The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Motives and Motions"
"We do well to gratefully realize He will ever and forever act in our lives by the grace He defines, a grace that moves according to the purest of motives, and the most meticulous of movements."
"He fed them according to the integrity of His heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of His hands" (Psalm 78:72).
"And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if Thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth His hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed" (Matthew 8:2-3).
We must establish deeply within our hearts, in both principled and personal terms, the integrity of God's heart and the capability of His hand. He will and He can be all we need Him to be, and do all we require of His working in our lives. However, God defines our needs "according to the integrity of His heart." Moreover, He executes "the skillfulness of His hands" according to perfect knowledge and wisdom He possesses, but we do not. This often conflicts with our perceptions and sensibilities, tempting us to wonder as to the doings of God on our behalf. "Hath God forgotten to be gracious?" asked the Psalmist in a time when the tempter injected doubt into his mind, despite the awareness in his heart of the Lord's willingness and ability (Psalm 77:9).
Certainly, God does not and cannot forget to bestow the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ upon His people. Neither, however, can He administer such freely given favor according to mere sentimentality. He must act in faithfulness to His own nature and purpose, which means He must act according to that which is best for us, as opposed to that which we may desire. Indeed, consider how little we know in real terms of ourselves and our lives. That atom - one of billions that in this moment courses through our heart, and which must act in a manner to preserve our lives - do we have the slightest bit of control and influence upon it? Do we know how it needs to move and position itself to maintain the beating of our heart and the flow of our blood? Do we even think of it? Hardly. God does, however, "according to the integrity of His heart… and the skillfulness of His hands." Thus, we do well to gratefully realize He will ever and forever act in our lives by the grace He defines, a grace that moves according to the purest of motives, and the most meticulous of motions. "His work is perfect" (Deuteronomy 32:4).
No more essential conviction must be established in our hearts than the affirmation of God's essential nature and way of perfection regarding His motives and motions. He literally cannot act in any manner that contradicts His integrity of heart and skill of hand. King David discovered this and blessedly provided us with one of the great affirmations of Scripture that must become one of the great assertions of our hearts…
"As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried. He is a buckler to all them that trust in Him."
(II Samuel 22:31)
Weekly Memory Verse
"This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."
(I John 5:4)
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