Saturday, August 4, 2007
Another Quote
"Just as Christ did not have to sin in order to be made sin, we must do nothing righteous in order to be made righteous." - Rob Rufus
Friday, August 3, 2007
One Faith
I love the fact that I no longer need faith in myself, but only faith in Christ. There is only one faith (as Rob Rufus so kindly pointed out).
This sets me free to learn to gain boldness and live fearless. It's not my job, but His. He leads, I follow. Please pray that I would dance with the Holy Spirit. To be a doer and not a hearer only. I can be very passive and lazy which scares me. I want boldness, assertiveness and freedom in the Spirit.
This sets me free to learn to gain boldness and live fearless. It's not my job, but His. He leads, I follow. Please pray that I would dance with the Holy Spirit. To be a doer and not a hearer only. I can be very passive and lazy which scares me. I want boldness, assertiveness and freedom in the Spirit.
Legalistic Habits
One thing that irks me about myself I noticed is that I make myself earn credits before I can play video games, read Harry Potter or whatever.
I noticed just now that I felt I didn't have enough credits to read Harry Potter because I spent them already this morning by playing Xbox and eating a bag of baked Cheetos. So I thought to myself, "Heres what I'll do...I'll do something nice for mom like clean the kitchen or her bathroom or something, then I'll read some Harry Potter." Because if I just indulge in these things without regulations, I'll love the world too much and I'll fall away from the love of God. I can hear that voice in my head right now that if I do these things too much, one thing will lead to another and I won't love God anymore.
Don't tell me you haven't had this mentality before.
....Please? lol
I noticed just now that I felt I didn't have enough credits to read Harry Potter because I spent them already this morning by playing Xbox and eating a bag of baked Cheetos. So I thought to myself, "Heres what I'll do...I'll do something nice for mom like clean the kitchen or her bathroom or something, then I'll read some Harry Potter." Because if I just indulge in these things without regulations, I'll love the world too much and I'll fall away from the love of God. I can hear that voice in my head right now that if I do these things too much, one thing will lead to another and I won't love God anymore.
Don't tell me you haven't had this mentality before.
....Please? lol
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Walking in the Light
I was listening to Rob Rufus (again) just now and he said something that just excited me, even though it sucks.
He gave the analogy of going into a very dusty, dark attic with a flash light. And he goes on to say that when you turn the flash light on, you don't say "Oh no, look at how much dust my flash light has caused!" Why? Because the light is only revealing what is already there. Grace is that light. Law just covers things up and never really deals with it. Grace brings it out into the open.
I've noticed since coming to grace, my sin is much more obvious. I've lost my temper even worse than I would when I was living under law. But thats not to say grace caused me to sin. It's only revealing whats already in me. And only by realizing how sinful I am, can I come to Christ, rather than the law to give me change in my life.
Grace doesn't cause you to sin. It only reveals whats already there. It doesn't increase sin. I know this sounds scary, but it's true. If you see that you have started sinning more obviously under grace than under law, then don't be afraid. You're not getting worse, you're getting a revelation of your indwelling sin, which drives you to seek the Physician. Just go to Christ and ask Him for His Spirit to change you from the inside. Being under law and shoulds is simply muzzling sin, rather than dealing with it.
This is a quote from Rob,
"People say "If you take the law off me then I can just go out and commit adultery."
He gave the analogy of going into a very dusty, dark attic with a flash light. And he goes on to say that when you turn the flash light on, you don't say "Oh no, look at how much dust my flash light has caused!" Why? Because the light is only revealing what is already there. Grace is that light. Law just covers things up and never really deals with it. Grace brings it out into the open.
I've noticed since coming to grace, my sin is much more obvious. I've lost my temper even worse than I would when I was living under law. But thats not to say grace caused me to sin. It's only revealing whats already in me. And only by realizing how sinful I am, can I come to Christ, rather than the law to give me change in my life.
Grace doesn't cause you to sin. It only reveals whats already there. It doesn't increase sin. I know this sounds scary, but it's true. If you see that you have started sinning more obviously under grace than under law, then don't be afraid. You're not getting worse, you're getting a revelation of your indwelling sin, which drives you to seek the Physician. Just go to Christ and ask Him for His Spirit to change you from the inside. Being under law and shoulds is simply muzzling sin, rather than dealing with it.
