No one has a sin problem

This thought has kept going through my head over the past week. A couple of years ago Mark Driscoll was over teaching at an event called Mandate. He said something that has stuck with me to this day. No one has a sin problem; everyone has a worship problem. It’s so true! Sin is just on outcome of our worship problem.

Question, if I was truly worshiping God all the time, would I sin? No, because I can’t worship God through sinning. We all worship something all the time. We’re wired that way. So as Christians we worship God or we worship something or someone else.

I don’t know about you but when I see that I have a sin problem I try to do the sin less. I try to not think about it as much. Or I think about not giving into temptation and technically I’m still thinking about the sin. It never works! I’m sure you’ve all heard the first part of this illustration before but let’s take it a step further. Don’t think of white mice. Don’t think of their smooth white hair. Don’t think of their long pink tails. Don’t think of their small pink feet. Don’t think of their small pink nose and their long whiskers. Don’t think of black cats. Don’t think of their piercing green eyes. Don’t think of their long rough tongue. Don’t think of black cats. Don’t think of there long soft black tail. Don’t think of black cats. Don’t think of their movements as they climb a tree. What happened to the white mice?

See the point of the illustration is that we don’t get over something by thinking about not doing it. That only ends up with us thinking about the sin more and it just increases the temptation. We get over it by thinking about someone else. We need to fill our minds with someone else and begin to worship someone else. We need to think of someone bigger than anything. Any ideas?

The whole point is that we can’t get over sin by ourselves. We need to worship God to get over it. If we get tempted and we start to pray, worship, read the Bible or do something else that makes us praise God then we’re sorted. Just as long as we can redirect our worship to the one who deserves it.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 4v8

The only thing that I can hold in my head that is true, honourable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and worthy of my praise is Christ.

Think Christ, Live Christ

Suffering

I thought I would just share this with everyone even though I’m only really writing it for one family, but I think some others might benefit from this. I would like everyone to pray for this family; for strength, peace, joy and for healing. And although you have no idea whose family it is or what the problem is, God does.

Suffering is a guaranteed fact of life. It’s everywhere we look. With a world full of diseases I’m sure every one of you can think of someone who is suffering, or you can see it in yourself. At times like these we are asked, ‘Where is your God?’ We either stand up for God and try to justify why he allows it or we fade away and we start to question his ways, as if we know best.

During suffering, our job is not to try and justify God. Nor is it to question him. Sometimes we may know what he is doing and why he is doing it, and others we might not have a clue. But don’t lose sight of what our job is. Our job is to worship the King who is worthy of praise. Our job is to believe that his ways are the best ways. Our job is to trust him with our lives and let him do what he does, no matter how bad things seem to get. Our job is to rest and find peace in his promises.

One of the greatest promises from scripture is found is Philippians 3:20-21. That Jesus is transforming our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body. I find this promise so great because God is making us become more like him. Is that not something to rejoice over? This is an on-going thing in our life and we can be assured that no matter what happens in our lives, he is making us more like him. And he can use times of suffering to make us more like him. I know that the hardest times in my life have been the times I have grew stronger in Christ. Although the pain may seem unbearable at times and you may cry and struggle, you can rejoice about what God is doing in your life. And I know that it’s a lot easier to say than to do. So pray that God would help you to do it.

When the golf ball was first created is was completely round. Then after research scientists realised that the golf ball would travel further if it had dents in it. Sometimes God brings things into our lives that hurt us and leaves dents. The reason is so that we can go further in him and become more like him, that we can be better than we ever could be by ourselves.

In Romans 5:3-4 we are told that our sufferings produce endurance, and endurance produces character. And I’ve already pointed out Philippians, where we’re told that Christ is making us more like him. Do you believe this? Do you believe that God does not lie? Do you believe that he says what he means? Do you trust him? Do you trust him enough to stick with what he says? God is doing something wonderfully complex here; so complex that we do not understand. Continue to praise him, thank him and trust him, even though it can be every hard.

Now I’m not going to pretend i know all the answers. Maybe he’s working through your life to reach others through this. Maybe others will come to know God as they see your faith through this time. Maybe it will encourage other believers. Or maybe he is trying to bring you closer to him. Maybe he is bring you to a deeper understanding of trusting him and relaying on him.

I don’t have a clue what he is going to do through this situation but I can assure you of one thing. Through life he is making you more and more like his glorious body. I will ask the questions again; do you believe him? Do you trust him?

Lord, I give thanks to you that you would care for us enough to make us more like you. I thank you for you Holy Spirit, who works inside of us to help us. I pray more than anything that you would help this family to rejoice in this storm. I thank you that you are making them more and more like you through this, no matter what happens. I pray that you would heal this person and bring them back to full recovery. Though I do realise that you’re ways are not my ways and you’re thoughts are not my thoughts. I realise you do complex things in our lives that we do not understand. So I humbly ask for healing Lord, but may your will be done. May we not question your actions but understand that they are the best actions that can happen. Help us all to know your plan of Christ-likeness in everything that we suffer. In Jesus Christ’s name I ask these things, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Live Christ

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”

Philippians 1:21

To live Christ means to live a life like him. To honour him with everything we have and to sacrifice the things that take us away from Christ likeness and worshipping Christ. To live Christ sometimes requires us to give up things that we don’t want to give up.

Maybe to live Christ in work would mean that if our job was making us do something that Christ wouldn’t do then we should talk to the manager about changing it and if nothing changes then we should leave the job. This is something that people feel very uncomfortable with but we can be assured that when we make a sacrifice like this for Christ that he will take care of us.

If we have a friend that makes us become less like Christ then we should chat to them about it. If they don’t change then we should spend less time with them. And although we may absolutely love hanging around with this friend we must sacrifice this friendship because it is making us unlike Christ.

If our favourite TV programme is making us think things that Christ wouldn’t think then we must stop watching it. And I know the last two are very hard sacrifices that people will have trouble over and this is also a hard one. I know a lot of you will watch things on TV that aren’t healthy for your relationship with Jesus. Jokes are made and things are shown that would influence your mind and your thoughts. So to live Christ would be to stop watching them.

If we are in a relationship that makes us less like Christ then we should end it.

If we have possessions that make us proud and boastful or take our worship of Christ then we should sell them. We should just sell them and maybe even give that extra money to advance God’s kingdom.

If banter is bringing us away from Christ then we should sacrifice so much time of it a week. We still need a time to have fun and to relax but if the fun is getting in the way of our relationship with Christ then we should not have it until we have our quiet times with God.

If we do anything or have anything in our life’s that takes us away from Christ or takes our focus of him then we should stop them and get them out of our life’s. Even if we love them we should stop them. That’s what it means to live Christ. To count everything as loss compared to him.

“What is more, I consider everything as loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ”

Philippians 3:8

And as we do this then everything we do will magnify Christ and honour Christ and draw us closer to Christ and make us more like Christ. Then to live, for us, will be Christ.

And to live Christ is not to merely live Christ in our own life’s but to live in a way that enhances the living of Christ in the life’s of the people around us.

Live Christ