There is a condition for us Christians that I think needs to be brought to light. It is called “Will worship". Let me explain what I mean. A writer by the name of Heini Arnold once wrote, "As long as we think we can save ourselves by our own will power, we will only make the evil in us stronger than ever.". Another writer named Emmet Fox said, " As soon as you resist mentally any undesirable or unwanted circumstances, you thereby endow it with more power~power which it will use against you and you will have depleted your own resources to that exact extent."
You maybe a little confused at this point, let me expound what I'm getting at. Paul writes about this epidemic in Colossians 2:20-23. He is talking about handling sin on our own. He asks why we submit to regulations of the world, “do not handle, do not taste, do not touch.". Verse 23 he says these things have an appearance of wisdom for self made religion...but they are of no value in stopping the indulgences of the flesh.
Friends, in short, we will never be able to beat sin of our own accord. Sure we can say things like “I’m not going to do this or that at this time or that," but do you here the crux of that sentence, “I’m not going to...".
What Paul is talking about in this passage is will worship, what my will power can do and he says your will power can't. Your will power will never be able to handle sin, fight it off in the way that is needed. Will power will never succeed in dealing with the deeply ingrained habits of sin. However sometimes we make some head way and maybe stop a habit that has plagued us for a while. Now I'm not saying that doesn't happen and it is great when it does but is it really us doing the work? The moment we feel we can succeed or attain victory solely on our own will power, we begin to worship our will. Isn't it ironic that Paul looked at our best effort in the fight against sin and called it idolatry?
I knew a man who struggled with alcohol for years. Finally he stopped and started to get his life back on track, got into a program and everything. Six months later he went in to a bar for just one drink. Eight hours later he left right back where he started six months earlier.
Richard Foster said, “Our ordinary method of dealing with ingrained sin is a frontal attack. We rely on our willpower and determination. Whatever the issue for us is ~ anger, bitterness, gluttony, pride, sexual lust, alcohol, fear, we determine never to do it again; we fight against it, set our will against it. But it is all in vain and we find ourselves morally bankrupt or worse yet so proud of our external righteousness that "whitened sepulchers," is a mild description of our condition."
So what do we do it all seems hopeless, well on our own it is. Sin is in our nature so to not sin is literally going against our nature. But Jesus defeated sin on the cross, with his death sin died. When we face a situation we know temptation is going to come and sin will follow or for times that we are caught off guard, pray. The bible says that God will never give us more than we can handle but that with his help. So pray, say God help me out of this, I rely solely on the work that Christ already did on my behalf. God will give you want you need, whether it's a way out or strength or whatever. Paul also said in Corinthians to flee sin, so if that seems good to you do it with God's help.
I encourage you DO NOT rely on your own strength or will. Don't worship your own power because clearly Paul says we have none. When we stop trying to do it ourselves, we are open to a wonderful new realization: inner righteousness is a gift from God to be graciously received. The needed change within us is Gods work, not ours. The demand is for an inside job and only God can work from the inside. We cannot attain or earn this righteousness; it is a grace that is given.
Rely on God's power and worship the Savior.
May our LORD be with you
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
The Bread
I'm sure we can all think of a holiday we look forward too. Seeing family we don't normally see or eating food that we don't normally eat, it hold a special place in our hearts. For me it has to be Christmas Eve. My family on my mom's side gets together at my Grandmother's house. It's nice to see my uncle and aunt whom I don't get to see very often but I think the real reason we all gather on that night is the two pounds of shrimp that my grandma makes. She has this stainless steel bowl that is as big as a cauldron, it's huge. Every year it's filled to the top with those yummy crustaceans. She puts a bowl of melted butter at my place so I can peel them, plop them in there and let the butter do it's thing. It's delicious!! I'm drooling just thinking about it. I look forward to it every year.
In Jesus' time the holiday that everyone looked forward too was Passover. It was a celebration with special foods, games and storytelling. The host of the meal sets up a tray with bitter herbs, a lamb bone, salt water, an egg and a yummy nutty apple mix, all symbolizing a part of the story of how God rescued the Jews out of slavery in Egypt. The children play a game where they take three pieces of matzo, put them all in a napkin, with the middle one broken. One of the parents will hide the middle piece somewhere in the house and all the children go and find it. The youngest child is suppose to ask at a certain time, "What's so special about this night?" This is a lead in for the host to tell the story of the Passover. Passover was the celebration of the final plague in Egypt. God told Moses that the first born child of every family would be taken unless their was lamb's blood smeared of the door posts of the house. If the blood was their the LORD would passover that house. An animal was sacrificed, blood had to be split, a life of one had to be taken in order to save the lives of many. This was the beginning of their sacrificial system. It was every Jew's favorite holiday.
