"We never see sin aright until we see it as against God."
W.S. Plummer
God has been teaching me some interesting things this past weekend. Though none of it really came together until Monday morning at 2:13a.m. I woke up and couldn't sleep. I tried concentrating on praying, thought about going running, or doing work. None of those things seemed very appealing to me at the time. I looked over at my shelf and saw "The Pursuit of Holiness
," by Jerry Bridges. A friend had given it to me years earlier, but I'd never gotten around to reading it. So I figured, now is as good a time as any. Then "BAM!" The third page and first point of the book just hit me in the face. "Our first problem is that our attitude toward sin is more self-centered than God-centered. We are more concerned about our own 'victory' over sin than we are about the fact that our sins grieve the heart of God."
As I started marinating on that I looked at my current spiritual state and saw how true that was of my life. Recently I've become acutely aware that my whole life I've struggled in submitting to the authority of God. I measure rebellion against God largely by how much I sin. Though when I do sin I rarely pray in such away as to seek restitution between the Lord and myself. Although I live with the knowledge that sin is an affront to God, the knowledge I have doesn't make it to my practice of life. My prayers of confession often sound something like, "God forgive me of (insert sin). Lord give me the strength to withstand temptation and experience freedom and victory over (insert sin)."
I continued reading and this line stuck out. "God wants us to walk in obedience-not victory. Obedience is oriented toward God; victory is oriented toward self." The way I treat sin is selfish. I make it all about myself. It's as if I were to punch a dear friend of mine in the face then after saying, "I'm sorry," talk about how bad I am and make excuses or try to rationalize my behavior instead of tending to my injured friend. I make it about me. The light bulb just went on in my head as I realized that intellectually I know Jesus as a person, but in practice I treat Jesus as a thing. When I sin, I am more concerned with my failure and how can I prevent myself from failing again. I've ignored the friend I have in Jesus.
You'd think after a life changing understanding of this concept of sin, I'd spend time in prayer and be bringing praise to God. I wish that were true. Unfortunately, as I finished out the first chapter I came across the third point, "We do not take some sin seriously." Bridges says, "It is compromise on the little issues that leads to greater downfalls." That's when guilt started setting in. Because I know the truth of that statement from experience. I began to dwell on all my failures and began critiquing every area of my life. The message Rob Gaschler gave the night before stuck out in my head regarding prayer and seeking the Lord out of Joshua 9-11. I began questioning decisions I've made in the past and instead of submitting and waiting on God, prayed with mind already set on what I wanted and full of rationalizations for God blessing my decisions. Again the issue was about focusing on myself and treating God as a thing instead of a person whom I have a relationship with.
Later that day I stumbled across an old song, "The Potters Hand.
" As I started practicing it in my office, I was taken back to a place I was 7 years ago, broken over sin and struggling with submitting to God's authority and call on my life. I decided to look up the passage the song comes from which is Jeremiah 18:
The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying,
2 “Arise and ago down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.”
3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel.
4 But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.
5 Then the word of the LORD came to me saying,
6 “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.
7 “At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it;
8 if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it.
9 “Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it;
10 if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it.
11 “So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds.” ’
12 “But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’
In some ways I've come full circle in finding this song. I'm pretty sure 7 years ago I looked up the passage too. But I'm not the same person I was then, because of the Potter's Hand. God has been shaping and molding me building my confidence and trust in Him. Now I know from experience that God is a person that actively involves Himself in my life. Yet here I was on Monday facing the hard fact that despite the evidence of God's work in my life and knowing Him as a person, when it comes to making decisions and sin I eliminate God from the equation. That's why the latter half of this passage stuck out to me, I probably bypassed it the first time I went through it. (Look up Jeremiah 18:11:12) God is Sovereign and He is working to shape me into a vessel that brings glory to Him. As a child of God through Jesus Christ, I am made to do good works.(Ephesians 2:10) If I continue to ignore the person of Jesus Christ removing Him from my decisions and doing what I want to do instead of submitting to the hand of the Potter, He will shape calamity to turn me back to Him. Therefore, I should stop making decisions without God. I should be broken over sin because of the hurt I have caused Jesus, especially in light of the cross. Jesus gave Himself so that I can be in fellowship with Him. Fellowship with with God means forgiveness of transgression and eternity in the presence of the Holy One. Given that I can't afford to ignore the Person of Jesus Christ.
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 17 Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
1 Peter 1:15-21
1. The reason why I've had such difficulty submitting to the authority of God is because I've been ignoring the person of Jesus Christ.
2. The purpose of my life is to bring glory to God. God is working on me shaping me into the vessel that will most glorify Himself.
3. Jesus Christ is a person who gave up Himself, shedding His blood on the cross so that my faith and hope might rest in God.
The Holy Bible : New International Version, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 1 Pe 1:15–21.
