Flat on my face, again!

It’s hard to be reminded of failure, isn’t it? Anyone of us who is honest with ourselves will have moments that when remembered cause us to cringe, to feel regret. Who among us would not like a ‘do over,’ an opportunity to go back and make a different choice, to say a different word.  We cannot. History is made and cannot be rewritten.  But … yes, I am so glad for what we find through Christ Jesus.  There is redemption, there is forgiveness, there is restoration!  Are there consequences that flow from those choices? Yes, there are. But, there is ‘no more condemnation.’

Christians celebrate a message of radical forgiveness through Jesus. Yet, some remain religious, rigidly insisting on some imagined perfection in themselves and others. When we let faith apply the truth of reconciliation and forgiveness, we are free us to live nearer to His heart AND we are empowered by the Spirit to be holy.

Bob Carlisle sings a song called "We Fall Down."  (lyrics at the end of this blog) He describes a peasant who envies the monks who he imagines live above the temptations he experiences. He meets one of them outside of the monastery one day. The man tells him that monks are tempted and sometimes fall, too. The lyric repeats -  "We fall down, we get up - and the saints are just the sinners who get up!"

We may look at a brother in Christ with envy. "Look at him. He is so much better than I am, he does not even struggle with sin any longer!"  That is a trap and a deception. There is no one that has achieved sinless perfection this side of Heaven. A disciple who is growing in Christ will always deal with temptation, often severe, always personal. For one it may be lust, for another greed, for another pride. As the Holy Spirit leads us along the Way, we do conquer temptations, but evil conspires to find another way to neutralize us. Subtle pride is just as much a sin as blatant lust! Apathy is as much a sin as stealing. Bitterness is a sin just as much as blasphemy.

Temptation is ever present and the war continues - sometimes raging, sometimes just a skirmish! "We fall down, we get up - and the saints are just the sinners who get up!"

The Word reminds us that "The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure." (1 Corinthians 10:13, NLT) Be very suspicious of the authenticity of anyone who claims they have found 'the secret' that allows them to live without any struggles with sin and/or temptation! Either they are self-deceived, lying, or they want to sell you something. The Word reminds us that "sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." (Genesis 4:7, NIV)  How do we grow in holiness of heart, the beauty of Christ Jesus?

We defeat Self, Satan, and Systems of this World - not by our cleverness, nor by escape to some utopia - but by standing in the Truth of God's amazing grace in the middle of the war! -We know His love is deeper than our sin We know that the Spirit is at work in us giving us the strength to stand. If we fall, we reach for Jesus' hand and get up, learning and growing from our failure. "We fall down, we get up - and the saints are just the sinners who get up!"

Are you struggling with past failures and sins today, feeling ashamed, alone, inferior, broken?
Is some temptation dancing in your mind?
To hide it, to deny it, to try to defeat it all by yourself will lead only to failure.

Saints (that is what WE ARE when we belong to Christ) are not perfect. "We fall down, we get up - and the saints are just the sinners who get up!"

I want to remind you of a wonderful by-product of experiencing grace, of realizing the depth of our own sin and knowing God’s love to forgive it. We become gentle, merciful, and forgiving of those who fail us. How can we who are forgiven hold onto a debt of another?  Indeed Jesus taught us to pray ‘Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.’  

Stand in Christ! Here's a word from the Word. It's the Truth. Hold onto it today.

"That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives.
Don't give it the time of day. Don't even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life.
Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time- (remember, you've been raised from the dead!) -
into God's way of doing things. Sin can't tell you how to live.
After all, you're not living under that old tyranny any longer. You're living in the freedom of God." (Romans 6:12-14, The Message)

______________

We Fall Down

Listen to Bob Carlisle sing “We Fall Down.”  (YouTube Link)

Cursing ev'ry step of the way

He bore a heavy load

To the market ten miles away.

