Filthy?

Troubles multiply for those who chase after other gods. (Psalm 16:4) 

As we are reminded in Proverbs 17, "Sensible people keep their eyes glued on wisdom, but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth. Foolish children bring grief to their father and bitterness to the one who gave them birth." (vs. 24-25) Run away from God and toward anything else that we embrace in place of God in our lives, and we will soon know the bitterness that comes from pursuing these 'false gods'. Kids do a wide variety of things that parents may label as 'sweet', 'cute', or 'precious', but God will always label our wayward desire to put anything else in his place in our lives as 'sin'. Reject God by not putting him in his right place as Lord of our lives and we will soon reap the 'reward' of that rebellious spirit - the consequences may not be all that kind to us. If you have been anything like me, you might just know there is a certain amount of deep sorrow and regret that accompanies rebellion. Try as we might, we cannot escape the sorrow that accompanies sinful pursuits. We can try to escape them, but the truth of the matter is that sin leaves a 'tell-tale sign' of its presence. It is like walking down a dusty path, not even noticing just how much dust is gathering about our ankles until we strip away the shoes and socks. All of a sudden, we realize the 'filth' of the journey!

The 'filth' was 'unseen' as long as we were walking that path, but as soon as we broke from that path, attempting to recover from the journey, we notice the unsightly 'filth' that has gathered. Sin is like that - we follow the path for as long as we want and then when we attempt to 'recover' from the journey down that path, we begin to notice just how much 'filth' has gathered inside of us. We begin to sense regret and perhaps even a bit of guilt. We might dwell on that regret and guilt over and over again, leading us to feel a great deal of shame over having taken sin's path. Filth upon filth - guilt and shame. As much as we want to wash away the dirt of the dusty trail, we desire to be free of the filth of our sins. Chase after other 'gods' and you will soon notice the 'gathering filth' of that chase. We choose the path we will take - we choose who will be at the center of our lives. 

It could be we choose ourselves - wanting nothing more than to be the leader of our own lives. I daresay I have tried that pathway, and it didn't work out so well for me. We could choose to worship something else - like a career, material things, or even another person, but I will also tell you that pathway will have a 'dirt' all its own that will leave you feeling just as 'filthy'! We must not have any other 'god' in our lives - that is pretty clear in scripture. What do we do if we have allowed someone or something else to take God's place? We confess our sin, repent (turn away from it), and give him his rightful place. As we do, we will likely notice we need a good 'washing' in order to get rid of the filth we have allowed to gather. Repentance involves cleansing - so don't be afraid to be 'washed'. It is God's way of restoring the beauty he desires for each of us. Just sayin!

Huh, what?

Do you ever have days when you wonder why you say what you say? I do! Days when the words just seem to "pop out" without any forethought or 'governor' over them! I guess we all have those days if were were to be totally honest with each other. There are other days when I seem to drift into some kind of "daydreaming" mode and just drift along, not really there, but aware I should be. When I look at the end of the day I wonder why I just did not accomplish much, why my interactions with others didn't amount to much, or why things just seem kind of 'blah' in my life. At other times, I am so productive and accomplish much, every interaction is solid, and I end on an upbeat. Most would consider this kind of "up and down" behavior as a little bit of inconsistency - the actions don't consistently match the words or the intentions. True that! If you have figured out a way to always, 100% of the time walk in consistency....patent it! You will be rich! Most of us would buy it! It is important to have a guard over our lips and a guide for our activity.

Post a guard at my mouth, God, set a watch at the door of my lips. Don't let me so much as dream of evil or thoughtlessly fall into bad company. (Psalm 141:3-4 MSG)

Scripture frequently reminds us of the importance of having a "guard" posted at our mouths - either in direct command to do so, or in examples we can learn from when the "guard" has not been there. Setting a "watch" over the door of our lips might actually help us "filter" some of what we say! The idea presented to us is one of keeping our mouth under so close of a watch nothing escapes which should have "stayed in"! It goes back to the teaching of a wise counselor in my life: "Think about all you say, but definitely don't say all you think!" Do you have control of your dreams? You might if we were speaking of daydreams here. When we thoughtlessly drift into the daydreaming mode, we may not even realize we are there. Case in point - our morning commute to work. We can be over 6 miles into our commute before we realize we are deep into a "daydreaming" mode! While deep into daydreaming, we can pass 6 major stop lights, enter into flows of traffic moving at high speed, and even negotiate potholes, and suddenly got called back to earth by something like a bird flying across our windshield!

