Believe.

I originally shared this post in early December 2011,

and repost today for your edification as Advent 2018 begins.

'Tis the season!  Stockings are hung, halls are decked, carols are playing (everywhere you go!)  It is a season of wonder, of joy, of hope, of delight.  And according to Macy's we should Believe.

Believe what?

Yes, surely it has something to do with the fun of Santa Claus making his yearly appearance (without being seen!) in the homes of those with little ones.  But for Christians, people often referred to as "believers," that word and this season offer so much more.

These weeks leading up to Christmas are a time of wonder, joy, hope, and delight because we believe not in one we outgrow, but rather in One who is eternal, all-knowing, ever-present, and Almighty.  The One who came on that first lonely Christmas night so many years ago.

Emmanuel.  God with us.

Jesus.  The Lord saves.

Christmas is no blip on the screens of our lives, to be momentarily enjoyed and immediately forgotten.  Christmas is, rather, a major "we interrupt this program" service announcement than changed the course of human history.  God, set in motion events that would bring real justice and real peace between man and Himself.  Christmas looks toward Easter and points to eternity.

For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16

Believe.


Our culture invites us to believe in something during this magical season, but offers no real consensus on what.  And it leaves most of us disappointed on Dec. 26 when the fun ends, the decorations are down, the gifts are opened, and the parties are over.

But God invites us to  believe in Him, the only wise God who offers a living hope, a new life, the true light that is the light of men and does not fade when the bright decorations come down.

Christmas is an invitation to believe.

Thanks for the reminder, Macy's!

Do you believe?

Will you believe?

St. John does not include the Christmas story in his gospel account; he zooms out to the bigger picture, looking from eternity past into eternity future:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. 

There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.  He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.  He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.  The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. 

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.  Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 

John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”  From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

God has made Himself known in Jesus. (Whoa!)

All the longings of creation are met in Him.

The waiting is over;

the kingdom is near;

repent and believe the good news!

We Never Outgrow Our Need for the Gospel

A friend (thanks Shelby!) passed along this short interview with Jerry Bridges, author of the books I gave away at the end of October.  He's 82 years old and still "preaching the gospel to himself every day."  I am so thankful for God's work in Bridges' life and how He has used it to change mine.  Things get pretty bad in my heart and around me when I try to do life any other way than beginning and continuing in the gospel.  Please take a few minutes to give this interview a listen.

I'll leave you with a quote from an Advent reading about Jesus becoming flesh and dwelling among us.  Christmas is all about the Good News!

'From the creche to the cross is an inseparable line.  Christmas only points forward to Good Friday and Easter.  It can have no meaning apart from that, where the Son of God displayed his glory by his death.' 

Grace is a person; Truth is a person - Jesus, come to you in the flesh. 

~Joseph "Skip" Ryan (quote from John Donne's Book of Uncommon Prayers) 

Day 24: Child Rearing ... (and a giveaway!)

This is Part 24 of a month-long series you can learn more about by starting with Day 1 here.  There are many others doing super cool series this month as well, perhaps you'd like to see the list?


Pretty much everyone will tell you that having a child changes your life.

That is true.

The statement is usually it's in reference to the loss of freedom that comes with having a living, human being for whom you're completely responsible.  Yeah, it's a big deal.  And when they're tiny, they demand every ounce of your energy (something I'm trying not to think too much about with the February due date getting closer and closer!)  As they get older, their practical day-to-day neediness decreases, but their need to be loved, nurtured, and encouraged remains.  (Think even now about yourself; don't you still want to be loved, nurtured, and encouraged?)

But that life change need not be only approached from the negative angle, Look at all that I'm losing.  For Scripture attests to children being a blessing.  From our children we can gain new insight into the depth of our own need for the cross.  Believe it or not, this is a HUGE blessing - no matter how painful - and can take us from a look at the freedom lost to a look the freedom gained; praise the Lord perspective.

*     *     *

When Elizabeth was small, I thought I was a pretty good parent, mostly because I had rules and Elizabeth needed to (and often did) obey them.  Comparing myself with other more lax parents was my measuring stick. At least I was doing it "right."

Hm.

As a result of my authoritarian parenting, I was so hard on Elizabeth.  My expectations were high, as she was generally a compliant child.  And my fear of what others thought of me as a parent was also high - leading to unnecessary harshness on many occasions to "get" her to obey or not embarrass me.  I can remember one occasion being really mad at her coming up the stairs to our apartment, or maybe it was crossing the street to get to the building, I don't remember the circumstances exactly.  But I remember how I felt,

angry, irate, furious.

She was walking way too slow and I was carrying a bunch of heavy things.  Could she not just hurry up so my arms wouldn't break?  For.   goodness.   sake?!

Um, no, she couldn't.  She was one and a half, with short chubby little legs that had only been walking for a handful of months.

Dear Lord, have mercy.  I hate that memory, and others like it.  I could have made two trips with all of the stuff in my arms and gently gotten E to where she needed to be, without the rage.  But I was so very self-absorbed.

