Sin, Holiness, and the I AM

So... I've been doing a lot of pondering on the connection between sin, holiness, and The I AM (Lord, Master, Yahweh) God.

Every time we see the word LORD in the Bible after Moses' encounter with The I AM at the burning bush, it is a reminder to think back to that time... that face-to-face-ness God wants us to have with him. But He is holy, and sin cannot be in His presence. Thank God for the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Who intercedes for us and cleanses us from all unrighteousness and sin!!

Sin isn't just an action. It is an attitude in many cases. And, what I have been learning to be true about that is that sin always begins with a refusal to worship The I AM Who created us, loves and saves us, and calls us into His presence, wishing to have with us a relationship as rich as the one He had with Enoch and face to face as it was at times with Moses. He wants to get personal with us; He wants us to get personal with Him. It is WE who stand in our own way of doing this a lot of the time, when we allow other things to preside in our hearts besides adoration, love and worship for the Almighty.

But the LORD tells us that if we will humble ourselves before Him, admit our wrongdoings, and worship Him, He will take all the other steps to reach us. This is a simple thing, and yet so difficult for many. I admit it has at times been difficult for myself. But it is worth much more than the rest of life put together, those moments with God; with the Triune Living Love Who is The Great I AM. This God Who walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden. This God Who started the planet over with Noah and his family. This God Who walked with Enoch. This God Who led Moses to lead the people out of Egypt.This God Who wrapped the Light of Who He IS in flesh and became a baby, a child, a teen, a man Who was, ultimately, Living Love; Living Sacrifice; Living Grace.

Someone made a comment earlier today that if Jesus was standing at the front of the church or tabernacle where we are worshiping, people would behave a lot differently than they do. But if we truly believe in the Holy Spirit of God, then we know that Jesus IS right there... not only looking from the outside, but also from the inside out. He sees it all... no matter how dark, dank, light, or bright, He sees it all and loves us unconditionally. Loves us anyway because, while He is holy, He became one of us; one WITH us... and we come from Him, as well. If we truly believe the Word of God - in the flesh and on the page - then we know that the breath of life, the Holy Spirit, is what keeps us. It isn't our ticking heart or our thinking brain; it isn't machines and medicine. It is the grace and goodness and mercy of the God Who loved us enough to step down from the starry heights of glory and the live among the filth of humanity. To picture this might be to use the analogy of having the Queen of England live on the streets for a week to better understand her people (which, I believe, one of her grandsons did for one night). Multiply this to a whole life; to thirty three and a half years. Imagine someone stepping down from the most royal and ornate and glorious place you can imagine and deciding to live among the paupers and the ill. Mother Teresa was much like this... but these are but word pictures to help gain a little grasp of the magnitude of what Jesus Christ, the flesh-enwrapped I AM and Living Love did on our behalf. We were the paupers and ill He came to be with because He loved us. We were the filthy and desolate.

When sin rules over us, the devil, world, and flesh are attached to it. The Word of God tells us that we are ruled by sin forever unless the Holy Spirit grabs hold of us, and He can do this only when and if we are willing. We must be receptive. We must be ready.

You shall know them by their fruits, Jesus told us. Know the people around you are authentically in Christ if they show love, grace, peace, kindness, gentleness; know they are walking genuine before the LORD, the I AM Who revealed Himself to Moses, Who walked in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve if we have the Spirit's fruit rather than sin and the world's. Sometimes, it takes more than salvation. Often times, it does. We don't like to think it does, but it does. What do you think generational curses, principalities, and powers do when you get saved? Walk away without a fight? No. They will do what they can to reduce the power of the Spirit and of Christ's atonement in your life. They will aim to weaken your link to the Father. And if you let them, they still win. You may end up in heaven, by the grace of God and through faith, but how much will you regret from life when you get there?

It is time to take back our God-given lives, talents, personalities, etc for Christ. And to do that, we have to be willing to allow sin to be removed from the thrones of our hearts by the Holy Spirit of God, The Great I AM. And we will have to fight with the flesh. This has been a challenge forever and will continue being so, but with God on your side, nothing is impossible. He is Holiness itself. He is Love and Grace. He is The Great I AM.

