The Talent of Doublespeaking

I am so talented.

I have the ability to talk out of both sides of my mouth.

Can you do that too?

As I look within my heart to identify this problem, I am noticing a trend.  I don't really do it out in the general, meaning I feel free to be honest and truthful over "public" issues or items.  The problem is much deeper than that.

I am finding that I doublespeak to and about those closest to me...

my kids

my wife

my Savior

In doing so I make a mockery of both them and myself.  

So on this day, I am thankful for the grace of Christ that covers both the praise and the profane.

Battling Sin

What are you tempted by?  

Lust

     Anger

               Money

   Power

                    Jealousy

           Success

                              Resentment

Which of these do you bring into your marriage?  Which of these do you bring into your home?  Is your spouse safe?  Are your children safe?

Hebrews 13:4

Let marriage be held in honor among all,

and let the marriage bed be undefiled.

None of us are exempt from sin.  We all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.  It's true.  We just need to look in a mirror and see it for ourselves.

The other side of that coin is just as true.  For those of us who are in Christ, we are new creation, the old has gone away, the new has come.  We have been justified by faith through Christ.  Just as if we never sinned.

So how do we go through this life as a sinner/saint?  How do we walk with Christ, dealing with sin?  Many books have been written on this subject alone.  Seminars, CDs, DVDs, you name it, it's out there.  Below are some steps that I have found to be good in battling sin.  Please when you read this, don't think that I don't struggle with sin. I certainly do struggle with it, but I am learning where the true battle lies.

Regardless, I hope these help.

I know you don't feel like this, but you are a good man.  God has created something in your heart that is good.  He is moving you in a new direction.  The battle is sure (Romans 7 reminds us of that), but the grace of God, through the Spirit, is shaping you to be more like Christ.  That is a promise.

A few things to ponder:

• Recognize what temptation is and how it works.
• The devil will not just tempt us not with sins to just bring us down, but also with sins to help us boast of our self righteousness.  
• Remember not to give into the temptation to boast of your sinlessness.
• We walk by the Spirit - in humbleness, both the good days and the bad days.

Galations 5:25

If we live by the Spirit,

let us also walk by the Spirit.

• Remember not to listen to the devil.
• he is a liar. 
• he is a thief.  
• he wants to destroy you.  
• he would love for you to listen to him tell you how horrible you are.

James 4:7

Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

John 10:10

The thief comes only to steal

and kill and destoy

• Remember your depravity. 
  
• As long as we are on this earth, we will never know how deep our sin is.  How horrible our sin is.  How base our sin is.
• Jack Miller used to say "Cheer up.  You are a whole lot worse than you are.  God's grace is a whole lot bigger than you can imagine."  We will never know the depth of our sin, nor the richness of God's mercy.  I praise God for the one and increased knowledge of the other.

Romans 7:24

Wretched man that I am!

Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Revelation 3:17

For you say, I am rich, I have prospered,

and I need nothing,

not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable,

poor, blind and naked.

• Confess your sin.  Repent.
• This is not a little thing.  Confession is good for the soul for a reason - it ushers in a promise, a response from a loving and forgiving Father.
• Repenting from our sin sets us straight again.  It realigns our sanity.  

Psalm 32:5

I acknowledged my sin to You,

and I did not cover my iniquity;

I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,"

and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.

• Serve Christ.
• Nothing helps to get your mind of off sin like submitting yourself to the service of Christ.  Commit yourself to get out of your comfort zone.  
• Spend time with someone who does know Christ.
• Serve at a food pantry.
• Give stuff away.
• Give your time away.
• Don't do this out of guilt, do these acts of service as true acts of worship.

2 Corinthians 5:20

Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ,

making His appeal through us.

• Worship Christ alone.
• Submit yourself to God and His glory.  Commit yourself to worshipping Him.
• In song
• In reading the Word

Psalm 95:6

Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

let us kneel before the LORD our Maker!

• Find someone who will disciple you.
• I have had the privilege of having many men speak into my life. 
• Contact your pastor, elder, friend or me.
• Walk with someone else in your journey.

 Hebrews 10:24-25

Let us consider how to stir up

one another to love and good works,

not neglecting to meet together,

as is the habit of some,

but encourage one another,

and all the more as you see

the Day drawing near.

• Put on Christ today.
• The Gospel calls us to war.  War with the devil and war with our sin.  When Paul instructs his followers to put on the armor of God, he is not merely suggesting it to them as a good idea.  This is a command, for we are at war.

Ephesians 6:13

Therefore take up the whole armor of God,

that you may be able to withstand in the evil day,

and having done all,

to stand firm.

• Remember to rest in the active work of Christ.

Ephesians 1:7-8

In Him we have redemption through His blood,

the forgiveness of our trespasses,

according to the riches of His grace,

which He lavished upon us.

Colossians1:13-14

He has delivered us from the

domain of darkness and transferred us to

the Kingdom of His beloved Son,

in whom we have redemption,

the forgiveness of sins.

Forgiveness is found at the cross and empty tomb.

THAT IS GOOD NEWS!

