Who He is transforms who we are.
How many years have I spent trying to systematically eliminate sin from my life? I see something in myself that I know isn't in line with the Kingdom, and so I make it a goal and I put it on my to-do list and I set myself against it until it is vanquished. And that can be effective, to a point. I've eliminated some habits in this way, and I've learned and I've grown because God is gracious and He uses whatever we're ready to do.
But here's the thing. I may recently have discovered the fast track to transformation. And it, like everything else in this Kingdom, is upside-down and backwards. Ready?
Sit still. Fix your eyes on Jesus. That's it.
It seems simplistic. It is simple. But it's what He tells us to do (Hebrews 12:2- fix our eyes on Him, Matthew 6:33- seek first His Kingdom, Psalm 46:10- be still and know that He is God).
Be still, and know that I am God. In the King James, it says "cease striving" and know...
When we turn from Martha into Mary, leaving all the doing and the trying to be worthy, and we just sit at His feet, everything else falls away. Worry will fall away. Insecurity will fall away. Sin, itself, will actually fall away as we are transformed just by knowing Him. As we behold Him, we become like Him.
So I set aside my to-dos and my goals and my areas for self-improvement for a while, and I replace them all with one thing: behold Him. Sit at His feet. Rest in His presence.
He doesn't wait until we're perfect to love us. He loves us in order to make us perfect. He washes us with water by the Word (Ephesians 5:26). Time with Him is the key to transformation.
Showing posts with label sin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sin. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Choosing today
His mercies are new every morning.
I was talking with a friend today (preparing for teaching lessons at camp) about choices, habits, character development. In everything, we have a choice. In every day, every circumstance, every next step we take is a choice. Whether we are on the mountaintop or in the valley, flying high in victory or brought to the ground by our own mistakes or someone else's, there is no time when we are left without a choice. Lying face-down on the ground as a result of our own intentional rebellion, we are still not beyond the reach of God's mercy.
The choice is this: will I let God have the glory? In my accomplishments and greatest joys, will I give God the glory and take none of it for myself? In my failures and times of broken confusion, will I let Him glorify His name by redeeming my situation?
And the time is now. We could wait until tomorrow, but every action we take is one step toward a habit. Do we want to build the habit of waiting until tomorrow to ask God into our circumstances? Or do we want to build the habit of inviting Him in the very instant that we recognize our need for Him?
I choose Him, I choose now, I choose joyful submission today.
I was talking with a friend today (preparing for teaching lessons at camp) about choices, habits, character development. In everything, we have a choice. In every day, every circumstance, every next step we take is a choice. Whether we are on the mountaintop or in the valley, flying high in victory or brought to the ground by our own mistakes or someone else's, there is no time when we are left without a choice. Lying face-down on the ground as a result of our own intentional rebellion, we are still not beyond the reach of God's mercy.
The choice is this: will I let God have the glory? In my accomplishments and greatest joys, will I give God the glory and take none of it for myself? In my failures and times of broken confusion, will I let Him glorify His name by redeeming my situation?
And the time is now. We could wait until tomorrow, but every action we take is one step toward a habit. Do we want to build the habit of waiting until tomorrow to ask God into our circumstances? Or do we want to build the habit of inviting Him in the very instant that we recognize our need for Him?
I choose Him, I choose now, I choose joyful submission today.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Only one righteous
I have read through all or part of the Old Testament a handful of times in my life. I inevitably find myself frustrated and discouraged, aggravated with the Israelites and their inability to stay on track for more than a generation at a time. The people as a whole stray to the right and left innumerable times, and even the most famous kings and leaders commit egregious errors.
There is no one righteous, no, not one.
Noah, Abraham, Moses, David... these giants of storytime all have black marks on their names. Even if their lives honored God overall, they each faltered and failed in humiliating ways.
But that is what makes the gospels incredible. When you arrive at the life of Jesus after reading page upon page of prophets lamenting the fallenness of Israel and foretelling the lamb without blemish who will take it all upon Himself.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:6
They say the traits that irritate us most in other people are those we most hate in ourselves. Like Israel, I fall over and over again into the same sins, disbelieving God's all-sufficiency and seeking help elsewhere. I come back again and again to the same mercy, the same love, the same open arms. Thank you, precious Lord, for grace.
There is no one righteous, no, not one.
Noah, Abraham, Moses, David... these giants of storytime all have black marks on their names. Even if their lives honored God overall, they each faltered and failed in humiliating ways.
