I Know I Was But So Were You

A friend shared this passage with me not too long ago and it struck me to the core.  I realized that this was a very harsh statement by the Apostle Paul and I thought... "whoa... that is about as clear as it can be and yet it hurts to read."

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NIV) 
"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."

It amazes me that when we "rank" the levels of sin and try to decide which things are worse than others yet this passage clearly puts us all on the same level... If the end result is heaven or hell.  If the end result is eternity WITH God or eternity APART from God then someone that places anything in his heart before God   [idolater] or someone that is habitually drunk or even lives a greedy lifestyle or someone that says something mean against someone else are all going to lose!  I may think one is worse than the other but ultimately they all result in the SAME negative reward.
So I read this and wonder.  How am I doing at being a part of planting seeds and watering seeds that allow for God to cause the gospel message to come alive in the hearts of these type of people that I know?  Secondly, I ask myself, How many of these people do I know?
Am I avoiding these types of people because I do not like being around them?

Maybe - just maybe - I see them and am reminded of myself... before... and I do not like being reminded of who I once was....

In fact, the very next verse in that passage smacks me upside the head with a 2 x 4 statement!

1 Corinthians 6:11 (NIV)
"And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

I was an idolater, I was sexually immoral in my thoughts, I was a thief. I was greedy. I was a slanderer.
I was many more things, too.  All of which were focused on myself and my desires and not focused upon pleasing God with my life.

But PRAISE THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE AND HIS ONLY SON, JESUS!  By His name, I now am:

• washed - my sin was not just covered over or hidden or overlooked - It was washed away!
• sanctified - my life is now set apart to serve God and Him alone!  
• justified - my standing before God was made right through the name of Jesus and now I am seen as innocent  - my guilt has been removed!

I know that I was a lot of bad things (and so are you or so were you) but in the name of the Lamb of God and through the blood of that Lamb that was shed for me, I was made clean when I  made the decision to surrender myself to the Only One who can wash it all away and change me.  

I know I WAS but so were you.  

Do you want a change?  Ask, in the name of Jesus Christ, to be changed today.  So you, too, can say "I WAS... but I no longer am. Now I am washed, set apart and made right before God."

A Better Life

It seems like we are always looking for something better than what we have.

I got a smart phone a while back... 16 months ago or so.  I loved it and now it is slow and takes forever to do what I "need" it to do. I want something better. 

I had a great vehicle - it was totaled in an accident and so I had to go looking for a different vehicle and knew that I could not do a "new" car so I looked for something comparable.  Instead, I spent more than I had to get something that I convinced myself was better and needed.  It was better than what I had. Truly, I like it and it really is better but I question how necessary it was.

I had a Starbucks gift card that I found out I could register and then track the drinks I bought and eventually get something better with which to purchase my Starbucks - a GOLD CARD.  What is better?  I can get a free drink every 15 drinks I buy. I get all kinds of little perks that make my Starbucks status better than other average non-Gold Card holders.  (problem: I have to keep it loaded with money - it does not load itself!)

We always want something better.  So, I was reading Hebrews yesterday (yes, I read the whole book at one sitting - I like to do that sometimes because it helps me see the broader perspective of the writer) and I began to notice the word "better" time and time again.  (this is in the NIV 1984 version)
The writer is challenging the readers (the Hebrews) to avoid "settling" for what they had, what they used to treasure, what they used to measure themselves by, and how they lived.  He continually compares what was to what will be and notes that what will be is always better!

