Theology of a Child

I love to hear children talk about God. A friend recently told me the sweetest story. Her son Lewis, (I think he is 6) told his mother that he knows what God looks like. He said that God is REALLY big, and He is full of light, shining everywhere, and He has red hearts ALL over Him. He takes a red heart off and reaches out to a person, takes the persons black, sick heart and gives him the new, red heart in exchange.

Wow, what a great concept. What great insight, and very Biblical. Don’t you love the simple theology of children.

This reminds me of one of my favorite childhood stories of our daughters. When Katy was 3 and 4, she listened well to her Sunday School lessons and would often tell us the stories. One day, I asked her what the lesson was that morning. She said that the story was about George and the Gypsies. I did not remember a story about Gypsies, or even a George in the Bible, so I asked her about it. She said that George’s father made him a beautiful coat with a lot of colors. His brothers were jealous and sold him to the Gypsies.

Well, sometimes kids don’t get it right, but it is still fun.

Winning the Battle

I am so grateful that Paul did not end his letter when he finished Romans chapter 7. Even though it ends on a high note, it leaves a lot of questions. After reading the long discussion about his struggles, I am always excited when he gets to the end and says, “Thank God for Jesus.” (well, that is the gist of it)  But I almost am left thinking, “But Paul, I’m still struggling. I get it that I can’t do it on my own, but do I just sit and wait for Jesus to deliver me?” Pretty sure that is not what Paul means. Then, I go to the next chapter, which is FULL of practical tips on how to live a life of victory. Here are just a few things that I see in this wonderful chapter.

1. Do not live under condemnation

Romans 8:1 “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”

I believe that the biggest hindrance to living in victory is condemnation. Guilt will rob you of joy and confidence. If you belong to Christ, you have given your life to Him, you are not condemned. When you do something that is disobedient to God, you realize it, you feel bad about it, you should be genuinely sorry;  but you confess it and accept His complete forgiveness. When you feel guilty, you just want to hide. You walk with down and your relationship is damaged. You are powerless to make healthy changes.

2. Gain control of your thoughts

Romans 8:5-6 “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the SPIRIT have their minds set on what the SPIRIT desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the SPIRIT is life and peace.”

When we set our mind on anything, we dwell on it, think about it all the time. I might think about eating an Oreo…and I keep thinking about how the Oreo is sweet and delicious, the wafers are crisp and chocolaty, the inside is creamy and sweet. That is setting my mind on the Oreo. BUT, maybe I decide I WILL NOT eat the Oreo. I consider that the Oreo is not good for me, it is full of sugar and preservatives, it will make me gain weight, the chocolate will get all over my teeth…I am still setting my mind on the Oreo.

Dreaming about committing a sin brings mental and spiritual death. Dwelling on NOT committing that sin also brings mental and spiritual death. Instead, determine to think about things of God; verses you know, the things that God is doing, what God is speaking to you or asking you to do.

3. Let God take control and follow Him

Rom 8:9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)                                                                            Rom 8:12-14 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

You do not HAVE to do what the flesh wants to do. You choose. God wants to help you. Let him lead you. Make a commitment to just obey.

4. Cry out to God when you are in trouble

Rom 8:15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father."

Abba is the Greek name that we would use “Daddy”! That is the first cry of a child in trouble. The almighty God is ready to come when we cry out, and He wants us to call Him “Daddy”.  When tempted, cry out.

5. Believe that God has plans for you

Rom 8:28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

You may have a lot of bad choices in your past. You may have a lot of hurts in your past. And you may have consequences that are painful. But, God still has a plan, and he will use all of those things to work together for your good.

6. Be confident that God is FOR you

Rom 8:31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?

God, God who created the universe with his voice, God who controls the oceans. God who put the stars in the sky. God is FOR you.

7. Believe that God loves you

Rom 8:35-39 Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God loves you all the time. He never stops loving you. Even on your worst days, he still loves you. 

A Losing Battle?

“ I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate.  But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree with what is good…So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.  And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can't. I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.  But if I do what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.  I love God's law with all my heart.  But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?”

How many times have we all had those thoughts, and often wondered, “How can I be a real Christian and struggle like this? Am I the only one who does this?”

You probably recognize that paragraph as the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 7. The Apostle Paul battled with sin. Wow. Possibly the greatest follower of Jesus who ever lived. He evangelized much of the Middle East and Europe. He wrote 14 letters which are books of the Bible…and he battled with sin.

The strain of trying to do things in your own power is exhausting, and that is what Paul is talking about in Romans 7. This chapter is about the defeated life. We have all been there. The defeated life is exhausting . And, there is a huge emotional cost we pay when we live there. A few of the emotions we deal with are;

Confusion.

