-follower kids that you can be, you are also helping all the other guys, gals and kids in your life arenas of Christ-follower guys, gals and kids to be the best Christ-follower guys, gals and kids that they can be. Your grandpaa cannot explain why the rural resident leadership training center program that was located in Concepción, Ñuflo de Chavez in Bolivia and why the contextualized Bible education program that has been employed in different communities in Guatemala were such successes but . . . the concept of immediately putting into practice in devotional, teaching, preaching and evangelistic settings allowed each student in the Centro de Capacitación program and in the Programa de Educación Bíblica to apply what he had learned. Another critical player for both the Bolivia and Guatemala Bible education programs – even though the program that was in Bolivia was a resident program and the program in Guatemala is in different communities where there are a minimum of ten guys who are wanting to intensely and systematically study and apply Biblical truths, was that the programs shared common dynamics in that each student and his wife would hold the other students and their wives in their program accountable to hang in there to attend each two week class and to do what they were being asked to do. A model Christ-follower is a guy or gal who faithful lives his or her life reflecting God’s glory back to God.
Psalm 26 (695)