11 December 2015 + Love Dare Day 12

Prayer
      5. Worshipping God

Scriptures:

• Philippians 3:3

Observations:

In leading up to this passage, Paul is warning us to stay on guard for our opponents, those who do evil and wish our downfall. Why?

• We are the circumcision
• We worship by the spirit of God
• We glory in Christ
• We put no confidence in our flesh

What is the significance of each of these? 

We are the circumcision. We are the new covenant made through Christ's blood. We are no longer slaves to our sin, helpless to resist evil.

We worship by the spirit of God. We are not unequipped. We have the spirit of God in us that enables us to worship God. Also, in connection, we have the strength imparted by his Spirit to, in worship, resist evil.

We glory in Christ. Our joy is not found in the sins and evils of this world, but we recognise that our joy, true joy, is found in Christ and, hopefully, we seek Christ's joy over fleshly desires, the latter being shown empty, false joy.

We put no confidence in our flesh. This is a bit stickier. Taken at face value, I would take it to mean we have no confidence in our ability to overcome sin. In context though, as Paul shows his pedigree, I realise it is more about our inability to obtain salvation for ourselves. The two concepts are similar and connected. Regardless, though, the key point is that we rely on God, not ourselves. We even note that, later on in Philippians 3, Paul counts all this as nothing, a detriment, even, because the worth of knowing Christ so far surpasses anything he could ever do.

Application:

Man, If there's one thing I'm learning regarding overcoming sin, especially habitual, ingrained sin, it's the importance of Christ as the agent of change, as the person we should be relying on. 

Three weeks into going toe-to-toe with my deepest, most ingrained sins, I cannot stress this enough. I can't do this alone. I need Christ. I'm reminded of St. Patrick's prayer:

"Christ be with me, Christ within meChrist behind me, Christ before meChrist beside me, Christ to win meChrist to comfort me and restore me.Christ beneath me, Christ above meChrist in quiet, Christ in dangerChrist in hearts of all that love meChrist in mouth of friend or stranger."

Fighting sin is tough. The harder you fight, the harder it fights back. The more you seek to cling to Christ, the more it tries to isolate and separate you.

It's painful, too. Very often, you're facing a lot of shame or guilt, but the worst pain is seeing your loved ones being hurt as you war with sin and seek to build trust through transparency. No person should ever have to endure their spouse's problems, but it's true. One of the biggest lies of sin is that it affects only you.

~ ~ ~

The Love Dare

Day 12: Love Lets the Other Win

They're talking here about sacrificing our stubbornness with willingness. 

"It’s an attitude and spirit of cooperation that should permeate our conversations.  It’s like a palm tree by the ocean that endures the greatest winds because it knows how to gracefully bend."

Ouch. I like to think I'm flexible, but, in truth, I'm rather recalcitrant, being flexible, truly, only when all the options are ones I'm in favour of, preferably ones I've suggested.

"As God, He had every right to refuse becoming a man but yielded and did – because He was willing.  He had the right to be served by all mankind but came to serve us instead.  He had the right to live in peace and safety but willingly laid down His life for our sins.  He was even willing to endure the grueling torture of the cross.  He loved, cooperated, and was willing to do His Father’s will instead of His own."

Putting myself to death continually is the winning option. With that, I also need to sacrifice my pride, which causes me to be defensive, and be moulded instead to Christ's image.

"The wise and loving thing to do is to start approaching your disagreements with a willingness to not always insist on your own way."

Prayer:

Done in private