*     *     *

Parenting a child will open up so many new doors for a parent to see new depths of his/her depravity, if one's eyes and heart are open to seeing.  Early on in the series I spoke of death having everything to do with moving into the new life to which Jesus calls us.  Admitting that I, as a parent, have a heart problem and it's not just my kids that "make me" do things, means that a little bit more of me has to die.  But as the old sinful habits, reactions, and behaviors begin to change, we're ushered into a new era of parenting - no longer a constant battle of wills, but rather a training ground for both you and your child(ren) to trust the Lord for help with our actions and reactions.  God brings freedom from the tyranny of getting it all right, with our kids' obedience indicating "how we're doing" as parents, and gives us freedom to entrust their little souls to Him, as much as we've entrusted Him with our own.

It is important for our children to be trained and disciplined, yes, but they also need to be respected as individuals with thoughts, feelings, needs, and unique personalities.*  That's where the transformation has had to happen in me.  Embracing the call of motherhood, not only to give my children rules to obey, but to disciple them, guide them, show them compassion when I know how hard it is to consider others before myself, to study their unique personalities and know when they need discipline versus when they need to be put to bed, etc., has made all the difference in our home and in my heart.  (Special thanks to God for Sally Clarkson and MomHeart ministry.)

As a parent you've been called to raise up your little (or big) ones.  When God calls, He provides all we need to pursue the calling.  But he never promises it will be easy.  Think about the call on our Savior's life, that cost Him his life! Most of us will not taste physical death as a result of rearing our children, but we may need to put big prideful chunks of ourselves to death to move forward in faith in this calling, becoming more of the parent God wants us to be.

I do hope and pray that my sin does not have deep, lasting effects on my children.  Anyone else think this at times?!  But knowing that the Jesus I point them to when they find themselves in sin is the same Jesus that I need each day puts a beautiful spin on being their parent.  When they find it hard to share, not hit, respect their father, or obey, I can point them to Jesus.  When I find myself getting all up in a tizzy or having an irritable day, I can say to them, "Wow, mommy's not doing well today.  Please forgive me for taking it out on you.  Please pray that I'll have self-control or patience, or whatever I need."  (I had to do this just today, in fact - and, praise God, it really turned our day around!)

Parents, God bless you as your love, nurture, disciple, discipline, and train your children.  It really is an endless job, but you are not alone and God has good things in store for you and your kids.  Trust Him in and with it all!

*     *     *

Next Monday our 31-Day journey comes to an end.  One more week.  Phew, this has been a delightful and intense adventure in writing!

To celebrate, I'm going to give away a couple of books next Monday, October 31!  Jerry Bridges is an author who has profoundly influenced my faith, so I'd like to pass along two of his gems.

Respectable Sins:
Confronting the Sins We Tolerate

The Discipline of Grace:
God's Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness

To enter the contest, please leave a comment here, letting me know whether you'd like your name entered for just one or both of the books.  If you have been with me throughout the whole month, I'll give you a bonus entry - be honest!  And if you post about the giveaway on your own blog or Facebook, I will enter your name yet again.  Wow, so many ways to increase your chances of winning; things are getting crazy around here!

Entries will be received until 7:00 am on Monday, October 31.  I'll announce the winners in the final post of the month!

*I wrote a 3-part series last year on What Should We Expect From Our Children.  Click to read:  Part I, Part II, Part III.  The final post has a list of some of my favorite parenting/motherhood reads, if you'd like to go more in depth on this topic.

Day 20: Shaping Circumstances

Wow, Day 20.  That is a lot of days of blogging for this gal.  If you've been with me since October 1, thank you.  I do pray that you're being encouraged and spurred on in the Gospel.  It has been a delight and challenge to me to think through many things that have been on my heart and mind over the last long while.

For many days we've been "talking sin" around here.  How much there is about our hearts that needs to be changed and how able and faithful God is to work in our hearts as we seek Him through repentance and faith.  As we study the Scriptures, pray, listen to the word preached, etc., the Spirit works in our hearts convicting us of sin, helping us to root it out, and planting His fruit there: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Another way that God works in our lives to mold us more into His likeness, shaping our faith and character into something more beautiful to Him, is through this business of living life in a broken world.  Walking through difficult circumstances often forces us to "abandon the clamor of self-will" and "become more ourselves than ever" - we find more freedom from sin and a deeper, richer faith in our God, that propel us into greater service to God and the church using the gifts we've been given.

That's what I want to talk about over the next few days.  To do so, I will have to talk about what I know.  My experience will not be the same as yours, but there may be some overlap.  There are many incredibly challenging or painful circumstances in which you find yourself that I have not and may never endure.  But I do want to and need to testify about how God has worked in some areas of my life to cause me to pursue Him with greater faith than I had before.  Specifically, I plan/hope to talk marriage, child bearing, child rearing, and times of transition (in no particular order.)

None of these are fully fleshed out just yet, but I trust God will take us where He wants us to go!

