Judge or Judged?

I find myself pointing out others' "sins" and making other people feel guilty for not living the way I want them to. I had this same talk with my sister long ago, when SHE was the one telling ME what she thought I was doing wrong. She was nagging me about drinking and I totally put up a fight telling her I didn't want to hear it, I didn't think it was bad, I would always like alcohol, and how she was "judging" me. 

sanctify/ sanctification: 

moral reformation of character brought about by the power of truth; to set apart, purify; the carrying on to perfection; led to yield obedience; perfect sanctification is unattainable, becoming more sensitive to sin; correcting imperfections and confirming their graces; removing your old self from your back; changing your lifestyle; molding into a spitting image of Christ; becoming a completely different person than who you were before; always changing/ moving towards perfection; never complacent/ comfortable with your lifestyle; always improving your character/thoughts/habits; dying to your sinful nature/flesh

I realized after, that she was more "sanctified" [set apart, more sensitive, already corrected] in that area than I was. God had already revealed to her that she didn't need alcohol, he had already given her confidence in NOT drinking, she prioritized her witness, she was already called to a life of sobriety, she knows that her mind is more focused on God, focused on purity, discerning in her ways, and morally alert when she is not influenced by alcohol. Not because she HAD to, but because she WANTED to.

I, on the other hand, had back-tracked in my walk with Christ. I had to start the process of sanctification all over again when I chose to start putting Christ first in my life again. Little by little, He didn't "condemn" me for the things I was doing outside of his will, but rather shed light on a new life that would be more fulfilling than the way I was living. He showed me the benefits of giving up the things of the world to pursue the things of Him. The closer I got to Him, the closer he got to me. The more I wanted to be filled, the more the Holy Spirit took over my life and changed my desires for me! It wasn't something I got "guilt-tripped" into, but something I became sensitive to, and didn't have a desire to do anymore in order to also be more morally alert, steadfast on Christ, and focused on my witness.

It's about what is standing in between you and God. It's about what God has laid on your heart to give up in order to be closer to Him. It is about your personal relationship with Christ. It's about doing everything you can to reflect the image of God. Sanctification isn't about the "guilt trip", it isn't all about laws and rules, the thought of it shouldn't make you shrivel and cringe at the thought of giving up things, putting away old habits, or containing your desires. It should spur from a genuine desire to want to be holy, just as God is holy.

1 Peter 1:14-16 says:

"You didn't know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God's life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, "I am holy, you be holy."

As much as I want to nag people about their habits, and make them feel guilty about their sin, it's not my job to sanctify them, it's the Lord's. Though sometimes God does USE us in the process of sanctifying someone else, more often than not, I believe that we should turn to prayer, the word, and focusing on our own sanctification. 

My Try at making an ANALOGY:

When you first start out playing a sport, perhaps tennis... you learn the basics. It is fun hitting the ball back and forth. But what if your father is the best tennis player in the world. Everyone assumes this talent runs in the family, everyone asks if you get the scoop on his secret moves and tricks, people envy that you have private lessons from the greatest instructor at your finger tips. You LOVE tennis, and you LOVE your father. It becomes your DESIRE to get better, to learn the tricks, to step up your game, to follow your dream of following in his steps. He teaches you strategies and ways to create more power in your strokes, the value of precision and getting the ball exactly where you want it to go at the speed you want it to go at, the stance, the footwork, etc. The more you practice, the more you are taught, the more you are going to be like your father. You will never be HIM, but you will be a spitting image. 

Once you know what it takes to play great... you no longer have the desire to lazily hit balls back and forth barely making it over the net, much less keeping it in your own court. It's not as fun as it used to be. You get way more pleasure out of the new way of playing, the time spent with your father, the connection you have with him, the way he looks at you and gives you reassurance, the way he brags to his friends and the media that YOU are his child, the pleasure to see in his eye when you are obedient, the arms you can run to when you fail, the way people compare your likeness to your father.

This is what I picture when I think about sanctification... becoming like your father because you genuinely get pleasure out of it, genuinely loving your father enough to represent him in a positive way, wanting others to KNOW without a doubt that you are his child, giving up "good" games/ things we used to enjoy to gain the thrill of "great" games/ things, learning tricks and strategies to create more power in your words, your witness, and your ministry, the value of precision in talking the talk AND walking it out, to know where you want to go in life and what it takes to get there, reading the "instruction manual" and talking to you Father. You will never be perfect, you will never be God, but you can strive to be holy and make changes in your life, because God has called you to be holy, just as He is holy.

"God, if you'll do THIS, then I will do THAT"

I can't remember a defining moment when I chose to go astray from my faith... I also don't know a defining moment when I came back to surrender my life again. I'm reading through old journal entries from a couple years ago, and the one thing that sticks out is that my life began to SUCK. Bad decisions led to bad consequences.

But I believed that God was GOOD. I also believed that God was POWERFUL. I believed that God had CONTROL over my future. And as I'm looking back, I see that BAD MISTAKES drove me to FEAR God. When I got scared, thinking about the consequences my mistakes might bring, I started bargaining with God. I  believed that if I changed my lifestyle, if I quit drinking, quit giving pieces of myself to guys, quit acting self-righteous and perfect, then God would erase my mistake and I could continue living my life, consequence-free. 

