Influence me

But don’t let sin control your life here on earth. You must not be ruled by the things your sinful self makes you want to do. Don’t offer the parts of your body to serve sin. Don’t use your bodies to do evil, but offer yourselves to God, as people who have died and now live. Offer the parts of your body to God to be used for doing good. Sin will not be your master, because you are not under law. You now live under God’s grace. (Romans 6:12-14)

I know sin doesn't seem to just leave us alone - there are opportunities to compromise at every turn in the road and more than we might seem to recognize. When we welcomed Christ into our lives, we actually 'died' to sin - meaning that sin has no control over us any longer. We all know that temptation is real. We all realize the appeal of certain 'habits' don't just disappear. We have to put forth some effort to resist - to 'repel' sin's pull. What we might not recognize is that by offering our bodies to God daily, we are actually asking God to help us resist or repel those urges to do what we know we shouldn't be doing any longer.

The sad truth is that we actually 'offered' ourselves to serve sin. We might not realize how often we do this, like when we engage in just a bit of gossip about another individual. Is that information you are receiving honorable? Not usually. It isn't as though you have the best interest of the other individual in mind when you are taking it all in. You just want the juicy tidbits! We 'offer' ourselves to sin by listening when we have no business knowing what is being shared! Sin has a way of luring us in, creating a sense of 'ease' for the moment, but later we find that we aren't feeling all that good about what we just did, said, or are now thinking about. We let sin have an entrance and now we deal with the guilt.

What does it mean to offer ourselves to God. I can only share what it means to me, so let me begin by saying I offer my thoughts to him repeatedly throughout the day. I know how carried away my thoughts can get when they are left to their own devices and influenced by all the stuff around me, so I need his help to keep me 'on task' with him and able to resist those 'influential thoughts' that come at me. I also ask him to guide my words so they will be spoken in a gentle, healing, and wholesome manner. Does that mean I always succeed with my thought life and my speech? Not always, but I soon recognize when I am not in a 'safe place' with both areas because he brings little moments of conviction that turn me around quickly.

Perhaps offering ourselves to him means we take time to ask him where we struggle the most. I know my thoughts and words create the majority of issues in my life. So, I start there! Your struggles may be a little different, but you get the idea. When you offer yourself to him, he will show you where he needs to 'influence' your life the most - then all you need to do is allow him to do it! Just sayin!

A tough place

But now, God’s Message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob, the One who got you started, Israel: “Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called your name. You’re mine. When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end—because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you: all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in! That’s how much you mean to me! That’s how much I love you! I’d sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you. (Isaiah 43:1-4)

Israel finds themselves in the midst of a tough place - kind of like when we find ourselves somewhere we got ourselves into and don't have a clue how to get out of on our own! As faithful as God is, he speaks into their "tough place". "But now...." Remember, I have a fascination with words - so even the tiniest of words catches my attention! The "but now" suggests there was something before these words - because we don't use the word "but" unless there is something we are comparing. God had issued a warning to Israel. The words prior to this passage speak of Israel (and it could even be spoken to us) needing to pay attention because they seem to have turned a deaf ear to the teachings and warnings of God. The circumstance they find themselves in - "shut up in a closet" and "dead broke". Pretty gloomy, huh? This is the "tough place" they find themselves in when God begins to "change the tide" a little in his communication with the simple, "But now..."

This word comes from one with an intimate knowledge of the hearers. When there is an established relationship - the hearer may not want to hear what is spoken, but there is an "avenue" for sharing. God's connection with his creation is the basis of his communicating with them. He is both the one who created and the one who gives us our start. Think of a potter. He has the clump of clay, molding it into a bowl, then firing it for the final process of "creation". He "commissions" the creation for the specific purpose he has for it. He creates it and gives it a start. The same is true with us - God creates us - he also gives us our start (setting us in the right direction). When we find ourselves "in a tough place", he has every right to return the "creation" to the "commission" for which he created it! He knows the darkest secrets of our hearts. For most of us, fear is a seldom exposed thing - we keep it just under the surface, masking it with some other "show" of emotion. When some are asked to get up in front of a crowd to share something, some will giggle a little with a tremulous show of nervousness, others will just sweat up a storm. Both are emotional responses to the buried fears of "public" speaking. The most amazing thing to me is how well God knows what we bury deeply. Even more awe-inspiring is the fact he is not content to leave it buried! So, when God speaks to Israel (and to us) - his "fear not" is really him unearthing the deeply seated fears only masked by our pretense. Upon what does God base his "fear not"? He bases it solidly on the position of his being our creator! He made us - therefore, he knows us well, designs each step we take, and will bring us through all we face.

God already knows the mess we will get in. He doesn't say "if" you get in over your head or "if" you find yourself in some rough waters. He says "when". God knows we will get in over our heads on occasion and even be into things which really don't benefit us at all. When we do, he is there. The good news - the corner we paint ourselves into is never (NEVER) a dead end! That should be encouraging to some who think there is no way out of whatever mess they find themselves in today! Why is it we can be assured we are not at a dead end? Simply put - because he is the Great "I AM"! He is OUR God - not someone else's, but our personal Savior. Who needs a savior? One who needs saving, right? In a corner? The only way out is by someone reaching in and pulling us out! We need a savior! He stands in our lives as the "I AM" - all we need, all we could ever need! Nothing else matters to him. God is the "owner" of the entire universe. Nothing in that universe matters as much to him as you. This may be a hard truth to swallow, but it is the truth nonetheless. He'd sacrifice it all just to have us. I call this extravagant love - you might call it unbelievable love - either way, it is still love! Grace is based on love - love connects grace with the "tough place dwellers", delivering them from the midst of their mess! I don't know what words of encouragement or admonishment may come your way today, but let these words become the loudest to your heart - God is the God of your mess! He is the God in your tough place! He is the one who is not content to let anyone muddle in their fears! He is the one who gives extravagantly when our need is the greatest! Just sayin!