A sinner? Not me! Think again.

Last week the high school in Sayreville, NJ shut down the football program after sexual hazing practices came to light. As the sordid details crept out of the darkness, we saw depravity that lives in the suburbs, not in monsters, but in ordinary kids. We were left wondering, how can this go on and no one know? How could these teenagers do this to others and not think it was wrong?  Then, yesterday the story of a beloved actor who played the pastor/dad on 7^th Heaven hit the news.  Behind that smile Stephen Collins hid personal demons, some awful and ugly depravity. Yes, I know, he was just an actor in a role created by writers, but somehow he always ‘looked’ the part, too.

Here’s the scary truth – we are all capable of ugly, horrid, despicable acts! Evil does not just live somewhere else, in people unlike you or me. God tells us that no matter our place in the human race we are broken by the curse of sin. "Sin is lying in wait for you, ready to pounce; it’s out to get you, you’ve got to master it.” (Genesis 4:7, The Message) Paul quotes the Psalms to describe the sinful state. "There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” (Romans 3:11-13, NIV) "Ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:16-18, NIV)  Offended? Many are!  However, if we refuse the truth there is no hope.

So, what is the answer to depravity and sinfulness? How do we move from sinfulness to sainthood?

God gives us a rebirth, comes us to the life of the Spirit, and changes us from the inside out!  After the ugly assessment of our natural state, Paul shows us the amazing grace work that Christ Jesus does on our behalf. "By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise." (Romans 5:1-2, The Message)  "In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit! " (Romans 5:5, The Message)

The powerful life of the Holy Spirit and the truth of the Word, along with the work of the Church that gives us community and counsel, sets us free from the urges of sin, teaches us what is right, and helps us to defeat depravity, breaking the grip of the curse. Believe it!  Of course, Christians still sin.  There are stories of those who fall hard – into adultery, theft, drunkenness, greed, or cruelty.  It is not God who fails them, but rather their refusal of His conviction and truth that allows the sinful nature to re-assert itself.  Countless others learn to ‘keep step with the Spirit’ and find that their lives "reflect the Lord’s glory, (they) are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:18, NIV)

Here is the word from the Word. Even as you read it, have a healthy respect for the power of the sinful nature and the deception of the Devil. But, do not live in fear.  Take the grace. Find the power! "So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." (Romans 12:1-2, The Message)

_______________

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

O soul are you weary and troubled,

No light in the darkness you see?

There's light for a look at the Savior,

And life more abundant and free.

Through death into life everlasting

He passed and we follow Him there.

Over us sin no more hath dominion

For more than conquerors we are.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face!

And the things of earth,

Will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.

Helen H. Lemmel

© Words: Public Domain

Make a Prior Choice

Grand statements can be dangerous, coming around to bite us.  How many of us say, “Oh, I would never do _______ ,” only to find ourselves eating our words?  Sometimes we immaturely brag about our strength,  unaware of our true nature.  Before we are tested we sometimes are overly confident believing we are too smart or too strong to be deceived by sin or Self.  This is not the appeal to you today.  I am asking you to set your hope in Christ, to choose Him, and to gain the strength of conviction from His Word.  Yes, we need to make the prior choice, to set guiding principles in place early in life.

Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Church, tells of adopting a ‘life verse,’ that continues to minister to him through the years. The Word encourages him saying "be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 15:58, NKJV)  When he is tested by critics, pressed by challenges, he’s made a prior choice to trust that God working in him will make his work fruitful, so he sticks with it.

Making a prior choice based on the wisdom of the Word is a key to becoming a mature, joyful, and steady disciple. This demands we know the Scripture.  The Psalm says, "I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. . . . Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path." (Psalm 119:11, 105, NLT)  Do you have passages of the Bible tucked into your memory and speaking to direct you today?