But that is what makes the gospels incredible. When you arrive at the life of Jesus after reading page upon page of prophets lamenting the fallenness of Israel and foretelling the lamb without blemish who will take it all upon Himself.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:6
They say the traits that irritate us most in other people are those we most hate in ourselves. Like Israel, I fall over and over again into the same sins, disbelieving God's all-sufficiency and seeking help elsewhere. I come back again and again to the same mercy, the same love, the same open arms. Thank you, precious Lord, for grace.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Straining toward what is ahead
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Paul, in Philippians 3
There is a balance between healthy reflection and unhealthy obsession. If we don't examine our pasts and learn from our mistakes, we are fools. But if we spend our whole lives obsessing over our mistakes, we are fools. So we acknowledge our imperfections, incorporate our newly-found wisdom into our approaching decisions, place our identity firmly in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and press on. Always forward, always upward, always heavenward to Christ.
Paul, in Philippians 3
There is a balance between healthy reflection and unhealthy obsession. If we don't examine our pasts and learn from our mistakes, we are fools. But if we spend our whole lives obsessing over our mistakes, we are fools. So we acknowledge our imperfections, incorporate our newly-found wisdom into our approaching decisions, place our identity firmly in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and press on. Always forward, always upward, always heavenward to Christ.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Grace and consequences
As I've worked my way through the Old Testament this year, I've noticed time and time again the tension between grace and consequences. God, in the Old Testament as in the New, yesterday, today, and forever, is a gracious god. Gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in love. He is near to those who call upon Him; He casts our iniquities as far from us as the east is from the west; He paid the price for all sin and offers forgiveness to the wickedest of men.
But grace doesn't eliminate consequences. Forgiveness doesn't mean elimination of the chain reaction that began with your sin. I see this in my own life, as I deal with the ramifications of mistakes I made years ago. "Haven't You forgiven me, God?" Yes, He has. But sin, forgiven or not, still affects our lives and--perhaps the more painful reality-- the lives of those around us. David, in the 2 Samuel debacle with Bathsheba, commits adultery, lies, and murders a man. He becomes repentant, confesses his sin to God, and receives forgiveness. But the child conceived in his adultery dies, and his family suffers the consequences of his sin for generations.
So what can we do? Accept grace, but don't expect it to be a get-out-of-jail-free card. If your sin landed you in that prison, you will pay the time for it. Live in the truth that you are forgiven--guilt has no place in the life of a pardoned believer--, but accept and nobly bear the fruits of your decisions. And learn from it. Improve. If the rod is not spared, let it be useful for teaching and changing our paths.
But grace doesn't eliminate consequences. Forgiveness doesn't mean elimination of the chain reaction that began with your sin. I see this in my own life, as I deal with the ramifications of mistakes I made years ago. "Haven't You forgiven me, God?" Yes, He has. But sin, forgiven or not, still affects our lives and--perhaps the more painful reality-- the lives of those around us. David, in the 2 Samuel debacle with Bathsheba, commits adultery, lies, and murders a man. He becomes repentant, confesses his sin to God, and receives forgiveness. But the child conceived in his adultery dies, and his family suffers the consequences of his sin for generations.
So what can we do? Accept grace, but don't expect it to be a get-out-of-jail-free card. If your sin landed you in that prison, you will pay the time for it. Live in the truth that you are forgiven--guilt has no place in the life of a pardoned believer--, but accept and nobly bear the fruits of your decisions. And learn from it. Improve. If the rod is not spared, let it be useful for teaching and changing our paths.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
What I want to do
This passage came to mind today as I thought back over the past couple of weeks and tried to come up with something encouraging to write:
"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do... I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out... for what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing... In my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
Paul, in Romans 7
It's been a pretty lazy, selfish week or two, if I'm honest about it. And the funny thing, as I was discussing with a friend on the phone a few days ago, is that selfishness doesn't tend to actually get us the results we want. We want joy, fulfillment, peace, purpose, and comfort, but we turn from the Source of every good thing and try to meet those needs elsewhere. It's selfish because it does not seek first to glorify God, but it's also futile, leaving us bitter and unsatisfied. The truly self-serving choice would be to take up our crosses and seek God's kingdom first, losing our lives for a short while and thereby gaining every worthwhile thing in this life and the next.
I take comfort that Paul expressed my very feelings so very well. If a man used so mightily by God struggled with these same things, God is truly able to redeem any life. I rest in His grace.
"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do... I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out... for what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing... In my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
Paul, in Romans 7
It's been a pretty lazy, selfish week or two, if I'm honest about it. And the funny thing, as I was discussing with a friend on the phone a few days ago, is that selfishness doesn't tend to actually get us the results we want. We want joy, fulfillment, peace, purpose, and comfort, but we turn from the Source of every good thing and try to meet those needs elsewhere. It's selfish because it does not seek first to glorify God, but it's also futile, leaving us bitter and unsatisfied. The truly self-serving choice would be to take up our crosses and seek God's kingdom first, losing our lives for a short while and thereby gaining every worthwhile thing in this life and the next.
