The toothpaste sneeze

Have you ever sneezed while brushing your teeth?

Stop for a minute. Close your eyes. Let this picture play across your mind.

It’s like snow globe exploded.

Go ahead and laugh. It’s OK. I have allergies, and mornings are a virtual snot-fest. It’s gross, but it’s my reality. Until the allergy medicine kicks in, there is no telling when I am going to sneeze. This morning, it was while I was brushing my teeth. At least now the bathroom is clean.

Living with a sin nature feels a lot like living with allergies. I would never choose to sneeze while brushing my teeth, and yet there was the toothpaste sprayed all over the mirror. When I am thinking rationally, I don’t choose to sin. And yet, all too often the results of sin are sprayed across my life.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. Romans 7:15

Like Paul, sometimes I just don’t understand what I do, or what I think, or what comes out of my mouth. Like Paul, “I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” Fortunately, Paul doesn’t leave us scratching our heads, without any help in sight. He reminds us whose we are.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2

He also gives us the key to living a life that is free from slavery to sin and instead lives in love with our Abba, Father, our loving and perfect Daddy.

Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:14-16

God does not abandon us to our sinfulness. He gives us his Holy Spirit to guide us, to help us make choices that align us with him, and to whisper in our ear the reminder of how precious we are to him. We are not left adrift, helpless to spew sin and its effects all over our lives like so much toothpaste propelled by a sneeze.

Go ahead and laugh at the image of my bathroom mirror. I did. God loves us and calls us his children. He loves us even when we sin. He helps us not to. Lean deep into his love, remember his delight in you, and go forward in freedom!

Fear God

The writer of Ecclesiastes begins his book by questioning the very point of life.  There is nothing new to discover, and all of life seems vain and temporary. He is very jaded. Twelve chapters later he tells us his conclusion; the only thing that lasts or has any real meaning is the fear or reverence of God and obedience to Him.  We would do well to listen.

“The conclusion, when all has been

heard, is; fear God, and

keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.”  Ecclesiastes 12:13

The fear of God is a rare commodity in our society.  Most people rarely think of God at all.  His name is used casually, as an expression of surprise or shock, or profanely, as an expression of anger or irritation.  Even among Christians, there is little reverence for the name of God.  One Christian leader routinely says “God bless America” to keep himself from swearing.  He doesn’t see this as profanity. 

I wonder if God would agree.  The Old Testament Jews certainly wouldn’t.  They held the name of God to be so sacred they would neither say it nor write it down.  Proverbs 9:10 reminds us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.  God Himself spends four chapters reminding Job of his position in comparison to God.  Job remembered to fear God! 

We do not fear God because we’ve forgotten or chosen to ignore the characteristics of God that are holy and righteous.  We choose to dwell on the characteristics of God’s nature that are love, that provide for us and give us peace.  We like to remember that God loved us so much that He died for us, but choose to forget that His death was necessary because in His very nature He cannot overlook or wink at sin. 

God has not changed.  He no more ignores sin now than when He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness or exiled Israel because of their unfaithfulness.  Ananias and Sapphira died because they lied to the Holy Spirit, and Herod was struck and eaten by worms for not giving God the glory that he was receiving. 

We have a wonderful intimacy with God because of the work of Christ on the cross.  Let’s not cheapen it by taking sin lightly, and forgetting God’s opinion of our sin.  Remember to fear and obey God, because He is God.

Father God, forgive us for taking You lightly.  Forgive our casualness with sin.  Help us to live with a right regard of You.  Help us to be holy, as You are holy.

Goodbye, for now...

One of my favorite people in this world lost her battle with cancer on Monday. She fought for a long time, and I am so grateful that she is pain-free and resting in the joy of Jesus today.

And yet my heart is broken.

My spirit is so offended by cancer, and by death. I have to believe that God is offended too. We were not created for death. We were created for life. Sickness and death are results of the sin that is part of our nature, and are the dominion of Satan. I can think of few things as evil as the cancer that took my friend. This evil is the reason Jesus came to earth, became one of us, and healed so many illnesses. This evil is the reason Jesus set aside his power and conquered death by participating in it.

Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your victory: O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I Corinthians 15:55-57

Thanks to Jesus, death is temporary. Thanks to Jesus, we have hope. Because of the willingness of Jesus to die, I will live, and I will spend eternity with my friend.

God so loved the world that whoever believes in him will not die, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

I read these words, the words I, and probably you, memorized as a small child, and I am comforted. I am so grateful to know that I will see my friend again, will feel the warmth of her smile and enjoy the feel of her arms around me. She and I together will know true fellowship with Jesus, and with others who have gone before us and are one with us in faith.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Cor. 1:3-4

Today, while my heart is hurting, I am choosing to allow God to comfort me. He has provided all I need for life, and I am choosing to rest in him, and I hope I can pass that comfort on to others who are hurting as well. My friend was well loved. She touched the lives of hundreds of the kids she taught, the people she taught with, her family and those of us who were privileged to call her friend. She was a gift to us. Now it's time for us to be the same for each other.

The Saddness of Sin

You and I have been friends forever, my whole adult life. We’ve had times when we didn’t get in touch for years, and then all of a sudden we were back in contact, and while we rarely agree our conversations were sweet, and frequently challenging!

Today my heart is grieved. Not just sad; broken.  You hurt someone I love. But more than that, you hurt yourself, over and over, by refusing to see your sin and by justifying in your own head all of your actions. This time, you admit that you had an error in judgment (how could you not?) but you still keep deflecting.

The thing is, your sin isn’t just about you.

It’s about the other person. Your sin hurts the person you involved in it. Yes, their participation is their fault, but it is also your fault.

It’s about the Body of Christ. We are all interconnected. When you sin, we all hurt.

It’s about the heart of God. He grieves as well. You are hurting one of the people he loves most (YOU!). He wants the best for you. You’re not cooperating. He wants healing for you, complete healing. It won’t be without scars, and it will take obedience and submission. Sacrifice. We hate those words. I hate those words. Healing doesn’t happen without them.

We all sin. It doesn’t surprise God when we sin; he is mindful that we are dust. He knows us way better than we know ourselves. So why is it such a big deal? Because when we refuse to deal with the sin in our lives we are participating in death, and we weren’t created for death. Until we deal with the sin in our lives, the big and little sin, we aren’t free to be all that God created us to be. We aren’t free to fully participate in relationship with God and with each other. God is recreating us in the image of his Son. There is no room for sin there. There is only room for right relationships.

We are all in process. None of us has arrived, and we all have blind spots. Yep, me too. You, too. I am praying for you, my friend. I hope you are praying for me. We need each other in the Body to encourage and support each other, to help with those blind spots, to confront our sin and to push us closer to God. I love you enough to extend grace, and to confront when I have to. Nobody likes confrontation. I hate it. But I love you more. And there is no joy greater than true repentance.

Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:1-2

God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Luke 18:13