Before we are faced with a choice, we can be blessed to know what God says!  A prior choice for obedience is a place of safety for us.   For example, a partnership is offered that looks full of promise on the surface, but you know that the Scripture directs Christians to avoid partnerships with those who do not revere God (2 Corinthians 6:14) so, having made a prior choice, you do not even consider the offer.  God speaks about our use of time and resources, about where we seek our joyful fulfillment, about how we relate to others, about our sexuality, about the way we love and honor our family, about the importance of His church in our lives.  Will we understand His will, make a prior choice for obedience, and rob temptation of its allure?

Joshua prepared the people of God for entry into Canaan, the land that flowed with milk and honey.  The old man of God knew that the land would also offer all kinds of temptations. What did he tell them?

"For the Lord has driven out great and powerful nations for you, and no one has yet been able to defeat you. Each one of you will put to flight a thousand of the enemy, for the Lord your God fights for you, just as he has promised. So be very careful to love the Lord your God." (Joshua 23:9-11, NLT)  Remember the blessings!

“So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15, NLT)  Make a prior choice!

The word from the Word is Jesus’ invitation to faithfulness. “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62, NKJV)  The ploughman who committed himself to turn the earth, could not look back over his shoulder as the plow went forward.  He had to focus on keeping the line, finishing the furrow.  Make the prior choice!

___________

I have decided to follow Jesus

I have decided to follow Jesus

I have decided to follow Jesus

No turning back, no turning back.

Tho’ none go with me, still I will follow

Tho’ none go with me, still I will follow

Tho’ none go with me, still I will follow

No turning back, no turning back.

You're bigger and better than your fears

Without the distraction of daily activities, I had time to think.  Confined to a hospital room, weakened by sickness, I felt anxiety rising and knew it was time to speak to myself.  Before you conclude I am in need of psychological assessment, let me assure that I know from past experience when my emotions are running high, it is time to ‘take charge.’   Remember Jesus' disciples who were in a boat with Him as a storm rose on the Sea of Galilee?  They gave in to fear and soon were accusing Him of not caring for them! Graciously, He stood and quieted the storm and then He "reprimanded the disciples: "Why are you such cowards? Don't you have any faith at all?" (Mark 4:40, The Message)  In other words He is asking them when they gave into fear so quickly? Why didn’t you stiffen your spines and deal with the storm?

Fear can become a panic, running wildly through our thoughts, if we do not speak faith to it. Anger can turn into a roaring blaze of rage if we do not restrain it. Desire will turn rapidly to all-consuming lust, greed, or gluttony if we do not invite the Spirit to rule in us. So, David teaches us by example when he talks to himself! He says, "Praise the Lord, I tell myself, and never forget the good things he does for me." (Psalm 103:2, NLT)

Do you believe that myth of our time that insists that every thought must be spoken, every feeling explored, every desire fulfilled?  Self-discipline, that wonderfully valuable tool for successful living, means that I can curb my tongue, redirect my emotions, and restrain my desire! I may cry but I will not die.

Ever see a fully grown adult throwing a tantrum? Not pretty, is it?  Then, too, some make poor choices to satisfy some urge today and in the process sabotage tomorrow, immaturely blaming the mess they create on someone else. We try to excuse ourselves by saying, “I just could not help it,” but in this we lie.  People enslaved by ‘living in the moment’ are often unaware of the deepening chaos they are creating.  So we must learn to speak to our own soul with the voice of reason and in the power of God's Spirit.

Spirit-filled Christians who speak Truth to their inner storms gain greater freedom with each victory. They grow in godliness. The Spirit produces a wholeness of life that makes them the overcomers God desires them to be. They do not gain this victory by ignoring the inner tumult, or by denying negative emotions, or by repressing unpleasant feelings. They know what they feel, but they also know that God gives a gift of a will, empowered by His Spirit! We can fully acknowledge our emotions without letting them take control.

Jeremiah, called 'the weeping prophet,' faced calamity and felt the crushing weight of sorrow. His example is powerful.  Here is how he spoke to himself -  "My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the LORD." I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I 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." (Lamentations 3:18-23, NIV)

Meditate on this powerful word from the Word.  

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 
(2 Corinthians 10:5, NIV)

The Message sets that into a larger context. Read and rejoice!

"The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. 
But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. 
The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture.

