thinking things about life and Jesus and stuff
My flesh is graspy today.
It’s clingy and needy; it’s panicked and scared that there is no more food coming. And it is so loud today – so angry and so desperate – that my inner man wrapped in the Spirit doesn’t seem strong enough to quiet it.
I am tempted to follow my flesh; to feed it to quiet it down. To make friends with it.
But I have the fuel I need to walk by the Spirit right here in His Word.
And that changes everything.
This morning, in church, I couldn’t stop thinking about ‘Lincoln’ (the movie I saw last night). I couldn’t stop thinking about how it must have felt – to be a slave back in the 1800s and hear the news that you were free.
It’s hard for me to comprehend the joy that must have rushed through their hearts; the celebration that would have seized slaves everywhere.
And that makes me a little sad.
Because I should be able to comprehend that joy. It’s my joy in Christmas.
In my last post I shared the great and glorious truth that I’m learning in Romans, but today I think it’s time for a different kind of truth.
I’m rebellious. Really rebellious.
I came on staff at a church over 5 years ago and I found myself face to face with more rules than I liked. I rebelled. It got to the point where I would be told to bow my head in prayer, and I would feel resistance in my heart. To praying. I’m insane.
You’ve heard it a million times, but Christian, stop and consider: we are under grace, not the law.
We have a hard time figuring out what to do with that crazy law. Our sinful flesh has two pendulum swings: (1) to trust the law to save us. (2) to blame the law for our sin.
The law is not the source of life. Sin uses the law to deceive us by convincing us that you and I can find worth and value and life through obeying God’s commands.
I don’t write posts about God’s love often. That’s not because I don’t love God’s love. I do. I cling to it. I depend on it. I live in it.
But the word love is thrown around to talk about food and music and movies and art. I love the paint colors in our new house. I love my dog. I love sleep.
I want a better word to describe this obscene and glorious thing we call ‘God’s love’. His love is like no other.