The Bridge / Pure in Heart
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Going straight to the Cross
When it rains, it pours. That's a gratitude
statement, not a complaint! Two more articles for
you today. Have a great weekend!
The Bridge
by Tim Hall
Don't ask me why, but I've always been fascinated
with bridges. There's just something about their
design, perhaps, or maybe it's their function. For
whatever reason, though, I enjoy bridges --
walking across them, gazing at them (or writing
about them!).
The most impressive bridge I've personally
observed is the New River Bridge in West Virginia.
Built as part of Interstate 77, it sits high above
the New River; so high, in fact, that people
parachute off that bridge at the annual Bridge
Days Festival. Before its construction, I'm told,
it took a very long time to go from one side of
the river to the other. Now, one crosses the gorge
in a matter of seconds.
The largest gap in need of spanning is the one we
each create between ourselves and God. Isaiah
wrote of this gap in Isaiah 59:1,2:
"Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it
cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot
hear. But your iniquities have separated you from
your God; and your sins have hidden His face from
you that He will not hear" (New King James
Version).
If we had tried, we could not have created a more
impassable gap than we have dug by our thoughtless
sins. It is a chasm so deep that man is incapable
of crossing it alone.
There is One, however, who has built a bridge to
reopen the access to God that we so desperately
need. Paul spoke of this feat, accomplished by
Jesus Christ, in Ephesians 2:17,18:
"And He came and preached peace to you who were
afar off and to those who were near. For through
Him we both have access by one Spirit to the
Father."
Thanks to Jesus, we no longer must stand on one
side of the chasm, wishing for a way to cross over
to God. We are now given that bridge which,
according to Jesus, is the only one of its kind:
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through Me" (John
14:6).
I don't know the materials needed to construct the
New River Bridge; I'm confident the list was
substantial. The materials needed for our bridge
back to God was considerably simpler - three nails
and two boards - but so much more durable (and
expensive). Praise God for caring enough to build
the bridge!
("Three nails, two boards, one bridge" - thanks to
the anonymous author of these words for setting my
thoughts in motion.)
--
Pure in Heart
by Phil Sanders
"Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8).
Words that shocked people in years past now fill
our homes through television, radio, magazines,
and the Internet. One can hardly walk through a
check-out counter at the local grocery without
seeing trashy, bold headlines of tawdry and
indecent affairs.
Sex, violence, and pleasure sells. Television
producers, magazine publishers, and advertising
executives know that. This is why industries and
retailers spend billions of dollars on seductive
ads to tell their stories and sell their products.
One can readily see the results of this constant
promotion of worldliness in people’s dress and
behavior.
We should not be surprised that the world is
worldly (1 John 2:15-17) or that it follows the
god of this world (1 John 5:18-20). But we do not
have to conform to this world! We can transform
ourselves by the renewing of our minds (Rom.
12:2). We can set our minds on things above (Col.
3:1-2). We can so live and so act as children of
God that our minds are not set on serving the
flesh (Rom. 8:1-12).
Paul said, “To the pure, all things are pure; but
to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing
is pure, but both their mind and their conscience
are defiled” (Titus 1:15).
It is easy to allow our own minds and consciences
to be defiled by the impurity that surrounds us.
Let us avoid every form of evil (1 Thess. 5:22)
and speak out against the deeds of darkness (Eph.
5:11-12). Let us keep our eyes and our hearts
fixed on Jesus (Heb. 12:1-2), so that one day we
can “see God.”
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