Posts
My blog has moved to:
Hope to see you there for more recent posts!
I recently wrote a letter to all my children. It is a very personal pouring out of my heart. I finally decided to post it on my blog because I thought it may help others consider their own walk with God and how we communicate it by words and actions to our children. Please read with an open heart.
To My Dear Children:
I had an experience this morning during my quiet time that I cannot be silent about. Call it menopause =) or Mom being dramatic if you want to, but I'm telling you it was the most real and powerful thing that has happened to me in a long time. It was not the realization of a deep hidden truth but something I have heard and known all of my life. So you will probably finish this letter with a confused look on your face trying to figure out why this was so profound for me. It will be impossible for me to fully convey because it was solely the work of the Holy Spirit in me.
I am reading a devotional that is excerpts of Charles Finney's writings (great man of God). (I am almost done with dad's Psalms book, by the way. Also a great man of God and a great book! =) ). Again, it was nothing new. But the Holy Spirit used Finney's words to help me fully experience faith like I never have before, that is, faith in the power of the shed blood of Jesus over sin. This has always been a little vague to me and now I know why. I guess you could say that I had a mathematical understanding of my salvation - My Sin + Jesus blood = Atonement. As a child this is all that I was able to understand. But faith, when applied to Jesus blood covering our sins, is not an equation to be understood but a truth to be lived out. If the shed blood of Jesus is not affecting the way I live moment by moment, living in a way that SHOWS that I believe in the power of the blood over my sin then I only have a knowing faith, not a living faith!!
I am a visual learner; God knows that. I love it when he lovingly gives me a visual picture in my mind to help me understand something. So here's what came to mind: If someone gives you a piece of fruit, it is yours, it is in your hand. You say "this is my fruit; she gave it to me." But until you eat it, your ownership of it is only a known fact and a visual fact because I see you holding it. It does not give you life and nourishment until you eat it. It then becomes a part of who you are. It gives you strength for the day. This is how I feel about my faith in the power of the blood of Jesus over my sin. I have always known it, claimed ownership of it but now it is a part of who I am, my life blood. It gives me the strength to say "No" to a critical spirit, negativism, discouragement, depression and satan's lies that i will never measure up to the abundant life God intends for me to enjoy.
For so long I have concentrated on particular sins in my life (you know full well what most of them are) and tried to resolve not to continue committing the same sin and prayed and asked God to help me overcome it, only to find myself doing it again. This has been a terribly frustrating way for me to live the christian life (sound familiar? it is comforting to know that Paul struggled with the same thing isn't it?).
Read Romans 7:14-25
Here's what Finney says about the battle against sin:
"We may suppress this or that expression or manifestation of selfishness by resolving not to do this or that, and praying and struggling against it. We may resolve upon an outward obedience, and work ourselves up to the letter of an obedience to god's commandments. But to eradicate selfishness from the heart by resolution is an absurdity. Should we cloister ourselves away in a cell and crucify all our desires, so far as their indulgence is concerned, we have only avoided certain forms of sin; but the root that really constitutes sin is not touched. All our battling with sin and desires in the outward life, by the force of resolution, only ends in making us whited sepulchers and delusional, for we cannot love God with all our heart in this manner."
"The biblical doctrine is that Christ saves His people from sin through faith; that Christ's Spirit is received by faith to dwell in the heart. It is faith that works by love. Love is wrought and sustained by faith. By faith believers overcome the world the flesh, and the devil; quench the fiery darts of the enemy; and keep the flesh and carnal desires subdued. By faith we fight the good fight, not by resolution."
Charles Finney
In Genesis 4:7 it is interesting to read how God speaking to Cain says "sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it." (as we know he failed to master it and it instead mastered him to the point of murder) This would indicate that sin is something that CAN be mastered and that it is by my choice to keep the door of temptation to sin closed that I will master it. It is at this point, when my hand is on the "doorknob" that I must claim by faith, the power of the blood of Jesus in my life!!! No matter how small the sin may seem or how I justify it, Jesus shed His precious blood for it!! Really? How can I possibly open the door???
It has been a few days since I started this letter. I cannot tell you how powerful and liberating this has been for me! If I thought long enough of my age and how long it has taken me to let the power of this most amazing truth flood over me like it has in the past few days, I would weep bitter tears. Here's the biggest heartbreak: I have always called my home my mission field. If I had understood this years ago while you were still wearing size 4 shoes, and still reaching for the bathroom faucet on your tip toes I would have squatted down and gazed into your sweet innocent faces and explained it over and over and over again! ......But I didn't. I would have been careful to live it in front of you consistently...... but I didn't. Instead I was gripped with anger, resentment and selfishness. Please, please forgive me for not being a better example!!
Here's the big question. Are we going to live the crucified life or not? How long are we going to use phrases like "Well, nobody's perfect!" or "I'm only human!". Satan must love to hear God's children talk like this. It excuses our sin! It is no wonder that the lost are not drawn to Jesus by the lives we are living because most Christians are content with their sin, making excuses for it and not living the victorious life the blood of Jesus bought for us!!
I want to challenge you to do something. As a family I would like for us to memorize Romans chapter 6. It is simple, bold and plain truth for the christian life. There is nothing deep or hidden about it. Of all the passages in the Bible, this has got to be the one that makes satan tuck his tail and run!! It is the muscle, the metabolism, the heartbeat of all of scripture. Let's take time away from the searching of the "deeper hidden truths" of the Bible and start living out the one that slaps us in the face the most!
I expect that satan will be working overtime on me and sin will be "crouching at the door" a lot. So please pray for me because when I slip, satan will be right there breathing his lies to me: "Stand by your rights" or "Your efforts are worthless , quit trying!". I need a lot of encouragement and prayer!! Pray that I will have the strength to say "No! I am a born again, blood washed believer in Jesus. Sin is no longer master over me!"
Because I love You!!!!
Mama
