Funny how it took me awhile to settle on a topic for this week. My goal was to crank something out before Thanksgiving so I could relax and enjoy the holiday, and my mind was drawing a blank. It occurred to me that my intent for Thanksgiving was to focus on enjoying my time with my family and delicious food, and I was not leaving a whole lot of room for contemplation of all I have for which to be thankful. I decided despite it's cliche-ness, we can all use a reminder to be thankful.
On his way to Samaria, Jesus was approached by ten lepers outside of a village (most likely they were not allowed in the village due to the contagious nature of the disease). They called out to Jesus to heal them and He told them to show themselves to the priests which was the necessary step for a cured leper to take in order to be allowed back into the community. Luke 17:14 tells us, "And as they went, they were cleansed." One of the ten lepers, upon seeing that He was healed, came back praising God loudly and fell at Jesus's feet, thanking Him. "Jesus asked, 'Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?'" The leper was a Samaritan, a nation considered to be idolaters. Then Jesus tells the man that it is his faith that has made him well.
So what about these other nine? The interesting thing about the way this story plays out is that Jesus instructs the men to go show themselves to the priest before they show any signs of healing, and they start walking. It is clear that they were all exercising faith at this point and it was this faith that brought their healing for it was "as they went" that they were healed. We know they were all healed because Jesus said, "Were not all ten cleansed?" The question is why did only one come back to thank Jesus? Perhaps they worried if they came back to thank him they would not have completed their directions to show themselves to the priest and could risk a relapse of illness. Maybe they were just caught up in the moment and forgot. We could speculate that they were still uncertain that they were fully healed and they were waiting on confirmation from the priest to join in thanksgiving.
I think all of these theories could be very likely, but I wonder about another that is rooted only in my own pattern of ungratefulness. I wonder if these men in some way felt entitled to the healing they received. Maybe it's just my cultured-American attitude reading into it, but I think about all of those times I have forgotten to thank God for my blessings as a result of my feelings of entitlement. I feel entitled to my home, my children, my husband, my food, my church, my internet access, my car, my relaxation, my health. I have worked hard for them- are they not deserved? And if I were to be in a position where I risked losing one of them, would I not pray to God and flaunt my hard work and faithfulness as a reason for Him to give back what I rightly deserve?
Now those feelings of gratefulness are flooding my emotions. There are many who, by my standards of hard work and faithfulness, deserve what I have and press on without it- the family relocating to an apartment due to job loss, the woman desiring children staring at a negative test again, a wife finding herself alone after tragedy, the man who knows nothing of a hot meal, the nations that can not worship freely a God who offers them the only comfort they may ever know, the single mother riding the bus to the library so she can look for jobs, the caregiver of an elderly parent with dementia, the child dying of cancer. We are not entitled to any of it. Our hard work and faithfulness is not a guarantee for "the good things in life."
What is a guarantee is that our Savior Jesus Christ will carry us through any time of trouble in this life, on to our heavenly home. He has promised to be our source of strength and comfort when every other thing and person fails us. That is the guarantee of our faith. Everything else is a blessing, a little extra bit of grace that we are to be using to bless the hearts and lives of others. It is what we do with these blessings that shows how grateful we are for them. So when we gather around the Thanksgiving table this weekend and remind ourselves of what we have to be thankful for, let's not forget to be the reason that someone else is thankful.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Adventures in Christ
Adventurous has never been a word I would use to describe myself. I have always been more of the cautious type. In fact, a lot of my good choices in life were made in the interest of safety rather than it being a good "moral" choice. As a child, I followed rules because adults were intimidating. I never dabbled in drinking because there was no appeal to me in losing self-control, much less vomiting. Cheating in school was never considered because the risk of being caught was... well... risky. Whenever I moved to a new city, I established my route to work or school and stuck with that, shopping only at the stores along the way. I use the crosswalk at all times and get anxious when my husband leads me otherwise. I use my blinker on desolate roads. You will never catch me in the express lane with 13 items in my shopping cart. Rules are meant to be followed.
Perhaps that is why the Christian lifestyle has always had its appeal to me. As the exact middle child of seven children, I have always found myself to be a sufferer of "Middle Child Syndrome." At the top of the list of symptoms- the inability to make decisions. Rules often eliminate the need to make a decision. The decision has already been made. So when it came to a lifestyle of following Christ in the sense of moral decisions, I had very little struggle.
