The day to day grind …

This week's lesson is unusual for me.  I don't disagree with Dr. Tripp!  In fact I really like his approach.  We do live right in the middle of God's redemptive story.  Every day we walk a fine line between our faith and the reality of the world we live in.  I picture myself walking on a high wire with a pole being used for balance.  On my left is my faith.  On the right is the day to day responsibility I have.  My job is to get to the end of the wire using this pole to help me "walk the wire".  At times I have to stop and catch my breath and I have to use the pole to help me stay steady, but always, heading forwards.

One thing this approach helps me to do is to focus on what is important.  In Philippians Paul speaks of forgetting what's behind and moving forward.  You have to do that while walking the wire, or you will fall.  You have to concentrate on what's ahead.  You have to concentrate on the exact next step.

Hebrews gives us the Biblical definition of faith:  NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see {and} the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

I love this verse. It is packed with information that is vital to the processing of today.  Walking the wire and maintaining your balance requires faith.  As I take stock of my daily walk, I can use this scripture to help me keep going, especially when I can't see very far ahead!

Dr. Tripp points out that the Holy Spirit David prays for has already been given to us.  I think we need to look at this in more depth.  What is the Holy Spirit's mission?

John 14:16-17 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever-- The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart), because it does not see Him or know {and} recognize Him. But you know {and} recognize Him, for He lives with you [constantly] and will be in you.

John 14:26 But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you.

John 16:7 However, I am telling you nothing but the truth when I say it is profitable (good, expedient, advantageous) for you that I go away. Because if I do not go away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you [into close fellowship with you]; but if I go away, I will send Him to you [to be in close fellowship with you].

I'm not sure we can quite get our arms around this.  God's Spirit lives INSIDE of me and He's here to help me.  That boggles my mind.  I wonder if I truly believe this.  At times I certainly don't act like it.  Other times, I sense God's presence and wonder how I could ever doubt it.  I must admit, while it's much easier to operate when I can sense God's presence so well, it is much more important for me to understand God is still there with me when I'm in over my head in whatever the crisis of the moment is.  At those times, I remember Elijah standing at the mouth of the cave in 1st Kings 19.  The lesson there is to look for the small voice in the middle of it all.

At the end of WWII, there were Japanese soldiers that held out long after the war was over.  That is the situation we are facing with Satan and his henchmen.  The war is over, but the mop up operations aren't completed yet.  The rogue is still on the loose and for a time, causes us great difficulty.   We must remember that we have God's spirit living inside us to comfort, guide and counsel us.

Lord:  Thanks for your day to day guidance, comfort and leadership.  As we walk through each day, help us to grow in faith and when we can't sense your closeness, let us rely on your word and our faith.

Longing for Jesus

I think Dr. Tripp has focused on a core issue this week.  David’s heart cry in Psalm 51 is well documented.  His sin is “ever before him”.  He is looking for mercy and grace in a time of real need.  The issue we discuss this week is two fold.

Issue # 1 is forgiveness.

Issue # 2 is deliverance.

I understand these issues very well.  It seems I’ve spent my life asking God for forgiveness.  It really doesn’t matter what the issue is or was, I ask God for forgiveness for the same thing over and over again.  In many ways I act before God as if I am offering bulls and goats regularly.  I find myself too often in Romans 7 when I should be in Romans 8.  At times, my life seems eerily like the book of Judges.  Forgiveness has been a step I’ve taken to relieve myself of guilt rather than a first step in correcting the problem.  Getting rid of the guilt (real or false) was the goal, not deliverance.

Today, I confess that I can see this clearly.  My actions before God for many years have been more like the actions of an old testament character rather than a new testament son.  I have asked for forgiveness with an old testament mindset, a “law follower”.  Paul speaks to this exact issue in Romans.

Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the life-giving Spirit  in Christ Jesus has set you  free from the law of sin and death.  For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

If I don’t deal with both issues, forgiveness AND deliverance, then I will be defeated.  I don’t want to live that way.  I want to be “more than a conqueror” as Paul states further down the road in Romans 8.