It was like I was saying God if you can just take care of THIS then I will do THAT. 

"I was scared I was pregnant because I missed my period. I prayed my life away forever and begged God to make me not pregnant. I realized that pregnancy could possibly be the worst thing that could happen to me at this time in my life. I made bargains saying I’d wait until I was married to have sex. I changed my life around for the next two weeks, had my quiet times, read Christian books, and became focused on getting my life together. I got my period the next week and was sooo relieved God pulled through. However, I got drunk twice this weekend, and had sex with my ex-boyfriend."

God delivers you and then you say, "thanks, but no thanks." (Quoted from a sermon by Rev. Washington). You want God's hand in your life when He's doing good, but you don't want Him in your life when you're doing bad!

I learned God doesn't want you to pick and choose which areas of your life to surrender. He doesn't want you to bargain with him and do a few good things just to fool him into giving you a lesser sentence. 

He's is the God that can use your hurt, your pain, your fear, and make you strong, joyful, and confident. He will "make away when there is no way." He is the God that says "if you have the faith of a mustard seed you can move mountains!" "And you can be placed in a fire and not get burned!" "Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ!" These words brought tears to my eyes. Here I am trying to bargain with God, trying to make it look like I'm a good person, trying to fool Him with my sorry's and my sorry attempts to cover my sin. 

"If my God is that great and loves a sinner like me that much, how am I not going to give him control over my entire life?!"

I realized that the things of this world were just destroying my life. All the parties, relationships, alcohol, drugs, sex, etc were destroying the life I was designed to have through the Spirit; the life led by the God that can move mountains! I realized the Devil creeps in and starts telling you that God won't want you because you've made "another mistake," but NOTHING can separate you from the LOVE of Christ. 

"I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing with my life. I have no direction on what career to focus on, what friends to have, what relationships are healthy and meant to be, where to live, what to invest my time in… I’ve come to realize it’s because I haven’t been looking to the Director. I haven’t been praying for God to reveal His plans for my life and therefore, I have been taking all the wrong paths that have definitely led to dead-ends. "

 

When you realize that as much as you think you're in control of your life, that you're really not, and you realize that you could be in better places, doing better things.... When you're feeling lost and want direction... When you're tired of being scared of consequences... When you get to life's dead-ends...Give your life to the one who gave it to you! Give your life to the God that gave you a purpose, a God that gave you a calling, a God that can give you power in your faith to "say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20) 

God IS a God of JUSTICE, but He is ALSO a God of MERCY! AMEN?!

"KNOWING God, and not just having KNOWLEDGE of Him"

Do you call yourself a Christian? Do you really know where you will go after you die? Do you know who God is to YOU, personally? Do you know the basics- you live a "good" life and you believe that Jesus died, and you try to pray, but you're not really that "excited" for Christ? Do you think this "holy living" is just too hard so you reassure yourself that nobody's perfect?

My prayer this morning was that people will seek God out for themselves and not just have Sunday morning service take them there.

Even Christians get content with their lives and stop pursuing all there is to know about God and his will for their lives. It is engrained in our mind that we are "good to go," we were saved and now we are going to heaven. The End....

BUT God has so many dimensions to Him that even if we spend time with him every day, all day, for a lifetime, we will still never know every aspect OF him! We get all this KNOWLEDGE about Him without getting to KNOW Him. Why are we not that excited to know God?

I don't think that you can really get to know God better by just being led to the foot of the cross Sunday to Sunday. You can attend this and go to that, join this group, and hang out with this group of Christians, but until you DESPERATELY seek God for YOURSELF, I don't think that you will find anything beyond the basics, and therefore, not have all the joy, all the aspiration, all the purpose that you were meant to have IN him.

Until you have been to the BOTTOM of the pit, you can't fully appreciate the deliverance from it. And if you haven't hit rock bottom, He's giving you a chance to look up before you get there! Have you had your heart broken to the point you feel worthless? Have you been one scare away from being pregnant out of wedlock? Have you researched abortion clinics or plan B costs just to get out of a "stupid mistake"? Have you reached for that knife and just couldn't go through with it, but you will next time? Have you been so angry that any revenge just doesn't seem to satisfy the pain they caused you? Have you taken a "friend" up on that drink offer, even though you said the LAST one was your last?

YOU, my friend, are in a deep, dark place. YOU are in a PIT! and guess what CHRISTIAN, going to CHURCH next week is NOT going to save you! Promising to be better "NEXT" time isn't going to get you out either! Bargaining with God isn't gonna cut it! Church sermons and Christian Fellowship are GOOD and they are STEPS to get you in the right direction, but YOU also have to take initiative to see what YOU need and to seek out what GOD wants to do to meet this need, on a PERSONAL level.

If you are on a "slippery slope" or every time you do one thing it leads to another "sin" until your back down where you started, BUT you can be FREE; if you want to know how to confidently live your life, you CAN KNOW that you are going to heaven; if you are tired of standing on the edge, GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES! 

SEEK GOD FOR YOURSELF! On your own time. In your alone time. Amidst the tears, through the pain. 