• Better things - fruit of our salvation (Heb. 6:9)
• Better hope than the hope that was in the works of the law (Heb. 7:19)
• Better covenant - the covenant of grace through Christ's work (Heb. 7:22 )
• Better promises - resulting from the ministry of Jesus (Heb. 8:6)
• Better sacrifices - to accomplish the purification of the heavenly elements of the temple (Heb. 9:23)
• Better possessions  - the treasures in heaven awaiting you compared to what you have lost or have given up on earth (Heb. 10:34)
• Better sacrifice  - Abel's sacrifice was better than Cain's - due to faith and heart condition (Heb. 11:4)
• Better country - the "promised land" of Israel vs. the "promised land" of the presence of God (Heb. 11:16)
• Better resurrection -  result of torture and suffering on behalf of their faith (Heb. 11:35)
• Something better - as a part of the reward which is a part of God's plan for a faithful life (Heb. 11:40)
• Better word -  The truth of the value of Christ's blood over the blood of Abel (Heb. 12:24)

 All of these comparisons to what we value here on earth to what we receive as the hope of heaven really do not compare.  The troubles of this life are all worth it when compared to the glory of heaven and living in the presence of our Savior. It brings home these words of Jesus in the book of Matthew.

Matthew 6:19-21 - Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 13:44  - "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
Matthew 19:21 -  Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 

 Never settle for what is here... the earthly "better" things.  Never let your heart get attached to them.  Guard your heart because it is the spring of life! Only settle for the "better" life of eternity!

Out with the Old

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV) "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 

I was reminded yesterday of how far God has brought me in my transformation from the old me to the new me. It was sobering. 
I received an unsolicited message from someone that I had deeply wounded by my words almost 35 years ago.  
WHAT? 
35 years ago?  "Whose problem is THAT?", you may be asking.
Well, it was not mine until it came to my attention... and then I had a decision.  Do I "own" it or just ignore it and leave it lie?
I read this message several times and even thought back to so many things: 

• who I was then
• where I was in Christ then
• how young and impetuous I was
• all that was going on in my life as a 12 and 13 year old
• what my heart must have been feeling

So many thought rushed through my mind and then I realized - I HAVE to own this.  I have to address THIS injustice from my youth!

For those of you who know me now and maybe did not know me then - I was a self-centered, angry, arrogant and prideful kid who was watching his "family" fall apart for a second time in under five years. 

My responses to all of that were not the right responses but at the time I did not really know how to express what I was feeling so i was mean to those that I decided were "less important" than me.  I was meanly sarcastic, I looked for people to make fun of, I embarrassed people to make myself look better than them. I had said the "prayer of salvation" but as of that point I do not think that the love of God had pierced my heart like it has today. 

In fact, I can point back to several events from that time through the end of my college years where I knew God was drawing me in to His chest and breaking my heart to reshape it in a new way!

However, that certainly does not mean that I am excused from my past behaviors or that there are no consequences from them.  I do know that I am forgiven (both by God and even by many of the individuals whom I have scarred) but forgiveness does not remove consequences.

So when I read and re-read this message, it broke my heart. It reminded me of the journey upon which I find myself and know that as I look toward the goal of the prize for which I have been called, I also look back and see some of the carnage that I have left in my wake.  I am NOT who I was.  I am NOT who I want to be.  But, I am on a journey of living each moment in the presence of the Almighty God and if He chooses to wreck me.. then so be it...it will be for His glory.  If He chooses to bless me... then so be it... but let me be blessed for His glory alone. I am confident of this - He is still at work in me and I can take comfort in knowing that there is NO BETTER PLACE to be than in the HAND of the ONLY FEARSOME and ALL-POWERFUL God of the UNIVERSE!

 So... what did I do?
The only thing that I knew to do - 

(what do I always say? "The right thing to do is often the hardest thing to do, but in the end, God blesses") 

- I apologized for my actions and words that scarred someone deeply almost 35 years ago that I just now discovered I had done. It was the only right thing to do.  

God is not finished with me yet - nor is He finished with YOU 

(you're still breathing right? cuz if you are still breathing than God is not finished with you yet).

Keep the faith, press on, do not let past actions, words, sins and behaviors wrap you up, define you or discourage you!  Face them, welcome them so that you can lay them at the feet of the only One that can make you whole again.  Ask God to give you strength to trust Him each day with all that comes your way.
I am so glad that the New Management in my life is having a "clearance event" to get rid of the old and transform it into something new and beautiful. Be glad, also!