This is a quote from Rob,
"People say "If you take the law off me then I can just go out and commit adultery."
They are not getting the revelation of the message of grace.
They are getting a revelation of the adultery that is in their hearts."
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Patience, Daniel-San
I am not totally sure about what I'm going to write, but for me, it seems to be true.
I think one of God's means of discipline is allowing His child to have sin in his or her life (obviously, seeing as nobody is sinless). Sometimes I wonder why God doesn't just change me overnight. I'm sure all Christians wonder why we can't change and do the same things over and over. So we come to the conclusion, "I've got to try harder!"
Again, don't take my word for it, but I think God may allow sin in my own life because it keeps me in grace and allows me to be well established in grace. This is what I mean by grace hurting. To be deeply rooted in grace, means stretching your faith and letting go of the faithlessness of self-righteousness. This is scary and it gets hard sometimes. We know how much God hates sin, and want to overcome it. But perhaps He allows you to have it so you recognize your brokenness. Perhaps He is changing the reason for your desire of increasing in holiness.
If God were to change me overnight, freeing me from timidity, anger, selfishness, and so on, then I would have a bigger problem - Pride. I would drift right back into law and come boldly to the throne of GRACE with my own soiled garments of self-righteousness.
It is one thing to say "His grace is sufficient", but taking the leap of faith to apply that can be painful. It forces you to be honest with your indwelling sin, rather than covering it up with good works, good behavior or re-dedication, which is bondage.
I love how Rob Rufus put it in one sermon. He said he once prayed for God to reveal all his faults so he could fix them. He felt God say, "Son, if I did that, you would want to kill yourself."
Why? Because it would completely overwhelm him. I don't think anyone has the capacity to have that kind of faith.
I noticed, while living under law and shoulds, that I became increasingly aware of my faults. I thought it was because God wanted me to change thus and so about my life. But as I would try and juggle these areas of my life, I would eventually lose rhythm and everything would fall apart (not that I ever had it together).
God was indeed putting more on me than I could bear. The overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and constant condemnation was God driving me to faith.
"What man, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost?"
I realized Jesus wasn't asking me to pay it, but showing me I couldn't. Now it's a daily acknowledgment of that. Every day I try to sink deeper and deeper into Christ and knowing nothing but Him crucified. You could say I take up my cross daily and deny myself. My endeavor is to count all things I thought were gain, as loss for the sake of knowing Christ.
"Whoever would save his life will lose it".
I think one of God's means of discipline is allowing His child to have sin in his or her life (obviously, seeing as nobody is sinless). Sometimes I wonder why God doesn't just change me overnight. I'm sure all Christians wonder why we can't change and do the same things over and over. So we come to the conclusion, "I've got to try harder!"
Again, don't take my word for it, but I think God may allow sin in my own life because it keeps me in grace and allows me to be well established in grace. This is what I mean by grace hurting. To be deeply rooted in grace, means stretching your faith and letting go of the faithlessness of self-righteousness. This is scary and it gets hard sometimes. We know how much God hates sin, and want to overcome it. But perhaps He allows you to have it so you recognize your brokenness. Perhaps He is changing the reason for your desire of increasing in holiness.
If God were to change me overnight, freeing me from timidity, anger, selfishness, and so on, then I would have a bigger problem - Pride. I would drift right back into law and come boldly to the throne of GRACE with my own soiled garments of self-righteousness.
It is one thing to say "His grace is sufficient", but taking the leap of faith to apply that can be painful. It forces you to be honest with your indwelling sin, rather than covering it up with good works, good behavior or re-dedication, which is bondage.
I love how Rob Rufus put it in one sermon. He said he once prayed for God to reveal all his faults so he could fix them. He felt God say, "Son, if I did that, you would want to kill yourself."
Why? Because it would completely overwhelm him. I don't think anyone has the capacity to have that kind of faith.
I noticed, while living under law and shoulds, that I became increasingly aware of my faults. I thought it was because God wanted me to change thus and so about my life. But as I would try and juggle these areas of my life, I would eventually lose rhythm and everything would fall apart (not that I ever had it together).
