The mortification of sin

I've been reminded of what I've known since childhood when I first became a Christ-follower. It's been easy to ignore the basics of Christian life in the busyness and the greedy pursuit of acquisition encouraged by our culture.

John Owen, a Puritan writer from the 1600s wrote a book called "The Mortification of Sin." It hardly seemed interesting when I picked it up, but it shook me.

This is what I remember from reading it this week:

• We are fully redeemed and declared free from sin by Christ's accomplishments. 
• However, we must struggle to put sin to death (mortify it) every day. Otherwise sins will slowly kill our spiritual life.
• We placate ourselves with small victories while ignoring other sins. We are easily satisfied and appeased, declaring peace before we have genuinely repented and turned from all sin ... and before God has declared peace to us.
• This happens because: 

1) We do not recognize that we know little about God. We see only a glimpse of his greatness and mystery. Thus we are satisfied to remake Him in our image - finite, willing to overlook sin, and pliable, easily manipulated by human demands rather than an enduring perfection of Being and Doing.
2) We are not disgusted with the nature of sin, how it separates us from God, destroys our desire for His companionship, and refuses to yield so He can remake us to our full human potential - body, soul/will/emotions, and spirit.
3) We become so calloused by sin and sinful culture that we are no longer appalled by our filthy helplessness. We do not throw ourselves on God's mercy each day but assume we are doing okay because it seems there are no immediate consequences beyond occasional inconveniences when we get "caught" in sin.
4) We enjoy our sins so much that we refuse to believe that lusts of any and every kind (food, drink, sex, pleasures, money, etc.) must be put to death.

Owen suggests the following:

• We must resolve to put sin to death daily = with God's help, not by our selfish efforts or mere human resources. Our tools are spiritual - but they are only tools. Spiritual disciplines are only useful under the Spirit's guidance. We become more bound and discouraged when applying them through our own strength.
• God's Spirit brings us to life, day by day. Only through Jesus' accomplishments and the Spirit's power can we hope to live in freedom from sin. Eagerly, God offers us these wonders to set us free from the law of sin and death.
• God reveals enough of Himself to create our hunger for relationship and our quest for holiness (separation from anything that separates us from Him.) If we seek to please Him above everything else, willing to leave behind EVERY thing that holds us from full humanity in relationship to God, He will answer us with the wisdom and power to mortify (kill) the sin that lies in wait to destroy us.

The book greatly encouraged me. I want to please God. I long for any separation between us to be removed. How about you?

Read more:
*And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Joel 2:28 (NIV)

*Jesus said, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” John 14:26

Moravian Prayer: O God of light, on this the darkest day may our hearts find lightness of being in the gift of your Son and the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who attends to our darkness and who offers a way. Amen.

Center of my own universe

Everyone thinks they're the center of the universe, or wants to be the center. Hence, the "upside-down" world map (to those in the Northern Hemisphere). Yesterday, I saw two headlines for the same story: "Iceberg the size of Berlin forms in Antarctica," and "Major iceberg the size of New York forming in Antarctica."

Seems like each of us naturally looks out for our own interests. For instance, I find myself weaving in and out of traffic when I'm tense or trying to get somewhere quickly. But wait. What makes me more important than anyone else on the road? Sure, if someone is dawdling, pass them. But zig-zag-ing for position at the head of the line, saving a few minutes at best?

"What am I thinking?!" Foot off the gas, relax.

I was fascinated by a song on the radio about a woman getting irritated with "small inconveniences." She mentions misplacing her keys in the same stanza as speeding through at 35mph zone at 45mph and getting caught by the police. 

"Wait," I thought to myself. "Isn't one of those different. Actually breaking the law?" Since when has it become okay to consider laws as general guidelines... if they are convenient for me? I admit the song reproved me with its casual dismissal of obedience as option and punishment as inconvenience. Why? I sometimes am that woman (only I haven't been caught).

We need to be reminded to consider others better than ourselves by parents when we're young, by peers and friends later on, and perhaps by our children and employees as we age. Jesus noted that those who are faithful in little things can be trusted with much.

In my inner heart of hearts, inconsistent and ever wandering, I constantly need to realign my being with God's centering presence. I cry, 

"Oh Lord, create in me a pure heart. Renew a right spirit within me... do not cast me out of your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore the joy of your salvation to me again... and uphold me with thy free spirit. The I will teach your ways to those who step over the line, and sinners will turn from their ways to come to you." (Psalm 51: 10-13, paraphrased)

31 days of Learning #4: Free indeed

Each of us is born into a family with their own values and wealth. I'm not necessarily talking $ as the measure of wealth. Riches include shelter, kindness, love, food, security, peace, friendship, and other resources. The worst homes may have little "wealth" for its inhabitants. But nearly every group has some collateral that keeps them together, even if the price for cohesion includes suffering or challenges.


