stop trying
yes i'm finally posting again. Its been a really long time. what has been going on in my life? well alot, but not a whole lot.
I really wonder sometimes if i have the right spirituality. It seems to me sometimes that Christianity has been distorted and boiled down to a religion that is about self. When I honestly think about my own walk with God, the thing that is most clear in my mind, is that my walk with God is up to me. My walk with God depends on my self-effort, my strength, my willpower. is this really good? or correct? What does all this mean? What is the result if I believe this, and I live this belief out? The result will be insuffiency. I will come up short. Its like a plumber going to Niagara Falls, looking at it and saying, "I can fix this."
I have realized my insuffinency. Usually what will happen is that you will realize your insufficiency, and then you will grow into a season of frustration, emptiness, and despair. Everyday life will become a boredom and one duty after another. The call to follow Jesus will seem impossible. Cynicism will reign.
Where is the gospel of grace? I believe many of us believe in grace in theory, but we don't live it out. You see, the kingdom of heaven is not going to be a place filled with self-righteous heroes, spiritual John Waynes. The Kingdom of Heaven is going to be a place filled with sinners who morally struggle. Read Matthew 9:9-13 and you will see a perfect picture of the gospel of grace. Jesus comes to sinners, and accepts them. Jesus comes to hookers, farmers, druggies, alcoholics, superstars, homosexuals, and even lawyers. And yes, Jesus comes to the spiritually weak ones like me, and probably many others just like me, if you were to be honest, and take off your mask. In fact I'm convinced, that the real sinners are the ones that say, "I have no sin."
Thats why Jesus came and died on the cross, so that sinners could be saved. We are not able to save ourselves, even though we try and try. No self-effort, no matter how hard we try, will never be enough. stop trying.
I really wonder sometimes if i have the right spirituality. It seems to me sometimes that Christianity has been distorted and boiled down to a religion that is about self. When I honestly think about my own walk with God, the thing that is most clear in my mind, is that my walk with God is up to me. My walk with God depends on my self-effort, my strength, my willpower. is this really good? or correct? What does all this mean? What is the result if I believe this, and I live this belief out? The result will be insuffiency. I will come up short. Its like a plumber going to Niagara Falls, looking at it and saying, "I can fix this."
I have realized my insuffinency. Usually what will happen is that you will realize your insufficiency, and then you will grow into a season of frustration, emptiness, and despair. Everyday life will become a boredom and one duty after another. The call to follow Jesus will seem impossible. Cynicism will reign.
Where is the gospel of grace? I believe many of us believe in grace in theory, but we don't live it out. You see, the kingdom of heaven is not going to be a place filled with self-righteous heroes, spiritual John Waynes. The Kingdom of Heaven is going to be a place filled with sinners who morally struggle. Read Matthew 9:9-13 and you will see a perfect picture of the gospel of grace. Jesus comes to sinners, and accepts them. Jesus comes to hookers, farmers, druggies, alcoholics, superstars, homosexuals, and even lawyers. And yes, Jesus comes to the spiritually weak ones like me, and probably many others just like me, if you were to be honest, and take off your mask. In fact I'm convinced, that the real sinners are the ones that say, "I have no sin."
Thats why Jesus came and died on the cross, so that sinners could be saved. We are not able to save ourselves, even though we try and try. No self-effort, no matter how hard we try, will never be enough. stop trying.