The journey took its toll

And ev'ry day he passed

A monastery's high cathedral walls

And it made his life seem

Meaningless and small

And he wondered how it would be

To live in such a place

To be warm well fed and at peace

To shut the world away

So when he saw a priest

Who walked for once

Beyond the iron gate

He said tell me of your life

Inside that place

And the priest replied

“We fall down, we get up,

We fall down, we get up.

We fall down, we get up,

And the saints are just the sinners,

Who fall down and get up!”

Disappointment followed him home

He'd hoped for so much more

But he saw himself in a light

He had never seen before

'Cause if the priest who fell

Could find the grace of God to be enough

Then there must be some hope

For the rest of us

Then there must be some hope

Left for us

'Cause we fall down and get up

We fall down we get up

We fall down we get up

And the saints are just the sinners

Yeah the saints are just the sinners

Who fall down and get up

Kyle Matthews

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Who gets the last word?

Our legal system has one court that has the last word.  When a case makes its way through the courts, through appeals, it may finally come before the Supreme Court. Surprisingly to me, I recently found that only around 80 are accepted by the 9 justices to be heard each term. When they render their judgment, it is final, no higher appeal.  They have the final, the last word. Because of the weight that their judgments have in shaping our national life, the politics that swirl around the appointment of a justice, who serves for life, are something to behold, leaving those of us on the outside baffled by the machinations of those in power.  Yes, having the last word is important and knowing who will render that judgment is critical, too.

In my readings in Peter’s first letter to Christians, I came upon this declaration of God’s promise to have the last word. What joy and comfort I find here. My life has its share of sorrows, of things that I cannot presently understand, of disappointments when things do not turn out as I had hoped. Am I unique? Not at all. Answering our need to be assured, Peter is inspired to say this to us: 

"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Peter 5:10-11, NIV)

That cancer that suddenly came into your body does not have the last word, though it may seem to when death looms.

That economic upheaval that ended your job does not have the last word, though it may feel like it when your lifestyle must be radically changed.

That announcement by your spouse that he is finished with the marriage is not the last word but you may feel as though life is over.

That habit that appears to have you completely bound does not have the last word, even though it feels like you will never change.

What does Peter say to us about all of this?

First of all, he reminds us that the Lord is the “God of all grace.”  

Yes, we turn to Him, not in cowering fear or to beg for His attention, but rather with the assurance that He is the complete resource.

Second, he puts eternity foremost.  God has “called you to eternal glory in Christ.”

Life does not end when the lid of casket is locked in place! What is happening now must be seen in the context of the eternal life that awaits. There is a splendor ahead that is ‘immeasurably more’ than we can even imagine.

Third, he tells us that we will “suffer a little while.”

We live in a world where evil exists, where weeds grow, where best intentions get frustrated. When we are going through terrible times, it may be that we are reaping the harvest of past mistakes and sins. It also may be that we are just experiencing life in a broken world.  Peter knew this first hand and tells us "Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—because these trials will make you partners with Christ in his suffering, and afterward you will have the wonderful joy of sharing his glory when it is displayed to all the world." (1 Peter 4:12-13, NLT)

Last, he underscores and bolds, by repetition, the fact that God has the last word.

God perfects us. Yes, He will ultimately restore to wholeness those things that are broken, incomplete, or just plain misunderstood.

Peter uses a literary device of saying the same thing three ways to drive home the point – God will make you “strong, firm, and steadfast.”

He has the last word, Christian.  The devil does not. Other people do not. Circumstances do not. God, the Eternal Father, who is full of grace will keep us. Will we trust Him?

Here is a word from the Word. "’In him (Christ Jesus) we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:10-15, NIV)

________

Build My Life

(a beautiful prayer of worship and hope)

Worthy of ev’ry song we could ever sing

Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring

Worthy of ev’ry breath we could ever breathe

We live for You

Jesus the name above ev’ry other name

Jesus the only one who could ever save

Worthy of ev’ry breath we could ever breathe

We live for You

We live for You

Holy there is no one like You

There is none besides You

Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who You are

And fill me with Your heart

And lead me in Your love to those around me

I will build my life upon Your love

It is a firm foundation

I will put my trust in You alone

And I will not be shaken

Brett Younker | Karl Martin | Kirby Elizabeth Kaple | Matt Redman | Pat Barrett

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The Devil? Really?