In order to experience deliverance, I will have to do more than simply ask forgiveness.  I need to take positive steps and move towards freedom.  This is most likely going to involve things I’ve never done before.  One author put it this way:  “If you want to go places you’ve never been before, you will most likely have to do things you’ve never done before.”

I’ve been home with no one from work to bother me for the last several days.  I have been watching documentaries on some of my favorite historical figures, FDR, Harry Truman and Lewis and Clark.  The illustration I want to close with concerns Lewis and Clark.  There was a point the in the journey where Meriwether Lewis was standing in Montana at the end of the known map.  The very next step he took would be in uncharted waters.  The rest of the journey was unknown.  Yet he undertook it with great courage and skill.  It was a long time before he reached his goal, but he did reach his goal!

I’m there with Meriwether Lewis.  I’m at the edge of my known map.  I’m moving into unknown waters.  I’m looking for the Northwest Passage of my heart.

Lord:  As we move into 2010, let us move there with complete confidence that even though we may not see the road ahead, you do.  And you’ve told us we can move forward with the assurance you are with us and will not leave us.

This week is different …

I want to be completely honest with everyone.  When I read this weeks lesson, I didn’t get any point the first time.  The second time I went through it though, I got a different perspective.  I don’t want to talk about the “unholy trinity” the author talks about.

I want to talk about what God has done for me this year in spite of myself!  During one of our classes, Leland commented that he hoped the author experienced some joy in his life.  I’m sure he does, but reading his book week in and week out is a bit of a challenge.

While I certainly have gotten some great insight from the class, I also want to point out the good things God has done for me in 2009.  I’ve been challenged to repent and step outside of the emotional pits I constantly seem to be fighting and to trust God.  Did you hear that?  Trust God. 

That is what I am going to do.  I am going to take out of 2009 the fact that God is for me and who or what can be against me.  The Lord spoke to me through Julia today and it was words of great encouragement.  She spoke of God’s faithfulness and with tears in her eyes shared some of her concerns to me.  But with a flash of her smile, she commented that God was good and will see us through any mess we find ourselves in.

Yes David blew it with Bathsheba.  He blew it big time.  Is there anyone out there in blog-land that DOESN’T understand that?  I doubt it.  But God showed himself strong to David.  Just as he did to Moses, Elijah, Peter, Paul and anyone else who would come to Him in faith.

Yes I’ve blown it.  Yes I’ve made horrible mistakes.  Yes I know it.  But how trite for me to limit God by not trusting him to be bigger than my sin, my bad attitudes, and any other issue of moment I might be dealing with.  Oh God forgive me!!!!!  And the good news is????

HE DOES FORGIVE!  It’s like the song I heard Don Fransico sing many years ago.  “HE’S ALIVE AND I’M FORGIVEN!!!!!!!!!!!”  YES!!!!!   To quote some of my favorite sports announcers:  HE’S AT THE 10, THE 5 TOUCHDOWN!!!!  HE SHOOTS HE SCOOOOORES!!!!!  THERE’S A LONG DRIVE TO LEFT FIELD … THAT BABY’S GONE!!!!!!!

DO YOU GET THE MESSAGE!!!!!  I’M FREE, MY SINS ARE FORGIVEN AND GOD IS NOT MAD AT ME OR ANYONE ELSE!!!!!

Merry Christmas to everyone and I am looking forward to trusting God in 2010!!!!!

In the Basement of my home there is darkness

Many years ago I started experiencing visions and dreams on a regular basis.  Of course everyone has dreams, but these dreams and visions seemed to be beyond the usual dream.  I shared one of them with Julia over the breakfast table one morning  (Suffice it to say, I no longer rely on Julia to interpret my dreams).  I then began to talk to Beverly and she put me in touch with a book that helped me to understand how God uses dreams.  I was beginning an adventure that has been exciting at times, strange at times and frightening at other times.

It was during that time the Lord began to deal with me about things that were buried in my basement so to speak.  All of our homes have a basement.  The author speaks of this as the Holy of Holies.  I don’t.  I call it the basement.