Choosing Our People

We need to trust whose shoulders we stand on...

Settle in for a few moments; grab a cup of tea and sit with me for a while. This is a somewhat longer post than normal… but I believe it will be worth your time to read it through…

Friends are as companions on a journey, who ought to aid each other to persevere in the road to a happier life.   ~Pythagoras

How many of us really think about who we befriend on a full-on, consistent basis? Do we take stock of our relationships with family and friends on as consistent basis as we do our finances, food stuffs, or resumes? Do we examine the relationship files of our lives and decide what to do based on the facts instead of relying on habit to make our decisions for us?

Sometimes it is important to stop and ask ourselves a few questions:

• ·         Who should be in my life?
• ·         Who should be in my circle?
• ·         Who should be an acquaintance?
• ·         Who should I make the conscious decision to not have in my life even though they might be wonderful people in their own right?

One rule of thumb comes to us from Claudia Black…

Surround yourself with people who respect and treat you well.

Others suggest that if you’ve had more distress than eustress in the relationship that it is time to really get down to the heart of the matter regarding making a decision.

There are times when neither of these will be easy. If you’re a single parent with only a handful of friends, or a stay-at-home mom whose circle consists of the other neighborhood moms; if your only relationships are with family; if you have to live with someone you don’t get along with for one reason or another, and many other scenarios, it will be a difficult decision to make. Spouses sometimes are abusive and the relationship needs healing if it is to survive and thrive. Other times a spouse isn’t ready, willing or able to change at the time you need things to be different.

A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge.   ~Thomas Carlyle

Isn’t that a wonderful thought?  If we begin with love, everything else will fall into place. If we begin with love, we will know what we need to know. If we begin with love… that is what matters. When we begin with love, people are more likely to respect and treat us well, and therefore it is easier to surround ourselves with them. Of course, there will always be haters. That is the way of life… but to love those who hate us, as Jesus taught, is to free ourselves from trying to be liked by all at the same time as allowing others to emulate us and create a better world. If we emulate Jesus, and others emulate us, what kind of impact do you think that will have?

Thinking too well of people often allows them to be better than they otherwise would.  ~Nelson Mandela

Another thing… while we are living from a place of love, following in the footsteps of Living Love Himself, and surrounding ourselves with those who respect and treat us well, we can be thinking the very best of all people. If we think the best – better than they can see for themselves - of others, then they are more than likely going to either accept and rise, or decline and drift. This is one way to understand who is best for your life. When we think overly well of others, their character will show through in time… what is that character telling us?

You cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness. ~Jonathan Safran Foer

There will always be something imperfect about us and about those in our lives; that is what makes us human. We can’t protect ourselves from all things negative or that appear negative… to do so would rob us of the joy and happiness that we would necessarily also be declining in those efforts.

If you judge people, you have no time to love them.   ~Mother Teresa

This rule of thumb is self-explanatory, I believe… if we are too worried about what others do or don’t do, and the “whys and hows” of their actions, we will miss out on loving them, as Jesus called us to do. If we are judging others by any human yardstick, it is too much judgment. If we can learn to love unconditionally as we journey with others, we will be better for it, and so will the people we choose to have in our lives.

Judging or not judging is a choice. Which will you make?

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.   ~Lao Tzu

Finally, a reiteration of love: all of these points come back to love. To be loved is wonderful and a dear blessing; it strengthens us beyond measure. To love someone truly and deeply is to be courageous. We cannot love and not do so courageously… hiding from love is a form of fear. This fear can be called many things, from hate to apathy to cowardice, but it boils down to the same thing: fear. And fear doesn’t come from the One Who came down to show us how to walk in love… Jesus was Living Love Himself and will show us the way if we allow Him to.

So, to sum things up...

• Who should be in your life? Love will tell you.
• Who should be an acquaintance rather than part of your inner circle? Love will tell you that, as well.
• Who should you say goodbye to? Love will help your heart to know.
• Love is the answer to most questions one can ask… if you look for the answer from His perspective, you will know the truth which will indeed set you free…