Tag: Sin

Are You Still Wrestling?

Posted on by Dorci

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”  Ephesians 6:10-12

The closest I’ve ever come to a wrestling match is breaking up my boys when they were little.  They never wrestled angry, just for fun.  It’s a boy thing, I guess.

But the second I was saved, I faced a wrestling match of a spiritual kind.  Whether I acknowledged it or not, I was on the mat, and my opponent was out for blood.

He still is.

He knows every trick in the book and he’ll use them to his advantage.  He knows my weaknesses, he knows when I’m tired, he knows when my attention is on something else.

But I think his greatest advantage is coming at me when I’m nowhere near the ring.  When I’ve let down my guard, and he looks less like an opponent and more like a movie everybody else is seeing that somewhere deep inside I know I shouldn’t, or that shiny thing I can’t afford, or an attitude I think I’m entitled to.

Do I wrestle then?

Do I go to God in prayer and fight the temptation, or do I just give in?

Maybe I assume that if everybody else is doing it, it must be okay.  Or, I might think I don’t want to bother God, because, well, I really, really want to do it.  Or have it.

So, just like I think I’ll trick my body into ignoring the calories of a strawberry cupcake if I eat it really fast, somehow we believe God will turn a blind eye if we do this one thing really quick.  It’ll just a take a minute.  Or a couple of hours.

And before we know it, satan has us pinned.

Theoretically, we know scripture says there’s a struggle with the enemy.  The question is, are we struggling back? Are we fighting to put aside our own will and certainly the enemy’s, and seeking God’s will for us personally, or have we given up the fight? Have we assumed certain things are okay because everybody else, even other Christians, are doing it?

The enemy is ruthless in his efforts to defeat us.  He’ll fight dirty, he’ll fight hard, he’ll simply wait until we’re too tired to keep fighting back.  Until the world around us is screaming “Barrabas!” (or at least trying to blend in with the crowd) and we don’t want to be the only one screaming “Jesus!”

Don’t let the enemy defeat you by stealing your convictions and shoving you into the world’s compromise.

Calories are calories, and God’s truth is the truth.  Period.  He loves us too much to turn a blind eye.

Who knows, maybe God wants us to have that particular shiny thing. But He most definitely wants us to ask.  He wants us to stand with Him and when we do, He’ll be in the ring with us and we can’t lose.

The goal in wrestling is to gain a superior position over our opponent.  God tells us how to do that:

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Ephesians 6:13

Whatever you’re dressed in today, make darn sure you have on the full armor of God.

And be prepared to fight.

 

In the love of Christ,

The Race is On

Posted on by Dorci

And crying with a loud voice, Jesus said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Luke 23:46 

Faith doesn’t come only when things are good – when the sun is shining, the bills are paid, and everyone loves us.  Who needs faith then?

But when the storms rage, the money jar is empty and the enemy knocks at the door, that is when we need faith.  That is when the exercise of our faith in God is most beautiful and He is most glorified. 

Christ is our example.  Rather than avoid it, He walked through the suffering, through the pain, through the rejection and spitting and scoffing and unbelief – even by His own friends.  Why?  Because He had faith in His Father, the Father who sent Him to the cross.  He kept faith that He had a plan and a purpose in His suffering. 

They would never know anything but how to reject, how to accuse, how to inflict pain unless He died.  Unless He offered forgiveness for their sins and they took it.  Only when their eyes were opened and their hearts were wiped clean of sin would they have the capacity for true love.  So He gave Himself so they could be forgiven and bring love into the world.

And they would go on to trust God through their own sufferings, to commit their spirits to their heavenly Father like their Savior did, so others could hear of Him, have their eyes opened and hearts wiped clean of sin.  So they could learn how to love like Jesus did, completely and unselfishly, and fill the world with it.

The torch has been passed to us, and we are called to do the same.

Grace and peace,

 

Which Rich?

Posted on by Dorci

A wealthy society, prominent schools, medical access, fine clothing, a good church. Successful.  A community where anyone would be fortunate enough to have a home and raise a family.

Sound familiar?

Like one of countless neighborhoods in America, doesn’t it? 

