escape

Thinking about temptation and 1 Corinthians 10:13 where Paul says, "... God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."

Thinking about how maybe we don't escape because we kinda like where we are. I mean, that's the point of temptation, right? We aren't usually tempted to do things we hate.
If I were held captive in a luxury spa, sleeping on a feather bed with a fireplace in my room, bathing in special spritzer water and soaking in hot tubs, eating gourmet nourishing meals and walking through flower gardens, I wouldn't be searching for a way of escape.

But if we see sin as the death and destruction it really is, a drippy, dungeon, then perhaps we would scan eagerly for the way of escape. Captivity is captivity, no matter how pleasant it may seem.

And here's my other thought. The way of escape is seldom a wide open door with sleeping guards and a disabled security system. The way of escape is hard to find. It takes ingenuity sometimes and a lot of searching.

When temptation comes we may glance around once and shrug and say, "well, I guess I'm trapped" and dive right in. We don't look very hard, do we?

On the other hand. If we at least cried out and asked God to show us the way out, I think He would. He doesn't want us to sin. He wants us to want to not sin. In the Bible he did do some of those wide open door, sleeping guard, kind of tricks for his followers who were in prison. I think He would do it for us as well.

So there is always a way out. The question is, do we look for it? Do we want out?

the sinner

It's so easy to pray for those who have been sinned against. The abandoned woman. The betrayed husband. It's easy to pray for the child who has been abused or the victim of a random crime.

And that's good. These things all require our prayers. We need to reach out to these hurting people and love them.

But, do we think to pray for the man who left his family? The adulterous woman? The child abuser or criminal?


When Jesus was on earth, we don't see Him going to all the people who had been ripped off when they payed their taxes. He went to Zacchaeus. He didn't go minister to the spouse betrayed, He ministered to the betrayer. Time and again we see Him reaching out and touching the sinner. The one who caused pain.

Oh, I know that he ministered to the victims. I know that because I know Jesus. I know that he cares for them. Even now He reaches out and touches them, comforts and restores them.

But I think He knew that part would come easy for us. But how easy is it to pray for the man who abandoned your friend -- his wife, his children? How easy is it to pray for those whose sin affects so many around them like ripples on a pond.

I think we need to remember how Jesus loved. Whom He loved. And though it's not easy, we need to remember to pray for, and reach out to the sinners. Because, after all, isn't that each of us?

Here is an older, related post.

cursed

Have you noticed how hard people have worked to undo the curse?  

I'm talking about The Curse.  The one God put on us and the whole earth when Adam and Eve first sinned.

For the woman the curse was painful childbirth, her desire would be for her husband and her husband would rule over her.

For the man it was that he would have to painfully toil in order to eat.  There would be thorns and thistles and he would eat by the sweat of his brow.  

And of course, death.  We would die.

So what do we have?  Epidurals and all kinds of interventions to provide almost a painless childbirth.  The Women's Liberation Movement telling women they don't need to submit to their husbands.  And I don't know what the desire for her husband means.  That doesn't sound like a bad thing.  But I have heard that it has to do with women wanting to control their husbands.  I also think it could be that so many women think that their husband can meet all of their needs and look to him for more than they should.

Anyway, so then for the men we have air conditioned John Deer tractors with DVD players and who knows what all.  The men who actually work the soil are doing so in grand style. And there is genetic alteration of produce to make it easier to grow and to decrease the labor needed.

And constant attempts to cure death.  People spend their lives fighting death.  But as soon as a cure is found for one thing, something new comes along.  Ever notice that?  

We are cursed.  And there is nothing we can do about it.  The only one who can lift the curse is the one who placed it.  God.  He has overcome death through the resurrection of His Son, but we won't taste fully of that resurrection in these bodies.  Truth is, we still must die.  But there is coming a day when no one will die.  When there will be no more weeds, or sweat, or pain.  The curse is temporary.  But not because of our efforts.

This is just something I think about whenever I hear about scientific attempts to find a cure for something.  I am not against that, by any means.  But it is, in the long run, futile.  There will always be something around that is killing people.  

Rev 22:2-4 says: "On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads."

