It's My Room!

Today Marina and I got into a big fight over her room. Since she was a small child, Marina's room has always been a bit of a disaster area. It regularly looks like a small tornado, or micro-burst, started to go through her room; realized half-way through that the tornado was actually making the room cleaner, and then just gave up. Our 9 yr-old son is much the same way with cleanliness, except he shares his room with Phillip, who likes to keep his toys in their original boxes. This makes for a wonderfully charming dyamic between the two.

This weekend I finally got tired of stumbling through their rooms like a blind burglar and decided to consolidate the two messy children into the same room. Marina would move into Nick's room and Phillip would move into Marina's room. As you can imagine, it was NOT a popular decision, except with Phillip, who gets Marina's room for a week. Some of the discussions included whether this move would backfire and push Marina further away, and whether she had a right to maintain her room the way she saw fit.

I thought long and hard about this because I definitely do NOT want to push Marina away during these last couple of years in high school. At the same time, we have certain expectations for the room that Mary and I give to our kids. Even though it costs the kids nothing to receive, it costs Mary and me a lot of money and hard work to give the rooms. It's not unreasonable then, that we want to see our gifts taken care of.

I started to think of how we view our bodies as belonging to ourselves and we have the "right" to use our bodies as we desire. The reality, however, is something totally different. Our bodies are gifts from God. Not only that, they are united with Christ himself. In 1 Cor 6:15 Paul reminds us Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and untie them with a prostitute? Never! Later on, in 1 Cor 6:19, Paul continues with Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

I have lived in a state of rebellion as a sexual addict. I treated my body as if it were mine and mine alone and defiled my body in an affair and through my sexual acting out. I still struggle with tempation of mind and body even though God, just a few verses earlier (1 Cor 6:18) commands us to Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Paul is clearly telling us that our sexual sins are not just against God but destructive to ourselves. Yet despite all of this, my rebellious, sinful nature reaches out for that which will destroy us.

Romans 12:1 says Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.

So in the end, my rebellion against God, through my sexual addiction, is not unlike my daughter's and son's rebellion against me with "their" room. It would seem that we all must learn to listen more carefully to our fathers and honor the gifts that our fathers give to us as our spiritual acts of worship. In this way, we will be transformed from what we are to what God wants us to be.

An Incredible Revelation

It was 11:45 PM a few nights ago, Mary had gone to sleep and I felt this strong compulsion to read the Bible. I read some from Psalms and Isaiah, but what really struck me was Romans. Chapters 2-3 just opened my eyes to understanding several things. It was amazing because through the Holy spirit I finally understood the purpose of the Law, or Old Testament, and how we fit into the law and God's righteousness. Most of all, I'm beginning to understand, in my heart and not just in my head, the true meaning of Jesus' salvation.

You are righteous when you obey God's laws, even if you know nothing about them. On the other hand, if you know the law and brag about your relationship with God and don't live the law, you will actually push people away from God. Romans 2:28 says "a man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly." There are a lot of times when I fit into this category. I spend my time talking about my relationship with God, but not living it. When was the last time I helped out the poor? When was the last time I reached out to the broken through action rather than words? When was the last time I made a commitment to help those in need and saw it through?

So back to righteousness. God uses the law to show us how high His standards are, but the Jews missed the point and focused on the outward actions rather than the inward heart. So along comes Jesus to help clarify that what's on the inside is even more important than the outside. In Romans 3:11 Paul paraphrases Psalms 14:103 and says "there is no one righteous, not even one," which is that no matter what we do, we will fail to meet God's perfect standards. Under the law we would truly have to be zero-defects.

But here's the deal, the purpose of the law is to hold the entire world accountable to God, and none of us will be declared righteous by observing the law alone, because honestly, none of us are good enough. However, God uses the law to make us conscious of sin. In other words, the law is a barometer of sin.

So how can we be righteous in God's eyes? Through FAITH in Jesus Christ! Paul reminds us "all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God." I find this reassuring especially when Satan uses my guilt, about my addiction, to attack me and push me away from God and away from my family.

This next verse is so critical to this discussion. Romans 3:24-25 says "and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood."

Justification is when a judge declares a defendant not guilty. So picture that you're in a courtroom, because we're ALL going to be in front of a judge when we die. All your sins, each and everyone of them, are presented before God. The evidence is overwhelmingly against you. God asks is anyone will speak on your behalf. If nobody speaks, God will find you guilty and you will spend the rest of eternity shut off from God, in Hell, forever in torment.

Instead, Jesus rises and testifies for you because you accepted him into your life. He says that he already atoned, or sacrificed to take your place as guilty. Jesus' sacrifice of atonement purchased your freedom, which is the meaning of redemption (to purchase someone out of slavery and give them their freedom). After hearing Jesus speak, God turns to you and pronounces you "Not Guilty" and you enter that gates of heaven, because you put your faith in Jesus.

Here's the best part, if you've accepted Jesus as your Savior in your heart, this day has already occurred. So you're free to go and sin no more. You're free to spread the Good News that this salvation and freedom are available to anyone. You're free to bring heaven to earth through your actions. Now go forth and sin no more.

Anything But Silent

This video asks some serious questions that I find myself sometimes asking. What has been your experience with God? Do your questions go unanswered?

On a different topic, I'm looking at redesigning the blog. Any recommendations?