When Julia and I lived in Dayton, we had a neigbour about 3 or 4 doors down from us, that unknown to us or anyone else would use the basement of the apartment for storing his trash.  He would open the door to his basement and instead of throwing his trash out, would store it in his basement.  That worked ok for a while.  No one knew and even if you went to his home, you wouldn’t know it, because the door to the basement was shut.  But you can only store so much in the basement and finally he was caught.  What a mess!  How much easier if he had taken the time to walk over the the container and simply dumped the trash. But he didn’t do that.

I have done the same thing over the years.   I’ve stored stuff in the basement until finally, after 58 years, there is no more room in the basement.  It’s time to clean it out!  How much easier it would have been had I taken the time over the last 40 years to simply take the day’s trash, and throw it out, and start afresh.  But for some reason, I didn’t do that.  I started packing it in the basement.  I know now how wrong that was, but at the time, it seemed ok.  There was plenty of room down there and who would know anyway.

CS Lewis say’s in Mere Christianity:

Thus, in one sense. the road back to God is a road of moral effort, of trying harder and harder. But in another sense it is not trying that is ever going to bring us home. All this trying leads up to the vital moment at which you turn to God and say, 'You must do this. I can't.

I walk to the basement door with my daily load of garbage and trash.  I open it to throw the carefully wrapped and protected package of refuse down the stairs.  When it suddenly dawns on me that there is no more room.  No matter how hard I try to pack it in, there is no more room.  The basement is full.  I set down the day’s package and I sit quietly in front of a basement door that is open.  The carefully hidden rubbish of my life is staring me in the face.  The odor is appalling.  The sheer lunacy of packing away 40 years of garbage and waste in the basement of my house hits me full in the face.  I lower my head and start to weep.  I can’t do this anymore Lord, I can’t.  This is why I need a saviour!

Lord, my basement is full.  There is no more room.  It’s ugly down there Lord and I can’t make it better.  I don’t have the strength to clean it up.  I’m scared and I’m embarrassed and I’m tired Lord.  I’m tired of trying to hide all of this.  But I can’t clean it up, I don’t have the strength or the courage to do so.  Please Lord, clean this up for me.

The Pursuit of Relationship with God

Last week's lesson was a very hard hitting confession of sin written by an individual who has “been there, done that!” I know from our class discussion, we as a group could relate to the writer's cry of anguish. I know I could. Last week, the author spoke of a full and complete recognition of sin. He didn't sugar coat it in the slightest. One of the most important aspects of his poem was his acknowledgment where he admits:


“The lingering visions of what I've done haunt my soul, assault my heart, dominate my thoughts.”

I confess that I too have been in this exact position too many times. When you are there, it's so difficult to see God. I know at times like this, all I can see is my penchant to do evil. That's what makes this weeks lesson on relationship so important.

Many years ago, I heard a teaching on God's covenant with Abraham. In essence, God cut Abraham a deal that He knew Abraham couldn't keep. The keeping of the covenant was going to depend on God. Guess what? He did!

One thing that I have to carefully remind myself is that I dare not compare myself to others. If I do, I end up with something along the lines of “Well at least I didn't do that!” That type of attitude places me in a position where I go to God on the strength of my merit. My approach to God would be “God, here is what I did. I know it's bad, but it's not as bad as what Billy or Sue did.” Jesus described this type of person as a Pharisee. Someone who stands before God and says “Thank God I'm not like this sinner ...” while the sinner simply beats on his chest and cries out “Forgive me God!”

One thing I can do though, is to read the Bible and understand that it does not sugar coat anything. I get to read about Abraham the “Father of our Faith” and look at some of the bonehead stunts he pulled. Things I wouldn't have known if the Word hadn't told me about them. And then I read in Romans 4 the story of Abraham's greatest triumph and what the Bible says about him. If you read carefully, you will see that God has a rather high opinion of Mr. Abraham.

The subject of our study is Psalm 51, written by David. Clearly David is someone that made his share of mistakes and yet God has a pretty high opinion of this guy as well. Let's see, who else could we look at? Oh, how about Moses? I remember a story where he killed a guy. Any doubt in your mind what God thinks about Moses? And then there is Paul, Peter, Elijah, Rahab and on and on. I read in the Bible where people partner up with God and then fail, and sometimes in a rather spectacular fashion. Yet, God holds up both ends of the agreement.

