Can anyone else believe that we’re already halfway through the year? I know a few procrastinators, I don’t usually think I’m one of them, but looking at the calendar has me feeling like I should be the poster girl for what procrastination looks like. Anyone else? Sure, we’ve celebrated a few accomplishments that we were shooting for, but looking at the list, I feel so far behind. I’ve been working on reading the Bible in a year for the last 2 years… Falling behind in January only to find that it’s June, and then chasing a toddler who decides the porch is an ideal place to poop. I’m not making this up.
Isn’t that how we typically look at things? We see our accomplishments, but we focus on our failings. We zero in on them to the point that we lose the joy and excitement of overcoming. In some ways, we should take stock and enforce additional self-discipline, but we shouldn’t get stuck in the self-condemnation and self-loathing.
We had minor setbacks with potty-training (pooping on the porch and then being terrified to poop at all), but we’ve overcome, and the toddler is potty-trained. We experienced financial setbacks over the course of 2 years due to little work, poor choices (scams are scams), and bonus mouths to feed, but we’ve paid some things completely off and have started saving again. We’re not where we wanted to be, but we’re in a better place than we were in January.
Whenever I start in on myself for the many ways that I fall short and fail, I run the risk of losing sight of what Jesus did for me. I start focusing on where I’m not instead of where I am. I stop seeing who He made me to be and only see a slightly cleaned up version of who I used to be. I wrote about this topic, this zeroing in on our failures, in Apples to Apples, but it is still sitting so heavily on me that I felt the need to hit it again. Maybe I’m just a bit hard-headed – you don’t have to agree with that so quickly.
How many have heard I’m not perfect, just forgiven? How many get caught up in the I’m not perfect part? And when did being forgiven become ordinary to the point of boring and overlooked? Accepting God’s forgiveness – something that already happened, we just need to accept His gift of grace through faith – is huge and brings with it power.
I grew up hearing about miraculous healings, the dead being raised, walking on water, and food being multiplied, but I never experienced it. That was for the early church, but not for us today. It was God’s will back then, but now we’re in a guessing game.
“The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:16-18 NASB
Jesus was referring to all who would believe. Not just the ones we read about in scripture. Jesus even prayed for all who would come to believe, not just for Himself and His disciples (John 17), but for all who would believe. So why aren’t more Christians casting out demons, speaking in new tongues, treading on the enemy, walking in divine health, and healing the sick?
I have a theory…
We’ve become accustomed to a list of how to instead of seeing that He did.
We get a 5-point list of how to be a good Christian, but they all place a focus on us, don’t they? Near the top of the list is reading the Bible, which is a good thing, right? I’m working my way through the Bible (year 2, remember?) with all the good intentions so that I can know my God and that others will know Him through me… but not a single person we read about in the Bible actually read the Bible. But they were very familiar with the Holy Spirit.
We just celebrated Pentecost (the fiftieth day after the Passover – check out Acts 2), so the subject of the Holy Spirit has been prevalent. Jesus told his disciples that they would be filled with power (Acts 1:8, and Luke 24:49), and in Mark 16, we’re told that Holy-Spirit-power is for all who believe.
I should tell you that I occasionally hear a 5-point message at church, and I have always walked away with something of value. I don’t want anyone to assume I’m saying something that I’m not actually saying. What I am saying is that we have a tendency to take hold of those 5-point messages and try to walk them out in our flesh. We attach loads of self-discipline and then we see further proof of the I’m not perfect. It was never our self-discipline or self-effort that was to save us or keep us saved.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want. Galatians 5:16-17 NASB
The Holy Spirit keeps us from straying, not our self-effort. The Holy Spirit produces the fruit, not us. Those 5-point messages will lead to a life of defeat and self-loathing, but the Holy Spirit will lead to a life of victory and power.
I’m going to camp here for a little while – as the Spirit leads. Next week will be a bit more on the Holy Spirit, and I hope you’ll tune in. Until then, I want to leave you with 5 main points. These, if you take time to focus and ruminate on them, will steer you in the right direction:
- God is so, so very good and has good for you (Psalm 143:10 and Jeremiah 29:11)
- You are the object of His affection (Psalm 139 and John 3:16)
- He forgave and chose to forget your sins (Psalm 103:12 and Jeremiah 31:34)
- You’re saved by grace through faith – not by what you do, but what He did (Ephesians 2:8-9 and Romans 3:23)
- You are a child of God (John 1:12-13 and Galatians 3:26, 4:6-7)