Where do you find your worth?

If you are seeking your worth, value and purpose in your own "good works" and accomplishments, rather than in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross to forgive and redeem you, you are chasing shadows, grasping at mist, resting on an illusion.  If you doubt what I say, take this simple quiz:

1. Name every CEO of ALL of the Fortune 500 companies.
2. Name ALL of the leaders of every nation on Earth.
3. Name the last 40 Nobel Prize winners.
4. Name the last 30 US Presidents.
5. Name the winners of the last 30 Superbowls
6. Name the winners of the last 30 World Series.
7. Name the 100 richest people in the world.

How did you do?  You see, what the world touts as so important today, quickly fades into insignificance and obscurity with the passage of time.

But the things of God have permanent value, because they are eternal, outside of the bounds of time.

Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  [20]  "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;  [21]  for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

#TheTruthJustIs

Warrior Son

Noble warrior,

Kneels now to pray;

Knowing the Source

Of the strength he now wields.

Battle is raging,

Fierce and unceasing,

Enemy prowls,

Like a lion at hunt.

Warrior stiffens,

Sensing his target.

Power, it flows

Through the sword in his hands.

Enemy cowers,

Demons they flee,

At the sight of this warrior,

This Child of the King.

For, he wrestles not,

In flesh or by steel,

But in power of the Name,

Of his Lord, Jesus Christ.

At whose very Name,

Every knee shall bow down--

In joyful thanksgiving,

Or in wretched regret.

©®2012

Happy 10th Birthday to my wonderful Son, from a very proud Daddy.

Communion

Here am I now, at Your table, dear Lord,

Unworthy wretch saved by Jesus' blood.

As I watch my own son take the bread and the cup,

My heart's pierced afresh at the depth of Your love.

I'm an imperfect father of clay, yet my love

for this son of mine here, is as deep as the sea.

Yet before the seas formed, or the stars gave off light,

You have loved Your Son Jesus, with eternal, pure love.

Could I give my own son, to suffer and die,

For the sins of a people, who spit in my face?

Who taunt me, and mock me, deny I exist,

While using the breath that I formed for their lungs?

I praise You, dear Father, for loving me so,

For loving me more than I'll ever deserve.

Help me hallow Your name, as I cling to Your grace;

Help me share with the world, this gift of Your peace.

 

©® Kevin Ness

Mother and child

Inside her I grow;

Mother and child

       inseparably linked,

Yet separate souls.

In the shelter

   of this sanctuary,

I am at peace;

I need not fear attack,

for instinctively I know

that a mother

       protects her child.

But now,

        what's this?!

It cannot be!

An enemy

        has broken in,

And hunts me

in the shelter of

              this womb.

Defenseless, I run,

but cannot escape.

In pain I scream,

without a sound,

As the sterile tools

   begin their gruesome task.

Oh Mother, please!

They're killing me!

Protect your child,

I cry.

I don't understand!

Oh, please explain!

What did I do

To earn this death?

 

©®Kevin Ness

Order In Chaos

In a world filled with chaos,

mayhem and strife,

Was I born to reap whirlwinds,

That others have sown.

I was weaned on the milk

Of anger and hatred;

In the void of my soul,

I learned how to survive.

I call it not life,

For it isn’t worth living.

Yet somehow I cling

To the will to survive.

Here I find myself now

In a place not my home,

Surrounded by people

Who tell of God’s love.

I spit back the words

With such anger, I shudder.

Where was this God

In the midst of my hell?

How could He watch

With such silent indifference,

As the hands of my kin,

Beat my flesh black and blue?

In the midst of my ranting

and raving, God answers.

In love does He show me,

The bruised flesh

Of His Son.

“My child,” Jesus says,

“In my flesh have I felt,

Every wound, every blow,

Dealt by mankind’s own hand.”

“Through all of your trials,

I’ve been right beside you,

Lovingly waiting,

‘Til you call on My name.”

“So call on me now

For my gift of salvation,

That your life may have purpose,

And your soul may have peace.”

© Kevin Ness

Struggles and Diamonds

            As long as I am in this body, I think I am destined to struggle.  It occurs to me that the measure of a true saint is not that he has no struggles, but that he continues to honor God in the midst of them.  I mean, look at the heroes of the faith:  David, Abraham, Jeremiah, Paul, Peter, and the list in Hebrews.  Certainly they suffered and struggled against the flesh.  Certainly they had their moments of weakness and failure.  Yet still they serve to inspire us.

            But would they be so inspirational if they hadn't struggled?  I think what draws us to them is that they were so human.  They weren't some transcended spiritual beings who deigned to grace the earth with their presence.  They were flesh and blood men and women with real hopes, real fears, real weaknesses, real failures, and real triumphs.

            In our unwillingness to expose our faults and weaknesses to others, in our attempts to appear as though we have it all together, how much of the power of our testimony do we forfeit?  How many are there who may have been inspired by the way God has worked in our lives through our failures, who turn from the faith discouraged because they think there is nobody else who would understand, nobody else who has the same struggle?

            This is Satan's strategy.  Divide and conquer.  He whispers to our pride and convinces us that we dare not appear weak.  Doubt, struggles and failure are all signs of a weak faith, perhaps even pointing to an absence of real faith in the first place.  Are you sure you're saved?  Even the prophet Nathan failed.  He advised David to build the Temple without first consulting God.

            When a jeweler begins cutting a diamond, he starts with a lump of rock that is not very impressive to behold.  But gradually, through his skill with the hammer, facets begin to appear that capture the light and display its brilliance.

            In this life, we are lumps of rock that God is working on with the hammer of His will.  As we submit to the blows of this hammer, our pride and disobedience are chipped away, and facets begin to appear in us that display our radiance.  But this side of glory, the transformation will never be complete.  There will always be parts of us that are still just lumps of rock.

            But we try to hide this aspect of ourselves, and only show off the finished facets.  We carefully align ourselves so that our facets reflect the light in such a way as to blind those looking at us, so that they will be unable to see that part of us that has yet to submit to God's will.

            To do this is to deny God His greatest glory:  the fact that He can take a lump like us and turn it into something beautiful and wonderful.  It also gives others around us who may desperately need encouragement in the midst of their struggles the false impression that God can only use people who have it all together.  For because of our pride, they will be unaware of our trials and failures.

Kevin Ness

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.
- -- Chinese proverb

"The Light of Christmas"

Cultivate complacency

But isolate integrity;

Trample down what little

Hope of righteousness remains, until

In bleakened, strangled, starving moans,

it passes from this life,

unmourned.

Left alone now,

idle thoughts grow;

weeds in virgin soil

unchecked.

Hope is such a painful word --

Too much effort,

    too much toil.

So like the toy in young man's closet,

Left to gather cloak of dust,

Leave it now,

Forsake it

to the junkyard

of my cluttered mind.

All that is, or was, or will be,

Hopelessness cares not for this.

Journey now in desolation;

Wander in the darkest pit

of Hell

until, in blinding flashes,

Light surrounds me,

Searching, probing,

finding now a weakness

in the hardness of

my heart's defenses;

gently shining light

into the darkest corners of

My soul.

Now in sudden self-awareness,

Sin I see as ne'er before,

Touching every fiber

of my prideful, unrepentant soul.

Now upon my knees I fall;

In sorrow deep I lift my voice.

I cry out to the One whose birth

made possible this

Blessed Light.

I cry to Jesus,

Son of Mary,

Born in lowly

manger stall.

I cry to Jesus,

Son of David,

Son of God,

Immanuel.

8 Kevin Ness