God Dealt With It

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. – Romans 8:3 (NRSV)

Does this make you celebrate? What does it mean to you that God has dealt with all sin? What does it mean to you that God has dealt with your sin? Do you live your life in the freedom of this Gospel?

My first year of seminary was bad for me. I was struggling with my sense of call in a place where I did not know and with people I was not sure I liked. I did not know what to do. Each day got a little worse as I felt more and more alone in my struggle.
One day my mother called me and asked me how I was doing. I told her I was not doing very well, and that I thought I was going to have to leave. My physical and mental health were taking a beating, and to save myself I was convinced I was going to have to quit.
Being a proper mother bear type my mother said, “I’ll deal with it.” I had no idea what she meant, but she hung up the phone saying, “I love you, tomorrow it will be better.”
The next day I received a call from the clerk of session at my home church who said, “I’ve talked to your mother, we are going to make things better.” I then got a call from the pastor who said, “I’ve talked to your mother, we’re going to support you better.” Next the executive presbyter called who said, “I’ve talked to your mother.” Then the head of the Committee on Preparation for Ministry, “Your mother called me.” Next a liaison I didn’t know I had, “I just talked to your mother.”
You know what? Things got better.

I know I am not alone in having a mother who was able to deal with things I could not. When we found ourselves mired in sin God became a mother bear unwilling to let her cubs suffer alone. So what did God do? He dealt with it once and for all! God came down as a person like you and like me. Christ took it all and died, and when he died our sin died. Jesus came back from the dead and sin did not. Rejoice and never stop rejoicing because God dealt with the sin that we could not!

With hope and joy,
Garrett

Running Toward the "God-light"

"This is the crisis we're in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won't come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is." – John 3:19-21 (The Message)

Have you ever felt that you ran for the darkness? What is it like to run for the darkness? Are there evil things you do in secrecy? Would you do some things if others knew that you did them? What is it like to please God? What does it mean to live in truth? What “God-work” is being done through your life?

Yesterday my son kept climbing up onto the fireplace in our house. At 11 months old it is not a safe place for him with all the sharp bricks, so we tell him to get down. My wife kept saying, “Langston, get down!” However he just turned and smiled. “Langston, feet on the ground,” she would say to his smiling face as he kept right on.
Knowing that sometimes a stern voice works better, I stopped what I was doing and looked at him and with a stern, loud voice said, “Langston get down NOW!” His face turned upside down in sadness and he got down. As I started back with what I was doing, he moved back toward the fireplace, looking at me to make sure I wasn’t watching. He thought if I wasn’t watching he could climb up. I looked back at him and he stopped, waiting for me to look away. With no eyes to watch him he believed he could do wrong.

When we do things we know are wrong, we often forget that God is always watching. Many people try to hide from God (see Adam and Eve after they ate the forbidden fruit) after doing wrong. When we do things in secret believing no one sees we are in fact running from the God-light, from Jesus, since we fear the painful exposure of our sins. Today let us run toward God and work and live in truth so that others can see God in us, and the light pour from us! No more secrets to hide, nothing more to be ashamed of, only the pleasing life of one who wants to follow Christ.

With hope and joy,
Garrett