[Satan's A-game (conviction part 2)] -The Gospel

  So, now we know that there are two kinds of convictions. Maybe we've realized that sometimes we have the wrong convictions. The ones that lead us to despair and sorrow. Or maybe the ones that lead us to pride.
  So how do we distinguish them?

  ....both Satan and the Holy Spirit will point our your sin. But they do so in entirely different ways and for entirely different purposes. I've heard it said like this:

   Satan starts with what you did, and tears down who you are. The Holy Spirit starts with what Christ has declared over you, and helps you rebuild what you did.

   Satan beats us down with our failures. Jesus calls us up into our identity. Jesus starts with the perfect state He has purchased for us by His death and usesd the power of His ressurrection to bring us into conformity with it.

  I know I've been convicted by Satan. Because I have been sorrowful over my failures. What happened right after that? I went to pity myself and despair. I mean what could I do? I'm this dirty rotten filth who every time they are cleaned goes and lays in the mud again. I was focusing on that part. Not the part that I was being continually cleaned and I could learn to become cleaner. Maybe that's what your feeling today. So overwhelmed with your sin and the sin around you, that you despair. But I encourage you, to hope in Christ. Pray in Christ. Live in Christ. You will find peace that will lift every burden no matter how heavy they are. It's a promise to us, if we live in him.
   Another point I wanted to iron out, that really encouraged me, was when he started talking about the differences in speech that we should hear. For example, Satan says, "Look at you. Look at the conditions of your circumstances. Look at how poorly you're living." Ever heard that voice? I have. After the 'poor living' part, I proceed to mentally name all the bad things I did in the past week. How can God love me? The greatest mystery of all.
   And then there was what God said, "You are My beloved child. I am well pleased in you. Now live that way." I cried at that part actually. You know why? Because I have never, in conviction, looked in the mirror and seen God's beloved child. It was so sweet and new to me, just out of this world. Then he says 'I am well pleased with you' ?? I just...I never thought that in my sins and living, God could be pleased with me. I always thought I had to prove something. Like, I'm sinning but look at me, I'm trying. But those words...'I am well pleased with you, my child.' I mean...wow. The God of the universe is pleased with me and my imperfections, and He's still willing to be my Father.
   We should be shaking at the Grace we have received, because its undeserved but it's the one of the most beautiful senses we have. Knowing His Grace.

   In Christ, there is nothing I can do that would make you love me more, and nothing I have done that makes you love me less. -JD Greear

~Hannah

[Satans A-game (conviction part 1)] -The Gospel

 When I think of satan tempting us, I think of him having all these sins and idols at his disposal. Day to day he throws one of the other at us, and we catch them, like dogs playing fetch. Well, in this section of the book, we get to look at this a whole new way. He does tempt us with idols and bad lifestyles, but he has something more subtle that he uses.
  Do you know who loves to push us to evaluate ourselves according to how well we've done? Our enemy, Satan. Satan, believe it or not, loves to convict us of our sins. That;s one of his names--"accuser of our brethren" (Rev. 12:10 nkjv). One of Sata's most effective weapons, I believe is making us forget the identity the Father has declared over us in Christ and basing our sense of approval on how well we've done.
  I didn't expect that coming. Immediately I did a self scan and thought of all the times that I had been convicted and tried to judge which ones were God grace and which one's were satans triumph. I think we all should do a self-scan, because we don't realize what we do. It's like being a major in evolution and you switch over to God's side of science because of something you found. Although you know that God's way is now right, whenever someone mentions something your brain immediately goes to evolution. That's just a small peak at what are brains are actually hard-wired to do. Most likely, we've never even thought of conviction any other way than being about God. But no, Satan can convict. And when he does, it's harsh.
   .....Satan's favorites sins: pride and despair. Pride leads to hardness of heart toward God and hatred of others. Despair leads us to depression, fear, and indulgence in the lusts of the flesh. This is a cycle he loves to have us in. Both start with unbelief of the gospel.
    I encourage you to pray today about what you have heard. Let's examine ourselves for pride and despair. I know I was the guilty party in both of those sins. It's just the way we are. But there is always hope in Christ. Pray today to the Maker of Heaven and Earth. Spend time walking with him. When we do, it will start to produce in us a longing for God, and a seed of belief in what he has done for us.