 

This Man Receives Sinners - Spurgeon

"This man receiveth sinners."
--Luke 15:2

Observe the condescension of this fact. This Man, who towers above all other men, holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners--this Man receiveth sinners. This Man, who is no other than the eternal God, before whom angels veil their faces--this Man receiveth sinners. It needs an angel's tongue to describe such a mighty stoop of love. That any of us should be willing to seek after the lost is nothing wonderful--they are of our own race; but that He, the offended God, against whom the transgression has been committed, should take upon Himself the form of a servant, and bear the sin of many, and should then be willing to receive the vilest of the vile, this is marvellous.

"This Man receiveth sinners"; not, however, that they may remain sinners, but He receives them that He may pardon their sins, justify their persons, cleanse their hearts by His purifying word, preserve their souls by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, and enable them to serve Him, to show forth His praise, and to have communion with Him. Into His heart's love He receives sinners, takes them from the dunghill, and wears them as jewels in His crown; plucks them as brands from the burning, and preserves them as costly monuments of His mercy. None are so precious in Jesus' sight as the sinners for whom He died. When Jesus receives sinners, He has not some out-of-doors reception place, no casual ward where He charitably entertains them as men do passing beggars, but He opens the golden gates of His royal heart, and receives the sinner right into Himself--yea, He admits the humble penitent into personal union and makes Him a member of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. There was never such a reception as this! This fact is still most sure this evening, He is still receiving sinners: would to God sinners would receive Him.

Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

from Between Two Worlds by JT

He is dead at the age of 50. He had everything the world offered--but no Jesus.

I remember once looking at the liner notes from an album of his, and he quoted the final lines from William Ernest Henley's famous poem, Invictus:

I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Those are not the words you want written on your tombstone.

It is hard to think of a sadder public figure in recent years. A black man who never found his identity as one created in God's image, and who never experienced the identity of being conformed to the image of Christ. Black and white, male and female, rich and bankrupt, genius and punchline, private and public, innocent and deceptive--everything seemed to be jumbled up.

The one thing that comes to mind about Jackson is how bad he was at hiding his brokenness. Even while living in a literal fantasy land, it was obvious to everyone that this was a person--enormously gifted--desperately seeking a mask to cover, in futility, who he was.

May God use even this to increase our compassion and ministry to the lost, broken, and confused.

Update: Andrew Sullivan weighs in:

There are two things to say about him. He was a musical genius; and he was an abused child. By abuse, I do not mean sexual abuse; I mean he was used brutally and callously for money, and clearly imprisoned by a tyrannical father. He had no real childhood and spent much of his later life struggling to get one. He was spiritually and psychologically raped at a very early age - and never recovered. Watching him change his race, his age, and almost his gender, you saw a tortured soul seeking what the rest of us take for granted: a normal life.

But he had no compass to find one; no real friends to support and advise him; and money and fame imprisoned him in the delusions of narcissism and self-indulgence. Of course, he bears responsibility for his bizarre life. But the damage done to him by his own family and then by all those motivated more by money and power than by faith and love was irreparable in the end. He died a while ago. He remained for so long a walking human shell.

I loved his music. His young voice was almost a miracle, his poise in retrospect eery, his joy, tempered by pain, often unbearably uplifting. He made the greatest music video of all time; and he made some of the greatest records of all time. He was everything our culture worships; and yet he was obviously desperately unhappy, tortured, afraid and alone.

I grieve for him; but I also grieve for the culture that created and destroyed him. That culture is ours' and it is a lethal and brutal one: with fame and celebrity as its core values, with money as its sole motive, it chewed this child up and spat him out.

Behold, I Am Vile - Thoughts from Spurgeon

--Job 40:4

One cheering word, poor lost sinner, for thee! You think you must not come to God because YOU are vile. Now, there is not a saint living on earth but has been made to feel that he is vile. If Job, and Isaiah, and Paul were all obliged to say "I am vile," oh, poor sinner, wilt thou be ashamed to join in the same confession? If divine grace does not eradicate all sin from the believer, how dost thou hope to do it thyself? and if God loves His people while they are yet vile, dost thou think thy vileness will prevent His loving thee? Believe on Jesus, thou outcast of the world's society! Jesus calls thee, and such as thou art.

"Not the righteous, not the righteous;
Sinners, Jesus came to call."

Even now say, "Thou hast died for sinners; I am a sinner, Lord Jesus, sprinkle Thy blood on me"; if thou wilt confess thy sin thou shalt find pardon. If, now, with all thy heart, thou wilt say, "I am vile, wash me," thou shalt be washed now. If the Holy Spirit shall enable thee from thy heart to cry

Just as I am, without one plea
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that thou bidd'st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come!"

thou shalt rise from reading this morning's portion with all thy sins pardoned; and though thou didst wake this morning with every sin that man hath ever committed on thy head, thou shalt rest to-night accepted in the Beloved; though once degraded with the rags of sin, thou shalt be adorned with a robe of righteousness, and appear white as the angels are. For "now," mark it, "Now is the accepted time." If thou "believest on Him who justifieth the ungodly thou art saved." Oh! may the Holy Spirit give thee saving faith in Him who receives the vilest.