To close today, let me just say that the Good Lord knows exactly where you are right now - what's making you tick and what's got you at your breaking point.  I'm so thankful that when I write, I don't need to worry about making something happen in my readers' lives - that's God's work! - but I do want to help you remember and practice fixing your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of your faith, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning it's shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Hebrews 12:2

Till tomorrow, 

the LORD bless and keep you; 
the LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; 
the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26

Day 19: The Great Sin

This is it, readers, the final post in string of sin posts.  The list of sins has not been exhausted, but a month is only 31 days and we need to move on.  I've saved the best (or worst) for last:

PRIDE

Pride is a beast, the sin that lies beneath the surface of all the others.  C. S. Lewis calls it The Great Sin and devotes a chapter to it in Mere Christianity.  (A book that you need to make it a priority to read if you have not.)  I don't believe I can say much better on the subject that my friend Lewis, so I've invited him to be a guest writer linked to the blog today.  Please click here to read his thoughts on The Great Sin.  Thank you, Mr. Lewis, for obediently writing for the edification of the church in your own generation and the generations that followed.

I am a highly competitive, self-absorbed individual.  Pride is a driving force in my life like none other.  From fighting over the privileged front seat of the car with my siblings in childhood, to wanting to be perceived as a great parent as an adult, my need for admiration, getting the best thing, or being the very best has driven me to countless sins against God and my fellow man throughout my life.

It is a beast, my friends.  I can think of no other way to describe it.  Are you familiar with this beast in your heart?  We must know the beast to properly identify and confront it.

*     *     *

On the other end of the spectrum from pride, we find

HUMILITY

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 2:4-5)

His name is Jesus.

Jesus did not seek equality with God.  Though he was the only man who ever lived who could have!  He humbled Himself, even to death on a cross.  He took on the form of a servant, while knowing he was the King of kings.  (Philippians 2:6-11)  This Jesus, with power over life and death, laid down his life for us.  He calls the proud to believe, be forgiven, and be transformed into His likeness.

Pride is the first and worst sin, so grace is most amazing when it embraces the fruits of pride rather than the the fruits of gluttony or lust, when it reaches the Pharisee souldrather than the profligate Mary Magdalene, when it wins the proud person made prouder still by calling rather than the sinner feeling unworthy to be addressed. 

Only grace can dissolve the hard, solitary, vaunting "I" of the sin of pride in each of us. But the good news is that it does.  Os Guiness' The Call, p123 (emphasis mine)

Let me leave you with this final encouragement,

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he   will   lift   you   up.  James 4:7-10

*     *     *

Looking ahead:  Tomorrow we'll be shifting gears, looking into how God uses our circumstance to shape our faith and our character.  Often in the most uncomfortable places, God does His best and most glorious work in us.

Day 18: Unwholesome Talk

I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.  Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  ~Jesus, (John 8:34-36)

Thank you, Jesus, for telling us the truth - the truth that we're worse off than we ever imagined, but that your grace is greater than we ever imagined!

For we were dead in our transgressions, BUT GOD who is rich in mercy, has made us alive with Christ.   Ephesians 2:4-5, paraphrase 

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. BUT NOW he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.  Colossians 1:21-22 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  ALL THIS IS FROM GOD, who reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. 2 Corinthians 5:17-19a

For the last while, we've been talking sin and talking it in the context of the Good News ... the only context in which we can really look at our sin, admit it, and be freed from it.  Like clay in the potter's hand, the Lord molds us in the here and now for eternity with Him, shaping us into what He intended for us in the first place by smoothing out the rough places, transforming our hearts from stone to flesh.  In His hands, we are no longer shackled in slavery to sin, we serve a new and living Master who has plans for us!  More on the plans toward the end of this series, though.  For today, let's talk a little about our tongues.

*     *     *

I talk a lot.  Sometimes in a conversation, even I am thinking, why am I still talking? You know it's bad when the person talking thinks it's gone on long enough ... imagine the poor soul listening.  The life of a verbal processor can be an embarrassing road.  I often long to be like my husband who can sit in a room alone and think and actually make sense of his thoughts.  And he married me.  God bless him!

But, though we should be growing in both self-control and love for others as we walk with Jesus, talking a lot is not the theme for today.  Our concern is the content  of our speech.  WHAT are we talking about?

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.  Ephesians 4:29

Unwholesome talk can take on many forms: gossip, dirty jokes, impatient command-barking at our children, criticizing another, lying, grumbling, complaining, angry outbursts, etc.  We're all guilty.  You know how I know?  Because the Bible, the Word, tells me so:

You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. Matthew 12:34 

But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.'  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.  Matthew 15:18-19

In addition to these statements of Jesus', the gospels speak often of Him knowing what's going on in the hearts of those coming to Him, whether with impure motives or in faith.  He knows our hearts are full of darkness and the nasty, rotten fruit is revealed through our speech.  As I mentioned with anger and lust, there's no real thought that goes into having angry or lustful thoughts; they're just suddenly there - uninvited, but there none the less!  Out of the overflow of the heart....

*     *     *

Yet again, we find ourselves at the foot of the cross, asking Jesus to change our hearts.  He is willing!  The Spirit lives within to help us.  "Good fruit resources" abound to fill up the space left behind when we, by God's grace, have plucked out a piece of rotten fruit from our hearts.

