I tried drinking black coffee and I'm just not there yet. But I also hate drinking my coffee with sugar in it. I'm out of coffeemate french vanilla at the moment...:(
I figured I would write some ridiculous accusations that were thrown at me today. One voice was "You're so pampered..what would you do without coffee every morning? You wouldn't be anything if you didn't have all these comforts." And thats crap.
But while we're on the subject, I'd like to throw out an idea I had on how to be in the world but not of it.
I think MAYBE the trick to overcoming the love of the world is to quit trying not to. I've noticed the more worried I become with how attached I am to my possessions and the more I try to overcome it, I become more entangled in it. It's like trying to run in knee deep mud that keeps getting thicker and deeper as you go. I think we overcome this by simply gazing at Jesus and quit looking at it. I don't mean abstain from it. I mean be in it, but not of it. Just accept God's love and grace for you and quit condemning yourself or feeling on edge if you've watched more than an hour of TV. Abstaining from TV or internet or whatever it may be may appear to be godly, but it is a snare. It will trap you in condemnation and you will end up worse than before.
If I am to overcome my love for the world, I must first receive victory and quit trying to achieve victory. And receiving victory isn't a work either. Some people will tell you that you must muster up faith to receive, but thats a lie. Faith is a gift as well. In one part of Acts it is written "And many, through grace, believed."
6 comments:
If I am to overcome my love for the world, I must first receive victory and quit trying to achieve victory.
Absolutely! The pride in us don't want to receive, it wants to achieve.
Yeah I've heard all kinds of things like, "s-t-r-e-t-c-h out your faith to receive the healing, or the victory..." and other things like that. :) But a gift is a gift. We can't "try harder" to receive the gift. Amen, we need to stop trying!
I've heard it said that we become whatever we spend our time looking at. I believe that's true. If we spend our time looking at our shortcomings, they'll only grow and become stronger. If, however, we spend our time looking at the life of Christ in us that will become more real to us.
The pastor of the group I spend Sunday mornings with will often tell us to spend some time asking God to reveal to us any sin we've committed. I believe this is a mistake so I never do it. Instead, I believe I need to keep my mind on Jesus and as I do, my heart will convict me of anything I need to deal with.
I don't believe it's my job to go looking for sins. My job is to keep my mind on Jesus. As I grow in my understanding of this new life I've been given, my behavior will change and I'll experience greater freedom from sin. Why complicate it with guilt and condemnation.
Matthew, I've been enjoying what you have to share so I added your blog to my list of favorite blogs.
Aida
I like what Aida said!
In my experiences, I give my shortcommings and things I do more attention than needed and lose sight of what Father is wanting to accomplish in my life through those mistakes. I have always struggled with this and fall into guilt and saddness, thinking the whole time Father is punishing me as He allows my suffering to take place. It always suprises me how quickly it all just goes away if I just give it to God in the first place. I would call this self-loathing. Or something like it!
In Freedom, Nicole!
Hey Aida,
I believe it's true that whatever we look at, that we will be transformed into. After all, If I'm struggling to overcome a certain sin all the time, what am I focused on? That sin lol.
I agree with you whole heartedly about your pastor. I would have to say we should give those people grace. It can be a stressful job being in that position and they want the people they're looking after to do the right thing. But I really have to disagree with him as well. Seeking out sin and looking inwardly never changes anything. It only reveals more and more faults. But once I look to Jesus and keep my eyes on Him, those things seem to be distant and less desirable.
The power is in Christ!! Not in our human will or exertion.
Nicole,
You're like me then. I easily fall victim to that sort of thing over and over. When I sin or focus on my short comings, it makes absolutely no sense not to worry about them and to simply "look to Jesus". But thats exactly what we need to do!
Post a Comment