thoughts and questions I could elaborate on...

Random thoughts for your enjoyment...
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Shouldn't our "want to" be the same as our reality? Why is there a disconnect between what we say we want and what we actually do? Jesus died to give us victory in our actions, not just our will.
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Americans like their privacy, but online social media is proof that even independent Americans long for community - to know others and be known by them. But we'll never get the full blessing of community without the full sacrifice of self.
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I appreciate the media, but I believe it unnecessarily polarizes people and issues. If I watch, read, or listen to the news, I must make a conscious effort not to get sucked in. And, is it okay to have unresolved political issues? I think we need to search out all matters (Prov 25:2) - not only our own position, but how to lovingly respond to those with whom we disagree. Key word = lovingly.
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There's a thin line between discipline and legalism - and we won't find it or walk it on our own. "In all your ways acknowledge him..." (Proverbs 3:5-6)
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If I could just learn to keep my darn mouth shut!
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Hungry people are more aware of their need for God than those of us who are physically satisfied. I think that's probably why the gospel flourishes in places of poverty. If we get really obsessed with seeing the Kingdom of God established on Earth, we might just get a little tired of the apathy of rich people and we just might reach out to those who hunger and thirst, who want to hear. Meanwhile, I am sick and tired of my own darn apathy! Lord, have mercy!
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the itch of self regard

Love this C.S. Lewis quote from Mere Christianity:

The pleasure of pride is like the pleasure of scratching. If there is an itch one does want to scratch; but it is much nicer to have neither the itch nor the scratch. As long as we have the itch of self-regard we shall want the pleasure of self-approval; but the happiest moments are those when we forget our precious selves and have neither but have everything else (God, our fellow humans, the garden and the sky) instead.

I could seek to save my life and establish my own proverbial kingdom by pursuing ambitions that bring attention to me. Then what?

In the words of musician Chris Rice, "...my world's too big to make a name for myself." But, "You are the LORD, the Famous One, and great is Your name in all the earth!"

The way to lose the itch of self-regard and the pleasure of self-approval is to lose myself as I seek His Kingdom on earth... that I may keep it for eternity in Heaven.

a challenge to meditate on Easter

Unfortunately, the way the world works, even if you are not busy (like me) and especially if you are, it is difficult to take the time to sit down, get still, and focus on Jesus.

Unless we are intentional about setting aside time to get alone with God, the Easter holiday will come and go without much of a response from us.

Little note: I've noticed that in weeks where I spend significant and intimate alone time with Jesus, Sunday morning corporate worship becomes something where I anticipate the presence of God and meet with him. On the other hand, I've also noticed that if I don't meet with Jesus throughout the week, Sunday morning is just another robotic routine, a self-help time at best.

I believe that God wants us to anticipate his presence in the corporate worship setting on Easter morning, and I am convinced that it will be very difficult unless we are intentional about setting aside time to be with him and think about what Easter is all about.

I am going to set aside time tomorrow mid-morning to reflect on Easter, and the events that took place to secure my hope and salvation. I hope that you will do the same!

Love,
Leah

what the law could not do, God did

"Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." Romans 8:1-4

You can't fight the desires of the flesh with the flesh. It is too weak.

The Lord knows I have tried too many times to fight off sin with my flesh. The problem is that sin is like a fire, and my flesh is like a baseball bat, and you can't really destroy fire with a baseball bat; you need a fire extinguisher.

"For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ..." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

What sin are you dealing with? Or to be more specific, what do you desire in your heart more than you desire God? Is it money? Status? A better job? Better body? Your own fame and recognition? A spouse? A relationship? Attention from men?

Are you trying to fight it with a baseball bat?

God showed me this week that there is no such thing as neutrality when it comes to following Jesus. In other words, I can't expect to be free from sin and free from obeying Jesus. My flesh will always gravitate towards sin if I am "neutral."

But if I am led by the Spirit, if I am taking my thoughts captive and making them obedient to Christ, dreaming His dreams and seeking His Kingdom, then I will be free from sin. That's fighting flesh with the Spirit's power - with the fire extinguisher - not with the baseball bat.

And ultimately, it takes a new heart for this to happen. It's natural to try to be good and not sin, but it's supernatural to have new affections and desires for God. It's natural not to want to go to hell, but it's supernatural to love Jesus more than the things of this world.

Good news:

For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. - Romans 6:14-18

If you trust in Jesus, you are free from sin; your status has already been changed!

Grace Part 4: Faith and Works

I can say with almost complete certainty that I will NEVER go skydiving. If you think I am going to jump out of a plane willingly, you are taking crazy pills. You say to me, "What, Leah, don't you believe that parachutes work?" Yeah, I believe that parachutes work, but there's no way, I am going to willingly put my life on the line by jumping out of a plane. Perhaps you could reasonably argue, then, that I don't really believe the parachute will work. Or, to say it another way: While I agree that a parachute is made to keep me from plummeting into the ground, I am not about to entrust my life to a parachute.

James would call this "dead faith." The evidence of real faith is the action it produces. If I really trust a parachute, I will jump out of plane, but if I don't really trust the parachute, I won't do anything. Look at James 2:17-24.