Check out this post from the annals of Life in the Valley and consider what you're "storing up" to God's glory, that streams of living water might flow from you!  And, hey, why not give the devil a little kick in the shins TODAY by making a point to intentionally say some "building up" things to folks you encounter: the grocery clerk, your spouse, a co-worker, a friend, your child, your roommate, or a complete stranger.

This is Part 18 of a month-long series you can learn more about by starting with Day 1 here.  There are many others doing super cool series this month as well, perhaps you'd like to see the list?

Day 12: Anger Much?

Good morning!  Grab a cup of coffee, this post is a little long!

This is Part 12 of a month-long series you can learn more about by starting with Day 1 here.  There are many others doing super cool series this month as well, perhaps you'd like to see the list?

Over the last week, we've been delving into the sins in our hearts in the context of the Gospel - that God forgives our sins when we trust that Jesus' took our punishment (death) for them in our place - to the end of "becoming more ourselves than ever."  But even knowing that God loves us, His children, we still kinda squirm when we admit to ourselves just how much we continue needing Jesus' work on the cross.  We really squirm when we have to admit it to others.  Don't we want to "keep up appearances"?  I sure do.

Sadly, the keeping up of appearances harms us and those around us ... not to mention the offense against God.  However, when we talk about our sin and God's work in our hearts, we're protected from our pride, God receives the glory He deserves, and others are pointed in His direction.  I love David's words after He's cried out to God for mercy and for a clean heart in Psalm 51:13.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.

Could God use me or you to teach another?  Will we let Him by opening our lips to share all that from which He has saved us?

Think about those questions as we move on with today's topic:

ANGER!*

Anger is a biggie in my life.  Rather than being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry (James 1:19), I'm prone to the opposite, making the next verse a real zinger:

for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

Jesus, in fact, likened getting angry with our brother to murder.  Ooooh ouch, Jesus.  Really?  Is it that bad?

*     *     *

I don't believe people throughout my life would describe me as an "angry person" - though you could weigh in in the comments if you disagree!  Grumpily lumbering about and always snapping at people has never been my style (I'm far too much of a people-pleaser for that.  ha!)  Yet, all joking aside, how quickly comes the fit of rage (Galatians 5:20) when suddenly life is not going my way?!

• someone cuts me off or tails me or goes too slowly when I'm on the road
• a child doesn't listen or obey quick enough for my liking
• my husband fails to meet my expectations
• the kids are up too early for my taste
• I am made to look foolish or misrepresented in some situation
• someone takes what was rightfully or "rightfully" mine

Speaking for myself, I've used all of the above as excuses to cling to my anger and feel justified in treating others poorly (sin begetting more sin!)  Now, a Heather-style fit of rage may not express itself in punching out another driver, physically abusing my children, or leaving my husband.  When we hear of people doing things like that, we breathe a sigh of relief that we're not that bad, don't we?  Phew, at least I have enough decency not to ... when I'm angry.

But allow me to, ever so kindly, remind you that Jesus said:

You have heard it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.  But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.  Again anyone who says to his brother, "Raca," is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.  Matthew 5:21-22

Can we agree that when we talk anger, we're not talking small potatoes?

You'll notice the bold words in the list I created above.  Most of the time our anger is all about I, me, and mine, isn't it?  I believe we talked about that root problem early in the series: we want to be our own god, we want the world to revolve around us.

I find that often I don't even make a decision to get angry, it just happens in the blink of an eye.  And before I know it, the little spark is a huge fire of rage within my heart.  I may not be an angry person, but I am a person in which anger lurks - just. under. the. surface. - waiting for the opportunity to unleash itself in all of it's hideous glory.

*     *     *

How can we extinguish these angry heart-fires?

ADMIT THE SIN:  As with all sin, we've gotta start by admitting there's a problem - our natural reaction does not honor God or our neighbor.  Oh, how we need Jesus to help us admit it!  We want to give Him our excuses about why our anger is justified in this situation; He's inviting us to repent, believe, and be changed.

MAKE A DECISION NOT TO LET THE ANGER GROW (self-control):  This is a "fruit of the Spirit" thing. The more we're talking with the Holy Spirit about our desire to change and our need for His intervention in those moments of testing, the more growth we will see - the more we will become who we were intended to be and can rejoice at the way God is at work in our lives.

An example: My kids have always been early risers.  Friends, this used to make me so mad.  I'd just be settling in to my morning quiet time, and I'd hear the little pitter-patter of feet above me.  They are coming.  Aurgh!, I would groan to myself.  Sometimes I would angrily try to get them to go back to sleep: speak harshly, ignore, or whatever I thought might guilt them into going back to bed so I could get my way.  Yep, real mature, I know.  But wow, has God been changing my heart as he's shown me the error of my anger, its extensions (rudeness, impatience, unkindness), and is helping me to choose patience, kindness, and self-control.   What a difference it makes for all of us on those mornings that I choose God's way!  (And how much easier it gets to choose His way when we've practiced doing it before.)