Today I read about the freedom that comes from immersing oneself in the plans our Creator has for us: 
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NIV

Our culture understands  that self-improvement makes us better. But we're headed in our own directions, trying to build up our egos, our bodies, our self-importance, with things that have no lasting significance.

• A year of gym workouts? In 2 months without maintenance, it disappears.
• Botox? Call back is 3-4 months.
• A face-lift or liposuction? Give it 5 years, if you have a good doc, and you'll look as wrinkly as ever.
• Eastern-style meditation? Lasts until the next idiot swerves into your lane and almost runs you off the road.
• Self-help courses? Temporary fixes unless underlying character are addressed.

You get the picture.


Yet God offers us glorious freedom from self-absorption. The full understanding of why we were created and what our role is on this lovely planet. A career plan that may be winding and mysterious, yet looking back over a lifetime will bring: "Ah, I was SO wonderfully and beautifully made!"

So, what does absolute freedom cost?

• Adoration. Not of self, but of God who is Beyond Understanding or Comprehension. 
• Love. Willingness to open our hearts, , to live wide open to God and others...no matter that it may hurt sometimes.
• Unconditional obedience to One who is Loving Kindness, yet knows the future and accepts the past. Obedience that means acquiescing to lifelong risks in the footsteps of an Omniscient (all-knowing) God, even when the path is not obvious to us.
• Surrender to beauty and gladness in seasons of joy or pain. (C'est moi in autumn/winter.)
• Loving acceptance of our neighbor as self, no matter how horrid that neighbor may appear. (Does anyone know your "whole story" to judge your actions perfectly?)
• Service. Looking out for the interests of others above our own.

This is what I learned today. I am tied in knots only where I do not live in the glorious freedom of the children of God. 

Oh to adore, love, obey, surrender, accept, and serve, so that the Spirit of the Living God can fall with freshness and freedom to rest on you and me...

Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me. 

Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me. 

Cleanse me, mold me, fill me, use me...

Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me. 

Amen.

Eternal peace or insecurity?

My husband is writing a paper on the idea of "once saved, always saved," an issue that seems contentious at worst, confusing at best. How nice to have a theologian in the house - his work and passion to know God inspire me to a closer walk with God, too.

I read Scripture this morning, still mulling over last night's conversation about some theologians who want to give us peace in following Jesus. They so passionately want us not to fear that we'll "lose our salvation" that they are willing to say, "If you've ever made a commitment to Christ, you're safe, no matter how badly you behave thereafter." ("Hell be damned, I'm gonna live like the devil because I'm in!") Other teachers are so worried of us sinning that they say, "If we fall away, we deceived ourselves and were actually never saved in the first place." ("Holy insecurity!")

Yet I read in God's Word:
         Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father-to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him.  So shall it be! Amen.

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." Revelation 1:4-8 NIV

Here's what I understand:

• God, holy and magnificent above what we can grasp, is utterly terrifying to humanity.
• Our Maker restored the possibility of a relationship between us, based not on our merits or works, but on his amazing provision through a Sacrifice that satisfies his justice and demonstrates his love.
• Woohoo! We are free; we live in harmony and beauty; we are pardoned from anything we have done or will do. (Yeah, my heart is dancing with joy!)
• When he comes back, we will understand the past, present, and future grace and peace he extends to us. THAT will be a celebration unlike any other for those who love him. (In contrast, the realization will be an unthinkable horror for those who rejected him.)
• It's an honor to live as God's kings and priests among our fellows, inviting them by words and by peaceful, moral, exuberant lives, into relationship with our God.
• God will examine how we lived and reward us in absolute justice, according to our choice to live in him or spurn his friendship.

Am I insecure? Can I lose intimacy with God like a letter I drop on the way to the post office? Nope, I'm safe in the hands of a mighty Lord who keeps me. However, he expects me to press in, to align with his character, and to serve him and others as his emissary. He also lovingly allows me to walk away and reject him, even when that means I deliberately choose to end our relationship.

We choose Life! To THE ONE, who was, is, and is to come, be glory, honor, power, dominion, authority, praise... over all, and in you and me... as we worship with right living and joyful retelling of his goodness. AMEN.