We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity." 
(2 Corinthians 10:3-6, The Message)

Let My Words Be Few

 You are God in heaven

And here am I on earth,

So I'll let my words be few.

Jesus, I am so in love with You.

And I'll stand in awe of You.

Yes, I'll stand in awe of You;

And I'll let my words be few.

Jesus. I am so in love with You.

Beth Redman | Matt Redman

© 2000 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

When doubts arise

"I am not a religious person," she told me. "I admire your faith, but how can I really believe that there is a God when I see what's going on in this world?"  It was an honest question.  Our further conversation showed that she did believe in God, but only in a remote 'power of the Universe' way, not as a personal Friend.
 

Our talk was all the more compelling because doubt came knocking in my life recently, too.  With personal pain I became vulnerable to questions.  My prayer occasionally slipped into an accusatory tone, "I know You're there, but do You care?"

No Christian sets out to doubt! We do not want to be angry with the One we have loved, yet it happens.  You are not a terrible Christian if you experience the fire of doubt.  Righteous Job, after enduring awful loss, finally cries "know that God has wronged me and drawn his net around me. "Though I cry, 'I've been wronged!' I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice. He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; he has shrouded my paths in darkness. He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head." (Job 19:6-9, NIV)  Was he right in saying these things about the Lord?  Yes, because that is what life looked like for him at that moment.  When Job was willing to give voices to his doubt, he was ready to deal with it.

Too often Christians try to deal with inner confusion, with conflicted emotions, with doubt and fear, by turning up the volume of their praise songs, or by escaping into the denial of churchy platitudes, or by trying to cut a deal with God.  Better to go to a place of honesty and tell the Lord - "I feel like You have abandoned me."  Lay it out and say it out loud. Cry.  But, don't walk always!

Trials and suffering that stir up doubt in us are invitations to grow in faith. Our Father's desire is that we move beyond a childish relationship that demands only comfort in this moment. Our struggles can accomplish that if we make wise and disciplined choices. 

An important choice is to remain in fellowship with His Body.  Faithful friends will carry us when we collapse, for a time, under the weight of our doubts.  If you're in a shallow fellowship that judges you because you're afraid, that accuses you of some 'sin' in your time of need, find a better one!  To be sure some unwise Christian will likely say hurtful things, but forgive them. You can show them a better way when they enter their own time of suffering, and we all do.

Another good choice is to go back to the basics. When your heart is raw, it is not the best time to try to answer all the questions of life. Read the Psalms of comfort. Go back to the stories of Jesus in the Gospels. Thank Jesus for His love shown in the Cross. Celebrate communion with quiet reverence. Yes, re-connect with the foundation.  Jesus promises that He is there to meet those whose faith is very small, akin to a tiny seed.  Borrow that desperate father's prayer who reached out to Jesus and said, "I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24, NLT)

Balance your perspective! In my conversation with the woman who said she could not believe in a personal God, I asked, "When was the last time you really listened to a baby's cooing in her mother's arms? When did you look at the beautiful world we enjoy?  When did you last observe the noble love of a couple who have weathered life's storms for decades together?"  My point is that we can listen only to the guns of war, see only the litter along the highway of life, and see only the hatred of those psychopaths whose depravity feels the news. If we do, we miss the beauty that remains even in a sin-broken world.

A wonderful transformation happens to those who persevere through doubt. They become less attached to the things of this world and Heaven comes nearer.  Yes, suffering remains. Mystery still exists. For some questions there are simply no answers while we remain robed in flesh.

Here's the word from the Word.  They are Job's prayer that followed his outburst of frustration with God.

"Oh, that my words were written!
Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!
That they were engraved on a rock With an iron pen and lead, forever!

For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,

That in my flesh I shall see God,
Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!" (Job 19:23-27, NKJV)

 ______________

Father, give us the gift of faith.

Bless us with courage to remain steady.

Open our eyes to greater glories than momentary pleasure.

Hold us in the storm.

And release us from the pain that the curse visits on this planet.

For Jesus' sake and His Name,

Amen.