   In Christ there is nothing I can do that would make you love me more, and nothing I have done that makes you love me less. -JD Greear
 
   ~Hannah

[The Gospel gift]- The Gospel

Chapter 3 starts out like this:

 How does God feel about you, right now? And how do you determine that?

   Well, first of all, let's think about the question. How does God feel about me? Well, I like to think he thinks of me as a poor struggling creature who needs his help, which partially, he probably does. But a lot of times, in general, during the week I measure God's feelings for me by what I do. For example, I feel like we're on an "okay" basis if I got everything done, did a great bible study, helped around the house and generally didn't think anything bad. Of course, there is no perfect day, but when I have a good day I think that it's again, "okay".
    On the other hand, when I have a bad day, when I'm impatient and procrostinating I feel God isn't as happy with me.
    I'm sure we all have a few of those instances, and so did the author. He goes on to say, "If I hadn't done a good job at being a real Christian, I felt pretty distant from God." When I feel distant from God, it's because I know I'm trying to hide something. Or I'm in such a bad mood I don't want to talk to God. That's when I feel distant. I like this example, because it happens to so many of us "When I came to church, I had no desire to life my soul up to God. I was pretty sure He didn't want to see me either. I could feel his displeasure---His lack of approval. That's because I didn't really understnad the gospel. Or, at least I had forgotten it.
    I think many of us feel that way and at least once have gone to church thinking God wasn't happy with us, or we weren't happy with him. I'm guilty. What I do, is I take my brain into this wonderful world with clouds and get this rock solid face on. I ignore my responsibility of worship and just think away the time. You know what? It just leaves me more upset, more angry, and more empty.
   I'm glad I'm not alone it in. NOW I understand that I've misunderstood the gospel. And what do I do at the bottom? Start moving up with the help of Christ.
   It goes on to talk about the gospel. I realized again that moment I was missing acceptance when I read, "When I receive that grace in repentance and faith, full acceptance becomes mine." For so long I haven't understand that I am accepted. I had to write it down, highlight, and read over to be comfortable with the idea. That's where pride and despair had taken me. In the book, he mentions Christ's sacrifice, and the wonderful event of Calvary. He goes on to say, "That means that God could not love me any more than He does rightnow, because God could not love and accept Christ any more than He does, and God sees me as Christ."
    I encourage you to take that in, especially the last part. Because of what Christ did on Calvary, God see's us as Christ. Many of you know this, but have truly accepted it? I didn't at first, but I'm beginning to. It's such a wonderful thing that we can't even comprehend it.
   I'll close with this: "Right now, if you are in Christ, when God looks at you --regardless of your situation--He sees the righteousness of Christ. If we really believed that -- not only with our heads but also with our hearts-- it would change everything in our lives."

   In Christ there is nothing I can do that would make You love me more, and nothing I have done that makes You love me less.-JD Greear

 ~Hannah

[The Gospel Prayer]- The Gospel

   This next part of the series is on what JD Greear has named the Gospel Prayer. I want to note that in the text he clearly explained this is not any kind of incantation that will bring you favor with God, and it also not trying to replace the Lord's Prayer. He says, This prayer is simply a tool to help you train your mind in the patterns of the gospel. The point is not the prayer; the point is thinking in line with the gospel.

    With that said, it's a wonderful prayer. It's really helped me, and what I like about it, is that it's steps. For me, steps are very helpful.
    Now he goes in depth by chapter on these four parts, but I'm mentioning them now for familiarity reasons. Also, it's something great to have even if you hear it 100 times. The first part is something I've been quoting at the bottom of my posts. It's just so beautiful!

     The first two parts lead us inward, helping us to renew our minds in God's acceptance of us and the value of that acceptance to us.
     1. "In Christ, there is nothing I can do that would make You love me more, and nothing I have done that makes You love me less."

     2. "Your presence and approval are all I need for everlasting joy."
 
     Part 3 of the prayers has us consider what responding to the grace of the gospel looks like. Understanding God's generosity toward us should lead us to radical generosity toward others.

