Ruin “my life”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFhMEcKkgQc

The lyrics to this song by Jeff Johnson are knee-dropping and eye-lifting.

THE calling.

Our calling is to receive God’s love and return God’s love. We can complicate it into so much more, but at the end (and beginning) of the day, THAT is all it’s about. Returning and receiving. Accepting and embracing. Worshiping, praising, and adoring the God who gives us the simple task of allowing His unconditional, perfect LOVE to flow to us and through us.

What we deserve.

       Lately, I have thought a lot about the concept of what we deserve, and the selfishness of giving out love according to the measure of how much we think others deserve it. How often do I show love and favor to those solely on the basis of how much they give back? There are so many times that I treat my friendships and affections like a seesaw: I’ll push you up if you’ll push me up too. What happens when I don’t receive the bounce in return? I get off my seesaw and go find another one in which I will “get something back”.  I want to take a close look at why this absolutely is not love.  I can rationalize all I want, but if I am using Christ as my role model, strength, and inspiration, that attitude is a lie. Christ Himself told us that He came not to be served but to serve and to be a ransom for many (Mt. 20:28). The definition of ransom is this: to repay a price or sum demanded for another; to deliver or redeem from punishment of sin. I realize that Christ was the one who came to be a ransom, and that none of us have the power to save others from the consequences of sin or our humanity. As Christians, though, we were created in the image of God; we have Christ in us as our strength; and  the Holy Spirit within us as our guide. Knowing this, I should be a continuous reminder for ALL that someone DID come to pay the price of their sin. None of us deserve this kind of love, but Christ begs us to live as though the punishment is gone! The concept of what others deserve should already be taken out of our minds. We all deserved sin and death, but Christ stands at the right-hand of God to defend that old record by claiming us as His own, pure because of His record and His decision to choose to give us what we would never deserve.

            All this to say, I believe that the times we think people deserve love the least are when they need it the most. Christ died for us when we were sinners (Romans 5:6, 8). He died for us not because we proved good enough but because He loved us even before we turned to Him. With that kind of Love as our motivation, let us look to everyone as a chance to be the body of Christ for those who deserve the same thing we do.

Sight for the blind.

¹⁶Therefore we do not become discouraged (utterly spiritless, exhausted, and wearied out through fear). Though our outer man is [progressively] decaying and wasting away, yet our inner self is being [progressively] renewed day after day.¹⁷For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory [beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!],¹⁸Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting.” – 2. Cor. 4:16-18 AMP

     When I’ve read this verse in the past, Ihave always referred it to the “things of God” in our lives vs. the things on earth. While this may be the point, I have failed to recognize that some of our earthly relationships and some of the fruits experienced here on earth ARE straight from the hand of God. Come to think of it, anything that God allows (yes, even our suffering), He has promised to bring glory and goodness from. When we look at these verses from that perspective, we can find so much joy in knowing that continuously trusting in God’s goodness means trusting in the unseen at all times. There are relationships in our lives and circumstances that if we focused on the here and now, we would not be able to see goodness. However, if we look at the bigger picture and where God must be heading with each relationship or situation, we can rejoice because He is developing all these things in our lives for perfection! This means that I CAN trust God with the process because He’s already given me the final results! We must rejoice in God’s promises long before we get a glimpse of their fulfillment. It is then that our confidence in the love of the God that gave Himself for us can grow with deeper and deeper affection. I never want to forget that  we come to the throne standing in His name, not in our own.

Believe the Truth.

I found this in the last chapter of the book, “Who I Am in Christ” (the one by Neil T. Anderson that I mentioned previously). I think it speaks such truth to those of us who are prone to believe the lies (a.k.a. all of us).