I take comfort that Paul expressed my very feelings so very well. If a man used so mightily by God struggled with these same things, God is truly able to redeem any life. I rest in His grace.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Empty thyself of self
How quick I am to be crabby and short and sarcastic when I am all full of myself, and how quick He is to answer when I pray that He would come in and fill me with Himself instead. How much lighter and quicker a day's tasks seem when I do them all as unto Him. How quick I am to forget this and have to learn it all again the next day! His mercies are new every morning, and so is our need for His mercy.
If thou could'st empty all thyself of self,
Like to a shell dishabited,
Then might He find thee on the ocean shelf,
And say, "This is not dead,"
And fill thee with Himself instead.
But thou are all replete with very thou
And hast such shrewd activity,
That when He comes He says, "This is enow
Unto itself - 'twere better let it be,
It is so small and full, there is no room for me."
-Thomas Edward Brown
If thou could'st empty all thyself of self,
Like to a shell dishabited,
Then might He find thee on the ocean shelf,
And say, "This is not dead,"
And fill thee with Himself instead.
But thou are all replete with very thou
And hast such shrewd activity,
That when He comes He says, "This is enow
Unto itself - 'twere better let it be,
It is so small and full, there is no room for me."
-Thomas Edward Brown
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Imaginary sinners
Everyone is a sinner. Everyone also sins. It's easy enough to admit that you are a sinner-- very few would claim perfection, if only for fear of having their closest friends point out just how far that is from being true. To admit your individual sins, though, and to see those specific sins as they play out very significantly in your life and the lives of others, hits harder. When our own specific instances of weakness and sin and failure are thrown in our faces, we so often want to crawl in a hole and give it all up. We daily claim our identities as redeemed sinners, but one individual sin is enough to finish us completely and make us doubt the grace of Christ. I know He forgives all, but can He possibly forgive this? Yes.
"The true Christian daily pleads guilty before God, and seeks forgiveness through the blood of Christ. And the gospel salvation is so free, that the poorest is not shut out; and so full, that the most burdened conscience may find relief from it."
-Matthew Henry, from his commentary on Leviticus 5
To doubt the power of the grace of Christ to forgive one sin is to impugn the power of the Cross. It is to say to the One who gave it all, "It's just not quite enough." His grace is sufficient for us, for His power is made perfect in weakness. Grace is made perfect in the sin it covers over.
"God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world."
-Martin Luther
"The true Christian daily pleads guilty before God, and seeks forgiveness through the blood of Christ. And the gospel salvation is so free, that the poorest is not shut out; and so full, that the most burdened conscience may find relief from it."
-Matthew Henry, from his commentary on Leviticus 5
To doubt the power of the grace of Christ to forgive one sin is to impugn the power of the Cross. It is to say to the One who gave it all, "It's just not quite enough." His grace is sufficient for us, for His power is made perfect in weakness. Grace is made perfect in the sin it covers over.
"God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world."
-Martin Luther
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Duty
"Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' "
Jesus, in the Gospel of Luke
The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We exist to bring Him honor. He has made it clear how to do this: love God, love each other. If we live this way, our life is perfectly glorifying to Him and also perfectly satisfying to us.
But we don't. We sin. We seek to glorify ourselves instead of God, and we love ourselves above our fellow man. We can live a redeemed life and get closer and closer to holiness by the grace of Christ, but our nature is still sin. Our nature is sin, and our duty is holiness-- polar opposites. There is grace, oh praise the Lord, there is grace flowing down abundantly from the cross of Christ, and that grace will cover over all our sins, but let us not ever believe in our own achievements. Let us not ever say to God, "Give me the credit I deserve," for if He gave us all we deserved, we would be sadly surprised to find ourselves in Hell. Let us humble ourselves before Him, love Him and each other as He as asked, and ask nothing more than that our life would be a pleasant aroma to Him.
And in all of this, oh mercy of mercies, we truly find joy and peace.
Jesus, in the Gospel of Luke
The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We exist to bring Him honor. He has made it clear how to do this: love God, love each other. If we live this way, our life is perfectly glorifying to Him and also perfectly satisfying to us.
But we don't. We sin. We seek to glorify ourselves instead of God, and we love ourselves above our fellow man. We can live a redeemed life and get closer and closer to holiness by the grace of Christ, but our nature is still sin. Our nature is sin, and our duty is holiness-- polar opposites. There is grace, oh praise the Lord, there is grace flowing down abundantly from the cross of Christ, and that grace will cover over all our sins, but let us not ever believe in our own achievements. Let us not ever say to God, "Give me the credit I deserve," for if He gave us all we deserved, we would be sadly surprised to find ourselves in Hell. Let us humble ourselves before Him, love Him and each other as He as asked, and ask nothing more than that our life would be a pleasant aroma to Him.
And in all of this, oh mercy of mercies, we truly find joy and peace.
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