Someone once said: "A Guilty Christian is an Oxymoron."
I like that. I agree too. Probably every Christian would agree. So why do we not believe it? Or at least, live as if we believe it?
Guilt is a nasty feeling and a very misunderstood one. It began as soon as Adam and Eve sinned, they felt separated from God, bringing for the first time the feeling of guilt and shame. Many Christians believe that if they feel very guilty after a sermon, God was speaking to them. Just because they felt guilty. So what happens the following week when they don't feel guilty? Who was God speaking to? Why not happiness, if I feel happy after a service God was speaking to me, or sadness, or anger. Why feeling guilty means God's voice? Because the word guilty gets confused with Godly sorrow or conviction.
God does not send guilty messages to us. Our feeling guilty is our own problem. The difference between Godly sorrow and guilt is that the latter is perceived from the self. Godly sorrow is perceived from the "others" point of view. When God or somebody "makes" me feel guilty, I am only seeing how I feel regardless of the other person. I want to feel good again. When I feel Godly sorrow, my attention goes to "how I make others feel." "Others" focused instead of "self" focused. Guilt takes us back to the Law. Godly sorrow brings repentance.
Thank you Jesus because you paid our debt once and for all!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
The Tree vs. The Fruit
We come into this world at a loss. We don't even have a chance to prove ourselves that we can obey God. Our forefathers Adam and Eve have already messed it up for us. So, we have a choice. Die in doom or be received by God through Jesus Christ, who chose to give His life on our behalf.
Now, to live in this physical life, we can say we all are under water. For the sake of this post, imagine a line; anything above it is God and sinlessness, anything below it it's us in our current condition, after the fall. All sinners, all under the same predicament. Some redeemed through Christ, some not.
To the redeemed, they are assured eternal life once they get there. However, they all have to go through the desert in this life before getting there. Wouldn't it be wonderful if by accepting God's gift of life we could just erase our past, forget our transgressions, be "perfect" until the day He calls us to be in His company forever?
Sadly enough, that is not how it happens. We are placed in this physical world and we have to learn how to navigate through it with His help. We forget sometimes that this is a partnership. God secured the promised land for the Israelites, but they were the ones that had to go and possess it, they had to fight the battles with their enemies, they had to be in the dessert for forty years, and be sick, and tired, and human.
As we go through this life we develop different issues depending on where life takes us. There is abuse, addiction, anger, doubt, lack of joy, you name it. Would it be fair to say, then, that sin -singular-separates us from God, and then they become our sins depending on our bent? The Sin of being severed from God grants us death. The problem is not the many sins mentioned above, those are the symptoms of a bigger problem: the tree.
A good, healthy tree produces good healthy fruit. A sick, unhealthy tree produces bad, unhealthy fruit. Connecting to God and others in this physical life in imperative to become a healthy tree that produces good fruit. Isolation, loneliness, hiding out, produces many of the sins we deal with today.
God calls us to connection and love from one another, weeping with those who weep and celebrating with those who rejoice. Lately, it seems that wherever I turn, there is a Christian marriage that is dissolving or has dissolved. Looking deeper into their lives, these people didn't confide in their brothers and sisters, but went at it alone. They separated themselves from the Jesus tree and became their own person, and their symptoms: anger, addiction, mistaken beliefs, perfectionism, etc. ruined their tree and it became sick.
As I navigate in this world full of sorrow I daily discover that people don't feel free to disclose themselves at their local churches because they are afraid to be condemned and brought back under the law, instead of freely be given grace to work through the symptoms before the tree dies. Help us Lord to stop killing the wounded. Let us hold on to the One who gives us grace and truth with love.
Now, to live in this physical life, we can say we all are under water. For the sake of this post, imagine a line; anything above it is God and sinlessness, anything below it it's us in our current condition, after the fall. All sinners, all under the same predicament. Some redeemed through Christ, some not.
To the redeemed, they are assured eternal life once they get there. However, they all have to go through the desert in this life before getting there. Wouldn't it be wonderful if by accepting God's gift of life we could just erase our past, forget our transgressions, be "perfect" until the day He calls us to be in His company forever?
Sadly enough, that is not how it happens. We are placed in this physical world and we have to learn how to navigate through it with His help. We forget sometimes that this is a partnership. God secured the promised land for the Israelites, but they were the ones that had to go and possess it, they had to fight the battles with their enemies, they had to be in the dessert for forty years, and be sick, and tired, and human.
