“You’re Not a Christian if…” Fill in the Blank.

This is not Tim Keller, just a guy. Lol

Tim Keller is my favorite preacher, but I have heard him say many times that a person is not a Christian if he thinks, says or does… fill in the blank. This has always upset me but I overlooked it because everything else in his preaching is so deep, helpful and meaningful.

I heard him say it again last week. I listen to his old sermons on podcasts. Finally, I thought I should write my opinion on this. It’s just my opinion that I have come to through 53 years of being a believer in Jesus.

I was raised in a strict, evangelical, Bible believing religion. When I became a Christian at 19 years-old I thought the same way as Dr. Keller. If someone was smoking, drinking, partying etc. then they weren’t a Christian. They didn’t have a relationship with God. I was legalistic and judgmental.

I was also super critical of myself and felt guilty over the least little think I did wrong. I thought I could be perfectly like Jesus, but this didn’t happen. I was changed, the Lord changed me so much in wonderful ways, but I still felt hounded by guilt. I think it was because my church was horrified by any sin and never told us that if we messed up, which we would all the time, we were still okay with God and he would forgive us over and over.

It took years for me to understand the grace and forgiveness of God. I love how Jesus said, “If someone sins against you 7 times in one day and asks you to forgive, you must forgive him.” Well, God must feel the same about us and our sins.

One thing someone might say, “If you don’t love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself, then you are not a Christian.” I don’t believe that. I believe this is something to strive for through prayer. I myself have been through times when I have hated God, gotten mad at him, or questioned his goodness. I have doubts and fears all the time, yet I know I am a Christian.

Loving God is complicated. We think of love as a feeling, whereas it is an action or principle. I have had feelings of love and admiration for God many times, but this comes and goes. I want to love everyone as myself, but I don’t always do it. I pray for this teaching of Jesus to be in my heart every day and I should trust he can do it.

I know a Christian who hates people, so she says, yet she has done so much good for people she has met, people she doesn’t even know. She has been hurt by people since her childhood, so she has no trust. But the Bible says even Jesus didn’t trust people because he knew what was in their hearts.

Does she feel love for God, no, but she believes he is the God of the Universe and is all good. She says she never wants to make a decision without asking him because she has learned how she messes things up, but God doesn’t.

I think loving God and all people is something we must learn all our lives. It’s a long process called Sanctification. It is like Jesus said about our spiritual growth, “The earth produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head [of grain], then the mature grain in the head.  Mark 4:28 Crops don’t spring up overnight and we don’t become like Jesus overnight. We have a lot to learn.

I think I’ve learned more about God in the last ten years since I retired from babysitting my grandchildren. I had a lot of time to myself. God showed me some things about myself I didn’t know and wasn’t happy about. He also showed me how he is enough for me. I don’t need anyone or anything more than him. It’s not that it’s been all roses. I’ve gone through long illnesses and another death in my family. Also, recently some conflicts with my daughters that were not pleasant and I got angry and sinned against them by yelling. Didn’t know I had that in me either, to tell the truth. The Lord showed me my sin and I asked for forgiveness, but I’ll tell you I didn’t think it was that bad for two days! Yes, at 73 I am still a sinner for sure, yet Jesus loves me just as I am.

I remember when my mom lived with me, I could see God was teaching her things even though she was in her nineties! I thought, “Man, he never stops!” When she was in rehab for her hip operation, she was acting terrible, threatening people and refusing treatment. I was afraid she “wasn’t a real Christian” and would be lost. But God spoke to one of my daughters and said to her, “Call your mother now and tell her, her mother is going to be saved.” So, she did. She also said, “God sure is loud!” Lol Yes, I guess he can be sometimes. See, I was judging my mother while God was accepting and loving her.

