The Excellent Life

Does it matter?

Does it matter if I cut that guy off while I'm driving?

Does it really matter if I snap at my brother?

Does it matter if I do not do my work with excellence?

Does it really matter if I don't act like Christ right at this instant?

Sometimes, I think people don't notice how I live.

I forget that God always sees how I live.

Sometimes I forget this truth:

The question here is not whether you are representing the gospel, it is how you are representing it.

I forget that my life proclaims Christ. Always. 

Because I am a Christian and Christ is my life.

This side of heaven, I will not do perfectly. I'll use harsh words. I'll lie. I'll dishonor my parents. And when this happens, my own sinfulness does not detract from the power of the gospel, it illustrates why we need it.

I need the grace of God.  I need a perfect substitute to stand in my place before the throne of God.  I need a sinless Savior.  I need the Gospel. 

Jonathan Edwards, in his list of Resolves (which, by the way, is a highly convicting read), states this as his eighteenth resolve: "Resolved, to live so at all times, as I think is best in my devout frames, and when I have clearest notions of things of the gospel, and another world." What he is saying is this: When I am most sure of who I am and who God is, when I have the clearest view of the Gospel and what that means, and I can see how I should live because of that truth, that is how I resolve to live.

I cannot live a life that honors God on my own. The Good News of the Gospel is that because of Christ, I can live the excellent life. A life that "proclaims the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light", a life that declares me a member of a "chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God's own possession".   [1 Peter 2:9]

Preaching to Myself

I haven't written in awhile.

I haven't wanted to write.

I've been struggling to feel that I've been learning or growing.  It seems odd to me that I can walk through a summer filled with lessons and things that I know God was doing in my life and still feel like I haven't taken many forward steps in my Christian life.

I sat at my desk the other night and struggled to grasp the purpose of sanctification. 

Why must being a Christian be so hard?

Why do I always fall back into the same sins?

Why try to get better if I always seem to be going backwards?

Why must I be sanctified anyways?

Part of me knows that I can answer these questions without too much thinking.

I'm called to suffer as Christ did.

I'm at war with my sin nature, returning to my old habits and patterns instead of living out who I am now - a new Creation in Christ.

My enemy is prowling like a lion, seeking to devour and ruin.

I am called to obedience, and holiness.

But it took me until this morning to reassert the truth that drives sanctification, that drives the desire for holiness, that drives the whole concept of Christianity.

God loves me.

He loves me. I am accepted by Him.  I have been chosen by Him. For THAT reason, I obey. Because of Christ, I can choose holiness. I can (and am) being sanctified.

I do not obey in order to be sanctified. My aimless struggling to "do good" or hopefully do enough good to be good enough for Christ…it's nonsense.  I don't have to be good enough for Christ. I will never be good enough for Christ.

But He has chosen me anyway. And He has set me FREE from sin and death and from this truth springs a hunger for sanctification. 

If I'm not desiring to be sanctified, I need to return to the Gospel, preaching to myself my own helplessness and sinfulness and hearing of the grace and mercy and endless love of Christ which will then initiate a desire to obey and be conformed into the image of the One who created me.

This is a four minute video (click below on the word G.O.S.P.E.L.) that we showed at camp twice a week - you can NEVER hear the Gospel preached too many times - and I thought I would share it with you, even as I remind myself of the good news of the Gospel.  May these sweet truths drive us to pursue a deeper relationship with our Creator.

G.O.S.P.E.L.

"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire." [2 Peter 1:3-4]

I'm Rubber...

"I'm rubber, you're glue, whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you."

This child's rhyme (insult?) was quoted in the sermon preached at my church on Sunday.  It's a simple saying, one that I recall using in my younger (and clearly less mature) days.  It's one of those things you throw at people when they're being mean and you don't want to hear it. 

Let them insult themselves when they call you names…

But I was thinking about this rhyme and sometimes, it seems as though this bouncing of words is what happens in my spiritual walk.

My mom was just commenting on this this past week as she was working through Proverbs.  "How are we supposed to remember and DO all these things?!" Sometimes, I feel that the lessons that I am learning sink in just enough to hit rubber and then go flying in another direction, leaving me stuck in a rut.  Am I really learning anything?  Where is there growth in my life?  Why on earth can't I remember what I read THIS MORNING?

It is hard to remember (and actively pursue) everything that I'm called to as a Christian: fleeing sin, running in righteousness, dying to self, living for Christ. 