Only this community, more specifically the church in this community, is mentioned in the Book of Revelation.  Jesus Christ speaks directly to her, the Church in Laodicea.  But He doesn’t send His congratulations at being a center of modern medicine, or for being a mecca for trade and wealth, or for dressing themselves in fine clothes. 

They had made the mistake of finding contentment in their earthly treasures.  And in their wallowing, they had become spiritually destitute.

They thought they had everything, but because He sees differently than we see, Christ gives them an eye-opener – a warning and a call to repentance.   He tells them they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.    

They had allowed their prosperity to rob them of their zeal for Christ, and their faith had become lukewarm.  Good for nothing.  Tasteless. And they were in danger of being vomited from His mouth.

Sound familiar?

America has anything anyone could want.  Lady Liberty lights the way to welcome countless people from around the world who come to find their American dream – a job, a home, education, medical expertise. We are the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And we’ve become spiritually impoverished. 

We are now the home of the seeker-friendly church. We’ve watered down the gospel for fear of hurting someone’s feelings.  We’ve made it exciting for fear of alienating young people.  We’ve rested on our American laurels.  We’ve molded to the world instead of allowing the truth to mold it.

And we’ve become, in large part, wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. 

But as always, Christ gives us hope.  As He counseled the Church in Laodicea, I believe He counsels the Church in America, and wherever else it applies, to “buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.” Rev. 3:18

It’s not in a white-collar career, a mini-mansion, a car with heated seats, clothes fresh off the Paris runway, or in any kind of fame that we are made whole.

It’s not in a set of religious rules, or intricate stained-glass windows, or hip, modern teaching about how nobody needs to worry about hell, maybe peppered with a cuss word here or there to prove that Christians aren’t all stuffy. 

It’s in the person of Jesus Christ. 

It’s in believing in Him and putting faith in Him and His work on the cross.

There is nothing inherently wrong with wealth or a finely-tuned Sunday morning service. 

But:

1. Those will not save one soul.  And in this sin-sick world, people need Christ.  People are hungry for the truth, hungry for answers, hungry for hope and starving for love.  And it’s a sin for a church to rob someone of that knowledge in favor of an entertaining Sunday get-together. 

2. Those are not our goal.  Our goal is to know Christ and take what He infuses into our souls to the world as salt and light.  Our goal is to give ourselves over to Him for the sanctification of our souls and renewing of our minds. 

Our goal is to get up on the cross with Christ and die. 

It’s to overcome the world, not give in to it.  To overcome the enemy, not join forces.  To overcome the sin that entangles us, not sit and wallow in it. 

And this can only be done as we hold onto Christ.  And if we do, He gives us a promise:

“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” Rev. 3:21

We have a short time here, and then the reward.  May we see ourselves through Jesus’s loving, gracious, sober eyes and remember the reason we’re here.

Grace and peace, love and joy,

 

 

Hello again!

I’m excited to announce that my testimony, along with 39 others, will be published in a book and released sometime later this year!  Some stories, like mine, will be about how, against all odds, the truth of Jesus Christ penetrated hearts and brought people to a saving faith in Him.  Other stories will be glimpses into the lives of believers and how they were able to keep holding onto faith despite trying times.  All will be stories of hope and the miracles that only Christ can do. I’ll let you know more details as they’re announced.  I’m excited to see how the Lord will use the book in the lives of many hurting people desperate for real hope in a world that’s increasingly lacking it.  Add it to your Christmas list!

The Most Powerful Place on Earth

Posted on by Dorci

I listened to this interview on John Piper’s site a few months ago and wanted to share it with you.  Rosaria Champagne Butterfield tells of her journey from living as a radical lesbian, as she puts it, to being confronted with the truth of Christ, putting her faith in Him, and leaving the gay lifestyle.  But this is not just a story of a lesbian who got saved.

I believe there is a bigger, more universal lesson.  It’s a compelling story of someone who was enslaved by sin, as we all were before Christ freed us, whose soul was moved and whose life was changed by the power of God’s living, breathing Word.

And I think we can learn something very powerful from her story.  Actually, two somethings.

(I would encourage you to listen to the 23-minute interview first if you can, then read the rest of the post.)