In our culture, increasingly secular and marked by disbelief, there is a strange statistic. About 60% of us believe in the existence of the Devil! The survey that I read revealed that we are not very precise about who we think the Devil is. Evil is a common word used. We also tend to identify the devil with people and behavior with which we disagree! So, who is this being? Does he actually exist? He does and he aims to destroy wherever, however, he can through the work of lesser beings called demons.  Even as I write those words, I know that some will run wild with them, seeing demons behind every disappointment, blaming the devil for things that really come from their own refusal of God and good!  It’s so much easier to say “the devil made me do it,” than it is to take responsibility to live as the Lord desires.

None the less, we force a mistaken understanding on the Scripture, if we dismiss the devil as relic of superstition. John’s apocalyptic book, Revelation, contains some vivid language to describe the devil. In chapter 12, we are told of an ‘enormous red dragon’ (not to be understood literally, but rather as a picture language symbol) who was poised to destroy the Messiah at his birth, who rebelled against the order of Heaven and was defeated by Michael, the archangel, who was kicked out of the Presence of God.  We learn that he has "had a great fall; He’s wild and raging with anger; he hasn’t much time and he knows it." (Revelation 12:12, The Message)  John was not just a man who was steeped in myth. He was given visions, inspired with insight, so that he could see the spiritual realities. He ‘saw’ that Evil has a name and a personality! "This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels." (Revelation 12:9, NLT)

From John we learn that two primary aims of the devil are to destroy the works of God and to deceive the world! Paul tells us that the deceiver is adept at disguise, "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:14, NIV)

Do I live in terror of the devil? Not at all, nor should any child of God.  I am secured by He who is greater. The sacrifice of Christ has restored me to the embrace of my Heavenly Father. When I ‘keep step with the Spirit,’  I am given authority over the darkness. John says of Christians, "they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony."  (Revelation 12:11, NLT) He alludes to the Exodus story, one of faith in which the Israelites who obediently responded in faith by putting the blood of the Passover lamb on their doorposts escaped the death angel’s judgment. We receive Christ, by faith, and His sacrifice covers us. We live fearlessly, not in our own strength, but in the power of the Spirit.

My conviction about the reality of evil is what causes me to seek to bring salvation to this world in which I live.  Evil is not just the result of ignorance or lack of opportunity. Do those things contribute to the suffering? Yes, they do.  But, I also see that evil is personal, intentional, and aimed at anything and anyone God created and loves.  But, even as we face the attacks of evil that comes at us through ‘the world, the flesh, and the Devil’  we have a promise of victory!  Martin Luther wrote, in his hymn, A Mighty Fortress, that though we walk in a world ‘with devils filled,’ who ‘threaten to undo us, we will not fear for God has willed His truth to triumph through us.’

Here’s a word from the Word. Meditate on it. Let the Truth give insight into your own behavior and that of those who are around you, then pray to be holy and to be part of the Divine Conspiracy to save Creation! Both James and Peter teach a key principle to winning over evil. It starts with humility and submission to God!

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7, NIV)

"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings." (1 Peter 5:8-9, NIV)

Let the Lord of life guide you and He will keep you in the hour of trial.

_______

Under His Wings

Under His wings

I am safely abiding

Tho the night deepens

And tempest are wild

Still I can trust Him

I know He will keep me

He has redeemed me

And I am His child

Under His wings

What a refuge in sorrow

How the heart yearningly

Turns to His rest

Often when earth

Has no balm for my healing

There I find comfort

And there I am blest

Under His wings

O what precious enjoyment

There will I hide

'Til life's trials are o'er

Sheltered protected

No evil can harm me

Resting in Jesus

I'm safe evermore

Under His wings

Under His wings

Who from His love can sever

Under His wings

My soul shall abide

Safely abide forever

Liz Wagley | William Orcutt Cushing

© Words: Public Domain