STALE

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith...

- Ephesians 2:8a NIV

Trusting in God is not easy.

That’s because every fiber of our being pushes against it.

We’re born into sin. Our nature is fallen. It is our body’s desire, it is our tendency, to fall into and follow sinful things.

Faith is foreign to our flesh. Like white blood cells attacking a virus that doesn’t belong in our system, our body fights it. Given the chance, we will revert to our sinful ways – every. single. time.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. When we’re saved, we are transformed.

We’re transformed, but we’re not perfect.

So what about when we feel stale?

What about when we fall into a pattern of disobedience, when we find ourselves doing things we know we shouldn’t be doing, things that we know we need to stop, but – time and time again – we do them anyway?

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. (Romans 7:14, NIV)

What about when we feel that we don’t have the energy to fight temptation? When we’re at the end of our rope? When we’ve done everything we can, and it’s still not enough?

Maybe that’s precisely what got us in this mess. Maybe it’s the trying-so-hard that made our faith stale. Maybe it’s us trying to earn our salvation that got us so wildly off-course.

Why? Because we started chasing commandments, instead of chasing Christ. We confused the goal with the purpose.

Oswald Chambers wrote, “Freshness does not come from obedience but from the Holy Spirit.”

We get so caught up in our day-to-day actions. We try so hard to live godly lives, pure lives – not just to be examples for others, but to glorify God in our actions. These are good aims. But, inevitably, we mess up. So we ask for forgiveness – as we should.

But instead of focusing on our screw-ups, maybe we should focus on our Savior.

Instead of focusing on our sin, maybe we should focus on the Living Sacrifice.

Instead of fighting to do better, maybe we should surrender everything to Christ and let Him fight for us.

Because our sin is already taken care of.

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24-25, NIV)

When we fall in to believing that we need to do better, that we need to try harder, that we need to be as close as possible to perfect for God to love us…

That's legalism. And it’s a trap.

It’s a trap because no matter what we do, it’s never good enough. We’ll never be perfect. And when we try to be, our life becomes about chasing religion, not a relationship.

We confused the goal with the purpose. That’s when our faith becomes stale.

The sooner I accept the fact that I am not perfect (and never will be), the sooner I can fully accept the doctrine of mercy and grace. When I realize that God forever erased my imperfections and washed away my impurities, I am all the more thankful for what He did for me.

And that's refreshing.

A One-Year Commitment Worth Keeping

On August 31, 2010 I made a commitment to read the Bible in a year. At the time it seemed like a daunting task, taking the time necessary each day to read.

But today I finished. Right on schedule.

In the past year I've had many emotional ups and downs, and many spiritual highs and lows. I've made countless mistakes, overcome numerous obstacles, and am still going through several struggles. Over the last 365 days so many things have changed - some for the better, some for the worse.

But through all this I have learned that I can always rest in the knowledge that the Lord and His Word have remained (and will remain) constant.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8, ESV)

Here are some of the themes prevalent throughout the Bible that stood out to me, and some of the things I learned this year:

1. God is faithful. Story after story details what God said He would do, and what He did. Spoiler alert: He always comes through. (See Numbers 23:19 - http://bible.us/Num23.19.ESV )
2. God loves me, even when I don't deserve it. (See Romans 5:8 - http://bible.us/Rom5.8.ESV)
3. Following Christ comes with a cost. (See Luke 9:3 - http://bible.us/Luke9.23.ESV) I also encourage you to read "Not a Fan" by Kyle Idleman. It's a great discussion of this very topic.
4. Grounding yourself in God's Word is truly an invaluable asset to a Christian. It really is a great way to start or end your day. (See Psalm 119:11 - http://bible.us/Ps119.11.ESV)
5. Reading the Bible is a good place to start, but that's not where our action should end - that includes going out into the world and showing God's love and spreading God's word. (See James 1:22 - http://bible.us/Jas1.22.ESV  and Matthew 28:19 - http://bible.us/Matt28.19.ESV)

I really encourage you to start a daily journey of your own through the Bible. Because when we're paying attention to what the Lord has said and done, we can see more easily what He is doing in our own lives - and that is something that truly is amazing to see.

Underneath the Mask

Society is one giant masquerade ball, with everyone acting like everything is OK. We hide under our masks, parading around and projecting the image that we're fine. That we have it all together. That we're peachy-keen and problem-free.

But underneath the mask, we're hurting. We're in disarray. Marriages are falling apart, finances are crumbling, faith is fading. And yet we choke back the tears and put on a smile so that to others we can appear - in our own prideful way - to be without blemish.

We do it because we don't other people to think we're struggling - even though we are. We think that if we sweep our problems under the rug, visitors won't notice the dust spilling out from underneath. We're ashamed for people to know a certain part of us, for fear that we wouldn't in fact be accepted, baggage and all - even though we all carry some pretty heavy luggage.

Putting on this facade, living this lie, can be exhausting. Many times there's nothing we could want more than to let down our guard, to be open, to reveal what's hidden, to relax in the comfort of knowing that we are accepted despite a sketchy past, a present struggle or any other skeleton in our respective closet.

But that's the beauty of Christ.

We don't have to have it all together. We don't even have to act like we do.

We can come as we are:

In shambles. Exposed. Vulnerable.
Hanging by a thread. Barely there. Fading.
Weak, worn or weary.
Battered, bruised or broken.
Torn, tempest-tossed or troubled.

I can come just as I am. And He will welcome me with open arms...every. single. time.

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28, NASB)

He wants to be our answer. He wants to be the one we turn to. That's why He died for us.

And the best thing is, when we come to Christ, when we give up and lay our struggles or our troubles at His feet, we need go no further. We no longer need to seek fulfillment or acceptance from any other source. We no longer need to try so furiously to scrub our own selves clean.

