The Bedraggles, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out

March 2, 2015

The Bedraggles, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out

“As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you.    On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.”

2 Corinthians 6:1-2

When I adopted my first English Springer Spaniel, Buster Brown, the Vet told me to feed him once per day. Mornings became Buster’s feeding time and although during the day he seldom made a sound, he sang for his breakfast. When we adopted our second Springer, Hershey, the morning excitement more than doubled. Hershey would dance on his hind-feet much like Snoopy in the Peanuts cartoons.

Miles Stanford’s book, Principles of Spiritual Growth, is a collection of very compelling essays on the life in Christ. However, Stanford believes trying to teach these principles is pretty much a waste of your time unless people are like Buster and Hershey, singing and dancing for their breakfast. If you are not truly hungry, even starved for grace, the typical reaction is just ho-hum. The principles are laid aside to collect dust with all the other good books. But when time turns from chromos to kairos everything changes.

Chronos (or kronos) is a Greek word for time and refers to the time of day or the day of the week. Kairos is God’s time and refers to the right or opportune moment when the Word of God, like a seed planted in good soil, germinates, takes root, grows and begins to produce fruit. For me, kairos happened when I realized that "Because salvation is by grace through faith, I believe (I will be) among the countless number of people standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands (Revelation 7:9).” I know I will be a part of “the multitude who so wanted to be faithful, who at times, got defeated, soiled by life, and bested by trials, wearing the bloodied garments of life's tribulations, but through it all, clung to the faith.”

“"But, how?" we ask. Then the voice says, "They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb.”” (Brennan Manning, "The Ragamuffin Gospel - Good News for the Bedraggles, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out" (Multnomah, Portland 1990) page 29) Hallelujah and Amen! My friends, I very much agree with Brennan Manning, that if this is not good news to you, you have never understood the gospel of grace.

Week in and week out we hear sermons, read books and participate in small groups. Much of what we are exposed to stays in the realm of information and is filed away in the recesses of our memory, or simply forgotten. However, some of the information becomes inspirational and we take time to process how it may influence our life. Most of the time the information turned inspiration stays in the process realm. But when we encounter a kairos moment, the information becomes inspiration and then becomes incarnational. Our lives change as God’s Word becomes flesh within us and we experience a transformational moment. In that moment we see ourselves among the Bedraggles, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out desperately in need of grace.

I pray you will experience a kairos moment and that the Gospel of Grace, the furious longing of God for you, becomes incarnational in your life.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms is available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ  is available as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.