There are many verses in the Bible that tell us we are saved, not by our works, but by our faith in Jesus’ death for us. I know in many churches, including my old one, you can’t get baptized until you stop sinning and sign a paper promising to keep all the teachings of the church. In the Bible, people were baptized right away. All they had to do is believe. We are so far away from that simple faith, and maybe some of the books of the New Testament even sound like we have to be so perfect. I don’t know, I just want to believe the simple things Jesus taught and not worry about my salvation and judge other people about their salvation. Jesus said we will know if teachers of the gospel are good by their fruits. I’m going to list the fruits of the Holy Spirit. These are words of love we should aspire to.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Galatians 5:22-23, NIV

 

 

 

We're Caught in A Trap.

Photo by:  https://www.flickr.com/people/22170893@N06

“My eyes are ever on the Lord,

for only he will release my feet from the snare.”

Psalm 25:15


When I read this today, I thought of a wolf or fox caught in a trap. It is such a sad image. But of course, David was writing about sin and the death it causes.

We all get trapped by sin; we are born having sinful and selfish desires that will get us into trouble. We need the Lord to free us from that. We cannot do it by ourselves.


I remembered when Jesus said to his friends, “Without me, you can do nothing.” John 15:5 Until we reach that conclusion, we are tilting at windmills. Only God has the strength needed to free us from our sinful nature. That is why David said, so many times, “The Lord is my strength.”


This doesn’t mean we will be perfectly good here in this world. As James says, “Indeed, we all make many mistakes.” James 3:2 And John says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:8,9


Psalm 25 is so beautiful. I wrote it out in my own words this morning. I’ll share it here with you.

I want to put my trust in you, Lord. May Satan not triumph over me. I know that the one who hopes in you will not be ashamed. But utter shame will be the lot of the wicked.


Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth, for you are my God and Savior. I hope in you all day long.


Don’t forget your love and mercy, but do forget the sins of my youth and all my rebellious ways. Remember me according to your great love, for you are good.


Yes, you are good and wise; that is why you can teach us the right way to go. All your ways are loving and faithful. Forgive my sin, though it is great.


Who are those who fear the Lord? God will teach them; they will inherit their own land in heaven. God confides in those who fear him. He makes a contract with them. My eyes are always on the Lord, for only he can release my feet from a trap.


Come to me, dear Lord, for I am lonely and afflicted. Please relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from mental pain. Guard my life and rescue me, for I take refuge in you. My hope, Lord, is in you alone.

Who Am I in this Divided World?

Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”  John 15:5             

After years of being a Christian, and learning that I could do nothing truly good without Jesus, I wondered then who I was in the mix of good and evil.

The Bible says we are slaves to sin:

“We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.” Romans 6:6

“Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”

So, I thought, “If, when I am born, I am a slave to sin, which I believe is true, and then become a slave or servant of God, then who am I really?

I read something recently that I think has answered this question. Someone wrote, “God will make you into the person he created you to be.” The Bible also says that he created me in the womb of my mother.

So, God created me as a beautiful, innocent baby. I was also a unique baby. There was none other like me. He looked on me with love and compassion. He gave me certain gifts and abilities.

But after I was born, my mind and heart were slowly shaped by the world I was in. And because there was evil, because of the first sin, then my mind was bent towards evil. Then my parents made mistakes, my father abused me, my sister was jealous of me, kids at school were mean to me, I attended a church that shaped my thinking about who God was, and I was afraid of him.

So, there I was, an adult with warped thinking. Was that who God created me to be? No. He created me to walk with him and be his child. He created me to have joy, peace and love. He created me to love and help others.

He also gave me freedom to choose him as my father or to say, “No, thanks.” He put his light inside me so that I knew what was right or wrong and let me choose what I wanted in my life. He never forced me, but he called me:

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore, I have drawn you with loving kindness.  Jeremiah 31:3

“The true Light who gives light to every man was coming into the world.”  John 1:9

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Matthew 11:28

“Look, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”  Revelation 3:20

I understand who I am now and am content. More than content, I am thrilled to be God’s child. It isn’t easy for those who are afraid of God to learn a new way of thinking about him; but it is possible through prayer and Bible study. Learning about God and why we are here is a life-long journey, filled with set-backs and trials, but it is such a wonderful one.

