Discouragement

“Never let us be discouraged with ourselves; it is not when we are conscious of our faults that we are the most wicked: on the contrary, we are less so. We see by a brighter light. And let us remember, for our consolation, that we never perceive our sins till He begin to cure them.” Francois Fenelon (1651-1715)

We are not a race of people happy to have our faults shown to us. It seems to be one of the primary elements of our sin nature. We don't enjoy being wrong. We don't enjoy having faults and I know of very few people who enjoy having someone else point this out.

It was this way from the start. In the first recorded conversation between God and Adam in Genesis 3:8-12, Adam's reaction to God's question if he had about what he had done (eaten from the forbidden tree) was to blame Even and even imply it was God's fault (this woman you gave me).

This is what is often called a "natural" reaction to being confronted with doing wrong. When my kids were little I often wondered when we had adopted those two orphan children named "Aidunno" and "Knotme" were the ones responsible for any broken toy, marks on the walls, dirt on the rug or mess not cleaned up.

But this Christian life calls for us to fess up. Part of our salvation experience is predicated on our open awareness and admission of our sinfulness to the point we could not save ourselves. This is not just a "well no one is perfect" attitude, but one of acute awareness that we are an eternity away from coming even close to meeting the standard that is Christ. If we could, we would not need a Savior.

A Christian Response to a sin being pointed out is not one of blame-shifting or argument or even avoidance, but one of humble acknowledgement, repentance, and asking God, relying upon God, to help you turn from this sin.

Our sins should not be a source of discouragement but one of encouragement because we are see the work of the Father in our lives. This is a source of joy, knowing that our Father, through Christ, is molding us back into that image of Him he originally created us to be.

What I Was, What I Am, What I Will Be

It is very difficult to summarize one's life, since people are in a constant state of flux - changing phsycially, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually.

Sunday at Church, there was an ordination ceremony for our associate pastor.  I have never been to one before and it was encouraging to see this young man and his family being committed before the Lord.

When the charge was given to the pastor, the speaker used 2 Timothy as the Scripture to base the charge.  This is Paul's encouraging letter to his protege Timothy.

During the course of the charge, the speaker referred to the meaning of verse 7 - "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." - as Paul looking back and having no regrets about his walk with Christ.

So I started thinking about my past and I have more regrets than I care to list or think about, but I also have the knowledge that I am not the man I was yesterday nor will I be the man I am now, tomorrow.

Recently, I have been under attack by someone whom I hold dear.  They are angry with me about actions done many years ago, some before my salvation, some during the years since. 

When I first tasted salvation, I did not immediately cease being the old man, who was liar and deciever and manipulator of others.  God is growing me in such a way that He is developing my character.  I am less the liar and decieve and manipulator, but only because it is the Lord doing this and not my own effort.

I have been forgiven by God of these sins and can now, because of Christ, kneel in His presence, and strive, through Him, to cease the evil that I too often find myself desiring to do.  I am redeemed but not yet fully sanctified.  I am at war with my sin, my flesh, and, sadly, sometimes it prevails in the battle, though it has failed in the conquest of me.

Unfortunately, this does not absolve me of the fact that I did sin and that I do sin and that I will sin.  This means that I still weep over my failings, how I have hurt others, how I have wronged mostly those whom I love and have loved me, how I have misused the gifts given to me.

I go on sinning not because it is my desire to do so, but because I have not yet given myself fully over to Him!  

This is a tough reality, but it makes sense of what I was, what I am, and what I will be.

God is working at His pace to shape me back into the image He intended when He created me, and He becomes more (and I less) I am humbled that He would even want to work in a scoundrel such as me, that He would call me His child when I have been such a disobedient brat, that He would call me friend when I have been such an enemy of His!

Christians are not void of sin, but we are free from the deciet of sin.  True Christians know what they were, what they are, and what they will be and they know that they are in the hands of God and not their own hands.

In this, I have no regrets - that God has saved me from my self, and my hope is in Him.

That Which The Lord Hates Part 7

(Proverbs 6:16-19) There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

Lets look at the 5th thing which God hates - "feet that make haste to run to evil".

I like how that is phrased.  

It could have been stated simply - a desire to sin, but instead it is feet running to evil.  This is not just conceptualizing sin and then doing sin, it is a rush to sin, not just a crawl, a walk, a stroll, but a "haste to run" to evil.  It is a condemnation of all men of what is found in our heart - that we do not, at the innermost, desire for God to be glorified but for us to be glorified, for us to be on the seat of the King.

We lunge to sin when given the opportunity.  We thrust at it when temptation calls.  It is who and what we are.

We don't like to admit it.  We don't like to face it as a reality.  We want to believe otherwise, but deep inside we know that we are good despite the evidence of our lives.

But the facts speak otherwise - who has not sinned?  Who has not taken God's moral perfection and twisted and distorted it into our own image?  Who has not done that which they believe to be wrong?

Sin is our common denominator.  It is where we are all shown to be equal.  It is the true state of our heart.

Yet, here is God, who despises our rush to rebellion and His response is to sacrifice Himself in our place, opening the way for our redemption by simply realizing who we are and what we need - Christ our Salvation, our Redeemer, our Savior, our Lord.

I Will But I Don't

"What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. Hewent to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.' "'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. "Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. Which ofthe two did what his father wanted?" "The first," they answered. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the taxcollectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you." -- Matthew 21:28-31 (NIV)

I will but I don't.

That pretty sums up most of our Christian walk, doesn't it.

We Christians have this great desire to serve God fully with all our lives, all our heart, with evey molecule and atom of our body...but we don't.

In fact, to twist and paraphrase Ghandi: It is the Christians that give the church a bad name.

I don't beleive that we can be anything but hypocrits - in the sense that we do what we don't want to do and don't do what we want to do. We profess this great love of Christ but fail to follow His simplest of commands - to love one another, to serve one another, to put your self last - and this brings great shame to the body (the church - those who profess Him Lord and Savior).

We are pretty good with the Savior part. I have that down pat. I live with the assurance of my salvation. Unfortunately that leads me to live this horrible, prideful lie that because Christ is good that I am now good. I am in terms of how God no longer holds me to account, but I still sin - sometimes purposely, sometimes callously, sometimes with great resolve, always without regard for God and what He did for me.

Oh, we say we will but we don't, so let's stop kidding ourselves. We are not only co-conspirators with other sinners, we are instigators and, worse yet, betrayers of Christ. We Christians hold the nails to His writs waiting for the "sinner" to hammer!

Our response to sin needs to be to look at ourselves first and see if we have said we will and didn't. When we go to rebuke a sin, we must do it in context not as a superior but actually as someone worse - someone who knew better and did it anyway. Someone who didn't do a "mistake" but did an "on purpose".

It is okay to point out sin, but we need to start from within first, and then move outward.

For His Glory,
Tom