Flummoxed By This Flight

There is a particular bird in the earth, that is looked upon with low regard. It has a threatening appearance, and its very presence causes feelings of uneasiness to those observing it.
     This particular bird is known as the turkey vulture. Vultures consume carrion, which is the decaying flesh of dead animals. Ironically, there are people who are comparable to the turkey vulture, in that they “consume” things that are “decaying” or “dead” by way of giving into the temptations of this world.
     There are people who are “weighted down” in the spirit as a result of this consumption of “dead” things, or in other words, things that do not help you achieve your purpose in the earth.
     Vultures congregate in groups on the ground, in trees, or in flight. There’s a saying that “birds of a feather flock together.” You ever hung around a group of people that had a similar mindset to yours, whether right or wrong?
     Vultures find their food using their keen sense of smell, flying low enough to detect the gases produced by the beginnings of the process of decay in dead animals. Have you ever been tempted, and in your spirit you “sensed” or knew that giving into the temptation was wrong, but you did it anyway?
     As vultures dry and warm up their wings, they use the sun’s ultraviolet radiation to kill the bacteria on them. Thank God for the Son of God, Jesus, who “kills the bacteria” or “sin” in you, for the Word lets you know that Jesus “taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), and it also says in Romans 4:7 “…Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.”
     As they warm up their wings, so too does the ground and air warm up, creating thermals, which are invisible geysers of air streaming high into the sky.
     The vultures flap clumsily into these thermals, which are solar-powered elevators. Isn’t this interesting? Vultures are looked upon with low regard, they have a threatening appearance, and their very presence causes feelings of uneasiness to those observing them.
     So vultures are actually clumsy birds. You ever felt like you weren’t good enough, despite trying as hard as you can? Has anyone ever looked upon you with low regard, as if you weren’t on their level? Has anyone ever been threatened by your appearance and been made to feel an uneasiness, because they didn’t understand you?
     It’s understandable to be “flummoxed by the flight” of the vulture. That word flummox means “to baffle; confuse; confound; bewilder;” It is understandable to be “flummoxed” or “baffled” at how this clumsy bird of low regard, who consumes dead things, can fly and soar so gracefully through the air!!!!!
     Again, the vultures flap clumsily into the thermals, which are invisible geysers of air streaming high into the sky. These thermals are “solar-powered elevators”. In other words, these thermals are powered by the sun. In order to fly and soar gracefully, you have to be powered by the Son, that is, the Son of God!
     The vultures use the thermals to move through the air, flapping its wings infrequently. Incredibly, vultures can fly without much flapping of the wings for up to six hours!!!!!
     These thermals are comparable to God’s grace, because the rising air empowers the vultures to soar high. The Ruppell’s Griffon vulture can soar up to 37,000 feet in the air without having to use a lot of energy flapping its wings. It’s interesting that the Ruppell’s Griffon vulture is considered to be the highest-flying bird.
     Grace is giving you something that you didn’t earn by your works or by merit. Grace is giving you something that you don’t deserve. Grace is an acronym for “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense”.
     The Word says in Ephesians 2:8 that you are saved by grace, and not of yourselves. In the ensuing verse, it says “not of works, lest any man should boast.” No one can boast about earning salvation, because you cannot earn salvation. The Word also says in Ephesians 2:8 that “it is the gift of God.” So salvation is a gift, and a gift cannot be earned. It just has to be received.
     Romans 5:17 lets you know that righteousness is a gift. You cannot earn righteousness by adhering to the works of the law. The Word talks about you being “made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). You are the righteousness of God in Christ. It’s not your righteousness that keeps you saved. It’s Christ’s righteousness that keeps you saved!
     If you accept Christ, when God looks at you, He doesn’t look at your righteousness, He looks at Christ’s righteousness! 2 Corinthians 5:21 mentions how Jesus “knew no sin”. Jude 1:24 says “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,” When God looks at you, He is not looking at your righteousness, He is looking at Christ’s righteousness. Therefore, He is going to present you as “faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy”.
     The vulture, whose stomach is full of dead things, and is clumsy, soars high in the air gracefully, because of the rising air. The vulture being able to soar for up to six hours while hardly flapping its wings is representative of “resting” in God.
     Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” You can “soar” high in the spirit if you “rest” in God, ceasing to try to earn salvation and righteousness through self-effort.
     The Word says in Galatians 2:21 “…for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” In other words, if you could earn righteousness through your own self-effort, then there was no need for Christ to die.
     Paul said in Galatians 2:21 “I do not frustrate the grace of God:…” When you try to earn righteousness through self-effort instead of resting in God and receiving of the “finished works” of Christ, you “frustrate the grace of God”. In other words, God wants to extend grace to you and give you things that you don’t have to earn, but if you try to earn righteousness through your own effort, you are taking away from how effective Christ can be in your life.
     Galatians 5:4 says “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” You are not justified (made righteous or made right with God) by the law. The Word says in Hebrews 10:38 that “the just (those who are made right with God) shall live by faith.” 
     Are you ready to experience a reality in which observers are “flummoxed by your flight”? People are going to be baffled or confused at how you, a person that they consider to be ordinary, can “soar gracefully” and “rest” in God.