We are failures, one and all, but He has succeeded.
Un (Spring 2010)
Un-diligent am I
Unreliable
Unfaithful.
Unable to keep promises;
I just can’t follow through.
Untrustworthy am I
Unloving
Ungracious.
I tell you that I love you
but don’t act as if I do.
Unhappy am I.
Why can’t I be better?
Why can’t I be better?
Why?
Unlovely was He.
Unattractive
Un-respected.
but unending is His love
in the midst of his great pain.
Undaunted was He
as he died for the unlovely
as he died for the unfaithful
as he carried all my burdens
as he took what was my due.
Un-guilty am I
as I make him Lord and Master.
Un-anguished am I
as he takes my by the hand.
Unshackled am I
as he leads me in his victory
Lord, happy am I
when I am not me, but you!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Free!
"The death he [Christ] died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ... For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law but under grace." --Romans 6:10-11, 14
God hit me between the eyes with this truth during my freshman year of college. I had been struggling with a particular sin for several years, often almost completely crushed by guilt, but I thought that was just the way it was. In this life, there are certain things you struggle with--besetting sins, if you will--that you just can't get free of until Heaven. But then we studied Romans 6 in our bible study, and everything changed. Then I dared to believe that scripture was true and that Paul wasn't kidding when he said that we are dead to sin. If you are dead to something, it no longer has control over you. When we're really tired and say we're "dead to the world," we usually mean that our surroundings (the world) have no impact on us and no influence. Likewise, since we are dead to sin, sin no longer has any necessary influence over us because we died and rose with Jesus. Seriously, this is a life changing truth!
Nevertheless, I forgot it.
For a while now I've been in a season where I feel like I'm just not growing in my walk with the Lord. I'm not really spending much time with the Lord because I often think I only want to read the word and become a woman of prayer just so I can feel good about myself. When someone asks about my summer, I want to be able to tell them all about how God is working in my life and feel that I have done what I was supposed to do. I am being crushed under the weight of rotten motives that I feel like I cannot escape.
Did you catch that? "I feel like I cannot escape." That is the lie. Are my motives sinful? Yes. Did Jesus die so I could be free from my rotten motives? Thanks be to God, Yes! I have succumbed to my sinful nature by letting this particular sin of bad motives control my life and my walk with the Lord. The truth is that I am dead to these motives. They have no control over me unless I give it to them. In Christ, I am free to confess my wrong motives and then continue to walk with the Lord!
We can say with Paul, "Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature to live according to it" (Rom. 8:12). Rather, we are able to run in the path of His commands, for he has set our hearts free! (Psalm 119:32)
God hit me between the eyes with this truth during my freshman year of college. I had been struggling with a particular sin for several years, often almost completely crushed by guilt, but I thought that was just the way it was. In this life, there are certain things you struggle with--besetting sins, if you will--that you just can't get free of until Heaven. But then we studied Romans 6 in our bible study, and everything changed. Then I dared to believe that scripture was true and that Paul wasn't kidding when he said that we are dead to sin. If you are dead to something, it no longer has control over you. When we're really tired and say we're "dead to the world," we usually mean that our surroundings (the world) have no impact on us and no influence. Likewise, since we are dead to sin, sin no longer has any necessary influence over us because we died and rose with Jesus. Seriously, this is a life changing truth!
Nevertheless, I forgot it.
For a while now I've been in a season where I feel like I'm just not growing in my walk with the Lord. I'm not really spending much time with the Lord because I often think I only want to read the word and become a woman of prayer just so I can feel good about myself. When someone asks about my summer, I want to be able to tell them all about how God is working in my life and feel that I have done what I was supposed to do. I am being crushed under the weight of rotten motives that I feel like I cannot escape.
Did you catch that? "I feel like I cannot escape." That is the lie. Are my motives sinful? Yes. Did Jesus die so I could be free from my rotten motives? Thanks be to God, Yes! I have succumbed to my sinful nature by letting this particular sin of bad motives control my life and my walk with the Lord. The truth is that I am dead to these motives. They have no control over me unless I give it to them. In Christ, I am free to confess my wrong motives and then continue to walk with the Lord!
We can say with Paul, "Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature to live according to it" (Rom. 8:12). Rather, we are able to run in the path of His commands, for he has set our hearts free! (Psalm 119:32)
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Altars
The Lord delivered Noah and his family from the flood, and when Noah got off the ark, he built an altar to the Lord.
The Lord called Abram out of his homeland, away from his father's household. He promised to make Abram a great nation, a nation that would be a blessing to all other nations. Abram left, and along his way through the wilderness, he built altars and called on the name of the Lord.
The Lord led Joshua and the nation of Israel across the Jordan into the promised land. He gave them the victory over their enemies at Jericho and Ai. Then Joshua built an altar and all of Israel renewed the covenant with the Lord.
The pattern is familiar: The call of God. A step out onto the path in faith and obedience. Stops along the way to praise the Lord, to call to Him for help, to learn and to remember what He has done for us.
As pilgrims, called out of our former way of life to follow Jesus, let us also stop often along our journey to build altars and monuments, so we and those who come after us may not forget the faithfulness of the Lord our God!
It is my hope that this blog, if it continues, will be a place to stop and build altars.
The Lord called Abram out of his homeland, away from his father's household. He promised to make Abram a great nation, a nation that would be a blessing to all other nations. Abram left, and along his way through the wilderness, he built altars and called on the name of the Lord.
The Lord led Joshua and the nation of Israel across the Jordan into the promised land. He gave them the victory over their enemies at Jericho and Ai. Then Joshua built an altar and all of Israel renewed the covenant with the Lord.
The pattern is familiar: The call of God. A step out onto the path in faith and obedience. Stops along the way to praise the Lord, to call to Him for help, to learn and to remember what He has done for us.
As pilgrims, called out of our former way of life to follow Jesus, let us also stop often along our journey to build altars and monuments, so we and those who come after us may not forget the faithfulness of the Lord our God!
It is my hope that this blog, if it continues, will be a place to stop and build altars.
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