Have you ever woke up and been unsure of how to pray? Maybe the pressures of the day are so overwhelming you don’t know where to begin. Or perhaps the troubles of this life have you so worn, that you lack the strength.
Archive for month: January, 2019
Sin is that ugly word that we like to image belongs to other people. It is often reserved for things like embezzlement, adultery, or murder. Things which we think are beyond our capabilities. Yet, this isn’t how God describes sin.
In his book “Respectable Sins,” Jerry Bridges masterfully spends the first three chapters explaining this phenomenon and the true nature of sin. By uncovering the mask that obscures sin’s nature, we can comprehend the problem truly. The cure to sin begins with accurately understanding its heinous character.
Thankfully Dr. Bridges doesn’t leave us with this grim conclusion. He spends chapters four through six illustrating the remedy, power, and process to remove sin. These hope-filled chapters are more than a motivational speech. They are empowering and practical!
While the chapters leading up to this are broad in scope, they are not intended to stay there. Bridges spends the remainder of the book addressing 14 sins in specific ways. With topics like pride, anxiety, and anger it will be hard not to find at least one chapter that is personal. While each section is concise, they provide a great deal of information to work through.
It would be a good idea to refer back to chapters 4-6 after each section. Applying those chapters to each sin would give the reader an opportunity to work through their heart and progress in your spiritual growth. You will benefit from reading through the book, but you will be blessed beyond measure by reading it slowly and with purpose.
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We live in an era of social media fame! We watch YouTube videos of people doing the things we would love to do. We scroll through Instagram posts of people visiting places we would love to go. We see friends posting stuff about their families and jobs that we would like to emulate. We live in a society where we watch other people live the lives we want, and we are ok with that. We all can’t travel to the Maldives Islands, we all can’t quit our jobs and hunt, and we won’t have it all together all the time.
Sometimes, that is how we do the Christian life as well. We will watch the service online instead of joining others. We will watch the work of other members, while we sit on the sidelines. Or worse, we will see others grow more like Christ and be satisfied with where we stand.
Here is the problem. God didn’t save us from sin so we could watch other people live the Christian life. God saved us so we could experience a life that progressively looks more and more like Christ. He doesn’t only want us to be declared righteous, but he wants us to experience righteous living.
This is a theme of Ephesians 4. Paul has spent three chapters describing what God has done and who we are in Christ. Now he turns and says, “I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,…” (Ephesians 4:1). Paul wants the regular patterns of our life to be moving in a direction consistent with who we are in Jesus.
I pray you will take this as an opportunity to do more than watch. Get your hands dirty in the work of putting off sin!
Pray: “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24)
Study: “I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)
Work: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.” (Colossians 3:5-6)
Together: “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:1-2)