FORGIVE:  There are times that we're angry because of a legitimate hurt or offense, not just because life is not going our way.  In this case, too, we have the opportunity to choose.

Another example:  We were hit by another driver on Good Friday this year.  The accident was his fault, but he lied to his insurance company and they would not pay our deductible.  It just wasn't right.  Every time I drive past where the accident occurred I'm reminded of how infuriating that is to me.  We had the money to pay for it, praise God!  No one was hurt, even better!  But I had to really hash it out with God and choose to forgive that man.  Clinging to the anger accomplishes nothing but maintain rot in my heart.  Jesus said that other hard thing in the Lord's Prayer: Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.  Dear Lord, help us to forgive!

And finally,
PRAISE GOD:  Jesus' blood has covered over every little ounce of anger you've ever expressed or will express.  Amazing love, how can it be, that thou my God shouldst die for me?!

*     *     *

My apologies, this post has gotten too long, but it doesn't seem right to split it up.  If you made it this far, thank you for being a kind and loving blog-reading friend!  I pray that today God's Word would take root in your heart and that He'd allow you to see, EVEN TODAY, what He's accomplishing in YOU.

* I'll not be getting into "righteous anger" vs. unrighteous here.  I venture to guess, if you're anything like me, that most of the time the anger you deal with is primarily about you being right, justified, offended, etc. not about pursing some righteous cause.  Maybe not, but I'm functioning under that assumption.  And I'm just not familiar enough with "righteous anger" ... not sure I've ever experienced it!

Day 11: If only ...

If only my son didn't wake up so early.
     If only I'd chosen to go to a different college.
          If only my husband were done with graduate school.
               If only our kids were older.
                    If only we made a little more money.
                         If only our house were bigger.
                              If only I were a little older, or younger.
                                  If only my spouse did this thing differently.
                                      If only my house would clean itself.
                                           If only this sickness would go away.
                                                If only I could have a short vacation.
                                                    If only ...
                                                        If only ... 
                                                             If only ... .

Neighboring envy in our hearts, dwells discontentment - If only circumstances were different, my life would be what I want it to be.

We've all been in situations where we find ourselves caught up in the "if onlys."  Circumstances get tough, and usually we don't get going, as the phrase goes.  Rather, we get right down and dirty in the complaining, grumbling, and whining - perhaps not out loud, like my children would, but we're venting the discontent just as fully in our hearts and minds.  Yes, I throw tantrums, they just take a different form than that of a small child.

I'm sure most of the time, like me, you feel quite justified in your discontent.  The statements are somewhat true, some things would be easier if the circumstances were different, right?  Probably, yes.  But what about other surrounding factors?  We can neither control those, nor know what life would be like if the thing we wanted to change did suddenly change.

It is sinful to dwell in discontent, wishing life were different and moping around (either overtly or internally.)  How can we own this sin and root it out?

Declaring War on Discontentment

As with any other sin pattern in our lives, we need to put it to death.  But "taking it down" is not a matter of bucking up and proving to yourself, God, and others how awesome you are that you overcame your sin.  Nope.  Friend, you still need to daily rely on the blood of Jesus to cover your sin.  He is the source and sustenance of our salvation, every day of our lives: 

I am the vine, you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.  Apart from me, you can do nothing.  John 15:5

So a declaration of war on discontentment will begin with Him and the war will continue with Him - the great heart changer!

You may be familiar with Paul's popular-to-repeat line from Philippians 4:13,

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

But have you ever read it in context?  Prior to that verse, Paul says he's learned the secret to being content in any and every situation, that he can do all things through Christ who gives him strength.  Christ strengthens us unto contentment, even in situations that are legitimately difficult and not simply less desirable than we would like.

Allow me to suggest a few weapons at your disposal for combating discontentment:

1. Prayer - both repentance and supplication, meaning we're asking God to forgive us for our ungratefulness and for looking to something other than Him for satisfaction AND we're asking Him for wisdom in how to live and thrive (yes, even thrive!) in the circumstances that our sinful nature tells us are so utterly unacceptable.  Moving away from asking, How can I get of this?  And moving toward asking, What might God have for us in the trial/challenge/difficulty?
2. Gratitude - this. takes. practice!  You'll likely need to be praying (see #1) for God to open your eyes to see that for which you can give thanks.  But once the gratitude ball really gets rolling, it grows into a massively beautiful thing in your life, leaving less and less space for discontent.  Like I said yesterday, pull out a weed and plant a flower.  God will likely even bring you to the point of giving thanks for the difficulties (crazy, right?!)  I dare you to try being thankful today, then more thankful tomorrow, and so on!  Oh yeah, I dared you.  You can't back down now.
3. Community - you know those friends you have and those people you go to church with?  Let me tell you something about them.  They, too, struggle (to differing degrees) to be content in Christ and whatever lot God's given them at the moment.  Let some of your closest confidants know that you're struggling to be content and grateful, to remember you Savior and trust in God's goodness.   They can join you in prayer, you can encourage one another, and the kingdom will be built up just a little more in and among you!

