If you stumble into sin, believer, don't give up; don't allow hopelessness to consume you, the deceitfulness of sin to blind you, or the weight of shame to defeat you. In the morning and evening prayer we pray, in part, the following: "I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not fall" (Ps. 16:8). Christ is at your right hand, and this fall shall not be final for you; He took the final fall. 

Yes, you may feel as though your worst day has cast a shadow over you that will never break to show the light of day, but, happily, you're wrong. God, in Christ, has declared you to be righteous (2 Cor. 5:21). Of the righteous we read: "for though they fall seven times, they will rise again" (Prov. 24:16NRSV). You will rise, friend, because Christ will lift you up. He took the ultimate fall in order that you should rise. 

No one knows how many times I've had to encourage myself, thinking these thoughts, repeating the words of this post to myself. How I didn't play dead but arose from sin is a testimony to God's sheer grace. This post is as much an exhortation to myself as it is for anyone else experiencing difficulties or tragedies, whether self-caused or otherwise.

What do you do on the worst day of your life? Rise: not because you're inherently worthy of being named righteous. Rise because the one who took the ultimate fall declares you righteous. Rise because, though you sinned, though you deserve the fate of the wicked like the rest of us, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1). 

But rise, too, because you neither honor the Lord nor serve the body of Christ by remaining fallen. Don't play dead, possum. In Christ you have been made alive (Col. 2:13). Play dead to your old, sinful nature or past. But in Christ, even when you sin, don't play dead -- don't remain defeated. In Him you are more than one who has conquered all spiritually negative realities (Rom. 8:37). "So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God" (Col. 3:1 NRSV). 

You can avoid re-offending others by rising, and thinking healthy, spiritual thoughts: "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (Phil. 4:8). All offenses begin with thoughts. We are instructed to destroy arguments raised up against the knowledge of God. 

But the apostle Paul also added, "We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God" (2 Cor. 10:5 NRSV, emphasis added). How many thoughts rise up against the reality of God's holy existence and righteous standards? We are taught to destroy such thoughts, to take them captive and make them obedient to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). 

I picture such thoughts as personified. I imagine capturing them, putting them into a prison cell, while Christ stands watch over them as Guard. If I fail to do so, then I may entertain such thoughts, have them affect me emotionally, and then obey them. When I obey them, I sin. "But one is tempted by one's own desire, being lured and enticed by it; then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my beloved" (James 1:15-16 NRSV). 

But when you sin, no matter the degree, take it immediately to Christ. "If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9 NRSV). Don't let sin drag you into a hopeless, despondent, dejected place, out of which you feel impossible to escape. By His grace and forgiveness you rise up, and you keep rising up. You don't rise up only once. You will need to rise up every time you fall. 

More than that, you will need to rise up every time you think about a past fall. Such thoughts about your past have a tendency to paralyze you emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Paralyzed, you will play dead. No: in Christ you must rise up from the guilt of your past. Though you fall seven times a day, you will rise -- you must rise (Prov. 24:16). 

The Lord foreknew every sin you would ever commit when He by grace through faith in Christ saved your soul. You don't ever take Him by surprise by any thought, desire, or action. In Christ He has already declared you holy, sanctified (set apart from the world and for His service and care), and righteous. You don't let Him down because you don't hold Him up.

You are becoming more and more like Christ (Rom. 8:29), slow as such may seem, and your heavenly Father understands completely all of your eccentricities, particularities, and unique qualities. This is how, you see, you keep on rising. Give your defeats to the One who defeated sin, death, and hell (1 Cor. 15:56-57; 1 John 3:8). Give your hopelessness to the God of hope (Rom. 15:13). Whatever you do, don't play dead, possum, but rise.    

This post was written by William Watson Birch.  You can find the original post with comments here:       http://www.classicalarminian.com/2013/01/saturday-devotion-dont-play-dead.html

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

As we open ourselves to see and know God in new ways, we will need to guard against using our relationship with God as a new arena for expressing our perfectionism. We cannot now see God except in a 'poor reflection'. We cannot perfectly know God. We are not yet face to face with God. We see partially. We know partially. There is much that remains a mystery to us.

It is not easy for us to live with partial vision. It is difficult to tolerate the ambiguities and unknowns. Sometimes the imperfections in our understanding of God make us anxious. We feel that God expects more of us than that. We feel that we should have answers to every conceivable question, that we should never experience doubts, that we should have clarity at all times.

But this text makes it clear that 20:20 vision is not a realistic expectation in our relationship with God. Perfection is not an option for us. Accepting limits in our capacity to see and know God is part of getting to know God better.

The list of things I don't understand goes on and on, Lord.
What I don't know makes me anxious.
I am afraid of my doubts.
I want to see and know you so well that I no longer experience doubt.
I want to understand things so thoroughly, that I no longer experience anxiety.
But I cannot see you face to face. I only see and know in part.
Help me, Lord, 
to find a way to live with uncertainty, 
with doubts, 
with anxiety.
Help me to embrace what you have revealed of your love and goodness.
And to live in anticipation of one day knowing you more fully.
Amen.

Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan
National Association for Christian Recovery

The histrionic religious bad boy draws strength from superficial relationships with others.  However, the narcissistic religious bad boy is self-absorbed and wishes little to nothing from others, except that which confirms his superiority.  

This bad boy lives a self-admiring and self-sufficient way of life.  He despises weakness and dependency.  He draws his sense of security and satisfaction from being above others, disdainful of and superior to other people -- stronger, brighter, more beautiful, wealthier, less fallible, and certainly more important than others.  

The narcissistic religious bad boy is a master of exaggeration of his own accomplishments.  He arrogantly overstates his accomplishments and pretentiously shows off a blatant self-assurance.  If indeed he is a person of remarkable good looks or high intelligence or has mastered a skill, art or a profession, then he can make the case for himself stick; it seems plausible.  

However, the capacity for self-evaluation and self-criticism is absent.  If this man becomes a self-absorbed leader in the church, he is likely to project his narcissism onto a large screen of public adulation, which reinforces his feelings of superiority.

This man lives a life of entitlement.  To expect him to show genuine gratitude is like expecting a person with no arms to shake hands with you.  He has a real spiritual deficit:  a lack of the awareness of grace and an incapacity for gratitude.  This entitlement even extends to God.  St. Augustine's quote, "Good men use the world to enjoy God, whereas bad men use God to enjoy the world" describes his spiritual snobbery.  This man seeks to control God.  It doesn't occur to him to yield control of his world to God.  Religion is magic and the narcissistic is the magician.  He tells himself, "I can tell God what to do and He will bless all my ideas."  Essentially, this bad boy is above God.

In the church, this man is full of big ideas couched in glowing terms but little detail as to how to put these ideas into specific, concrete action.  When told to "put up or shut up" this bad boy will fake it, make elaborate promises, fall into misunderstandings with "inferior" people who don't understand his genius and/or make scapegoats of others.  

This man has loyalty tests for those with whom he shares his dreams.  If your loyalty does not meet his standard, then you are no longer trusted with his dreams and your relationship with Christ is questioned.  He wants people to commit to him with unwavering loyalty to him & his ideals and wild ideas.

Elaborate explanations of what God has "done for me" causes people to ask themselves, "Why is he so special to God?"  He has information that arises out of "private talks" with God and uses that information to manipulate and coerce others.  The narcissistic bad boy thanks God that bad things don't happen to perfect people like himself, because God gives him preferential treatment.

How can the church help the Narcissistic Religious Bad Boy?

These individuals only ask for help when faced with a serious loss or are in serious trouble.  Narcissists are a bundle of creativity that need the taming of God's Holy Spirit.  They are a challenge, but it takes an inner awareness that they frankly say about themselves what many others carry as their secrets.  We can thank God for a certain naiveté and guilelessness in them.  That is a rare metal in the human spirit.  But it has to be mined and refined over a period of time by gentle nudgings and confrontations.  IF we do not write them off or give up on them, they just may learn (1) that we can be counted on thru thick and thin, and (2) that if anybody is going to break the relationship between us, they will will have to do it.

Much thanks to the deceased Dr. Oates from whom much of this information is taken.  His seminal work Behind the Masks should be read by those in positions of leadership in the church.

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

One of the most remarkable features of the human condition is our capacity to pretend that we are healthy when our lives are in total chaos.

We work hard to cover up our problems and flaws in our character. We will sacrifice almost anything to keep from facing the truth about ourselves. We work this hard to look good because we experience our human needs, limits and failures with deep shame - a shame that drives us to strive harder and harder to look better and better. We sacrifice our serenity, our relationships, our sanity on the altar of perfectionism. We also sacrifice any possibility of getting the help we need by continuing to insist that "we can handle it."

God does not ask such sacrifices from us. God has no need for us to be perfect. Jesus speaks to us gently but very clearly about this issue. He confronts our pretense, shame and perfectionistic strivings. He says in effect "you do not have to sacrifice yourself in this way. You do not have to drive yourself like this. I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I want you to learn to be mercy-full to yourself. Be compassionate with yourself. It will free you to accept your need of healing. It will allow you to acknowledge your longing for me."

Jesus was saying "I did not come to pass out blue ribbons to the people who have all the answers and have worked hard to prove themselves. I came to bring hope and healing to people who know they need help." We can stop shaming and condemning ourselves because God does not shame or condemn us. God knows our brokenness, our pain, our need. We can give up our attempts to prove ourselves and acknowledge our need for help and healing.

Lord, I don't want to be needy. 
I want to be strong for you.
But, I can't sustain the pretense any longer
I have nothing to show for all my efforts to look good. 
All I have done is shut you out of my life.

Today I acknowledge my need for you, Lord.
I need your healing and your forgiveness. 
I am not healthy. 
I need a doctor. 
I need you. 
Amen.

Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan
National Association for Christian Recovery

Yesterday, we discovered that it is possible to have perfect intent.   But how does one achieve such?  How does one become a slave to righteousness?