Broken hearted people, do you KNOW God as your HEALER? Do you know Him as the "Lover of your Soul"? Do you know that He is awaiting your call, anticipating your time together, and boasting about you to the angels?

Singles, do you know that you are so blessed to be totally open to God's will? Do you seek out God to be the Director of your life and the Leader of your path? Are you searching to build your ministry and use your gifts and talents while you're waiting for "the one"?

Depressed and hopeless people, do you know the Lord has given you HOPE and a FUTURE? Do you know that He designed you before you were even in your mother's womb to do something GREAT! Have you looked up verses that deal with why would should have hope and joy? Job was depressed AND hopeless, but he did NOT turn from God. As the song says, "There's a light that is coming for a heart that holds on!"

Hurting people who have lost loved ones, do you KNOW God as your COMFORTER? Have you cried out tears of anger and pain to him? Did you know that even in pain and fear, people in the Bible sang PRAISES to God? Did you know that it is a BLESSING to suffer... God CHOSE you to endure the pain because HE KNOWS you can make it through! He has a calling on your life, greater than those who have not suffered! 

I could go on and on,  but in my experience, changing my life didn't happen over night. I wanted to make so many changes but I just couldn't stop doing what I was doing! Sunday mornings spoke to me, but IT WASN'T UNTIL I started getting in the word, researching verses that dealt with broken hearts, hurt, pain, purpose, etc, and writing in a prayer journal as often as I could, and SEEKING the specific dimensions of God, the God that would meet my need, I didn't really KNOW Him or TRUST that he was more powerful than my hurt and pain and attempts at quick fixes. 

Even now, I could only start writing about my personal struggles, because I have allowed God to enter the deepest darkest places of my heart, and continue to do so. I have been delivered from the things of which I speak. You cannot speak of the freedom from the places you have been, the hurt that you've experienced, the sin that has entangled you, IF YOU ARE STILL THERE! 

Take it to God before you take it to the world. 

But also, take it upon yourself to get to where you need to be with Christ. Take it upon yourself to really KNOW Him and not just have knowledge OF Him. Go beyond the basics and the rule-abiding, and the list of don'ts plastered on your mind, and find what it means to find joy in serving Christ, the blessings and fulfillment that comes with being obedient, the life out of the pit!

**Suggested Reading: Beth Moore's "Get out of that Pit", "Breaking Free"; The Message Bible: 2 Samuel 22:21, Job 33:26

What does it Take?

Have you ever been to a church camp or a weekend retreat and gotten on a spiritual high only to come back and forget everything you learned and slip back into your old routine? Or maybe even just from Sunday to Sunday... you hear a great sermon, you're determined to "change your life" and live "better", only to wake up Monday morning with the same dreadful attitude about the work week, and doing anything you can just to make it until Friday night? 

I love great sermons, don't get me wrong, I like reading the Word myself, too, but there's just something that stirs inside of me, when someone who has studied every cross-reference, and read the entire context of the verse, telling me how it is, was, and needs to be. I finally thought to download some podcasts from my favorite ministers/leaders (Loran Livingston, Greg Laurie, Beth Moore, and Jeff Dunn) and it made me think... why don't we find those things that change our lives, make us fall in love with Christ all over again, keep us on a spiritual high, and give us the desire to be that "better Christian?"

We can say we'd be "better Christians" if: we just had more retreats, less stress, better speakers, cooler music, more friends that went, less temptation, more events, less responsibilities, more money, more this and less that... What is holding you back from where you need to be? Sometimes it is easy for us to point out the "what", but let's focus on the "why."

Why don't you seek out more retreats? Why don't you find podcasts from your favorite speakers? Why don't you choose to listen to more contemporary Christian music between Sundays? If our whole life's purpose is to know God and to make Him known, and we aren't making that relationship with Him our top priority, then we will never be content or satisfied. 

If you are content, then good for you, but if you are feeling less purposeful and know that you could be a better Christian than you are... then what would it take for you to make that a priority? 

I know that one day I will die or Jesus will return and we will all face judgment (Romans 14:10). The Bible says we will be held accountable for even our "idle words" (Matthew 12:36). On judgment day (2 Cor. 5:10), Jesus will ask us, individually, how we used the talents and gifts we were given, our motives, what we achieved, our focus of accomplishments, what we sacrificed, how we acted and what we said to build up the body of Christ for eternity. When I stand before God, I want to say that I did whatever it took. 

If I needed a good sermon to draw me closer to God and to keep me there, then I listened to a sermon online as much as I could in downtime at work. If I needed fellowship with other Christians, I searched across the city for different church events and programs catering to my needs. If I had too many temptations, I avoided things that made me stumble and found the "out" God promised to give me. 

This life is so short compared to eternity, so why are we not more focused on eternity than our job promotion or future spouse. We don't know when He is coming back; we can't get ready right before he comes. We have to be ready at all times, because the Bible says "He will come like a thief in the night"(2 Peter 3:10). This life may be good, but I'll take a perfect paradise over this old earth any day. I challenge you to start doing whatever it takes to be the Christian you were called to be, living in light of the end being so near!