Jesus has always been a safe choice. He gave me purpose, answered my whys, and left no uncertainty for me about where I was heading after this life. I felt like I had all bases covered. Jesus was a first aid kit that I carried in my purse and pulled out when faced with the boo-boos of this life. And He also helped me avoid many "ow-ies" along the way. Safe. Just my style.
But lately, He's been getting really risky. This word "adventure" keeps coming up in my daily thoughts. There is this pull toward excitement. To me, up until very recently, following Christ has always been about leading my life in a moral way that serves others and points them to Him. There never appeared to be any risk involved. The problem with my definition is it was still my life and I was not giving up a whole lot. There was no sacrifice in leaving an old life behind- maybe some of you snicker at my opting for "How Great Thou Art" over Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" as described in my last blog, but that was about as sacrificial as it got. It was still my life with a future that I had always had mapped out- stay-at-home mom with lots of kids and a little bit of time to write. A nice, safe future.
I have often envied those Christians with the powerful testament of that life-changing moment where faith took over and the life of drinking and drugs became history. Recently I attended a witnessing workshop and heard from people with testimonies like this and I cried at what beautiful works of Christ they were. They were men that lead these brash lifestyles choking up as they shared what they lived for now and what they left behind. They were jars of clay with ugly beginnings that Christ was molding into beautiful images of Him.
I know when I tell you I have always been a straight-laced fuddy-duddy, Christianity seems like an easy decision. It may seem to some blindly-made, lacking intellect, done only out of what was "the right thing to do." I hope that my previous blogs have made you think otherwise. There was definitely a lot of mental struggle for me, and I did a lot of research to come to the convictions I profess. Still, the life-changing moment never happened for me. I can tell you moments of growth, but no one would look at the Katie-of-old and the Katie-of-now and proclaim, "My! How you have changed!"
But lately, I have been feeling it coming on. The risk, the excitement, the adventure. My heart keeps pounding at the thought of it. This blog was a start. Not that it was a bold change, but it was a commitment to start speaking about Him on a regular basis and offering Him up to those who don't know Him. I hesitated the first time I went to share it on Facebook. What if it offends? What if it begs questions I cannot answer? Yet, if I wrote only for the edification of those already firm in their belief, what good would it really do?
Then I read the book "How Good is Good Enough?" and I told my husband I wanted to make it available to anyone seeking. "Offer it on the blog?" I thought. Risky. Supply and demand and postage costs would be unpredictable. But God keeps telling me to do it. So here I am, joining Him for an adventure to offer to you, whoever wants it, the book "How Good is Good Enough," and trusting that He will provide for the demand. If you have ever wondered how good you have to be to get into Heaven, if all religions lead to the same place, if there is anyway to know the answer to life's biggest question; you need to ask me for this book. You can email me at bloggingtobless@hotshepherd.org and I will get you a copy.
I'm leaving behind a life of pew-warming and predictability. Following Christ is all about handing over your life so that He can mold it into its original design. I know I am safe in Christ but I am ready to live through Him. I don't know what He holds for me in tomorrow, but that is the whole idea of adventure. Want to join me?
Perhaps that is why the Christian lifestyle has always had its appeal to me. As the exact middle child of seven children, I have always found myself to be a sufferer of "Middle Child Syndrome." At the top of the list of symptoms- the inability to make decisions. Rules often eliminate the need to make a decision. The decision has already been made. So when it came to a lifestyle of following Christ in the sense of moral decisions, I had very little struggle.
Jesus has always been a safe choice. He gave me purpose, answered my whys, and left no uncertainty for me about where I was heading after this life. I felt like I had all bases covered. Jesus was a first aid kit that I carried in my purse and pulled out when faced with the boo-boos of this life. And He also helped me avoid many "ow-ies" along the way. Safe. Just my style.
But lately, He's been getting really risky. This word "adventure" keeps coming up in my daily thoughts. There is this pull toward excitement. To me, up until very recently, following Christ has always been about leading my life in a moral way that serves others and points them to Him. There never appeared to be any risk involved. The problem with my definition is it was still my life and I was not giving up a whole lot. There was no sacrifice in leaving an old life behind- maybe some of you snicker at my opting for "How Great Thou Art" over Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" as described in my last blog, but that was about as sacrificial as it got. It was still my life with a future that I had always had mapped out- stay-at-home mom with lots of kids and a little bit of time to write. A nice, safe future.