This particular night in Luke 22 was a Passover meal. The disciples were very anxious and excited. They knew something big was about to happen and now they get to celebrate Passover together. Jesus being the master of the group led the meal. They went through the different cups, He told the story with the different symbols, it's was probably a really nice time.
Then toward the end of the celebration Jesus shifts gears. He has told the story of how God rescued His people out of Egypt, which is usually the end of it but it seemed like Jesus had more to say. As if being rescued from Egypt was not the end, there was something else. Jesus takes a piece of bread and gave thanks for it, then He ripped it apart and gave each of the disciples. He said, this is my body, which is broken for you, do this is remembrance of me. They would have immediately known what he was talking about. Jesus was saying I am now the sacrifice that will bring peace. This was the beginning of a new era, Jesus was taking something old and gave it a new meaning. The Last Supper is the completion of Passover because Jesus is the completion of God's plan, the final sacrifice for all men.
In my old church the communion table has the words carved into it, "Do this in remembrance of me". These words of Jesus mean not just to remember but to take yourself back and relive this event. Every time I see a jumbo shrimp I am transported to Christmas' past. That is what this means, when we partake of this meal we are to be transported back to remember the cross, the sacrifice that Christ made for us. How odd it is that we Christians need a reminder by this simple meal of the sacrifice that Jesus made through his broken body and blood. This bread symbolizes, reminds us that God Himself allowed his body to be ripped to pieces and his blood to be spilt for our freedom. When we partake in this Supper, remember what Christ did for you, through His love. He paid your ransom, so that you could be freed from sin. Through his broken body we have healing and peace.
May our LORD be with you
In Jesus' time the holiday that everyone looked forward too was Passover. It was a celebration with special foods, games and storytelling. The host of the meal sets up a tray with bitter herbs, a lamb bone, salt water, an egg and a yummy nutty apple mix, all symbolizing a part of the story of how God rescued the Jews out of slavery in Egypt. The children play a game where they take three pieces of matzo, put them all in a napkin, with the middle one broken. One of the parents will hide the middle piece somewhere in the house and all the children go and find it. The youngest child is suppose to ask at a certain time, "What's so special about this night?" This is a lead in for the host to tell the story of the Passover. Passover was the celebration of the final plague in Egypt. God told Moses that the first born child of every family would be taken unless their was lamb's blood smeared of the door posts of the house. If the blood was their the LORD would passover that house. An animal was sacrificed, blood had to be split, a life of one had to be taken in order to save the lives of many. This was the beginning of their sacrificial system. It was every Jew's favorite holiday.
This particular night in Luke 22 was a Passover meal. The disciples were very anxious and excited. They knew something big was about to happen and now they get to celebrate Passover together. Jesus being the master of the group led the meal. They went through the different cups, He told the story with the different symbols, it's was probably a really nice time.
Then toward the end of the celebration Jesus shifts gears. He has told the story of how God rescued His people out of Egypt, which is usually the end of it but it seemed like Jesus had more to say. As if being rescued from Egypt was not the end, there was something else. Jesus takes a piece of bread and gave thanks for it, then He ripped it apart and gave each of the disciples. He said, this is my body, which is broken for you, do this is remembrance of me. They would have immediately known what he was talking about. Jesus was saying I am now the sacrifice that will bring peace. This was the beginning of a new era, Jesus was taking something old and gave it a new meaning. The Last Supper is the completion of Passover because Jesus is the completion of God's plan, the final sacrifice for all men.
In my old church the communion table has the words carved into it, "Do this in remembrance of me". These words of Jesus mean not just to remember but to take yourself back and relive this event. Every time I see a jumbo shrimp I am transported to Christmas' past. That is what this means, when we partake of this meal we are to be transported back to remember the cross, the sacrifice that Christ made for us. How odd it is that we Christians need a reminder by this simple meal of the sacrifice that Jesus made through his broken body and blood. This bread symbolizes, reminds us that God Himself allowed his body to be ripped to pieces and his blood to be spilt for our freedom. When we partake in this Supper, remember what Christ did for you, through His love. He paid your ransom, so that you could be freed from sin. Through his broken body we have healing and peace.
May our LORD be with you
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