Why should I say I can’t when the Bible says, “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:13)? Why should my needs not be met knowing that “My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19)? Why should I fear when the Bible says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Tim. 1:7)? Why should I lack the faith to serve God knowing that “God has allotted to each a measure of faith” (Rom. 12:3)? Why am I weak when the Bible says, “The Lord is the strength of my life” (Psalm 27:1) and “People who know their God will display strength” (Daniel 11:32)? Why should I allow Satan to have supremacy over my life, for “The One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4)? Why should I accept defeat when the Bible says, “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ” (2 Cor. 2:14)? Why should I lack wisdom when I am “in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God” (1 Cor. 1:30) and “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously” (James 1:5)? Why should I be depressed when I can recall to my mind and therefore have hope, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lam. 3:22-23)? Why should I worry and fret when I can say, “Cast all my anxiety on Him because He cares for me” (1 Peter 5:7)? Why should I ever be in bondage, for “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor. 3:17) and “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Gal. 5:1)? Why should I feel condemned when the Bible says, “There is… no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1)? Why should I ever feel alone when Jesus said, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:20) and “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Heb. 13:5)? Why should I feel accursed or the victim of bad luck when the Bible says, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us… that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Gal. 3:13-14)? Why should I be discontented when I, like Paul, “Have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Phil. 4:11)? Why should I feel worthless when “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21)? Why should I ever have  a persecution complex when the Bible says, “If God is for us, who can be against us” (Romans 8:31)? Why should I be confused since “God is not the author of confusion but of peace” (1 Cor. 14:33)? Why should I feel like a failure when “In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37)? Why should I let the world bother me when Jesus said, ” In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33)?

…and that’s all I have to say about that.

Our confidence.

This could potentially be the worst-written post I’ve ever typed, so bear with me. I am so pumped up about a book that I’ve been reading by Neil Anderson called, “Who I Am in Christ”. I know nothing about this author, but I do know that he speaks so much truth in this book. Each chapter alludes to a different promise of who we are in Christ (by the title, who would’ve guessed?!?). Today’s was entitled “I Am Free Forever From Condemnation”. As Christians, I know this is one of the first truths we are supposed to accept and understand, but how many of us truly live that out? One of the key lines said this: “When Christ died once for all of our sins, how many of our sins were then future? They all were!” I believe that we get so caught up in what other people think of us or other people’s judgment of our sins that we don’t take a step back and realize that each and every sin (ours and others as well) was taken care of by Christ on the cross. I need a daily reminder that I am not called to please men but to please God (Gal.1:10). Hebrews 9:12 says it all: “He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption”. What does once for all include? It includes the time you lied to your mom when you were five in order to get an extra cookie. It includes that time you punched another kid on the playground because he wouldn’t give you the kickball; the time you gossiped about the girl who smelled  bad in gym class. It includes the lies you told to get ahead at work; the time you cheated on your husband or wife. It also includes all those things that have been done to you by other people; the sins of those around you. It encompasses all the sins we will commit in the future that we are not aware of; those things that we would look at in horror if we knew they were coming or that we “had it in us” to do so.  If this sounds like a license to sin then we aren’t grasping it enough. Christ died once for all of our sins. This means that we are no longer controlled by sin, and that we have the choice to cling to life or death. We may still sin, yes, but with Christ we have the power to be free from a life of constant burden of sin. There may be consequences still, but these are only temporary and the Lord’s discipline. He loves us and wants us to live out a life that is so much greater than a life chained to our flesh or the opinions of other people. Sometimes I feel like my sin is so great and my flesh’s desires so strong. It is then that I should worship the Lord even more in adoration that He is greater than all the imperfection within me. “The only way a person can be condemned is to be found without Christ on Judgment Day. We have already been judged and found innocent because we are in Christ Jesus.”

Praise Him!

