Titus 2:11 (MSG) - "God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone! We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness."
I read an article by Ed Welch the other day and he used the phrase "rest versus complacency." He said "rest" is spiritual. "Complacency" is sinful.
This thought was a new take on a very old struggle in my life...that pattern of sin that defeats me most of the time. I sin, I confess, I feel bad, I try to forget about it and do better the next time. Then, I sin again. After a while that cycle gives me a sense of failure that ends up closing God off to parts of my life. That's exactly what Satan wants! That's exactly why he uses those feelings of guilt and failure. He wants me to stay wallowing in my "pit" because then I'm closed off to God's voice, to God's love and grace, and closed off to God's power in my life. When I sin and then truly confess, it's over and forgotten in God's mind. So why is it so hard for me to forget?!?!
Instead of resting in His grace and forgiveness, I hang on to the feelings that keep me feeling and living conquered and useless. Satan tells me (in his best Christie voice) that I can't be used by God. How could He possibly use me for anything eternal when I can't seem to make it through one day without messing up...again? So, I let my mind and soul slip into a "whatever" attitude. That's the sinful complacency Welch is talking about. We let ourselves take a break from the trying, take a break from the guilty feelings by simply not dealing with it anymore. We turn our minds off to any spiritual pursuits because we feel so unworthy and incapable. Satan wins every time we do this. Jesus died on the cross to defeat that sin. It's done. He did it. He won and therefore we've already won. Why is it so hard for us to feel that and then live that!
One of my favorite songs right now is Mercy Me's "You Are I Am" mainly due to one part of the song that says ...
"The veil is torn.
And now I live with the Spirit inside.
The same one, the very same one
Who brought the Son back to life."
The very same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us! Why do we continue to let Satan's lies keep us living a defeated life instead of living a victorious life?!?! Instead of allowing those guilty feelings to send us into a complacency that kills our spiritual souls, we have to learn about God's love for us. We must begin to understand His grace and learn to rest in that instead of becoming overwhelmed and then apathetic! Rest vs. Complacency. A new take on a very old concept.
http://youtu.be/2JI4CPfuLW0 - the song You Are I Am
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