As we go through this life we develop different issues depending on where life takes us. There is abuse, addiction, anger, doubt, lack of joy, you name it. Would it be fair to say, then, that sin -singular-separates us from God, and then they become our sins depending on our bent? The Sin of being severed from God grants us death. The problem is not the many sins mentioned above, those are the symptoms of a bigger problem: the tree.
A good, healthy tree produces good healthy fruit. A sick, unhealthy tree produces bad, unhealthy fruit. Connecting to God and others in this physical life in imperative to become a healthy tree that produces good fruit. Isolation, loneliness, hiding out, produces many of the sins we deal with today.
God calls us to connection and love from one another, weeping with those who weep and celebrating with those who rejoice. Lately, it seems that wherever I turn, there is a Christian marriage that is dissolving or has dissolved. Looking deeper into their lives, these people didn't confide in their brothers and sisters, but went at it alone. They separated themselves from the Jesus tree and became their own person, and their symptoms: anger, addiction, mistaken beliefs, perfectionism, etc. ruined their tree and it became sick.
As I navigate in this world full of sorrow I daily discover that people don't feel free to disclose themselves at their local churches because they are afraid to be condemned and brought back under the law, instead of freely be given grace to work through the symptoms before the tree dies. Help us Lord to stop killing the wounded. Let us hold on to the One who gives us grace and truth with love.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Happily Busy
I love it when we start new classes. They are all made of different people and needs and personalities. I have always found people so interesting. It almost feels like a puzzle to me, trying to figure out what piece goes where to see the whole outcome.
It is even funner -is that a word?-when 3 out of the four classes are different topics; and, on top of that, 2 of them are back to back, on two different week days.
Feelings of exhilaration, doubt, joy, and exhaustion surround our first meeting. So much to talk, so much to learn from one another. I can't think of anything more therapeutic than groups meeting for a purpose. Perfect strangers one day become dear to my heart in a matter of weeks. Some of these people have followed us for more than 20 weeks and sadness is evident when we say our good-byes.
As I teach with my partner about stress, anxiety, fear, boundaries, changes that heal, and so much more than surfaces in our talks, I remember my own experience when I was on the receiving end and there were no groups like these I could go to. Isolation is prominent when people are broken or hurt. This should be the time to run to our churches and ask for help. But I find the opposite is true. Most people withdraw when disaster hits. Anonymity becomes survival. Lots of the people in out groups are leaders in distress. Leaders that need their tanks filled to go out to the world and keep ministering to their wounded. I witness the body of Christ in action as we help one another become whole, replenished, and ready to keep on going for His Kingdom.
I feel so privileged to partner with Him. He has been preparing me for many years to see this day. I have tremendous respect for His creation and He knows it. And, I am humbly aware that He does the work, I am simply an obedient vessel.
Last night we started teaching a stress management class, and a boundaries class immediately after that. Wednesday we will have another boundaries, and a changes that heal group. Can't wait!
It is even funner -is that a word?-when 3 out of the four classes are different topics; and, on top of that, 2 of them are back to back, on two different week days.
Feelings of exhilaration, doubt, joy, and exhaustion surround our first meeting. So much to talk, so much to learn from one another. I can't think of anything more therapeutic than groups meeting for a purpose. Perfect strangers one day become dear to my heart in a matter of weeks. Some of these people have followed us for more than 20 weeks and sadness is evident when we say our good-byes.
As I teach with my partner about stress, anxiety, fear, boundaries, changes that heal, and so much more than surfaces in our talks, I remember my own experience when I was on the receiving end and there were no groups like these I could go to. Isolation is prominent when people are broken or hurt. This should be the time to run to our churches and ask for help. But I find the opposite is true. Most people withdraw when disaster hits. Anonymity becomes survival. Lots of the people in out groups are leaders in distress. Leaders that need their tanks filled to go out to the world and keep ministering to their wounded. I witness the body of Christ in action as we help one another become whole, replenished, and ready to keep on going for His Kingdom.
I feel so privileged to partner with Him. He has been preparing me for many years to see this day. I have tremendous respect for His creation and He knows it. And, I am humbly aware that He does the work, I am simply an obedient vessel.
Last night we started teaching a stress management class, and a boundaries class immediately after that. Wednesday we will have another boundaries, and a changes that heal group. Can't wait!
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