I write this because I am reaching out to God and asking Him to help me learn about my relationship with Him. Too many times, I short change both God and myself because my eyes are focused on me and my failings. I have a very strong tendency to “degree” my sin's and then stand back and compare myself with Hitler or Jeffrey Dahmer or whoever and then smugly feel, “well at least I didn't do that!”

Hebrew's tells us to look unto Jesus, the author and FINISHER of our faith. It is so trite to speak of “let go and let God” when someone is locked into a pattern of sin that they physically can't let go of. That person (ie: Andy) will then focus his eyes inward and miss the big picture. I need to rely on the relationship God established and trust Him. I have to understand that the relationship with God is based on His performance, not mine. I so desperately need that.

This last year has been a very trying year for me. Lofty goals and desires developed as a young man simply aren't going to happen. I accept that. It's part of “maturing” as both an adult and a Christian. However, I do think the one thing I have learned is this: There is NOTHING more important than understanding my relationship with God. It really doesn't matter what else I do or don't do, if I can focus my energies on God and what HE can do and not worry about what I can or can't do, then I believe I will begin to experience the peace of relationship that Paul and David talk about in their writings.

Oh Lord, please don't let me fall into the trap of comparison. Don't let me compare myself with anyone. I sin Lord. I sin often. I sin on purpose. I sin because I like it. It's easy to sin Lord, I'm good at it, a true professional. I come to you and ask simply that you take this mess I've created and let me experience your love towards me in such a way, it will fill those areas I try to fill with sin.

Wrecking Ball Theology

Psalm 51:12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.


This week the Author makes a very good point. When God starts to rebuild our lives, He must first remove the older structures of our lives in order that a brand spanking new building can be built. He points out that God doesn’t use a wrecking ball and just demolish the old structures with one fell swoop. No he use smaller tools and dismantles the structure piece by piece and He takes His time to make sure the job is done correctly.

The author opens with verse Psalm 51:12 but I think a much more fitting scripture comes from Deuteronomy 7:22:

"The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, for the wild beasts would grow too numerous for you.

When I was a young man in college I hired on with an excavation company in Liberty Indiana to help tear down a building that was over 100 years old. It was built in the 1860’s and was being torn down. (I might add that my Dad wryly commented “That’s a good job for you … right up your alley!”) I thought it would be easy and fun. It wasn’t. It was some of the hardest and most dangerous work I’d ever done. I had to sign a paper that released them of all responsibilities in case of my sudden demise and if I found anything of value, it was their property. (I did find a cap and ball revolver with real confederate money behind one of walls!)

As I related this weeks lesson to my life I could see a strong parallel between how God has worked in my life and how I’ve grown through the process.

First of all I signed a release to my life when I signed on as a Christian. My life is not my own, but God’s. ("I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Gal 2:20). This means for me to die is gain and to live is Christ (Phil 1:21). Being killed while tearing down a building wasn’t something I worried about when I was 22. When God starts removing structures in my life that need to be demolished, it feels like I’m going to die sometimes, but I no longer worry about it. Let God be God and I will be the benefactor. And even though I can’t see what is coming, I can trust that it will be better than what was there before.

The second part of this I find interesting is that there was value found hidden in the old building. Much to my dad’s chagrin, I filled the entire trunk of my 64 Oldsmobile with things my Mom thought were “precious”. I can tell you this, by looking at the old hotel and the wreckage of the building, it’s hard to see anything of value in there. Isn’t that how God sees our lives and the lives of others? Other people may look at your life and see a wreck. You may look at your life and see a wreck. But God doesn’t. He sees things in your life of value and it’s only through the tearing down of the old that the things of value can be seen.

It’s interesting that while the tearing down and removal of the building took only a few weeks at most, the tearing down and rebuilding of a life takes a lifetime. Deuteronomy 7:22 tells us God respects our emotional and physiological make up because he doesn’t do it all at once. He takes time and does it slowly but surely. He takes the things in our life that are broken, barren or overrun with weeds, and he fixes, rebuilds or plants new and vital structures so our lives can reflect His and so we can become more Christ like every day.