            1. There is power in the Word of God.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

The Bible is not just another book.  In all the places in the world, the Bible that we have tucked on our shelves, maybe laying on our laps on Sundays, and possibly read a day or two during the week, is the only place we can be assured to find the truth of God.   And there is nothing more powerful than truth.  

If God can use His Word in such a powerful way in the heart of someone who was not yet saved, what could He do in and through those who are saved and dedicated to reading and studying His Word? 

2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

I’m convinced that the Church–those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ–would be tastier salt and brighter light to the world if we would be continually filled with the precious, life-giving truth on the pages of God’s Word. 

And that brings me to the second something.

            2. People don’t need our judgment.  They need Jesus. 

‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’  How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” Romans 10:13-15

It is our feet, yours and mine, that bring the good news of Jesus Christ.  We are the called and we are the sent ones–not just to those who make us comfortable, or whose sins are not readily apparent, or more specifically, not like ours.  But to everyone.   Had a Christian man not befriended Dr. Butterfield, she might not be saved to this day, and many lives would be radically different. 

Christians can get a bad rap and sometimes that reputation is earned.  When we choose to stand in judgment, or speak words of hatred, or refuse to share the love of Jesus to someone because of their particular brand of sin, we’ve failed in our calling.

There is no unforgivable sin.  “Everyone who calls…”  That statement is very clearly all-inclusive.  It isn’t hate or judgment or rejection, but God’s loving kindness that brought us to repentance, and will bring others, too.

Grace and Peace,

 

 

Material distributed by By John Piper. ©2013 Desiring God Foundation. Website: desiringGod.org
Image credit: prezoom / 123RF Stock Photo

The Joy of the Lord Really is Your Strength

Posted on by Dorci

I recently came across a video tape (yes, an actual VHS tape) of our oldest son sitting in a highchair conflicted over the beets on his tray, and I was instantly transported back 20 years ago.

I so much wanted to crawl through that screen and do things differently.  Better.  With the bit of wisdom I’ve picked up in the years since.

As the lyric goes, I wish that I knew what I know now when I was younger..

My kids stood there watching with me and they commented that even my voice is different now.  Granted, I’m not talking to three year olds anymore, but still.  I’ve changed and I could look back and see my mistakes so clearly.  And it grieved me. 

It seems the older and closer I get to the end of my life, the more I can look back at decisions I’ve made and my heart breaks with disappointment.  If I’m not careful, I can get stuck in the mud of regret.  

The Israelites almost did that very thing.

The walls of Jerusalem had been torn down and the city lay burned to the humiliation of the Israelites for over 100 years until God called Nehemiah and His people to rebuild the city.  They worked non-stop for months rebuilding while being armed and ready for enemy attacks. 

It had been a long haul, but God had restored them. 

The Israelites gathered and stood while Ezra, the priest, read the Word of God from daybreak until noon.  As they heard the Truth, they became overwhelmed with conviction. 

God’s Word will do that. 

Standing in the holiness of God in the reading of the Word they felt the depths of their sin.  They mourned from the pit of their souls and they wept. 

But the people were told..

Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10

The past was gone and God had forgiven them.  He had restored their city and their people and now was a time for rejoicing! 

God never intends for us to carry around regret. He so desires rivers of living water to flow through us, not for us to stand in a quagmire of regret.  That’ll only slow down our journey, weaken our faith and our testimony.

The word strength in this verse means “a fortified place; a defence, a fortress, a rock.”

The enemy had continually tried to pull the people away from God’s work of rebuilding through taunts, lies and deception.  But they were unsuccessful because Nehemiah kept his focus, and the people’s, on the Lord and the work they were called to do.

Just as a wolf will attack a sheep that is injured or sick, God’s enemy (and ours) will seek out someone who is spiritually weakened.  It’s easy prey.

Living in a state of grief over past sins weakens us.  Refusing to forgive ourselves cripples our spirit.

There is a time for grieving over our sin, but that grief should take us directly to the feet of Jesus in repentance. 

And when we do, God’s forgiveness is immediate.  His grace gives us the freedom to let it go, accept the joy He gives and move on.  And that brings us His strength.  We’re free to step out of the quagmire and onto the Rock. 

We join with the Lord and He becomes our fortress, our defence against attacks from the enemy.  Our faith grows stronger and our testimony brings Him glory.