My daydreams are usually about improvements around the house which I'd like to make - some new things to add to the "curb appeal" of my home, or a project I'd like to start in the workshop, or even how to fix something that isn't working in a process or workflow in our job assignments. These are definitely not the wrong kind of "dreams" to have. Yet, my attentiveness to what I may be engaged in (such as driving to work) may simply not be consistently there! Whenever "dreams" take over, we have a tendency to drift from attentiveness into something called passive inattention. The danger in our lives comes in this area of "passivity". Our failure to evaluate the company we keep is also something that can be the result of 'not paying attention'. Scripture refers to it as "thoughtlessly falling" into bad company. Have you ever been dreaming in your sleep, then in a flash, you awake with a start? You felt like you had just fallen - like you'd stepped off a cliff and suddenly you are awake, heart pounding, breath coming in rapid gulps! The whole event of the dream seems real for a moment, yet you had no control over how you got to where you are right at the moment you awaken!

We choose the company we keep. We also choose the company we leave behind. It is a matter of choice - either active or passive. You may struggle with this concept a little wondering how you can passively make a choice. It is true - the opposite of active choice is one of passively having a choice made for you! We need a guard over our choices - one that will alert us before we make the wrong ones and will shock us back to our senses before we passively drift into ones we may regret later! So, Holy Spirit come! Guard our lips - close the door tight when nothing good is about to come out! Watch our words! Pull us back to earth when we are carried away in inattentive passivity. Guide our choices! We welcome your watchfulness over our lives! Just sayin!

Regret vs. Repentance

Saw a post this morning that I just had to re-post: "There's a difference between remorse and repentance. Remorse is being sorry for being caught. Repentance is being sorry enough to stop." (Greg Laurie)  I think this is so very true! There are probably a whole lot of us walking around out there with some warped idea of repentance - thinking it is what Greg said - being "sorry".  The truth of the matter is that until we "stop", we are only "sorry".  It isn't regret which brings a change of heart and mind, but truthful desire to do whatever it takes to change the way we have been thinking and acting! Regret may seem legit, but it is nothing more than a sense of thinking about what one has lost!  I dropped my breakfast pastry on the floor the other morning - something I regretted. I thought about that warm pastry stuffed with strawberry filling for a little bit - eyeing it just lying there on the floor. I could have scooped it up - the five second rule, you know - but instead, the trash can became the resting spot for this "fallen pastry".  I regretted my quick movement and slippery plate.  I regretted my inability to enact the "five second rule". I regretted it all, but nothing changed the fact of the fallen pastry being just that - fallen!

Now this type of deep sorrow, godly sorrow, is not so much about regret; but it is about producing a change of mind and behavior that ultimately leads to salvation. But the other type of sorrow, worldly sorrow, often is fleeting and only brings death. Look at what is happening among you! Notice how authentic and diligent you have become because this godly sorrow has been at work in your community. But there’s more: your desire to clear your name, your righteous anger, your respect, your longing, your zeal, and your concern for justice. All these demonstrate how you have been made clean. (2 Corinthians 7:10-11 VOICE)

Paul had written to the church at Corinth to take action against some sinful actions within the church - things which were just being tolerated without ever being really addressed as sinful.  He takes a pretty hard stand on what is "allowable" in the believer's life and what is not.  Evidently the issue of a son taking his father's wife to bed was not really being addressed, so Paul takes a stand on the matter and his words are kind of interpreted by some as a little "harsh".  His concern is because they have taken this sin "lightly" - not addressing it themselves.  After a little time has passed, the second letter is written, and here we see the good news - the church leaders have addressed the sin, seen the man change his ways (repent),  and now he is restored to fellowship among the believers in Corinth.  At first, the letter to "take action" instead of sitting around with blinders on seems a little harsh, but if we aren't willing to be a little "harsh" on sin, then we will never see real change in our midst!

In this second letter, he commends them for not only taking the action to confront the sin, but the response of the one who has sinned - embracing the conviction by making a full change of mind and behavior.  Herein is the crux of the matter - regret doesn't really change the behavior.  The whole point of repentance is this change in action - we stop doing one thing and begin doing something completely different. If my sin was one of flying off the handle at the slightest thing which got on my nerves, then I would say the opposite of this was to become more even-tempered, less volatile, and kinder in my responses.  The potential to sin still exists - people will do stuff around me which could "stimulate" my anger response - but I will choose a different response.  Behavior is about choices.  We choose something over something else. I could have picked up the warm pastry from the floor, brushed it off and consumed it - but that would have been putting myself at risk.  We need to begin to see even the subtle compromises as "risky behavior" in our lives, for even though we think we can "justify" them (like we do with the five second rule), they still place an unwanted "risk" in our path.