We no longer need to wear a mask.

In Christ alone can we rest.

Even when Especially when it's hard for us to accept answers because we still have so many questions of our own...
Even when Especially when the chains of an addiction can be so hard to break, despite our own determination...
Even when Especially when the monsters of our past threaten to break out of hiding and defeat us...

He is enough.

Living Water

Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 

'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"

- John 7:37-38, ESV

I played baseball in high school. We had a pretty talented team, but by no means were we "big." We didn't have a team full of those "farm boys" that sprung up in more rural areas of West Virginia.

Some teams we played were full of those big "farm boys." Their moms definitely fed them their Wheaties for breakfast, a whole jar of peanut butter for lunch, their spinach for dinner, and a side of beef for Fourth Meal (Sorry, Taco Bell, these boys eat real meat). In between, they baled hay and laid bricks and pulled a plow and tamed oxen and probably would've wrestled with alligators if there would've been any around. (I don't think alligators - or any normal living thing, for that matter - could survive in the Kanawha River.)

That's how those boys are raised around there - big. "There must be something in the water," someone might say.

Keep that in mind, while I shift gears for a little bit. (Cheap transition - I'm tired, feeling lazy, and it's been forever since I last blogged and I want to finish this tonight...basically, I just don't feel like coming up with a better transition.) 

So...

Living for Christ is a daily battle. 

Some days we feel strong, other days we feel weak. Some days our shields are protecting us against the Enemy, some days we wield the sword particularly well; other days we feel weary and fall asleep while on watch duty, allowing Satan to sneak up on us unnoticed.

A lot of times, we let down our guard as a result of a thought - a thought that, if not taken captive (see "Hostage Situation") will run amok and will lead to sinful action.

The fact is, our sinful desires run deep. They are a part of us. They course through our veins like our very lifeblood. We are smitten with sin, and the pleasure (momentary as it may be) with which it provides us. And so we live lives chasing after sex, drugs, alcohol, pornography...

When we do these things, we are trying to fill ourselves up apart from Christ. We are seeking fulfillment from other sources. 

But we're drawing from polluted wells. 

Not only that, but this only temporarily restrains our thirst; sinful satisfaction is short-lived. That's because our carnal desires, by their very nature, cannot be satisfied by earthly things. When we attempt to fill ourselves with something other than Christ, we're not making ourselves full - we're punching holes in the bottom of the pitcher (which is rather counterproductive). 

Only when we fill ourselves up with Christ can we truly be filled - forever.When I'm tempted, if I seek the face of Christ and draw from His well, then and only then will my thirst be quenched.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6, NIV)

To change to a different metaphor: giving into temptation won't quell the fire. If I am fixated on a desire, I must realize that I cannot quell the fire of it on my own.

If I try using some earthly thing to evade a certain temptation, then I am only delaying the inevitable - at some point I will be left still wanting more, and I will, predictably, give in to my temptation.

Why is that? 

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:4, NIV)

I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands. (Psalm 119:131, NIV)

French philosopher, mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal said: 'There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.'

Without Christ we cannot live spiritually. By turning to Him, by drinking from His well, we are alive - and we never have to thirst again.

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13-14, NIV)

But when we get that itch in the back of our throat, when our sinful nature starts to tell us that we want a taste of that other stuff (whatever that "other stuff" may be for us), if we turn to prayer and Scripture, if we earnestly seek Christ to deliver us, we will always be filled - with no room for anything else.

The lost chase after these things because they don't know fulfillment. 

Christians are by no means perfect - but we should not be chasing after these things to fill us up when the living water is at hand. We as Christians know the truth, we know how to be filled. And yet so many other people are oblivious to it, unaware that they can never be filled with alcohol or drugs or whatever, no matter how much of it they consume.

The only thing that can truly fill us isn't our girlfriend/boyfriend, it isn't vodka or bourbon, it isn't methamphetamine or marijuana. But many people - sadly - don't know that, so it's our job as Christians to tell them. And the best way to begin to tell them is by showing them.

Drink from Christ's well, and let his living water transform you. 

Is there something in the water? 

Oh, there definitely is.

Isaiah 55 (NIV): 

Invitation to the Thirsty

 ¹ “Come, all you who are thirsty, 

   come to the waters; 

and you who have no money, 

   come, buy and eat! 

Come, buy wine and milk 

   without money and without cost. 

² Why spend money on what is not bread, 

   and your labor on what does not satisfy? 

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, 

   and you will delight in the richest of fare. 

³ Give ear and come to me; 

   listen, that you may live. 

I will make an everlasting covenant with you, 

   my faithful love promised to David. 

⁴ See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, 

   a ruler and commander of the peoples. 

⁵ Surely you will summon nations you know not, 

   and nations you do not know will come running to you, 

because of the LORD your God, 

   the Holy One of Israel, 

   for he has endowed you with splendor.”

 ⁶ Seek the LORD while he may be found; 

   call on him while he is near. 

⁷ Let the wicked forsake their ways 

   and the unrighteous their thoughts. 

Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, 

   and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

 ⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, 

   neither are your ways my ways,” 

            declares the LORD. 

⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth, 

   so are my ways higher than your ways 

   and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

¹⁰ As the rain and the snow 

   come down from heaven, 

and do not return to it 

   without watering the earth 

and making it bud and flourish, 

   so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 

¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth: 

   It will not return to me empty, 

but will accomplish what I desire 

   and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. 

¹² You will go out in joy 

   and be led forth in peace; 

the mountains and hills 

   will burst into song before you, 

and all the trees of the field 

   will clap their hands. 

¹³ Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, 

   and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. 

This will be for the LORD’s renown, 

   for an everlasting sign, 

   that will endure forever.”