Thoughts from 3/18

A few days ago Jessica asked me how I was doing. Jessica is the lovely girl from North Carolina. If you have never met Jessica let me give you a window into her personality; she has a fervent "dislike" for UNC, she dances and smiles a lot, she has an amazing family, and she is very....very good at grammar.

Where was I? She asked me how I was doing, right. So this was my response on 3/18

"Today I am predicating my intimacy with the Father on MY pursuit of Him through the saturation of truth--the Bible--rather than on the person of Jesus through the work of his life and cross. I am learning there is such a weight in Jesus being the way to the the Father. The living reality that Jesus intercedes for us is huge."

Give my words grace, I was trying to fit a few hours of thought into a text message answer. Naturally it lacks depth, but allow me to expound. Being rooted in scripture--by that I mean reading, memorizing and discussing scripture--is vital in the process of renewing our minds.

However, on a day like the 18th I found myself thinking a very dangerous religious thing. I thought, "Man I don't FEEL very close with the Lord today. It is probably because I haven't been reading my Bible very consistently. Yeah I really need read the Bible THEN I will be right with the Lord."

Can I share with you the lie in that? First, our relationship with the Father does not hinge on how we feel. Our relationship with the Father--Christian's call this the new covenant--hinges on the work of Jesus' life, climaxing at the moment of the cross and resurrection. Hear that please. You were gifted the opportunity of relationship with Holy God. You did not earn. You do nothing for it. You did not deserve it, because frankly, you suck at life.

Now at this point don't get all hard heart-ed, I suck too. If you keep reading this blog you will see just much I suck. So feel better knowing that I am right there with you and I'd be glad to tell you all the ways that I do, but that is not the point in this blog. The point is you and Jesus and the Father.

Second, to say that I need to read my bible then the Lord will be close to me is backwards theology. Is it good, pleasing to the Lord, Biblical, beneficial to read our Bibles? Absolutely. Should we pursue the Lord with all passion, fervency, and zeal? Absolutely. Does the Lord respond to our pursuit of Him? Yes. BUT (and this is a HUGE "BUT", one of the most important "Buts") we ought not think that we gain right standing with the Lord based on our level of effort. We should put effort forth, the christian life is marked by putting effort forth, BUT not before we accept the free gift of grace from Jesus that puts us into right standing with the Father. This was not where my heart was on the 18th.

My heart's condition was one of self-sufficiency, self-reliance, independence, and pride. Am I being too harsh? Not if rebuke and conviction drives us to a deeper appreciation of Christ.

In addition, it is important to understand God has a different set of standards than we do. And I do not mean the 10 commandments only. No, we must not look only to those standards. We must look to the law of Christ. What does He say about how we are to examine ourselves.He is creator, we are creation. He is judge, we are not. He does not think like we think. He does not act like we act. We must look to him as our character reference, not man made moral standards.

Ok so what is the point? 3 things.

1. If you are under the false doctrine of self-sufficiency and are looking at your relationship w/ the Father as an "If, Then Statement" you should repent. Turn toward truth and embrace the gift of grace.

2. Read the scripture. Paul speaks volumes as to what the Gospel of Christ is. Galatians and 1 Peter 1:3-9 are wonderful pieces of encouragement.

3. Pray about these words, as you should about all the words you read here. As Bryan Stupar, teaching pastor at Calvary SLO, says, "I can promise you two things from this blog; messes and Jesus."