I have often envied those Christians with the powerful testament of that life-changing moment where faith took over and the life of drinking and drugs became history. Recently I attended a witnessing workshop and heard from people with testimonies like this and I cried at what beautiful works of Christ they were. They were men that lead these brash lifestyles choking up as they shared what they lived for now and what they left behind. They were jars of clay with ugly beginnings that Christ was molding into beautiful images of Him.
I know when I tell you I have always been a straight-laced fuddy-duddy, Christianity seems like an easy decision. It may seem to some blindly-made, lacking intellect, done only out of what was "the right thing to do." I hope that my previous blogs have made you think otherwise. There was definitely a lot of mental struggle for me, and I did a lot of research to come to the convictions I profess. Still, the life-changing moment never happened for me. I can tell you moments of growth, but no one would look at the Katie-of-old and the Katie-of-now and proclaim, "My! How you have changed!"
But lately, I have been feeling it coming on. The risk, the excitement, the adventure. My heart keeps pounding at the thought of it. This blog was a start. Not that it was a bold change, but it was a commitment to start speaking about Him on a regular basis and offering Him up to those who don't know Him. I hesitated the first time I went to share it on Facebook. What if it offends? What if it begs questions I cannot answer? Yet, if I wrote only for the edification of those already firm in their belief, what good would it really do?
Then I read the book "How Good is Good Enough?" and I told my husband I wanted to make it available to anyone seeking. "Offer it on the blog?" I thought. Risky. Supply and demand and postage costs would be unpredictable. But God keeps telling me to do it. So here I am, joining Him for an adventure to offer to you, whoever wants it, the book "How Good is Good Enough," and trusting that He will provide for the demand. If you have ever wondered how good you have to be to get into Heaven, if all religions lead to the same place, if there is anyway to know the answer to life's biggest question; you need to ask me for this book. You can email me at bloggingtobless@hotshepherd.org and I will get you a copy.
I'm leaving behind a life of pew-warming and predictability. Following Christ is all about handing over your life so that He can mold it into its original design. I know I am safe in Christ but I am ready to live through Him. I don't know what He holds for me in tomorrow, but that is the whole idea of adventure. Want to join me?
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Being Made New
It used to take me an hour to get ready for school every morning. I used to curl my hair and meticulously apply makeup. On my drive to school I would elevate my mood by blaring Led Zeppelin. My highs and lows of the day were measured by whether or not a crush spoke to me. To close out a stressful day, I would go shopping with my best friend, spending most of my paycheck on something I hoped would make me feel more attractive, wanted, needed by whomever would take notice. These were the things that defined me. It was what I loved.
I am lucky if I get to take a shower two days in a row now. My morning routine consists of finding something that is clean and fits, brushing my hair if I remember and brushing my teeth. I can't wear makeup anymore due to sensitive skin, but even so, I don't think I would take the time to apply it. Though I can still appreciate the musical talents of Led Zeppelin, I don't gather the same enjoyment from their music. Going on a shopping trip now means heading to the grocery store, which I actually love doing, but my fulfillment comes from whittling my receipt down to pennies versus the high I would get from spending $60 on a pair of jeans. My day consists of making my husband and children feel attractive, wanted, needed, loved.
On my thirtieth birthday my husband asked me if there was anything that I wanted just for me, not for the purposes of serving someone else. He knows that I tend toward gifts of need for the household. I never answered him. I could not come up with something that I really wanted that did not involve providing for someone else. It scared me. It sounds silly to me now, but I sat there wondering if I had lost myself somewhere in the midst of motherhood. What defines me now are the people around me. And there was a little bit of resentment there. I think all mothers go through this struggle at some point. It's what empty nest syndrome is all about. Our identity becomes imbedded in our children and our old desires to serve ourself transition to serving our children, so much so that it is hard to find enjoyments that we can call our very own.
I am not trying to say that I don't have indulgences just for myself anymore. I can neither confirm nor deny a stash of dark chocolate that no one else knows about. The truth is I have more of a difficulty serving myself now than serving others. As a thought would come to mind of something I could splurge on just for me, it would be defeated by a more sensible option. I struggled with whether this was a bad thing or a good thing. Certainly the resentment I was feeling about it was bad, but overall I knew I did not want a token of that past lifestyle where I lived for myself. My joy is in serving my family, in hearing my husband delight in a dinner I made, in watching Colette grow in discipline, in seeing Mary explore new things, in the child that grows inside of me, in taking my time, talents and treasures and blessing others. These are the things that define me. It is what I love.