Here's to some good battles and God-honoring triumphs as you give your discontentment the boot and replace it with thanksgiving!  You know the whole point in all of this, right?  I mentioned it at the end of an earlier post:

Solo Deo gloria / Glory to God alone

When the Holy Spirit whispers in your ear and prompts you to faith, obedience, or repentance, take heart and rejoice.  The Lord is at work in your life!  He reveals Himself and our sin to us as we walk with Him and IT. IS. GOOOOOOOD (even if, at times, painful.)

Shall we talk about anger tomorrow?

I think we just might.

See you then!

This is Part 11 of a month-long series you can learn more about by starting with Day 1 here.  There are many others doing super cool series this month as well, perhaps you'd like to see the list?

Day 10: Envy

Deep in my heart, there has always been this "need" to be the best.  I've wanted to be admired, praised, acknowledged, have all the attention, etc.; it's a battle to keep these desires under control.  As I talked about early on in the series, the problem in my heart is that I want to be in God's place;  I  want people to recognize me.  My ego needs you to focus entirely on how great I am ... or at least I need to think I'm the awesome-est.

Dear friends, it is horribly shameful to admit.  Only because Jesus has intervened in my life can I let you in on my dirty little secrets.  I'm learning that if one does not lay it all out there, he continues to be controlled by impulses and sin that ultimately lead to death.  Maybe not immediate death, but certainly misery now and death ultimately.  We were talking about this yesterday in Sunday School based on these verses of warning from James 1:13-15

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

DEATH - that is where we're headed when we let our sin continue to grow and take over our lives.  But in Christ, we get to turn that death back on itself, because HIS death brings LIFE!  As we put to death the sin within us and put on our new self, we are being renewed in knowledge in the image of our Creator. (Colossians 3: 1-10)

Envy and Rotting Bones

A heart at peace gives life to the body,

but envy rots the bones.

Proverbs 14:30

Scripture gets right to the point, doesn't it?  James shows us how quickly sin leads to death; we're shaken by King Solomon's description of envy decaying our skeleton.

Death and rotting bones.

It's not pretty.

I don't imagine any of us want to head in that direction intentionally, but how quickly our hearts take us there when we are not on our guard!

Envy has been a way of life for me.  When I was young I (in the midst of a perfectly good life with little difficulty) was jealous of my sister's cool clothes and friendships, other girls' really nice handwriting, anyone who won an award when I wasn't getting one (and sometimes even when I was!), kids who got to buy designer clothes, pretty much anything that sounded cool that I  didn't get to be a part of or have.

Looking back, I see how deeply rooted my jealousy is in my heart and just how much I needed to be rescued.

My bones were rotting.  And they do whenever I let jealousy take root and grow in my heart and mind.

In my adult life I often find envy sneaking in most in my closest relationships: a friend's child is better than mine at some activity or their kid potty trains faster; they always seem to have the right thing to say and I want people to think that I am the one who always has the right thing to say; they seem to have it all together and I which I had their life, husband, finances, etc.

I told you it's not pretty!

The Gospel and Health & Life

When we empty a space in our hearts of sin, we need to fill it up with what God would have us grow there: remove a weed and plant a flower.

Dear Jesus, as we look at the envy in our hearts that is rotting our bones and as we confess to you (and others) it's ugliness and ask your forgiveness, would you free us?  In those places, grow in our hearts a desire to love you and love our neighbor.  Remind us that you died for those sins and they no longer have permission to have mastery over us.  Give us eyes that quickly see our pride and temptation to envy another rather than love and serve them.  Help us to hate the sin within us and turn quickly to you for restoration and transformation.  We praise you that YOU have already intervened so much in our lives and entrust this yucky part of our hearts into your hands as well.   Thank you for giving hope, life, joy, and peace!  Thank you for not letting us grow stagnant, but for inviting us to share in YOUR Holiness!  Amen.

*     *     * 

Thinking about the envy in our hearts leads smoothly into discussion about discontentment.  We'll head that way tomorrow.  So glad you're on this journey with me through the dark depths of our sinful hearts, that we might abandon the clamour of self-will, become more wholly God's, and, in turn, more ourselves than ever.  Let's rejoice, even in the midst of sorrow at our sin, that the Lord saves us and changes us!  I'd love to hear how God is at work in your life in these things; feel free to leave a comment.

Day 6: Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places

If you're just tuning in, click here to read the previous posts in the series.

Often, when we first "become a Christian" there are dramatic changes that we are willing to make (and can sometimes - praise God! - make quite easily) in response to our new-found freedom from sin and love for Jesus: leaving a relationship, giving up an addiction, dropping an ugly habit, etc.  For me, my faith has been built up in stages and I don't have a day that I can say I converted.  I grew up in the church and first professed faith when I was five, but it wasn't until about eight years ago that the Truth of the gospel really started coming alive for me - freeing me to admit I'm a sinner for real, deep down to the core, and freeing me to start letting go of patterns and habits that I had, until then, held so dear.  Scales fall from our eyes, but it can take some time for things to come into focus.  God has each of us on the journey marked out for us.