The past is gone and God’s mercies are new every morning. 

My feet may be a little muddy, but I’m stepping out, washing them in the river and standing on the Rock.

How about you?

 

 

Lord Jesus, help us to repent, forgive ourselves, and accept the joy we have in You!”

 

Image credit: gerper / 123RF Stock Photo

Jesus is the Answer

Posted on by Dorci

I sat across from the woman who’s been making my nails presentable for a couple of years now. She smoothed the jagged edges while we discussed the day’s horrific events. Another client sat next to us, giving us information as it unfolded on the internet in the palm of her hand.

His mother was dead, too.  They can’t find his girlfriend.  He was 24. No 20.

My nail miracle-worker began to tell me about a client she had seen not that long ago.  He sat across from her and told her that he saw no purpose for living. Within two days he got sick and died.  So many people living without purpose, she said.  I nodded. 

Jesus gives us purpose, I told her.

Twenty-four people are dead, no twenty-six.

And like the rest of the country, we began to ask why.

And inevitably after the whys come the finger-pointing.  We want to blame something, someone…  We want to list the whys and fix it so it’ll never happen again.

I know.  I’ve asked why about a hundred painful things in my own life.  I want to fix it so it’ll never hurt me again.

The best I’ve been able to come up with so far is sometimes there are just no answers. Not in this life anyway.  There are no whys to grasp and wrap in a neat, little, labeled package, keeping them forever locked away so they never hurt anyone again.

No answers as to why a young man would want to cause so much pain. Nothing concise as to why other young men before him took the same path.

No clear-cut answers to why any of us hurt another, whether it’s with a gun, a knife, or cutting words.

Except that we live in a world diseased with sin. Including our own.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” Romans 3:23

And the only cure is the blood of Christ.

Unless we turn to God, we have no purpose, and we act and react in our natural, sinful state. We bully, we become angry, we refuse to forgive, we reject, we neglect, we belittle, we lie, we cheat, we steal. 

Little by little, day by day, our sins affect us and the people around us. The darkness of sin seeps into our hearts and twists our minds so that good is bad and bad is good. 

And through the world the enemy of God whispers in our ear that there is an escape to the pain of our sin.  So we pick one up–a bottle, a baggie, sex—any sex outside the God-given bounds of marriage—pornography, depression, violence. 

But we will inevitably discover that our intended escape is really a dead end that only added to the pain we were trying to forget. 

Unless we turn to God, we will attempt to be our own god and lord it over others weaker or unable or unwilling to fight back: a spouse, a friend, an employee, anyone on the other side of our computer screen, the elderly, children.

Unless we turn to God and invite Him to overwhelm us with His grace and love and forgiveness, a lifetime (no matter how short) of our own sins and the sins of others heaped upon us will overwhelm us.

Add into the mix a mental illness and a society that continues to attach stigma to it which makes it even more difficult to admit and seek help, and the mind can be even less capable of handling the stresses of this world. 

And in a world that glorifies violence as the answer, some will pick up a gun. Or a knife. Or a bomb.

It’s as simple, and complicated, as that.

It’s easy to sit in self-righteous judgment of someone who’s ended a life.  But God looks at the heart. Our hearts.

Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’  But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.

You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”  Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28

All sin destroys.

Each choice to sin, without repentance, is a step away from God. Sometimes we’ve taken so many steps we lose sight of Him. The good news is that it’s always only one step back.

At any time in this process, God invites us to turn to Him and ask for forgiveness.  He is always waiting with open arms.  And when we do, He smoothes our jagged edges.  He pours out His love. He works miracles in our lives.  He gives us hope and brings us peace.

Whatever the question is, Jesus is, was and always will be the answer.

We live in difficult times and we need Jesus every minute of every day.  We need to stay close by His side through prayer and the study of His Word.  We need the Holy Spirit to continually flow through us so we can be a light to the dark world and show God’s love no matter what.

It’s time we stop conforming to the world and let Jesus live through us.  It’s time to stop playing around with our faith, put away sin and start living to the glory of God. The world needs us to show them Christ, right now. 

“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”  Philippians 2:1-11

Grace and peace to you,