Sin nature
Okay, so today’s reading was a bit of a downer, especially with the zombie imagery stuck in my head from yesterday’s entry.
Nonetheless, it’s such a foundational thing – we were born into sin. The stuff we’re made of? That’s what it does! And on our own, we can’t do anything to change.
The lies of the enemy aren’t new or sophisticated. You can live without God! Look over here – this will make you feel significant/meaningful/loved! And the results are always the same: whatever was supposed to make us feel better (or more important, etc.), ends up making us feel worse.
I’d love to see into the spiritual realm when someone gets saved. What does that look like? The process of someone’s spirit being reborn, shiny and new – how cool! While it takes time for us to figure out all about our new life in Christ, it’s all there. We’ve already been totally forgiven, totally set free from sin’s power.
The challenge, then, is to tame the flesh… The underlying cause of the illness has been dealt with, but the symptoms persist, to use medical-eze. The good news is that we now have the power to overcome sin. The more I practice, the easier it becomes, because I’m re-training my nature.
"Perishable Skill Set" In my profession, this is a phrase that's used a lot. As the Mackies can readily attest to, marksmanship (the ability to accurately fire at a target and hit what you are aiming at) is one of our most important skills. The problem is, it is also the most susceptible to slipping if not used and trained in regularly. It is a perishable skill set. If not constantly worked on, practiced, and maintained, it quickly begins to erode and be lost.
ReplyDeleteToday's posting reminds me of that concept. This side of heaven, if we don't constantly walk with the Lord, be transformed by His word and allow His presence to renew us, our marksmanship begins to erode.
For me, being dead to sin (and maybe more accurately, staying dead to sin) is a perishable skill set. Without constantly coming to the Father, without daily inviting the Holy Spirit to be my source of influence, without yielding the throne of my life to Jesus on a regular basis, my "deadness" to sin begins to quickly erode.
Jesus, reign on the throne of my life today. Holy Spirit, fill me today in such a way that I may walk through my day with my skill set strengthened.
Michele and I like to watch a comedy called "How I Met Your Mother". One character, Lily, has a "you're dead to me" look where the special effects department makes her eyes glow red as she makes a mean face and then a few seconds later the person she is giving the "you're dead to me" look explodes into a ball of smoke and is gone. Funnier to see than explain in text.
ReplyDeleteBUT my point is...
I wonder what I would do differently on a daily basis if I practiced a biblical "you're dead to me" look at my flesh each morning in the mirror? Followed up with some time connecting with God, like now in this blog. IF God's word is true (duh!) then each day I would scrape a little bit of my old dead zombie flesh away to reveal the fully alive spirit inside.
OK, so here goes..."Flesh you are dead to me!" cue FX and boom!
Thank you God for bringing my spirit back to life when I gave you my heart.
I like what Johnny and Michele both said, when you practice a skill, like not sinning, you get better at it. At the same time they mentioned if you don’t practice a skill you lose it. I want to continue to keep that “perishable skill set” up to date, because it is easier to keep up to date than to start fresh. Like losing weight, it is easier to catch those two pounds and get them off than it is to wait and have 50 pounds to take off later.
ReplyDelete"Sin is living our lives independently of God. It's the result of being deceived by Satan to believe that meaning and purpose in life may be achieved apart from a personal relationship with, and obedience to, the Creator of life"
ReplyDeleteI can relate to this definition of sin. I want to serve God with all of me but sometimes I get sidetracked by the lies of the enemy. You see those lies speak directly to our so called needs of the moment. The enemy's lies can seem like the right thing at the time, it is like when we tell someone what they want to hear. It is not truth but it gets received better than the truth so often.
But Gods word speaks truth to us, it is God's word that breaks the power of the lies we listen to and brings truth to our lives.
That is why daily in the word is so important for us.
Holy Spirit lead us into the truth each and every day I pray in Jesus name, amen.
"When you received Christ you died to sin and its power to dominate you was broken." "You are not dead to sin because you consider it so; you consider it so because it is so. In Christ you have already died to sin"
ReplyDeleteToday's reading makes me think of why most horror movies are dumb-- GEE, I wonder if that monster/zombie/ax murderer is really dead??? Let me go look--and sure enough, the "supposedly" dead thing attacks the person looking for it! As a believer, I need to remember that while I am still plagued by sin nature, I do NOT have to live in sin. I need to die to sin every day and leave it alone--don't go looking or wondering about whether or not that sin is really dead! God removes the sin as far as the east is from the west--IT IS GONE!! God help me to remember to live in you and avoid sin every day!