Know Thyself.

Many times I have not known myself. When I was in my twenties and divorced, my ex-husband had a girlfriend and lived with her. My daughters would go visit and I hated the fact my ex wasn't married and living in open sin. I thought, "I would never have someone come sleep with me with  my daughters in the house!"  Two years later, I did just that.

After a few incidents like that, I was finally humbled to realize I was capable of any sin, no matter what I thought. One day at church we were singing, "I Will Not be Shaken," and I turned to my mother and said, "On the other hand, who knows WHAT I will do?"

Jesus told Peter, "You will deny me."  Peter was horrified and said he would never do that. He said he was willing to die with him. The other disciples said the same. We know how that turned out.

 I wondered if God sometimes lets us fall flat on our face so we can see how weak and sinful we are. It humbles us and we realize how we must have Jesus do everything for us. He can keep us from falling, if we acknowledge we have no strength to do it ourselves.

I came across the story of Hezkekiah the other day. It says that God left Hezekiah to show him what was truly in his heart. Verse 26 says his heart was full of pride.

"And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon, who had been sent to him to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land, God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart."   2 Chronicles 32:31

Matthew Poole's Commentary

 

God left him, to wit, to himself, and his own impotency and corruption. God withdrew from him those supplies and assistances of his Spirit which would certainly and effectually have kept him from that sin, and suffered Satan to tempt him, and him to fall into the sin of pride and ostentation. 

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary.

 God left Hezekiah to himself, that, by this trial and his weakness in it, what was in his heart might be known; that he was not so perfect in grace as he thought he was. It is good for us to know ourselves, and our own weakness and sinfulness, that we may not be conceited, or self-confident, but may always live in dependence upon Divine grace. We know not the corruption of our own hearts, nor what we shall do if God leaves us to ourselves. His sin was, that his heart was lifted up. What need have great men, and good men, and useful men, to study their own infirmities and follies, and their obligations to free grace, that they may never think highly of themselves; but beg earnestly of God, that he will always keep them humble! Hezekiah made a bad return to God for his favours, by making even those favours the food and fuel of his pride.

Jesus Enveloped in Sin, Within and Without.

Although I had known Jesus became sin for us, that he took our sins upon his heart, I didn’t think about the depth of that until I read these two verses explained.

 “And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly amazed, and sore troubled.And he said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch."    Mark 14:33,34

http://biblehub.com/commentaries/pulpit/mark/14.htm

“He began to be greatly amazed, and sore troubled…”These two Greek verbs are as adequately expressed above as seems possible. The first impies "utter extreme amazement;" if the second has for its root "not at home," it implies the anguish of the soul struggling to free itself from the body under the pressure of intense mental distress."

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 34. – “None but he who bore those sorrows can know what they were. It was not the apprehension of the bodily torments and the bitter death that awaited him, all foreknown by him. It was the inconceivable agony of the weight of the sins of men. The Lord was thus laying "upon him the iniquity of us all." This, and this alone, can explain it. ‘My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death.’ Every word carries the emphasis of an overwhelming grief. It was then that "the deep waters came in," even unto his soul. "What," says Cornelius a Lapide, "must have been the voice, the countenance, the expression, as he uttered those awful words!"

Jesus sweat drops of blood that night. He said he was at the point of death. An angel came and strengthened him or he might have died there in Gethsemane.

This was the sin within him.

From the time of his arrest until he died on the cross, Jesus was surrounded by sin of every type.

Cruelty, cowardice, envy, betrayal, mocking, hatred, torture, slapping, beating, lies, indifference, pride, unbelief, anger, and injustice.

This was the sin without him.

For a pure and holy person, being surrounded by evil must have been horrible. Realize also, he loved all the people there who caused him such pain. It would be like us having our parents or children abuse us. Some of us have lived through that, it’s true. Jesus did too on the night and day of his trial and death.