"In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder...

Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."

The main point of this particular passage in James is to show us that if our "faith" doesn't produce action, then it is empty faith. Even if I believe that Jesus died to save sinners, if I don't entrust my life to him, my faith is empty.

At a glance, James 2:17-24 looks like it contradicts a lot of other passages in scripture. (See Galatians 3:5-13, Romans 5:1, Romans 4:1-9, Romans 3:28, Ephesians 2:8-10)

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." - Ephesians 2:8-10

So what's the deal? It seems like Paul is saying we are saved by grace alone through faith alone, while James is saying we are saved by works and not by faith alone. How do we reconcile this?

It's both. We are saved by grace through faith, and real faith is accompanied by action. Actions don't save you; they just prove that your faith is real. Jumping out of a plane doesn't save my life - the parachute saves my life - jumping just proves that I really believe the parachute will save me (as does operating the parachute correctly when I'm in the air). But if I don't jump, I have not put my trust in the parachute.

The same is true with Jesus. Trying to live a life that pleases God without trusting Christ is like hoping not to die when you go skydiving without a parachute. You must believe in your heart that ONLY Jesus will save you, but if you never entrust your life to Him, if you don't follow Him and do what He requires, then you have not really put your trust in Him, have you?

The passage in James serves to answer a question that skeptics often raise, which I also heard a lot growing up. "So you're saying, as long as I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, then I will go to Heaven, even if I live the rest of my life doing whatever I want - still finding pleasure in sin and disobedience?"

I used to think the answer to that question was "yes." But, if that's the case, go ahead and count most EVERYBODY in. No one wants to go to hell. But Jesus says,

"And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
"He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it." - Matthew 10:38-39

And Paul says,

" What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?"- Romans 6:1-2

Sounds a little different, doesn't it? This does not mean that we will never sin again after we initially put our faith in Jesus, but it does mean that real faith in Christ will produce a change in our allegiance. Our lives will not be dominated by sin (by pride and selfish ambition and anger), but by God's grace through faith in Jesus.

So, are our we working to please Christ so that we may be saved, or are we working to please Christ because HE has already saved us?

Are we motivated to obedience by the fear of punishment, or are we motivated to obedience by our love for God?

"When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look and see Him there, who made an end to all my sin. Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free! For God the Just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me, to look on Him and pardon me!" - Before the Throne, Charitie Bancroft, 1863

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

Amen!

Grace Part 3: When Faith Wavers

In my first post on grace, I wrote this:

If we only see God's grace as a means for forgiveness and forget that his grace intends to perfect us, then we will continue to operate in the weakness of our flesh, continue to love things more than we love God, and live in disobedience.

But if we forget that God's grace is the means for our forgiveness and only expect it to perfect us, then when we fail to trust and love God as we ought to, we will enter the darkness of self-condemnation and fear.

Confession: I tend to err on the latter side. When I screw up, I often succumb to a whirlwind of self-defeating thoughts.

"I sinned; what does that say about my heart? Does that mean that I am not a new creation? Am I really dead to sin, or am I just fooling myself? If I was living by faith, then I would not have done that. After all, there will be some who stand before God at the end of time who will hear God say, 'Depart from Me, I never knew you.' Am I just deceiving myself?"

It is times like those that I have to fight to believe that it's Jesus, the object of my faith, that saves me, not the quality or quantity of my faith.

Well, in relation to this, I got to thinking about when Peter walked on the water with Jesus, and I saw something incredible.

"Peter said to [Jesus], 'Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.' And He said, 'Come!' And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, 'Lord, save me!' Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, 'You of little faith, why did you doubt?'" - Matthew 14:28-31

When Peter started to sink in the water, his immediate response was to call on the name of the Lord. By crying out, Peter displays evidence of faith in Jesus. He doesn't try to swim. He doesn't call out for the other disciples to save him. He cries for Jesus.

And, true to character, Jesus reaches out and saves him. Praise Him for that! He is so merciful! But what does he say to Peter?

"You of little faith, why did you doubt?" (verse 31)

Peter was going to drown, and he cried out, and Jesus saved him! But he still rebuked Peter for his lack of faith.

"And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek him."- Hebrews 11:6

It is impossible to please God without faith. So in that moment when Peter considered the circumstance of the storm and, by default, took his eyes off Jesus, it didn't please Christ. Peter elevated the threat of the storm above God's ability to overcome the threat. That is actually an assault on God. Jesus would have much preferred that Peter had trusted Him all the way across the entire ocean. But it didn't keep him from responding to Peter's cry for help.

When we take our eyes off Jesus, it doesn't please Him. He actually hates it when we don't live by faith in Him. When we elevate our own weak flesh above His ability to overcome our flesh, it is an assault on Him. But He is still ready to forgive when we realize that we our faith has faltered and cry out for him to save us.

I feel like the man in Mark 9 who is asking Jesus to save his son,

"But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!" And Jesus said to him, "'If you can?' All things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, 'I do believe; help my unbelief.'" (vs 22-24)

I believe that in Jesus, I have all I need to overcome my unbelief.

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Coming Next - Part 4: Faith and Works