I sometimes wonder if there's an answer to this problem.  And I think that's the issue that God was dealing with when He spoke to the Israelites after giving them the commandments.  Moses tells the people this (Deut. 6:4-9): “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets (forehead, or a band worn around the forehead) between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

I  have a feeling, that if the words of God's truth were really tied to my forehead, around every doorpost and window frame, were what I spoke of when I sat down, stood up, walked around and lay down…I wouldn't forget.

2 Peter 1 finds Peter telling the church that he will "always remind them of these things" (of how to grow in righteousness).

If I'm not growing, if I'm not learning, if I feel like I'm bouncing every lesson I've heard off me to the empty air around me…it begs the question: Where are my thoughts? Where are the reminders of what I'm learning?

Am I expecting to magically remember everything that I've studied?  Or do I post it in front of me?  Do I go back to it? 

It's work.  It takes effort. And struggle. It's a battle.  We aren't told to wear spiritual armor for nothing. 

I write this post as a reminder to myself.  Some days, I get tired of the struggle of reminding myself. I give in to the temptation to "do nothing", to "coast" in my spiritual walk.  It's easy to let days go by with striving to know Christ more.

Is this hard for you too? Do you struggle to seek Christ and to remind yourself of what He's been showing you?  Is it difficult to see that He's teaching you at all?

Press on with me, friends.  Christ is the highest and greatest Treasure.  May we fully know the joy of being in relationship with Him.

‎"The person who will not embrace the pain and frustration (of learning) will remain at lower levels of achievement and joy." - John Piper

Psalm 105:3-6: "Glory in his holy name;let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones!"

Thoughts on Vacation

When you go on vacation planning to accomplish things, that's just dumb.  Not much gets done on vacation. 

Dark Chocolate is favorite. Milk chocolate is more favorite.

When you cook and it's successful, it makes cooking far more fun then when your every cooking venture is a failure.

The things I have to be thankful for is an endless list.

Family gatherings without a family member present is hard and quite different.

The Family, minus one. 

I am blessed beyond belief to spend a week with my family, and to enjoy it.

Internet up in the mountains is spotty at best…and makes communication with the outside world a tad interesting.

Vacation is a really good time to read a book all the way through.  Okay, a good time to read several books all the way through.

Cookie dough is far better than the cookie.

Some traditions are worth being broken. Some are not. The decision to break one is often quite momentous.

Going to the same vacation spot that you have gone to for 21 years allows for much reminiscing.

Rainbows will always remind me of God's faithfulness.

A beautiful rainbow over Lake Harmony

Watching people learn how to sail is highly entertaining and a worthwhile investment of your time.

Relationships with others is worth it, despite difficulties, despite communication troubles, despite failures.  It's worth it.

The truth of God's Word is sure, even if we don't fully understand it.

Jumping off a waterfall into ice cold water is worth every cut, bruise and breath-taking moment.

Jumping off Hawk Falls - it's not as high as it looks...

 "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him.' " Lamentations 3:20-24

It's "See you Later"

4 years ago, I called into the local radio station and requested a song.  My sister was leaving for college. I knew she'd only be gone a year before I followed in her footsteps and joined her at school, but it was still hard to watch things change. Today, I play the same song, knowing that this time, I won't be following her lead. 

It's a good thing, this leaving.  She's heading off to do what she's dreamed of doing for years.  She's excited to go, excited to learn, and I'm excited to see what God does in her life. But that doesn't make tomorrow morning any easier.  

Saying goodbye at the airport, knowing that although she's certainly not leaving my life, that things aren't going to be the same...it's a hard change that I am learning to deal with.  Being sisters means that we'll always be connected, but sending her off to a foreign country is very different than sending her across the state.

Today I play this song, knowing that it can't really be answered, but relying on the peace of God to bring me through, and the confidence in Him as my helper to sustain us.

How to Say Goodbye

Tell me when the time we had slipped away

Tomorrow turned to yesterday

And I don't know how

Tell me what can stop this river of tears

It's been building up for years

For this moment now

Here I stand

Arms open wide

I've held ya close

Kept ya safe

Till you could fly

Tell me where the road ahead is gonna bend

And how to harness up the wind

And how to say goodbye

Tell me why

Why does following your dreams

Take you far away from me

And I knew that it would

Tell me how to fill the space you left behind

And how to laugh instead of cry

And how to say goodbye

Here I stand

Arms open wide

I've held ya close

Kept ya safe

Till you could fly

Tell me where the road ahead is gonna bend

And how to harness up the wind

And how to say goodbye.

As a dear friend recently told me, "I'm not saying goodbye.  It's 'see you later'."  And it is. But some days, even "see you later's" can be hard.

Me and my Grove City Grad 

["So we say confidently, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.'" Heb. 13:6]