1 May 2014 - certification test

1 May 2014 - certification test

God is trustworthy!  Let us "certify" it by accepting which Jesus says.  Let us accept everything he tells us, without picking and choosing.  Jesus speaks God's words but he himself is God's Word.  If we pick and choose we say we only want a part of him.  We try to remake God according to our own preferences.

We are always called to accept Jesus more and more completely.  We hear the testimony of the Apostles.  They "want to bring this man's blood upon us".  They tell us this hard truth, that we are the ones who kill Jesus, so that we may repent.  They tell us this so that, whether our sins are big or small, we may change the things in our lives which do violence to Jesus.  If we hear the truth of the Apostles and it is inspiring and wonderful let us accept it.  If we hear their testimony and it is hard, if it calls us to a new standard, if it insists we leave old patterns of behavior behind, nevertheless let us still accept it and not become "infuriated".  It isn't just the Apostles who testify, it is the Holy Spirit himself.

If we harden our hearts when we hear the Apostles and the Holy Spirit call us onward and upward let us not despair.  We all do this at times.  There are always hard words yet to be heard. But Jesus "does not ration his gift of the Spirit" nor does the Father.  They don't give us a little and then stop if we don't respond.  They pour him out on us more and more in order to overcome and wash away every barrier in our hearts. 

If we are having a hard time listening to God, if we can't hear him, if we don't want to hear him, let us cry out to him from our poverty, because "The Lord hears the cry of the poor."

And he stands ready to hear us.  Right now, he is bent down listening.  We say, "LORD I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word".  And he does say the word.  He wants to fill our mouths with his praise.  He does this first by filling it with his own goodness, with his very self.

I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him.