rejoice

The Gospel is for Christian Sinners, Too

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ 2 Comments

Has this question ever crossed your mind? “Even when I’m disobedient, does God love me anyway?”

This question has been on my mind lately. I sin everyday, in word, attitude and deed. I’m basically a selfish person. I don’t put others first, I put me first. I don’t love God with all my mind, heart, soul and strength. I’m a cynic at heart. The glass is always half empty for me. And, horror of horrors, there’s more unbelief in me than trust and faith in my Savior.

So how can God love me anyway?

A lot of Christians, including pastors, would admonish me to get on with disciplining my life so I can be more obedient. They’d give me a book or a class or a set of disciplines to incorporate into my life.

That’s all well and good, but those remedies don’t address what’s at the core in my understanding of the gospel.

Remember, the gospel changes everything.

So how does it change me here?

No believer in Jesus is dead in sin anymore. Why? Because Jesus took his sin on himself and died for it on the cross.

No believer continues in sin in that way anymore. He died to sin (Romans 6) and he has been resurrected in Christ.

Believers continue to sin (Romans 7) but they are no longer dead in sin.

That’s a huge difference!

So the answer to the question, “Does God continue to love me when I sin?” is a resounding YES!

Because God sees his Son having died to those sins.

That truth will set you free to love God more, be more holy, and go out and tell people what a wonderful God you serve.

Without the gospel informing us everyday, we allow the devil to condemn us and make us miserable. Our health of mind and heart is in what Christ did for us in his life and death to make us complete and perfect in God’s sight. That’s who we are.

Talk to me.

Not Your Dream Job

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ Leave a comment

Even if God never gives you your dream job, he has given you everything.

Even if you never have the opportunity to use your considerable gifts, he has given you everything.

Even if you do use your gifts and the job is falling short of expectations, he has given you everything. Your marriage, your kids, your parents. They could be nothing but trouble, but God has given you everything.

Even if what you want for your life doesn’t match reality, he has given you everything.

What’s the everything? Christ!

By giving you Christ to suffer and make satisfaction for your sins, God the Father has poured out his heart of love for you.  IMG_4214

You need to see that what your heart longs for is found in Christ. You long for a father who notices you, who is kind and loving, who adores you. God the Father does!

In Christ, the Father has scooped you up and brought you into his arms and showers you with kisses. He has called for the caterers so he can throw you a party.

You are no longer an orphan in the universe. You belong to the God of the universe who happens to be your Father.

Coram Deo.

We live everyday in the face of such love.

Talk to me.

Ode to Joy

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ 5 Comments

I find joy to be something I long for and never quite grasp. It’s like running after a kite in the wind. I’m much more comfortable with gloom, that settled state of mind of pessimism and cynicism, with that I am well acquainted.

Joy, on the other hand, is something I know I don’t have. It’s required of the Christian and therefore I sin at it. I certainly don’t have it inside me. So where is it?

Like in everything else, it’s found in God. He owns it and it’s his to give out.

God is happy with himself, his Son and his Spirit. Theirs is a fellowship of joy. It’s pure. It’s unadulterated. And they’re eager to share it.

Can you and I be joyful in a fallen world? Yes. FullSizeRender (33)

Joy looks like Sarah’s laughter, Paul’s contentment in prison, and it ends in the book of Revelation where we can say with certainty, “And they lived happily ever after.”

Joy starts in confessing we don’t have it. Then we need to ask for it. It’s an essential ingredient for living.

It’s for our peace of mind and our witness to the world. It makes God look good to our unbelieving neighbor.

By presenting God as the source and giver of our joy, who knows we might provoke the people in our lives to want God, too.

Lack of joy dishonors God.

Think about it. He died for you in order to bring you to God. He wraps you in his righteousness, he cares for you, protects you, leads you into maturity and then takes you home. Oh, and did I mention all your sins are forgiven you?

Knowing all this, how can we walk around gloomy and broody? It’s disgraceful.

So what are you and I going to do to show off God’s joy today?

Talk to me.

 

 

Sprinkle the Conffetti

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ Leave a comment

Christians are not good people while unconverted sinners are bad people.

The only difference between the two groups is that Christians have their sins forgiven.

Jesus did not come to save respectable sinners.  He came for the despicable, the marginalized, the unlovely.

You and me.

There are no good people in this world.

We’re all bad people in need of rescuing.

No matter how polished and well put together on the outside, our sinful DNA is showing.

In Matthew 9 we are introduced to Matthew, the tax collector. A hated and despised man because his presence reminded the Jews they were living in occupied territory. He worked for the Roman government. He also worked for himself – extorting, bullying, and wheedling. He lined his own pockets with the taxes from his own people. He was the kind of sinner Jesus came for. And when Jesus called him, Matthew threw a party in response. IMG_4788

Why did Jesus go and enjoy the party? He could have walked on and met other people who needed him.

It was because Jesus’s coming to earth changed the times they were in.

The Old Testament was a time of waiting for Messiah.

The New Testament was a time of celebration, joy and freedom because Messiah had arrived as promised and he was going to set them free from their sins.

Like Matthew, Jesus changes our glumness to joy.

Matthew was happy. He was a new man. And he volunteered to repay all monies he had taken from his own people.

Jesus wants us to live in rapture that he took our sins on the cross and then we were raised in his resurrection.

Jesus’s preaching had an emphasis of celebration.

Think about the many parties Jesus went to in his lifetime.

Then reflect on the lavish party we’re going to have in heaven at the end our lives.

Are you savoring the party to come?

Is your life a celebration of sins forgiven, and a restored relationship with your heavenly Father?

Are you setting tonight’s dinner table with celebration?

Talk to me.

 

 

You’re Perfect

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ 9 Comments

If you are in Christ, you are loved, washed and cleaned up.

You walk around in the perfection of Jesus.

Since he never sinned, neither have you!

Not only that, God sees you as never having had a sin nature!

Meditate on that for a while.  photo (90)

Even in your worst moments when your life is in chaos, and all you know is failure and weakness, you are still in Christ and perfect!

Where you fail, he has obeyed perfectly for you.

Where you sin, he has paid for it on the cross.

When you are embarrassed and feeling ashamed, he has succeeded for you.

Barbara Duguid writes in her book, Extravagant Grace, “That means you are free to struggle and fail; you are free to grow slowly; you are free at times not to grow at all; you are free to cast yourself on the mercy of God for a lifetime.”

While obedience makes God happy, loving and delighting in Jesus, who has given you his perfect record even in the middle of your messy life, makes him happier.

Duguid goes on to say, “Repeated failure does not mean you are unsaved or that God is tired of you and disappointed. It does mean he has called you to a difficult struggle and that he will hold on to you in all your standing and falling and bring you safely home.”

Wow!

That’s breathtaking.

Take that with you this weekend.

And the rest of your life.

Talk to me.

messychristians@gmail.com

 

 

Jesus Is A Happy Man

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ Leave a comment

Do you know that Christ is happy in his exalted state in heaven?

Every day, if that is how time is measured in heaven, he looks around and sees the results of his death on the cross for his people.

First, he sees the conversion and the salvation of sinners.

Second, he looks over the amazing expanse of heaven and sees it populated with the people he died and shed his blood for.

Third, he looks down on our world and sees so many coming into faith, taking baby steps in grace, others advancing in their faith, and still others strong as warriors in their faith, and this brings pleasure to his soul.

Fourth, he sees those arriving in heaven, having finished the race, and he rejoices!

Jesus is fully satisfied with his own sacrifice!

And if he’s satisfied, so is God the Father, and the Holy Spirit.

They rejoice together!

There is joy in heaven over you!