“Jesus’s teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the Bible-believing, religious people of his day. However, in the main, our churches today do not have this effect. The kind of outsiders Jesus attracted are not attracted to contemporary churches, even our most avant-garde ones. We tend to draw conservative, buttoned-down, moralistic people. The licentious and liberated or the broken and marginal avoid church. That can only mean one thing. If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus did.” – Timothy Keller

Wow. This is such a hard truth to swallow. As much as my first instinct is to say, “Exactly. Shame on moral-based, legalistic people for not drawing others in with the love of Jesus”… it is a harsh reality that I too, live this way. I may say that it is based on grace not self-performace; but when I “mess-up” or willfully disobey, I act as if my salvation is based on what I’ve done. I do not live out the Gospel as the Good News that it is. And what is the good news? The good news is that no sin I have committed or will commit in the future is counted against me! The good news is that I was enslaved to my flesh, my temporary desires, and the things of this world that will pass away, and God took those on and saved me from myself! Why do I not live, eat, and breathe this truth day in and day out? Jesus attracted those people that KNEW that they didn’t have it all together. They did not feel ashamed in His presence because He took that judgment on Himself and anyone who understands this type of commitment and love would WANT to associate with Someone so other. Who loves us this much? NO ONE. No one but Jesus. That is the message we should portray to a broken world; and this includes ourselves! We are all broken. Thanks be to God and God alone for doing what we could NEVER do for ourselves. Amen and Amen!

Life vs. death.

 This morning, I am in search of something that speaks to my indifference to sin. Last night at my lifegroup meeting, we talked about the importance of confessing our sins to one another so that we may be healed ( basis of James 5:16). As I spoke my sins, there was a numbness in my voice; even in my very being. I realized at that moment the lack of sorrow I feel for my sin. It is only when consequences develop that I realize the magnitude of them. This, to put it frankly, disgusts me. If I truly believe that sin=death and that it causes me to turn away from God’s love and abundant life, why would I ever feel indifference toward it?! I should be running away from sin… not for the purposes of “earning salvation” or “being good”… but so that I can really grasp onto the abundant life the Lord has called us to. As much as I talk about loving the Lord and wanting others to know what it’s like to be in a relationship with Him… what am I doing to make it known that my relationship with Him is the most important thing in my life? I don’t have a lot to say today, but I do pray that we would all recognize the depth of the sacrifice God went through to be in a relationship with us. I pray that we would not cling to the very death He took on for us, because it is those sins that would’ve led us away from the LIFE, LOVE, JOY, PEACE, etc. that He has planned. Once again, He is so Other.

Enough.

The dictionary says that enough=sufficient. If God’s grace is enough, that means that it is ALL we need. That in times of hardship, grace is enough. In happy times, grace is enough. In sinful times, grace is enough. Grace is it. Without it, we’ve got nothing. With it, ENOUGH. Complete sufficiency. And what’s grace? God’s free and unmerited favor for sinful humanity. My words cannot add anything to this incomprehensible truth.

Amen.

I find it so intriguing- but not surprising- that we always add “Amen” to the end of our own prayers. The story line changes completely, however, when God sends something our way that we don’t seem to want. What is so challenging about saying “Amen” right before we get a tasty meal? The challenge- and growth I might add- comes from the Amens we utter toward that thing that our flesh is screaming no toward.

“Please bless my day and bring me joy. Amen.” “Please help this illness to go away. Amen.” “Please let me find a job that I wake up excited to do everyday. Amen.” “Please bless this cheesecake to the nourishment of my body. Amen.”

I am not saying that it is wrong to ask the Lord to bless us in any and every way. I am simply suggesting that if we are going to express approval toward those things, we must allow God to teach us to say “amen” to everything He brings into our lives.

“I know that You wouldn’t allow pain into my day unless You knew good would come out of it. Amen.” “If You continue to allow this sickness into my life, I know it is Your will. Amen.” “If You haven’t put a job out there yet, I have to trust there is a reason. Amen.”

The lyrics of Deitrick Haddon’s gospel song “Amen” say it best when he states, 

“So I looked at my test and trials,
they can’t compare to His pain…I bless You for all of the bad, and I bless You for all of the good, and the place were I stand, You have already stood.”

Amen.