Let me offer this illustration.  A man wakes up every morning to spider webs in the corner.  Day in and day out, he sweeps out the webs.  One morning, he wakes up to the realization, “why don't I just kill the spider?”  

That's what sanctification is about.  It is an instantaneous realization that the way that you have been living your life has been ok but that there is a better way.   Sanctification is a change of your intent.  Sanctification is God killing that selfish part of you, setting you aside for His purposes, no longer living for yourself.

Sanctification is a crisis experience but one that grows.  Even though he may have killed the spider, he needs to kill any other spiders that move in or other spider webs will appear.  This is congruent with the teaching of  "work out your salvation with fear and trembling."  Now, you say, "that leads to a danger of a works based salvation."   However, James says that faith without works is dead.  In Nehemiah, he told them to work and pray while they built the wall.  A proper understanding of sanctification realizes that any good that a Christian does is only done through the power of the Holy Spirit.  

This crisis experience of sanctification is a change of the intent of the heart.  God takes that heart that is bent towards self and sin and turns it to pleasing Him, much like your son who is getting you a drink of water.  He wanted to please you rather than himself.

In my life, I was saved at six by my mother's aid.  At age 17, I was in Las Vegas and watched a man put money into a slot machine.  He looked so sad.  I remember God distinctly telling me, “do you want a happy Christian life or a sad one?”  That was my sanctification experience.  That evening, all alone, I prayed that God would use me however he wanted and that I would never turn my back on him.  My life after 17 was much different than it was before.  

I have had experiences where I hear Satan's voice, “see?  All that Christian stuff isn't worth the trouble.  Just give it up!”  When that happens, I am able, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to remind myself that I had a sanctification experience where I vowed I would never give up on my relationship with God.

My sanctification is entire because not only do I have all of the Holy Spirit (His Spirit is given without measure) but He has all of me as well!  This sanctification is exhibited by the FRUIT of the Holy Spirit.  That means once I became sanctified, I received all of the fruit but it was not fully mature at that point.  My sanctification needs to continue to grow.  The different fruit may grow at different rates but it is all there.  My goal, with God's help, is to have all the fruit mature in my life.  

So, I still sin.  But when I do, I have an Advocate with the Father.  I stop, confess, and move on.  I don't beat myself up nor allow Satan to drag me down.  The closer I stay to God's Holy Spirit, the shorter my fall when I sin.  

Now you know what to do.  What are you gonna do?
While you're deciding, that spider is building more webs...

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

Jesus tells us that we are to be perfect as He is perfect.   However, being human, it is impossible to be perfect.  What do you think Jesus meant by this statement?

Here is a good example of perfection.  Maybe it is close to what Jesus was meaning.  A piano student practices day and nite on a musical piece until he can execute it without error.  His piano teacher would say that he plays “perfectly.”  However, if he hasn't moved on and is still playing the same piece a year later, he is no longer perfect.  

Another example.  Let's say that you have a son with whom you are gardening in the hot sun.  He sees you sweating and obviously becoming overheated.  He thinks to himself, “I'll go get dad a glass of water.”  He goes into the house and gets a dirty cup out of the sink and fills it with lukewarm water out of the tap without any ice.  He carries it by the rim so that his grubby fingers get into the water.  He joyfully brings it to you, knowing that it will help your thirst.  When he gives it to you, you look inside the glass and notice that the water is not very clean.  What do you do at that point?  Do you chastise him for bringing you a glass of dirty water?  Nope.  A loving father would praise his son and gladly accept the water and drink it down.  You have a perfect son.  His intent was to please you.

The concept of intent is the key in both of these illustrations.  You know the intent of your heart (and so does God).  Let's say you do something that you think could be very helpful but someone misunderstands your intent and believes that you are not a very good Christian.  

For example, a Christian brother chastises you for going into a bar.  Your intent, when you went into that bar, was to talk to your friend that is drunk in there.  You went in there to take him home and prevent him from further harming himself.  Now the Christian chastising you does not know your intent.  However, you do and moreover, God knows.  Therefore, you are sinless (perfect) in regard to your going into a bar, a place where many people would say that a Christian should not be.  So, as God told Samuel of David, God looks on the heart.  God looks at our intent.

Sinlessness (perfection) is to be judged by God only.  That's why we have a hard time with this concept, we are looking through human eyes.  Some Christians have been taught  that “we sin every day in thought, word or deed.”  Nevertheless, it is possible to go for a while without sinning.  However, it is VERY RARE.  If a Christian looks in the mirror and says, “I didn't sin today!” then he just sinned.  If you go without sinning, you don't realize it.  You don't realize it because you don't focus on sin but on God's righteousness and God's ability to empower you to live a victorious Christian life. We are no longer slaves to sin but slaves to righteousness.  

You used to offer your body to impurity and wickedness.  However, now, you offer your body as a slave to righteousness which leads to holiness.  So, how do you offer yourself to righteousness?

Tomorrow, we will discover that together.

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.