Friday, December 2, 2011

Friday, December 2, 2011 - Ordinary People, Extraordinary Savior

"Now all the glory to God, Who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, 
to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."  
Ephesians 3:20 NLT


What do ordinary people and an extraordinary Savior have in common?  The power of an Almighty God.  

     One Solitary Life
He was born in an obscure village 
The child of a peasant woman 
He grew up in another obscure village 
Where he worked in a carpenter shop 
Until he was thirty 
He never wrote a book 
He never held an office 
He never went to college 
He never visited a big city 
He never travelled more than two hundred miles 
From the place where he was born 
He did none of the things 
Usually associated with greatness 
He had no credentials but himself 
He was only thirty three 
His friends ran away 
One of them denied him 
He was turned over to his enemies 
And went through the mockery of a trial 
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves 
While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing 
The only property he had on earth 
When he was dead He was laid in a borrowed grave 
Through the pity of a friend 
Nineteen centuries have come and gone 
And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race 
And the leader of mankind's progress 
All the armies that have ever marched 
All the navies that have ever sailed 
All the parliaments that have ever sat 
All the kings that ever reigned put together 
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth 
As powerfully as that one solitary life 
--- James A. Francis, 1926

What's the difference between ordinary people and our extraordinary Savior? We ordinary people have yet to accept that our ordinariness is the best stage for God's Almighty power.  What could happen if we embraced our humanity, our frailty as the perfect glove for God's Hand to work through us?  

"What we offer You is just ordinary: ordinary voices, ordinary people praising You. 
But with Your anointing and Your touch, 
You can turn it into a miracle to those that listen and those that hear.  
Take this, Lord, and use it for Your glory.  
We  will give You all the praise."  
-prayer by Landy Gardner before his choir sang


"I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more."
1 Corinthians 9:19

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