New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Je 18:1–12.
W.S. Plummer
God has been teaching me some interesting things this past weekend. Though none of it really came together until Monday morning at 2:13a.m. I woke up and couldn't sleep. I tried concentrating on praying, thought about going running, or doing work. None of those things seemed very appealing to me at the time. I looked over at my shelf and saw "The Pursuit of Holiness
," by Jerry Bridges. A friend had given it to me years earlier, but I'd never gotten around to reading it. So I figured, now is as good a time as any. Then "BAM!" The third page and first point of the book just hit me in the face. "Our first problem is that our attitude toward sin is more self-centered than God-centered. We are more concerned about our own 'victory' over sin than we are about the fact that our sins grieve the heart of God."As I started marinating on that I looked at my current spiritual state and saw how true that was of my life. Recently I've become acutely aware that my whole life I've struggled in submitting to the authority of God. I measure rebellion against God largely by how much I sin. Though when I do sin I rarely pray in such away as to seek restitution between the Lord and myself. Although I live with the knowledge that sin is an affront to God, the knowledge I have doesn't make it to my practice of life. My prayers of confession often sound something like, "God forgive me of (insert sin). Lord give me the strength to withstand temptation and experience freedom and victory over (insert sin)."
I continued reading and this line stuck out. "God wants us to walk in obedience-not victory. Obedience is oriented toward God; victory is oriented toward self." The way I treat sin is selfish. I make it all about myself. It's as if I were to punch a dear friend of mine in the face then after saying, "I'm sorry," talk about how bad I am and make excuses or try to rationalize my behavior instead of tending to my injured friend. I make it about me. The light bulb just went on in my head as I realized that intellectually I know Jesus as a person, but in practice I treat Jesus as a thing. When I sin, I am more concerned with my failure and how can I prevent myself from failing again. I've ignored the friend I have in Jesus.
You'd think after a life changing understanding of this concept of sin, I'd spend time in prayer and be bringing praise to God. I wish that were true. Unfortunately, as I finished out the first chapter I came across the third point, "We do not take some sin seriously." Bridges says, "It is compromise on the little issues that leads to greater downfalls." That's when guilt started setting in. Because I know the truth of that statement from experience. I began to dwell on all my failures and began critiquing every area of my life. The message Rob Gaschler gave the night before stuck out in my head regarding prayer and seeking the Lord out of Joshua 9-11. I began questioning decisions I've made in the past and instead of submitting and waiting on God, prayed with mind already set on what I wanted and full of rationalizations for God blessing my decisions. Again the issue was about focusing on myself and treating God as a thing instead of a person whom I have a relationship with.
Later that day I stumbled across an old song, "The Potters Hand.
" As I started practicing it in my office, I was taken back to a place I was 7 years ago, broken over sin and struggling with submitting to God's authority and call on my life. I decided to look up the passage the song comes from which is Jeremiah 18:The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying,
2 “Arise and ago down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.”
3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel.
4 But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.
5 Then the word of the LORD came to me saying,
6 “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.
7 “At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it;
8 if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it.
9 “Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it;
10 if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it.
11 “So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds.” ’
12 “But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’
In some ways I've come full circle in finding this song. I'm pretty sure 7 years ago I looked up the passage too. But I'm not the same person I was then, because of the Potter's Hand. God has been shaping and molding me building my confidence and trust in Him. Now I know from experience that God is a person that actively involves Himself in my life. Yet here I was on Monday facing the hard fact that despite the evidence of God's work in my life and knowing Him as a person, when it comes to making decisions and sin I eliminate God from the equation. That's why the latter half of this passage stuck out to me, I probably bypassed it the first time I went through it. (Look up Jeremiah 18:11:12) God is Sovereign and He is working to shape me into a vessel that brings glory to Him. As a child of God through Jesus Christ, I am made to do good works.(Ephesians 2:10) If I continue to ignore the person of Jesus Christ removing Him from my decisions and doing what I want to do instead of submitting to the hand of the Potter, He will shape calamity to turn me back to Him. Therefore, I should stop making decisions without God. I should be broken over sin because of the hurt I have caused Jesus, especially in light of the cross. Jesus gave Himself so that I can be in fellowship with Him. Fellowship with with God means forgiveness of transgression and eternity in the presence of the Holy One. Given that I can't afford to ignore the Person of Jesus Christ.
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 17 Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
1 Peter 1:15-21
1. The reason why I've had such difficulty submitting to the authority of God is because I've been ignoring the person of Jesus Christ.
2. The purpose of my life is to bring glory to God. God is working on me shaping me into the vessel that will most glorify Himself.
3. Jesus Christ is a person who gave up Himself, shedding His blood on the cross so that my faith and hope might rest in God.
The Holy Bible : New International Version, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 1 Pe 1:15–21.
New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Je 18:1–12.
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