Shortly after one of my friends became a Christian, she cried to me and said, "I don't know who I am anymore." At the time I was so puzzled by the statement. She had always been very chameleon in nature, taking on the likes and interests of whomever she was dating at the time, but as a Christian she had started making decisions apart from pleasing others. I was seeing so much growth in her character that I could not understand what she thought she was missing. To me, she was unveiling the person that was always hiding inside. Now I understand that for so long her sins had identified who she was, that as she stepped away from them, she felt like she was leaving her self behind too. I could not understand why she was mourning this because I saw it as the necessary growth of a Christian. We are called to become a new creation in Christ.
There is trepidation in taking on this new life in Christ for a lot of Christians. Too often we allowed our sin to define us- I was a self-centered, image-oriented, impatient teenager that delighted in worldly things, whether I would have admitted it at the time or not. It is how we know ourself to be and who others have come to know. It is why so many of us struggle with leaving them behind. It took me a long time to admit that I did not receive the same satisfaction from listening to Led Zeppelin that I once did. It was hard for me to say that praise music had taken that love's place. I am sure it is laughable for some of you to read this, but I felt very elite in my taste of music and even held those who lacked the same appreciation in disdain. Now I enjoy music that embraces it's original intent to bring glory to God. I am moved by songs that sing His praises. While Led Zeppelin remains arguably one of the most talented bands of all time, they certainly did not seek to bring glory to God. And I certainly wasn't seeking to bring glory to Him during the time that they spoke to me most.
God wants to make you a new creation. He wants to place desires in your heart that will lead you down paths you never imagined going. He wants to replace those beaten paths of sin with trails that lead to treasures in Him. He wants to expose those temporary joys for their superficial nature and guide you to the eternal peace and joy that you will only find in His gift of Jesus Christ.
Let Him.
In Romans 12, verse 2 Paul pleads, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will." It is easy to conform to the patterns of this world in cranking up a song that praises promiscuity and vanity, delighting in a tv show that is profane in nature, buying into consumerism, fulfilling gluttoness desires. As we renew our minds by allowing the desires of God to replace those of our sinful nature, His will, which is good and pleasing and perfect, becomes evident to us. This is the new creature He makes of us. What we find joy in, take peace in, seek comfort in defines us. How much is your sin defining you?
I am lucky if I get to take a shower two days in a row now. My morning routine consists of finding something that is clean and fits, brushing my hair if I remember and brushing my teeth. I can't wear makeup anymore due to sensitive skin, but even so, I don't think I would take the time to apply it. Though I can still appreciate the musical talents of Led Zeppelin, I don't gather the same enjoyment from their music. Going on a shopping trip now means heading to the grocery store, which I actually love doing, but my fulfillment comes from whittling my receipt down to pennies versus the high I would get from spending $60 on a pair of jeans. My day consists of making my husband and children feel attractive, wanted, needed, loved.
On my thirtieth birthday my husband asked me if there was anything that I wanted just for me, not for the purposes of serving someone else. He knows that I tend toward gifts of need for the household. I never answered him. I could not come up with something that I really wanted that did not involve providing for someone else. It scared me. It sounds silly to me now, but I sat there wondering if I had lost myself somewhere in the midst of motherhood. What defines me now are the people around me. And there was a little bit of resentment there. I think all mothers go through this struggle at some point. It's what empty nest syndrome is all about. Our identity becomes imbedded in our children and our old desires to serve ourself transition to serving our children, so much so that it is hard to find enjoyments that we can call our very own.
I am not trying to say that I don't have indulgences just for myself anymore. I can neither confirm nor deny a stash of dark chocolate that no one else knows about. The truth is I have more of a difficulty serving myself now than serving others. As a thought would come to mind of something I could splurge on just for me, it would be defeated by a more sensible option. I struggled with whether this was a bad thing or a good thing. Certainly the resentment I was feeling about it was bad, but overall I knew I did not want a token of that past lifestyle where I lived for myself. My joy is in serving my family, in hearing my husband delight in a dinner I made, in watching Colette grow in discipline, in seeing Mary explore new things, in the child that grows inside of me, in taking my time, talents and treasures and blessing others. These are the things that define me. It is what I love.