God was indeed putting more on me than I could bear. The overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and constant condemnation was God driving me to faith.
"What man, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost?"
I realized Jesus wasn't asking me to pay it, but showing me I couldn't. Now it's a daily acknowledgment of that. Every day I try to sink deeper and deeper into Christ and knowing nothing but Him crucified. You could say I take up my cross daily and deny myself. My endeavor is to count all things I thought were gain, as loss for the sake of knowing Christ.
"Whoever would save his life will lose it".
...How Sweet the Sound
It is in the moments where right after sinning, you feel the weight of your sin. You realize exactly how helpless you are without Christ in anything. If I cannot even be consistent in simply controlling my temper, how in the world am I to walk in an unhindered fellowship with our holy Father everyday? How can you ever have intimacy with a God detests sin? "I thank God through our Lord Jesus Christ!"
The truth that I'm no longer suppose to be conscious of the sin that dwells in me is amazing!! I don't have to go through that condemnation, re-dedication cycle where I pout to God about how much of a dead dog I am, and how I am not worthy of anything. Then I eventually muster up the motivation to try again. Whereas in grace, I can simply say "Thank you, Father for Jesus!!!!!" and get right back up, asking for His Spirit to change me. Realizing that Abba isn't ashamed of me or angry with me, removes those times of "time out" I usually give myself before I'm able to come again boldly to the throne of grace. How do you come boldly? By grace!!! Just accept the grace. I know it hurts, but you'll get over it.
Normally, I would beat myself up, call myself a poor excuse for a Christian, and wonder how in the world I could ever get people to know Christ when I continually fail at representing Him.
But now, I think representing Him is not so much being perfect, but being full of grace and truth. The truth is realizing we are as dead dogs. Grace saying that doesn't matter. God loves you no matter how much you stink or how filthy you may be. Because His Son has reconciled the world to Himself.
Maybe representing Christ is showing His agape and grace to others by being real to them about your flaws, but showing them how much God still accepts you and loves you. I'm not very smart, but I think sinners are more attracted to grace, rather than perfection. A sinner cannot bear to be around a human who is perfect or self-righteous. That just makes them feel like utter sin and gives them all the more reason to continue in sin, because from their perspective, they will never be able to qualify for God's love. I would know. I've been there.
The truth that I'm no longer suppose to be conscious of the sin that dwells in me is amazing!! I don't have to go through that condemnation, re-dedication cycle where I pout to God about how much of a dead dog I am, and how I am not worthy of anything. Then I eventually muster up the motivation to try again. Whereas in grace, I can simply say "Thank you, Father for Jesus!!!!!" and get right back up, asking for His Spirit to change me. Realizing that Abba isn't ashamed of me or angry with me, removes those times of "time out" I usually give myself before I'm able to come again boldly to the throne of grace. How do you come boldly? By grace!!! Just accept the grace. I know it hurts, but you'll get over it.
Normally, I would beat myself up, call myself a poor excuse for a Christian, and wonder how in the world I could ever get people to know Christ when I continually fail at representing Him.
But now, I think representing Him is not so much being perfect, but being full of grace and truth. The truth is realizing we are as dead dogs. Grace saying that doesn't matter. God loves you no matter how much you stink or how filthy you may be. Because His Son has reconciled the world to Himself.
Maybe representing Christ is showing His agape and grace to others by being real to them about your flaws, but showing them how much God still accepts you and loves you. I'm not very smart, but I think sinners are more attracted to grace, rather than perfection. A sinner cannot bear to be around a human who is perfect or self-righteous. That just makes them feel like utter sin and gives them all the more reason to continue in sin, because from their perspective, they will never be able to qualify for God's love. I would know. I've been there.
Voice of Grace
I added two new blog links to my left. I had been meaning to do so, but kept forgetting. =P
I read a post by Julie today called "Knowing God Under the New Covenant". She is very inspiring and encouraging to people like me who are new to pure grace.
Check it out! http://julnbde.blogspot.com/
I read a post by Julie today called "Knowing God Under the New Covenant". She is very inspiring and encouraging to people like me who are new to pure grace.
Check it out! http://julnbde.blogspot.com/
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