There is a growing theme I am hearing around All Nations and it is the desire to better learn how to apply to Gospel to life. With both community groups I lead the people who attend are desiring to know day in and day out what it is that God would have them do. This is a challenging thing for every Christian and to come up with one simple answer is impossible.
A good friend of mine used to say that the Bible is very clear on issues, black and white, yet when we begin to try to apply them to life we see gray. I have found this true of my own life, I wonder if you have? Wondering aloud, I think there may be an element of fear with Christians in the city. We have been beaten up pretty bad for awhile here, and now they fear that as they live what they believe they are going to do it wrong.
I come back to Gal. 5:1, "It is for freedom that Christ set us free...". One of the most striking things about what I believe is that I am not expected to be perfect. Without faith that is the only hope I have is to be perfect. Once my faith has been placed in Jesus Christ it is expected that I will screw up. I will fail in my life, I will not be a perfect father, or husband, or pastor. God forgives us, and wants us to continue to look to Him in faith.
There were times in Jesus' earthly ministry that He would heal a person and then tell them, "Go and sin no more." What a crazy statement! The person Jesus said this to had as much of a chance at doing this as a spider web would have at holding a boulder from rolling down a hill. Jesus knew they would go and fail. Yet when they failed they would remember the one who healed them. What a beautiful picture.
God has healed us from our sin, brought us into His family and then tells us, "Now, Be Holy as I am Holy." And day in and day out we fail, and all we are left with is remembering the one who healed us. The more we remember what he has done for us, the less we are controlled by our failures. The more we remember what he has none for us, the more willing we are to go out and risk. The more we remember what he has none for us, the more we begin to resemble Him in our actions.
Just yesterday I was working out in the lawn again. Now Aidyn is obsessed with worms. All day Sunday she talked about how on Monday we would play with the worms. Her eyes have been opened and she is able now to experience a life with worms. She looks out her window sees the garden, and says, "Dad, I see worms sleeping."
So yesterday when we were out in the dirt, I dug up a worm for her. She took it between her fingers and ran around the yard with it. She was so excited, she gave the worm the tour of the entire yard. She was running, jumping, and skipping the entire time with the worm between her fingers. And as you could imagine, this large worm dangling from her hand, eventually snapped in two. Aidyn was shocked. She immediately bent down to the ground and apologized to the worm for ripping him in half. She said, "Wormy, I am sorry I broke you."
I did tell her that when you break a worm they do not die, but she did not really seem to care. But after that event she went around just as excited with the next worm. Jumping, running, skipping giving the worm the tour of the back yard, yet this time she was more careful with how she held him. Her mistake did not discourage her.
We should not be discouraged by our failures or our sin in this life. God uses those things for His glory. This is very easy to say, being a young pastor I have only begun to live this. But this is our calling as believers, that we would live in the freedom of the Gospel. That we would struggle to make sense of living the Gospel in our world, but not out of fear. We would not be discouraged when we do it wrong and make mistakes but we would see those times as opportunities for those of us who know God to trust in His promises.
A good friend of mine used to say that the Bible is very clear on issues, black and white, yet when we begin to try to apply them to life we see gray. I have found this true of my own life, I wonder if you have? Wondering aloud, I think there may be an element of fear with Christians in the city. We have been beaten up pretty bad for awhile here, and now they fear that as they live what they believe they are going to do it wrong.
I come back to Gal. 5:1, "It is for freedom that Christ set us free...". One of the most striking things about what I believe is that I am not expected to be perfect. Without faith that is the only hope I have is to be perfect. Once my faith has been placed in Jesus Christ it is expected that I will screw up. I will fail in my life, I will not be a perfect father, or husband, or pastor. God forgives us, and wants us to continue to look to Him in faith.
There were times in Jesus' earthly ministry that He would heal a person and then tell them, "Go and sin no more." What a crazy statement! The person Jesus said this to had as much of a chance at doing this as a spider web would have at holding a boulder from rolling down a hill. Jesus knew they would go and fail. Yet when they failed they would remember the one who healed them. What a beautiful picture.
God has healed us from our sin, brought us into His family and then tells us, "Now, Be Holy as I am Holy." And day in and day out we fail, and all we are left with is remembering the one who healed us. The more we remember what he has done for us, the less we are controlled by our failures. The more we remember what he has none for us, the more willing we are to go out and risk. The more we remember what he has none for us, the more we begin to resemble Him in our actions.
Just yesterday I was working out in the lawn again. Now Aidyn is obsessed with worms. All day Sunday she talked about how on Monday we would play with the worms. Her eyes have been opened and she is able now to experience a life with worms. She looks out her window sees the garden, and says, "Dad, I see worms sleeping."
So yesterday when we were out in the dirt, I dug up a worm for her. She took it between her fingers and ran around the yard with it. She was so excited, she gave the worm the tour of the entire yard. She was running, jumping, and skipping the entire time with the worm between her fingers. And as you could imagine, this large worm dangling from her hand, eventually snapped in two. Aidyn was shocked. She immediately bent down to the ground and apologized to the worm for ripping him in half. She said, "Wormy, I am sorry I broke you."
I did tell her that when you break a worm they do not die, but she did not really seem to care. But after that event she went around just as excited with the next worm. Jumping, running, skipping giving the worm the tour of the back yard, yet this time she was more careful with how she held him. Her mistake did not discourage her.
We should not be discouraged by our failures or our sin in this life. God uses those things for His glory. This is very easy to say, being a young pastor I have only begun to live this. But this is our calling as believers, that we would live in the freedom of the Gospel. That we would struggle to make sense of living the Gospel in our world, but not out of fear. We would not be discouraged when we do it wrong and make mistakes but we would see those times as opportunities for those of us who know God to trust in His promises.
posted by michaelstevensrev at 10:48 AM
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