God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
We are all starved for the glory of God, not self. No one goes to the Grand Canyon to increase self-esteem. Why do we go? Because there is greater healing for the soul in beholding splendor than there is in beholding self. Indeed, what could be more ludicrous in a vast and glorious universe like this than a human being, on the speck called earth, standing in front of a mirror trying to find significance in his own self-image? It is a great sadness that this is the gospel of the modern world. The Christian Gospel is about 'the glory of Christ,' not about me. And when it is—in some measure—about me, it is not about my being made much of by God, but about God mercifully enabling me to enjoy making much of Him forever.
Jesus Christ demands self-denial, that is, self-negation (Matt. 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23), as a necessary condition of discipleship. Self-denial is a summons to submit to the authority of God as Father and of Jesus as Lord and to declare lifelong war on one's instinctive egoism. What is to be negated is not personal self or one's existence as a rational and responsible human being. Jesus does not plan to turn us into zombies, nor does he ask us to volunteer for a robot role. The required denial is of carnal self, the egocentric, self-deifying urge with which we were born and which dominates us so ruinously in our natural state. Jesus links self-denial with cross-bearing. Cross-bearing is far more than enduring this or that hardship. Carrying one's cross in Jesus' day, as we learn from the story of Jesus' own crucifixion, was required of those whom society had condemned, whose rights were forfeit, and who were now being led out to their execution. The cross they carried was the instrument of death. Jesus represents discipleship as a matter of following him, and following him as based on taking up one's cross in self-negation. Carnal self would never consent to cast us in such a role. "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die," wrote Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer was right: Accepting death to everything that carnal self wants to possess is what Christ's summons to self-denial was all about.
PLACE THE CUCUMBER, garlic, shallots, green pepper, lettuce, 1 tablespoon
dill, vinegar and chicken stock (in that order) in the container of a
blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Cut the avocado in half
lengthwise. Peel and remove the pit. Roughly chop half the avocado and add
it to the mixture in the blender or processor. Blend until smooth. Transfer
to a medium bowl. Finely chop the remaining avocado and sprinkle with the
lemon juice. Stir this into the gazpacho; add the vodka, salt and white
pepper to taste. Stir gently and chill thoroughly before serving. Garnish
with remaining chopped dill.
From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini
A Message from our Provider:
“Thankfulness to God is a recognition that God in His goodness and faithfulness has provided for us and cared for us, both physically and spiritually. It is a recognition that we are totally dependent upon Him; that all that we are and have comes from God. #Jerry Bridges”
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