Regret might open the door to repentance - it isn't all bad.  If we stop at regret, we will always be looking back with longing at what we could have had, done, enjoyed.  It is this "looking back" which Paul challenges us to deal with - no real change happens until we start looking ahead!  Focus on the thing we think we will miss and we will never move away from it. We will just be drawn back to it over and over again!  After that pastry landed in the trash can, I didn't pursue it again.  It was a "goner" to me.  Sin needs to be that way for us - put away, removed from our focus, and just a "goner" to us. Repentance points us in a new direction - through a change of mind and then a change of heart. We begin to think differently and then we act differently.  Plain and simple, but oh so hard to do, right?  We do ourselves an disservice to simply regret bad decisions.  We do ourselves (and those around us) great service when we finally walk away from those things and make a new plan, allowing it to work in our lives, until it becomes the "new way" we live.  This is what Paul commends in the Corinthian church - they acted upon what they knew to be true, taking tough steps to encounter sin, and then allowed God to do the rest.  Maybe this is what separates regret from repentance - taking the tough steps to encounter what we know to be wrong and then allowing God to become our focus so we can allow him to do the work of renewing our behavior. Just sayin!

Use the peephole!

We all have various people knock on our door, or ring the doorbell.  Sometimes it is a much awaited delivery of something we have ordered and anticipated with much excitement.  At others, it is simply a nuisance, such as when it is a salesperson trying to get you to sign up for a year's worth of car washes.  Maybe it is a friend, unexpectedly stopping by, hoping to catch up with you over a cup of coffee.  Some of these knocks get answered with more gusto than others, right?  Perhaps you have a little "peephole" in your door like I do.  When you glance through and see someone standing there with their list of magazines to subscribe to, you might be tempted to not even open the door, right?  Whoever invented the "peephole" had a brilliant idea!  Whoever invented the window alongside my front door - no so brilliant!  It is hard not to answer when someone can see me looking through the peephole!  I wonder just how many times we open our doors emotionally or spiritually to things we might not be too thrilled to welcome?

Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set; then I’d never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel.  (Psalm 119:5-6 MSG)

There are two pesky visitors to our emotional and spiritual "doors" which we should always avoid answering the door to - regret and defeat.  The use of a tiny peephole might help us avoid opening the door - but when we have a full view of through the window at the side of the door, there really is no excuse for us opening the door!  Regret knocks frequently on our emotional door.  In the most literal sense, anytime we open the door and welcome in Regret we are opening the door to his companions - Sorrow, Dissatisfaction, Disappointment, and Resentment.  Whenever we open the door and welcome in Defeat through our spiritual door, we are are also opening the door to his companions - Frustration, Embarrassment, and Shame.  Unfortunately, neither of these "visitors" to our doors comes alone - they bring companions every time!

Regret, the leader of the "Downer Gang", comes a knockin' anytime we make decisions without thinking, often as a result of just responding to an emotion we might have.  The "impulsiveness" of us opening the "emotional" door in the first place is part of the problem.  We need to learn how to use the "peephole" we have been given - the Word of God tucked away in our minds, recalled for us by the Holy Spirit when we hear the knock on the door.  For instance, anger is a knockin', we are about to place our hand on the deadbolt of our emotion-door, and we hear the reminder to turn the other cheek, or to take the log out of our own eye before we go after the splinter in another's.  This is the Holy Spirit bringing to remembrance some portion of scripture we have become familiar with in the past - giving us a small window into what our response to Regret and his Downer Gang should be.  If we don't ever use the peephole, we can open up to all kinds of messy business!

Defeat, the leader of the "Demolition Derby", comes a knockin' anytime we "try" something new and find ourselves in the midst of failure.  The key word is "we" and the key action word is "try".  Whenever WE try anything on our own, we often fail, and failure invites the Demolition Derby and Defeat squarely into our living space!  So, what "peephole" actually is available to protect us from this invading force?  I think we are given insight into this one with the scriptures such as, "With God all things are possible", or perhaps even, "Seek first the Kingdom of God".  The truth is, we cannot live the life of an overcomer if we are always being overcome!  To change this, we have to change our perspective - from US changing the world within US to God changing US so we can change the world.  Failure is not an option with God - it is only an option when we are trusting in our own abilities.  Anytime we open the door to God's grace and leading, we are stepping into his victory.  We are no longer dependent upon our potential, but upon the potential he has already demonstrated on our behalf through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son, Jesus.

Regret and Defeat are two "companions" we have welcomed way too long into our lives.  For some, it is time to do some "house-cleaning" and evict these pesky varmints!  It is time to make an end to their destructive and debilitating presence in our lives.  How do we do this?  The same way they came in!  If we welcomed them in through our emotional door, they exit the same door - with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can clean house!  No one is better at helping us monitor our emotions better than he is - it is like having a home security system in our minds!  If we welcomed them in through our spiritual door, they exit the same way they came - with the oversight and protection of the Holy Spirit.  He is the one to remind us we fight not TOWARD a position of victory, but FROM a position of victory - we are just driving back the forces who seek to invade the territory which has already been declared to be ours!

So, I don't know who has been a knockin' on your emotional or spiritual doors this week, but it is up to you to use the peephole you have been given!  Learn to look first and you might just welcome a whole lot less in!  Just sayin!