Shortly after one of my friends became a Christian, she cried to me and said, "I don't know who I am anymore." At the time I was so puzzled by the statement. She had always been very chameleon in nature, taking on the likes and interests of whomever she was dating at the time, but as a Christian she had started making decisions apart from pleasing others. I was seeing so much growth in her character that I could not understand what she thought she was missing. To me, she was unveiling the person that was always hiding inside. Now I understand that for so long her sins had identified who she was, that as she stepped away from them, she felt like she was leaving her self behind too. I could not understand why she was mourning this because I saw it as the necessary growth of a Christian. We are called to become a new creation in Christ.
There is trepidation in taking on this new life in Christ for a lot of Christians. Too often we allowed our sin to define us- I was a self-centered, image-oriented, impatient teenager that delighted in worldly things, whether I would have admitted it at the time or not. It is how we know ourself to be and who others have come to know. It is why so many of us struggle with leaving them behind. It took me a long time to admit that I did not receive the same satisfaction from listening to Led Zeppelin that I once did. It was hard for me to say that praise music had taken that love's place. I am sure it is laughable for some of you to read this, but I felt very elite in my taste of music and even held those who lacked the same appreciation in disdain. Now I enjoy music that embraces it's original intent to bring glory to God. I am moved by songs that sing His praises. While Led Zeppelin remains arguably one of the most talented bands of all time, they certainly did not seek to bring glory to God. And I certainly wasn't seeking to bring glory to Him during the time that they spoke to me most.
God wants to make you a new creation. He wants to place desires in your heart that will lead you down paths you never imagined going. He wants to replace those beaten paths of sin with trails that lead to treasures in Him. He wants to expose those temporary joys for their superficial nature and guide you to the eternal peace and joy that you will only find in His gift of Jesus Christ.
Let Him.
In Romans 12, verse 2 Paul pleads, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will." It is easy to conform to the patterns of this world in cranking up a song that praises promiscuity and vanity, delighting in a tv show that is profane in nature, buying into consumerism, fulfilling gluttoness desires. As we renew our minds by allowing the desires of God to replace those of our sinful nature, His will, which is good and pleasing and perfect, becomes evident to us. This is the new creature He makes of us. What we find joy in, take peace in, seek comfort in defines us. How much is your sin defining you?
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
A Promise for You
Perhaps it is a combination of just turning thirty and being pregnant, but I have had the quivery-lipped, stingy-eyed feeling for the past 24 hours. If you are female, you probably know what I mean. It's that lump that climbs up your throat at the smallest threat to your emotions and despite telling yourself to pull it together, you cannot swallow it down. Colette kept looking at me like I have a boo-boo; large sympathetic eyes and she would quietly lay her head in my lap. Re-enter lump and quiver-lip.
Maybe you don't ever have these kinds of weepy days and I am making the assumption that this is just a feminine quality. But I am sure all of us have had those days where our emotions run amuck and failure seems to be in stride with our every step. The dirty laundry, unmade beds, couple extra pounds, overdue blog entry, Colette and Mary's confused stares- all mocking me this morning. Everything I was facing was nothing anyone couldn't trudge through with the right attitude, but I could not even conquer my own attitude this morning.
I have struggled with negativity my whole life. I admit that I have difficulties around positive attitudes because it does not allow me to indulge my raw emotions about a situation. Today I realized the actual battle that I was facing was entirely within myself. Galatians 5:17 states, "For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want." The reality is I am a child of God. The reality is I am loved by Him. The reality is He is creating a good work in me and I am pushing through like never before to submit to that, which is exactly why another force battles against me.
There are so many of us that are not willing to admit that there is someone out there working against our gains in Christ. I have trouble even now pointing my finger and confidently saying that the devil works against us. Perhaps it is because we just finished up with Halloween and we see how lightly some take his threat to the goodness in this world. He has become a gimmick to many. There was a time where I did not admit to his existence.
The frustration that we experience as Christians is that we continue to sin in a sinful world and provide the devil with fodder to parade out in front of us. He is constantly building a case against us that we are not worthy of the love God has for us. On days like this I am all too tempted to hear him out. But there are such words of hope to follow in that passage of Galatians. Verse 18- "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." Do you know what this means? It means that despite my faults and my many failures that the devil does not want me to forget, God does not measure me up to the law. Instead He looks to His Son who died for me and sees the blood that covered those sins and calls me to cling to that! Christ died while we were still sinners! God knows my failures. What is important to Him is how I overcome them.