But until then, all of creation groans, awaiting the day.  Rom. 8:22

the pain

Jesus didn't want to experience the pain of this day.  Who can blame Him?  I know that His humanity dreaded the physical suffering to be endured.  

But His Deity dreaded taking my place.  He wanted to, don't get me wrong.  He did it willingly out of love we can never comprehend.  But He was perfect.  Sinless.  Spotless and pure.  And in order to take my place He had to bear my sin.  

All of the filth of everything I've ever done or even thought of doing.  Every bit of evil that came to me through my lineage of sin.  And the shame.  Shame that drives people to desperation at times.  He wore it.  He hung there on the cross, naked and exposed, arms spread wide.  No way to cover Himself.  No way to hide.  And it wasn't His skin that shamed Him.  It was my sin.  He hung there wearing it and all the shame and God looked at Him and was so disgusted He had to turn away.  Jesus was forsaken for me.  Forsaken by His own nature, even...for me.  

God cannot abide sin.  Can't tolerate it.  That's the whole point.  So Jesus was forsaken so that I could be embraced.  Because Jesus wore my garment of filth, I now wear His garment of Righteousness.  When God looks at the cross, He sees me.  When God looks at me, He sees Jesus!  

I don't think we will ever fully understand the sacrifice.  It wasn't just about beatings and thorns and nails.  Thousands of men have been crucified.  Thousands of men have died unjustly. But what made this sacrifice so great was the pain of Purity and Absolute Holiness dripping with the slime and sludge of sins He never committed.  The shame.

And you know what?  When we cling to that shame, when we just can't let ourselves off the hook for something, we are calling His sacrifice worthless.   We are saying that it wasn't enough.  Christ have mercy.

what's your secret?

I wanted to post something fun, but I can't come up with anything. This other topic has been mulling around in my head for days. So here goes...

Lately, it seems I am hearing of people's hidden sins being found out, just one after another. Of course this is nothing new. Adam tried to hide his sin. So did Cain. And David. And on down through history. It seems to be the most interesting to our society when it involves preachers or politicians, but it happens everyday to ordinary people.

They are caught. Found out. Someone is shocked and hurt when they learn that the person they thought they really knew has been living a lie all along.

I lived in Colorado Springs during the Ted Haggard deal. And I guess there is a large church here in Denver that had a similar situation with their pastor. We find ourselves disturbed and perhaps even judgmental.

But the thing is this: we all have secret sin. The things I hide may not be headline material, but it is still sin. God hates it just as much as He does the startling, degenerate things we hear about.

And the other thing is that every one of those big, shocking sins started out small. Jim Baker had to steal one dollar before he stole millions. Ted Haggard had to let his eyes linger a bit too long somewhere they shouldn't, or intentionally click a website, years before he wound up where he did.

And so, we may rationalize that the things we hide are not too bad. They're just little sins. But little sins grow. The Bible compares sin to yeast. You can't put yeast in your dough and then confine it to only one section of your loaf. Like yeast, sin will spread to every area of your life, no matter how deeply you may think it's hidden. It will spread and grow. It will not be satisfied to stay small. It thrives in the darkness.

The antidote? Confession. Not only confession to God, but confession to another believer. I have shared in Bible studies and even here that fear is a sin in my life. I am not going to let it stay in the dark, fermenting and growing and taking over. There are other things that I am not going to post on my blog, but I will share with my husband or a trusted friend. There is power in confessing. The Bible tells us to do it. When the light shines in, the sin loses some of it's power.

And it is much easier to confess looking at porn than to confess hiring homosexual prostitutes. Much easier to confess shoplifting than to confess robbing a bank. Get it out of your lips, out of your heart while it is still small.

But if it's too late, if you are already bound up in sin so ugly you feel you could never voice it, you still must. You must! Go to a pastor, a priest, a counselor, any godly person you can trust and tell them. The world won't end. I promise. In fact, after the ripples settle, you will find life better than you knew before.

The Bible says that sins committed in secret will be shouted from the rooftops. It also says to be sure you will be found out. The choice is yours. Confess, turn from it, or let God shout it to the world.

Let's turn on the lights.