   3. "As You have been to me, so I will be to others."

   Part 4 of the prayer helps us see our world through the lens of the gospel and moves us to audaious faith. If the cross really does reveal God's compassion for sinners and the resurrection reveals His power to save them, then our prayers on their behalf should be audacious and bold:
 
   4. "As I pray, I'll measure Your compassion by the cross and Your power by the resurrection."

   Woah. How wonderful. When I first read this, it washed over me. Then I started to think about it, and now I'm still thinking about it. I'm concentrating on the first step right now, because I know that I really have to believe it move on. Believing may seem the easiest, but everyone has seeds of doubt. Until we crush those we cannot move on.
    JD Greear ended the chapter saying, "I've prayed this prayer every day now for the last few years. You know what? It's finally starting to sink in."
    It may take time, it is a process but in the end we will be filled with the joy of Jesus when we have faith in him. I encourage you to read the prayer and access how it applies to you. It really helped me.
 
    In Christ, there is nothing I can do that would make You love me more, and nothing I have done that makes You love me less. -JD Greear

~Hannah
     

    

[why religious change doesn't work-part3] -The Gospel

  JD Greear makes great points here. I really hope you can soak them up. While point 2 really got to me, point 3 makes a good contender along with point one :)

   Why Religious Change doesn't work:
  
   #3. The insecurity of always wondering if we've done enough to be accepted causes resentment of God, not love for Him.

    As martin Luther, the great Reformer, noted about himself, my fear of God's judgement was producing a hatred for Him that was driving my heart father and farther away from Him, even if my actions looked, on the surface, more godly.

  I think every Christian in this world can connect with this one. Again, it's so powerful!
  I think all people in this world wonder, to whatever God they have, if they've 'done enough'. So many search for a purpose in this world. For some it's 'have I done my family name justice' or 'have I done America justice with my actions' and 'have I done enough to be happy with myself.' With Christians a lot of the times its 'have I done enough to make God content or happy'. Theres no shame in admitting that sin. We all have that insecurity. We're all, you could say, exposed that mind set. I love the point he makes. That feeling that makes you resent God. To the human brain we want to say, rather 'we long for God, and we're said we can't get him.' No, we resent God. That's the root of it all. We just resent him for it. We're angry, as silly as it may sound, that we're not in charge of the world, and therefore we don't like whoever is in charge.
  Some may say, 'okay that make sense...now what?' Well, like any other insecurity what do you do? Will sitting in Church overcome your insecurity of God's authority? No. We need to change. How do we change? We beg God to change us, because CHANGE only happens we find ourselves loving and resting in God. That's because True love for God cannot from when we are unsure about His feelings for us. We cannot fully love God if we don't know He loves us. Love came into the world, because he loved us first, AFTER Christ, we loved him back. So we have to KNOW he loves us. It sounds simple, but it's so hard. We cannot fully grasp his love for us, but we can get to a managable level with the help of Christ. I'm telling you, I was bothered with this for a long time. I just didn't understand his love, which was stopping my love for him.
    When our salvation depends upon our righteous behavior, our righteousness will be driven by a desire to elevate ourselves in the eyes of God. This is not love for God; it's self protection.  
    It's hard not to want to elevate yourselves in the eyes of God. I have problems with that too. And it just stings to know that I've been building this massive structure of self-protection. I mean, it's what I've been doing this whole time! Only NOW do I actually understand.
   I'll end with this quote which is so richly beautiful. Really think about it, and really grasp it.
   The gospel reawakens us to the beauty of God and overwhelms us with mercy. Our behavior changes because we change. Until that happens, all religious changes will be superficial. Even if you force yourslef to act right, you heart will be going in the other direction. This is the doctrine of total depravity.
 
   In Christ there is nothing I can do that would make you love me more, and nothing I have done that makes you love me less -JD Greear


~Hannah
   

[why religious change doesn't work-part 2] -The Gospel

  Point two was the point that convicted me the most. For me it was like 'Hallelujah, someone in this world actually knows what I'm feeling.' That's no exaggeration.

Why religious change doesn't work:

 #2. When our acceptance is based on our performance, we exacerbate two root sins in our heart: pride and fear.