But one thing is consistent for all of us, wherever we are in that journey, when we find ourselves seeking refuge in something other than God -  shopping, food, computer time, drugs, alcohol, people, a specific person, a body image, etc. - WE ARE LOOKING FOR LOVE IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES.

*     *     *

When I was a young gal, I was boy crazy.  I was not really even looking for relationship, though I was very happy to have one!  I simply want to be desired.  This led to all kinds of problems for me and my heart - and for those whose hearts I broke or at the very least bruised.  I wanted to be affirmed, told I was beautiful, desirable, smart, and so on.  It was definitely all about ME.  I wanted to be someone's whole world.

That was not my place in anyone's life.  It never could be.  And what I was looking for, no poor, unsuspecting boy could ever provide for me.  God bless 'em.

Honestly, I still want to be desired, told I'm beautiful, smart, fun to be with, etc.  Who doesn't, right?! But once we encounter Jesus, know our Creator, and lay our life in His hands, we've got somewhere to go with it when it begins to consume us - when my husband, friends, family, etc. are not filling the void I'm demanding they fill for me ... that one I mentioned above is not theirs to fill.

Because I belong to Jesus, I can turn around.  You can turn around.  Confess to God who is slow to anger and abounding in love that you're sorry.  He forgives sins, even those of people who should "know better."  I can even go so far as to confess to the person I've offended (whether they know I've been offending them or not) because the Good News frees us, securing us by the anchor of God's love as a member of His family, purchased by the precious blood of Jesus.  Just a short time meditating on that reality can make our hearts sing.

*     *     *

Friends, it is the Gospel* that frees us to look in the face any sin in our hearts, and the Holy Spirit who helps us to stare it down, weakening its power in our lives, taking us to new levels of joy and freedom in Christ - "becoming more ourselves than ever."  There are "big sins" we can think of that require a major external behavioral change: an impure relationship, an addiction to a substance, etc.  Some of these are addressed when we first come to faith, leading to rapid and dramatic changes in our lives.  But, more challenging as we walk with Christ, are the sins of the heart that tend to be more subtle and God opens our eyes to them little by little: greed, worry, discontent, impatience, anger, fear, doubt, judging others, envy, unforgiveness, pride, etc.

And you better believe that that's what we'll be getting into this month!

Because Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again we can move forward boldly, look into the tangled mess of sin in our hearts, and declare that it has no place there because we are children of the King!

*The Gospel is simply this: Man didn't deserve it, but God loved us so much that He sent His son to die in our place, taking the punishment we deserved, so that we could again be in relationship with Him and spend eternity with Him.  We're set free from bondage, a desperate situation, by a God of mercy who was pleased to glorified to rescue us.  Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me, is how John Newton put it.

Day 4: How Rebirth Addresses "The Problem" (But It's Only the Beginning!)

If this is your first day joining me for 31 Days of "Becoming More Yourself Than Ever," please scroll down to catch up on the previous posts.  In this post, to avoid too many reader-burdensome references, I've linked to verses; click on the colored words or phrases for Bible references.

In the previous post, I mentioned a couple of times that

there is something wrong with our hearts.

The Bible traces this problem all the way back to Genesis chapter 3, when man first took his eyes off of his Creator and looked to something else [that lovely, desirable fruit] for fulfillment.  Since then, all men have been born into this condition of wanting to be their own god and pursue their own desires.  The Bible calls this root problem sin, the sin condition. It's in our DNA.

THAT is what is wrong with our hearts.

Rather than letting God be God, we struggle and fight and wrestle to keep His status for ourselves.  We need an intervention.

We need an intervention to see that there's any problem at all.
We need an intervention to fix the problem, turning our eyes back to God.
We need an intervention to make any progress back toward Him.

We need to be set free!

As early as the end of Genesis chapter 3, we hear that one will come who will defeat the serpent (Satan).  Through the rest of the Old Testament, we hear the story of God continuing to interact with His creation and His people - even calling a specific people, Israel, to be His people as a prototype of what will come when the Rescue Plan begins and a sin-solution is brought once and for all.

The Rescue Plan's name is Jesus.  The Bible tells us that He is God - of the same form and substance, begotten not made - and that the only way for us to get back to relating to God personally was for God Himself to die for the sin.  The sinLESS needed to be the sin BEARER to save the sinFUL.

Jesus bore the punishment for sin on the cross on that very first Good Friday.

When He breathed his last, a curtain was torn in two between the world and the Holy of Holies where God had dwelt.  People were now FREE to come into God's presence through faith that Jesus (the sinless) took care of the sin condition by taking the punishment that was rightfully the sinner's.  Jesus is now the mediator.  No more sacrifices and bloodshed.  IT IS FINISHED!

Then, God rose Jesus from the dead!

Not only was sin taken care of, but new life was offered!

For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16

Placing one's faith in Jesus - believing that His death satisfies God's wrath against sin and we will never need to be punished for our sin, because Jesus took it upon Himself - THAT is rebirth.  THAT's the new beginning.  THAT is the solution to what is wrong with our hearts.