Oh Lord: Help me to not get nervous or worried when I see some structure in my life you haven’t worked on yet. Sometimes your work in removing one thing exposes something else that needs to be removed as well. Help me to understand the process. It doesn’t happen all at once and I shouldn’t expect it to. Help me to realize you love me when I see things that have yet to be torn down or fixed.

Thanks Lord … I appreciate you!

Just what did God do when I got saved?

This week the author launches into an area I’m not qualified to discuss. He speaks of sin as it relates to small children. When I read this, I wondered what I would say since anything I say in this area carries no weight. So I prayed and read it again and I began to see some things that have been rolling around inside me for many moons. Let me explain.


When the author refers to small people and their innate ability to demand their own way I began to think of the relationship I have with sin. I got saved at 16 years old (That would be July 1968 in case you wondered) while sitting in a very hot chapel in a school that is described as “a controlled disciplinary environment”). I got baptized in the Holy Spirit 10 years later. But over the years I’ve found that I still voluntarily do things that are not Godly. I find I want to do things that are sinful and (to make matters worse) I then go out and do them. So there is nothing new in this pattern. It’s been going on for a long time. So rather than rehash years worth of sinful, stupid events in my life, let me cut to the chase.

What did God actually do when I got saved?

That’s the question I have. Second Corinthians tells us this:

2 Cor 5:16-17 Consequently, from now on we estimate {and} regard no one from a [purely] human point of view [in terms of natural standards of value]. [No] even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint {and} as a man, yet now [we have such knowledge of Him that] we know Him no longer [in terms of the flesh]. Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh {and} new has come!

Please note, the old previous moral and spiritual condition has passed away. So if that is true (and it is) then I am missing an important piece of information that will help me function correctly as a Christian. I don’t know what actually passed away and what to do with what remains.

It appears to me, that since I am a spirit and I live in a body and I have a soul (mind and intellect) then what Paul is talking about here is my Spirit. God gives me a new spirit that is fashioned after Christ, with desires for Christ and God. The old spirit is gone. So my spirit is a new creature.

Now comes the true battle, the one with the rest of me. I think if we follow Paul’s writings in the order they were written, we can see an interesting pattern. Lets look at 3 sets of books, Corinthians, Romans and Philippians. They were written in that order. I’ll take 4 sets of Scripture and summarize them in the order Paul wrote them.

1. We are a new creature (2 Cor 5:17)

2. Paul Wrestled with a thorn in the flesh (2 Cor 12:7)

3. Paul wrote in Romans 7 that he did things he didn’t want to do, but identified sin as the source of the problem, NOT PAUL.

4. God will finish in us what he started (Phil 1:6)

Here is what I see happened in Paul’s life. He recognized he was a new creature when he got born again. He started wrestling with his flesh and sin in 2 Cor 12. He realized in Romans 7 he was fighting something he could not beat by himself. Then in Phil 1 he relies on God to bring him through to the end.

This is a high level view of Paul’s life and perhaps from a different perspective than you’ve looked at it before. If you dig into this a little deeper, you will immediately run into Romans 8. There is a way out of the sin cycle in this life. It’s not easy and if you fight addictions and repeated failures in overcoming sin it seems like there is no way out. But God clearly tells us there is a way to overcome. I struggle mightily when I try to overcome and fail. That’s when I need to rest on God’s grace and mercy and those that God has placed in my life as traveling companions.

Now in order to bring this to conclusion, let me come back to the author. He is coming at this book from a Calvinist point of view. I don’t share that view. Much of this chapter sounds like it is rooted in the Calvinist definition of “depravity”. I don’t ascribe to their definition of the depravity of man. I do know that man is clearly born into sin and that we need a savior to deliver us from the bondage of sin. I have placed my trust in that savior. I believe Peter when he says God has no desire that anyone should perish. So the main question I’ve asked is what did God do when I got saved? I’m going to write what I think happened. I may not have it all correct, but here is what I think happened.

I think God gave me a new spirit and the Holy Spirit to help me manage life until I either go home to be with the Lord or He comes back. I’m going to have success’s and failures, but I can rest assured that He will accomplish in me that which he intended all along!