   The exposure of our nakedness implanted in us a deep sense of fear. We sensed that we were not acceptable as we were (which is true), so we felt driven to do something to make ourselves more acceptable to God. But whatever we think makes us better than others, we feel proud about, and that leads us to more sin.

   Over reading repentance and The Gospel, I've noticed a lot of sin in my life. Before, honestly, I didn't think I was a very prideful person. I've known people who had major pride issues they've admitted to, and I just never thought, 'Oh I'm prideful.' You know how everyone feels like they have this ONE GREAT sin that needs work on. They're sorry for it, they know they are wrong, they want to change. On the otherside are these little foot sins that just there, and we repent of them occastionaly but they are The One Big Sin. That's how I've thought for a long time. Believe me when I tell you, I never thought my big sin was pride. I still don't like to think that, but I know I'm in self-denial. Pride is a huge sin. And it was there and as the quote said, it just led me to 1 million foot sins. I've tried very hard to get approval and for a sinner I'm pretty good. But I've never been satisfied. All this time I was thinking: What do I do? I mean I'm following the steps. I have to realize my sin, repent and blah blah. But nothing was happening. I just felt worse and worse, because I  realized that it was the approval that I was trying to gain just wasn't coming.
 Of course, on the other hand, when we don't feel like we measure up to others, we despair. I realized then and there that I was in a hole of despair. I had all this sin. That moment it was almost awkward because I was so happy that I figured out that I was in despair. I was focusing so much on my sin, and trying to win back approval, I was missing everything.
   This quote was finished the job: While performance-based acceptance thrusts us into a cycle of pride and despair, acceptance by God's grace produces the exactly opposite fruits. The assurance of God's presence and approval takes away our sense of nakedness and our craving of their approval.
   Eureka! I found it! I finally knew that what I was missing was assurance. It's good to realize sin, but it will KILL you without grace. I didn't know the extent of God assurance of grace. And that was just a wonderful thing.
   So I encourage you, don't let yourself rest in your performance. I promise you, you will despair if you do so. We just need to sit back and bask in grace, because without grace there is no joy to be found. The Lord is a God of Wrath, but his grace is enough to wash that away so that we can have an intimate relationship with him.

   In Christ there is nothing I can do that makes You love me more, and nothing I have done that makes you love me less- JD Greear

  ~Hannah

[why religious change doesn't work- part 1] -The Gospel

    Here is the brunt of chapter one. It comes in three parts, and I figured I'll do them each separately.
    Blue Parts taken from -The Gospel by JD Greear.
   
    Why Religious Change Doesn't Work:

   #1. Religious activites fail to address the "root" idolatries that drive our sin.
         At its root, our sins are driven by the fact that we desire something more than we desire God. Religious change targets the acts of sin without addressing the idolatry that prompted that sin in the first place.

    Let's think about that. First, Idolatry is the root of all of it. NOW: Religious activies. Let's name a few: Church, Youth Group, Seminars, Small Group, Fellowship, Communion, Baptism. These are all religious activies. PLEASE understand, these are no BAD things. These are very good things we are commanded to do. With that said, we can't look at them as ACTS. Your sin nature will want to do that. If you get baptized, that doesn't mean all your idols go away. If you take communion, that doesn't mean your really worshipping, in fact, your mind could be wandering. Going to youth group won't protect you from idols. A week ago I would have said 'Seminars, Church, Youth Group, and fellowship with believers can address the root of your idols.' No. Here what they do: they open up the door for you. If the door is open, does that mean I have to go in it? No. Which leads to this conclusion: Only God can address the root of your idols.
     So, then, what is True Religion? True Religion is when you serve God to get nothing else but more of God.
    This takes a lot of work, and may seem impossible. It still does sometime. We want to want more of God, but sometimes we just don't see how. I mean, if I told you to bite your finger off, you probably couldn't, even if you were facing death. So it is simple: We must strive to want God. It's going to take hard work and pain, but thats what Jesus did for us. Yes, it's easier said than done. REMEMBER: with Christ, all things are possible. He promised us that.

    In Christ there is nothing I can do that make You love me more, and nothing I have done that makes you love me less. -JD Greear

~Hannah