Theologians call this Justification by faith - when you believe, a legal declaration is made by God that YOU ARE CLEAN because of JESUS' work.

But did you know that God is in the business of calling people?  Not just to into freedom from sin, but into a whole new life?

For of course, when a baby is born, he continues to grow and change.  He's expected to - supposed to - grow into the adult version of himself.  It is the same for the Christian.  Once we grab onto Christ's and are reborn through faith, we've only just gotten started.

We'll be talking about growing over the rest of the month.

The stage is now set.

Get ready for the ride!

(And praise God that He goes with us wherever we go!!)

They Key is in the Foundation

A Mary Kay consultant once told me, "Foundation is skin care."  She meant, it should be included as part of the process of caring for your skin, as much as cleanser and lotion.

Sadly, I've never gotten into the habit of daily foundation wearing.

When I think about strong Christians who have weathered storms I can't imagine enduring and who are often so full of joy, I wonder: what's their secret?  A couple of readings last week highlighted the answer to that question.  Their secret is in their foundation.  Two passages from Scripture:

I Samuel 1-5: Eli, a priest of God, who ministered to Hannah when she cried out to God for a son and who subsequently raised her miracle, answer-to-prayer son, Samuel, had a pair of despicable sons.  As a result of their behavior and his unwillingness to reign them in, God gave Samuel a word for Eli concerning his terrible future fate.  After hearing the prophesy, Eli says, "He is the LORD; let Him do what is good in His eyes."

It's terrible news: his sons will die; he will die.  Yet Eli submits to the plan.  He knows something about God: He is the LORD.

Eli lets God be God, even when the news is not good for him.

A second passage: Psalm 112:1, 6-8

Praise the Lord. 

Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
   who finds great delight in his commands. 

Surely he will never be shaken;
   a righteous man will be remembered forever.
He will have no fear of bad news;
   his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
His heart is secure, he will have no fear;
   in the end he will look on triumph on his foes.

The man who fears the LORD is unshakable, steadfast, secure.  Whatever the news, whatever life throws his way, he need not fear, tremble, or worry.  The secret?  His foundation.

Said foundation is built on solid rock, the sold rock of God Himself.  Yes, God is God, and He may do as He pleases.  That can sound so ominous.  Curiously, one thing that pleases Him is calling people to be His own: people like Israel who he rescued not because of their righteousness (Deut 9:6) but for His purposes, and people like you and me who He redeemed at just the right time ... while we were still sinners. (Rom 5:5, 6)  We can trust Him because He has proven Himself faithful over and over.  Jesus submitted to death on a cross: death has died, life has come, all things are being made new.

How firm a foundation!

We must begin on and maintain this foundation.  Our faith depends on it, as skin is protected by liquid foundation!

I've been feeling blown about, lately, inside and out.  How sustaining to remember on Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand!  God will do what is good in His eyes, and the more we believe that and trust Him, the less we will be shaken when life's winds blow.

And they will blow.  But,

The LORD is my light and my salvation.

Whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of m life --

of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 27:1

Mondays

Last Monday I was thinking about Mondays, and their bad wrap as the worst day of the week.  Unfortunately, the day ended before I got to posting.  And it seemed strange to post about Monday on Tuesday.

This Monday, we're coming off of the celebration of the glorious, world-changing resurrection of Jesus by God the Father and looking forward to the observance of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out.  AND we're also back to work, back to school, back to the daily grind.

How should we approach this Easter Monday?  How should we approach any Monday, since each Sunday we remember the resurrection when we gather for worship?

Yesterday our pastor preached on John 21 when Jesus reinstates Peter.  He pointed out Jesus breaking in with grace in Peter's life (after HUGE failure) by forgiving, calling, and sustaining him.  That same forgiveness, calling, and sustaining is ours as well when we lean on Christ.  Christ is merciful and He is present; we can have hope!

Should Monday, then, not be one of our best days?  Each week it follows a day of worship and rest, time spent reflecting on God's faithfulness and His mighty works, singing His praises, repenting of our sins, receiving God's forgiveness, hearing the word preached, participating in sacraments.  We reenter the real world aware of His promised forgiveness, calling, and sustaining.

Monday may be hard.  It is a day of reentry after a day of rest.  Okay, yes, Monday is USUALLY hard.  Our hearts surely long for that eternal rest when we've received our inheritance in full, as expounded in Hebrews 4.  But remember that verse from my previous post: In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines His steps.  The day may hold challenges, frustrations, unexpected troubles.  Or perhaps it holds expected troubles, difficult relationships, daunting circumstances.  The day may also include sweet moments of delight.  God only knows, and His plan is right and trustworthy as He determines our steps.

Whatever may come, don't forget that the Lord we worshiped yesterday is the same Lord today, tomorrow ... and every Monday!  He is near.  Call to Him in the troubles.  Ask Him to show you what He's up to in molding you to look more like Himself - often that happens most effectively in the "Mondays" of our lives.

May the joy of Easter ring louder in our hearts and minds than any of today's distractions.

He is STILL risen!

Alleluia!