I told you I could not conquer my attitude this morning. I did not conquer it, but God did. He was waiting the whole time for me to come to Him and I didn't do it until I started typing this blog. Remember how I told you I like to indulge my emotions? So often I know that God will not indulge the way I am feeling and so I do not go to Him. What is evident to me now is that I was not indulging my emotions, but the devil. He was trying to immobilize me, sink me further into feeling like a failure as a wife and mother and Christian so that he could convince me to stop trying. But the whole while God was holding out promises to me that I was not accepting. As a child of God we are entitled to the fruits of His Spirit. He has promised to us the ability to be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I am the one who denies myself these treasures because I have allowed the argument that I do not have a right to them.
Galatians 5:1 says, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." I let myself be burdened by the yoke of slavery by using the law as a measure of how God viewed me. I became a slave to the law trying to save myself, but Christ already saved me. I must stand firm in the love that He has for me, so that I do not let the devil gain a foothold in my emotions again. Not only does Christ love me in spite of my failures, but He has given me the ability to live by His Spirit so that I can be better than I was today. That promise is for you too! Live by the fruit of his Spirit and do not be burdened by the yolk of sin. Christ already took care of that for you.
Maybe you don't ever have these kinds of weepy days and I am making the assumption that this is just a feminine quality. But I am sure all of us have had those days where our emotions run amuck and failure seems to be in stride with our every step. The dirty laundry, unmade beds, couple extra pounds, overdue blog entry, Colette and Mary's confused stares- all mocking me this morning. Everything I was facing was nothing anyone couldn't trudge through with the right attitude, but I could not even conquer my own attitude this morning.
I have struggled with negativity my whole life. I admit that I have difficulties around positive attitudes because it does not allow me to indulge my raw emotions about a situation. Today I realized the actual battle that I was facing was entirely within myself. Galatians 5:17 states, "For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want." The reality is I am a child of God. The reality is I am loved by Him. The reality is He is creating a good work in me and I am pushing through like never before to submit to that, which is exactly why another force battles against me.
There are so many of us that are not willing to admit that there is someone out there working against our gains in Christ. I have trouble even now pointing my finger and confidently saying that the devil works against us. Perhaps it is because we just finished up with Halloween and we see how lightly some take his threat to the goodness in this world. He has become a gimmick to many. There was a time where I did not admit to his existence.
The frustration that we experience as Christians is that we continue to sin in a sinful world and provide the devil with fodder to parade out in front of us. He is constantly building a case against us that we are not worthy of the love God has for us. On days like this I am all too tempted to hear him out. But there are such words of hope to follow in that passage of Galatians. Verse 18- "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." Do you know what this means? It means that despite my faults and my many failures that the devil does not want me to forget, God does not measure me up to the law. Instead He looks to His Son who died for me and sees the blood that covered those sins and calls me to cling to that! Christ died while we were still sinners! God knows my failures. What is important to Him is how I overcome them.
I told you I could not conquer my attitude this morning. I did not conquer it, but God did. He was waiting the whole time for me to come to Him and I didn't do it until I started typing this blog. Remember how I told you I like to indulge my emotions? So often I know that God will not indulge the way I am feeling and so I do not go to Him. What is evident to me now is that I was not indulging my emotions, but the devil. He was trying to immobilize me, sink me further into feeling like a failure as a wife and mother and Christian so that he could convince me to stop trying. But the whole while God was holding out promises to me that I was not accepting. As a child of God we are entitled to the fruits of His Spirit. He has promised to us the ability to be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I am the one who denies myself these treasures because I have allowed the argument that I do not have a right to them.
Galatians 5:1 says, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." I let myself be burdened by the yoke of slavery by using the law as a measure of how God viewed me. I became a slave to the law trying to save myself, but Christ already saved me. I must stand firm in the love that He has for me, so that I do not let the devil gain a foothold in my emotions again. Not only does Christ love me in spite of my failures, but He has given me the ability to live by His Spirit so that I can be better than I was today. That promise is for you too! Live by the fruit of his Spirit and do not be burdened by the yolk of sin. Christ already took care of that for you.
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