Someday, when we are in heaven, we will see what Jesus left to become one of us, to suffer untold agony and to die feeling all alone. 

Here are some extra verses: 

 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  2 Corinthians 5:21

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’—“   Galatians 3:13

“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.  Isaiah 53:5

“Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”   Hebrews 9:28

Do You Know Who You Really Are?

Photo by: Runner1928

I remember being at church one Sabbath and everyone was singing, "I Will Not Be Shaken." The chorus repeats those words quite a few times, "I will not be shaken."  I stopped singing, turned to my mother and said, "On the other hand, who knows what I'll do?"

I had finally learned I didn't know myself. That day, I really had no idea if I would continue to live to honor God or not. I had fallen too many times to be confident.

Peter didn't know himself. He said to Jesus, "Even if I have to die with you; I will never disown you." Mark 14:31  He did disown Jesus. Three times.

I also remember a time at a camp-meeting when a pastor said, "Everyone rise who will promise to keep the Sabbath day holy." It looked like everyone in the whole auditorium stood up. I didn't rise, and neither did my mom. We had both found out the hard way our promises to God meant nothing.

I guess, no, I know, this is a good thing. When a Christian realizes what an idiot she can be, it's always a good thing. Pride kind of falls to the ground. Not that it won't try to crawl up again, but at least it has been badly beaten up.

My husband told me when he became a Christian, he thought he would never sin again. Then he grabbed some guy by the throat because of something. As he was choking him, he felt God calm him down. He said he took his hands away, patted the guy on the chest and said he was sorry. He said, "From that moment on, I knew I wasn't going to be perfect."

This is something many Christians find out to their disappointment. And the longer you live, the more the Holy Spirit will reveal things to you. But like Joyce Meyer, I am now glad when God shows me my shortcomings and sins. I know he is doing it for my good. I want to do and say the right things and God knows that about me. So I pray about what he has shown me and ask him to help. He always does and I feel no condemnation.

Murder in My Heart.

Who am I?

A great big sinner.

I'm reading a biography of a woman who was a Christian. I was shocked when I read her mother-in-law twice tried to kill her. She hated her daughter-in-law because she felt she took her son away.

I was horrified, but then I remembered when I once wanted to kill someone: my first husband. He had cheated on me with the young woman who lived below us. I told him to choose between us, so he went downstairs to tell her he was staying with me.

They started laughing, and I could hear them. I was filled with rage and thought about getting a big knife and going down there and stabbing them both to death. Then I looked at my baby. I couldn't do it because I would go to jail and lose my children. But boy, did I want to do it.

I was a Christian then, as I am now. I talked with God and told him how sorry I was to want to do such a thing. But it was then I realized I was capable of murder and every other kind of sin. I had thought I was free from all that, but I've learned we will always have temptations to do wrong.

After my husband and I divorced, he had his new girlfriend over to sleep at his apartment when my oldest daughter was there. I said to myself, "I would never do that." Obviously, I still had a lot to learn because I did do that a year later with my boyfriend.

I remember when I was in bed with him one night, I said to God, "Could I please marry this man?" I didn't really expect an answer since I was living in open sin. But God did answer me. He quoted the Bible to me. He said, "What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?"  (Belial means wickedness)

I was amazed God still thought of me as a believer! I felt I was a big mess and not worthy of being called that. My boyfriend was not a believer, although he went to church with me a few times. I kept dating him, but soon realized he was a wicked person. A very wicked person. I couldn't see that at first, but God knew.

Who is God?

Someone who isn't surprised by our sins. Someone who loves us as we are sinning. Someone who wants to help us.

So, the reason I write about this is to help people who think they are too awful to be Christians. You can't get much worse than I am! I am tempted all the time to think wrong things and do wrong things, but thanks be to God I can take these thoughts and feelings to him and he takes care of them. He throws them into the depths of the sea.

"You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea."  Micah 7:19

"Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin."