Redemption

Oh, but God so sweetly speaks. Not only did he save His children... He chose to not leave us here alone on the earth. He teaches us, guides us, shapes us.

I was thinking tonight that I rarely, if ever, hate sin unless it hurts me. When I suffer because of sin, then I feel broken. Angry. Driven to pray and ask God to change the world which He made so beautiful but which is so tainted and broken by sin. I mean, sin messes everything up! Everything, I guess, besides the plan of the God who redeems. That's who He is.

Media I Recommend

• True Christianity Changes the Culture It's In: Tim Keller on idols & the Gospel: http://tgc-video.s3.amazonaws.com/2009-conference/plenary/Keller_Session_1.mp3
• Dating, Singleness, and Marriage: Females AND males of all ages, you MUST listen to this panel by ASCC staff & partners: http://www.austinstone.org/what/gt_blog/dating_singleness_marriage/
• Discipleship: These three talks are from Austin Stone's Summer Conference "The Kingdom is at Hand: The Foundational Need for Discipleship" http://www.austinstone.org/resources/other_audio/category/2009_summer_conference
• What the Church Should be Like: Click the link above. Listen to the 3rd talk, "Discipleship in the Church." Yes, I gave it two bullet points. Yes, it is that good. I wish every broken, hurting Christian, as well as every Christian who thinks they will never be broken or hurting, would listen to this and pray for the Holy Spirit to move in their heart. If we all did, I think the Church would be beautifully changed.

If we rest in the Gospel

Fabs said this in her blog and I liked it so much I snatched it right up and put it on mine! She disciples me, so I can. :)

"...if we rest in the true Gospel, looking at our sin will only help us see grace." Yes.

Silence and Sin

Proverbs 15:12 "A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise."

We sin because sinning is fun.

Or at least it's fun for a time. As John Piper puts it, "We sin because it holds out some promise of happiness. That promise enslaves us until we believe God is more to be desired than life itself.”

The promise of sin enslaves us in so, so many ways. Just one of the ways sin enslaves us is by making us resistant to people who will speak wisdom into our lives.

When I am struggling with sin, I can be tempted to avoid wise people. A few months ago I was struggling with a decision. I knew the objective, visible truth. I knew that I should probably make one choice, but I wanted to make a different choice.

For a few weeks I was super honest with God, but I caught myself trying to squirm out of convicting conversations with people. After all, I reasoned with my deceitful little heart, God already knew my heart. But people! People could judge me. People could talk to me. People could hold me a-a-accountable!

Thank goodness, God showed me a few years ago that we are made for community, and that means we are made to do battle together - not alone. That time around, I had learned the hard way. So this time, when I saw myself starting to avoid wise people, I made the decision to be as open as possible.

Confessing to a friend was one key step in the right direction. (Oooh, the c-word. Scary. But if you find someone who truly believes in the gospel, confessing your sins to another human being will be some of the sweetest freedom you'll ever know in a human relationship).

Here's why: confession is like a chainsaw that cuts the shakles that hold us in our sin. Confession is speaking the truth about our actions, our thoughts, and our beliefs.

The fundamental premise of sin is deception. How did Satan get Eve to eat the forbidden fruit? He misquoted God, and he got her to question what God had said. Then, he got her to question the consequences of her disobedience (Genesis 3:1-5).

To counter a lie, we need truth. If our sin is based in a lie, speaking the truth begins to break the power of the sin. We must have the truth of God's Word to expose and replace the lies we too often believe.

With this knowledge, I need to be proactive in seeking truth to apply to my life. Below are a few questions I find helpful for examining my heart. I hope you'll pray through them, too - and I pray that when answers are revealed, you will see confession as a means to freedom. Staying in darkness only brings slavery, darkness, and death. Speak and believe the truth. It brings life.

Questions to ask:

-Is there any passage of Scripture I avoid reading?

-Is there a question I hope someone won't ask me?

-Do I feel convicted around any wise person?

-Is there any place I'm avoiding because I might see people who will bring conviction into my life?

-Am I acting out of the belief that God has told me not to do something, but doing it will bring me greater pleasure than obedience?

-Do I think that I will get away with sin - that there won't be a consequence?

For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality (Col. 3:12)

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed (James 5:16)