Verse 15, “ I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate.” Did you notice the number of times Paul used “I” in that verse, 6 times. I…I..I.  Paul had to learn, as we all do, that “I” can’t live a victorious life. 

Paul did not have all the answers, so it is ok if we don’t. Sometimes we just don’t understand why we do the things we do. Struggling to do what you can with your own will power causes confusion.

Guilt and shame

“I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience proves that I agree with these laws I am breaking.” Vs. 16

Paul said he knew what he was doing was wrong, so he had a bad conscience. You know what you are doing is wrong. I know I shouldn’t eat this, say this, look at this, do this, use this, go there…but I do it anyway. That causes a problem with your conscience, which causes you to have guilt and shame.

Compulsions and Addictions.

A compulsion is a habit that you do so often that it gets out of control. You do something so much that you can’t NOT do it.

“But I can't help myself because I'm no longer doing it. It is sin inside me that is stronger than I am, that makes me do these evil things.” Vs. 17

Paul is not making excuses, he is just stating the fact. We have a natural inclination not to do the right thing, but to do the easy thing, the comfortable, the popular, the quick.

We start the day saying, “Today is going to be different. I am not going to do… or today, I am going to…” but, at the end of the day, we find that today is just like yesterday, another failure. So then, we end up with:

Self condemnation.

“I know I am rotten inside as far as my old sinful nature is concerned.” Vs. 18a Paul is condemning himself. There is a difference in confessing your sin or your problem, which is healthy, and judging and condemning yourself. Some of you are really good at this. Because you still have the same struggles, you begin to condemn yourself. “I am no good.” “I am hopeless.”

Frustration.

“No matter which way I turn I can't make myself do right. I want to but I can't! When I want to do good, I don't; and when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway! Now if I am doing what I don't want to, it is plain where the trouble is: sin still has me in its evil grasp.” Vs. 18b-20

The law of sin pulls you down. Like gravity pulls you down.What if I decided to fly, I could flap my arms all day and never fly because the law of gravity is stronger than my arms. Same as trying to change by will power. I decide to change and I try to change and I may do it for a while, but eventually I am going to fail. Just as the law of gravity is stronger than my arms, the law of sin is stronger than my will power. This lack of victory causes frustration, which leads to discouragement.

Discouragement and despair.

“It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong…In my mind I want to be God's willing servant, but instead I find myself still enslaved to sin.” Vs. 21 +23

Paul is desperate. He has been fighting and fighting and losing. Finally he says, I GIVE UP. I can’t do this. That is when we get to the answer.

“Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? Thank God! The answer is through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Rom. 7:24-25

Paul said “WHO” because the answer is not a thing, but who. The answer is not a program, a book, a method…the answer is Jesus.

Surprise! Meals!

I just read my daughter’s blog about meal planning (http://cherrycokecruising.com/.  She gave detailed steps to careful planning for 2. I realized that weekly meal planning is long gone in my life. When I was a stay at home mom raising 4 children planning meals, making careful shopping lists, and clipping coupons were all important duties.

Now, my life is just not quite so organized. As the Women’s Minister, I host various dinners, showers, brunches, and lunches very often. So, I have leftovers which we eat for a while, then I recycle some into new dishes, and freeze some to use later. (sometimes I remember to label the things I freeze, sometimes I don’t).

And, I also lead Celebrate Recovery. We serve snacks every week, a meal once a month, and regular special occasion dinners. So, the word around the church is, when there are leftovers from any event, “Give it to Jeannette. C.R. will use it.” So, my freezer is full of strange food items all the time. In fact, after reading Katy’s blog, I found some unidentified meat in my freezer. I plan to cook it and find out what it is! I need to go look for recipes now!

ZIP LINE

It has been a busy summer!

Our trip to Costa Rica was wonderful. The highlight of the trip was the zip line. Flying through the trees a hundred feet in the air, looking over beautiful green valleys and mountains was exhilarating and exciting.  We have not always been “thrill seekers”.  We want this stage of our life to be the best.

A couple of years ago, my husband was contemplating the first miracle of Jesus, found in John

Jesus was at a wedding feast when the couple ran out of wine. Jesus commanded that the servants fill pots with water, which He turned into wine. The wedding host tasted the new wine and said  "Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now."
Les felt that God was speaking to him, that although the world thinks  that the best time of life is youth, that God is saving the best for last, that our best times are still ahead of us.

That has sort of been our motto since that time. In the last few years, we hike more than ever, we canoe when we can, we travel more, we make time with friends a priority, we sit on the front porch a lot, we try new things,  and, given the opportunity we zip line!