January 26
Posted: January 26, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized 2 Comments »Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal. John 12:24 The Message
We have got to stop protecting ourselves from the mercy of God. We must let go of our conviction of certainty; our need to be right, good, and respected. This is a hard message. I know that I, personally, prefer all those wonderful verses about being a new creation in Christ, capable of doing his good, pleasing and perfect will.
But idealistic hoping and believing in God without trusting his process results in a faith that is unsustainable. It’s sincere – just not very authentic. The guy with the porn issue is a dedicated and faithful church member – a deacon in his church. The fellow who wants to work in our ministry once was a youth pastor. That young girl who is now on stage at the “Pleasure Palace” once enjoyed going on mission trips with her church youth group. These people are not in need of salvation – they are all baptized believers. They are desperately in need of transformation.
Scripture isn’t asking us to thump these folks on the head with a bible, it is pointing us to change. It describes the changes we need to make. It says things like – don’t commit adultery (and spells it out as even looking at someone who is not your wife with lust), it demands that we live at peace with others, it requires that we examine our sexuality in light of our image bearing status – children of God embrace sexuality as a sacred act, not a nightclub performance.
It isn’t the men or the woman that the bible is inviting us to study – it is ourselves.
i think this verse ties in perfectly with a couple others you have used in the past. ” with less of me there is more of God” and “when i am weak then i am strong”. meaning that when i get out of the way God can work in and through me. when i try to hold on to where i am (life) , i’m in the way of God’s working. sometimes we get in the way when we refuse to admit that we need help. when we insist on being self-sufficient. when we do that we cheat others from being able to serve in the capacity that God has for them. that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do what we can but it does mean being willing to accept the help God has to offer. and when we face our trials with a positive attitude, God can still use us to bless others even as we struggle. may God bring rich blessings to us all, in his own time and way
though i don’t really like to make resolutions, this year i have claimed for myself as being – “the beginning of the end of self-loathing”. in the past, for most of my life shame has done its number on me. now why exactly is this a worthy resolution…well, for me i was investing so much angst in it that i was not able to effectively, productively, and resolutely see myself in the illumniating light of God’s transformative glow. it’s like that Seinfeld episode where jerry dated the pretty/not so pretty girl depending if she was standing in good or bad lighting – remember?? I need God’s lighting, vision, and mercy – so that i don’t run away in shame and live a self-imposed life of loathing…i don’t have to deflect by examining other folks short-comings…i can take one day at a time, connecting with my Father who lovingly, willingly, and mercifully always keeps His light on for me…