Will It Fit?

 

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New clothes that don’t fit? In Christ - there’s no such thing.

Our pastor touched on various garments mentioned in the Bible, Sunday morning. We can read about priestly garments, wedding garments, garments of salvation, garments of praise and more. And of course there’s the Robe of Righteousness that Jesus gives us when we ask Him to forgive us of our sin and invite Him to live in our heart.

I read somewhere that the enemy never stops accusing us before our heavenly Father. Jesus had (has) accusers, the Apostle Paul had accusers, we all have accusers. The things we may be accused of probably don’t carry a hefty penalty in this world. If our enemy accuses us of gluttony, no judge will throw us in jail. If we’re accused and even found guilty of lying or cheating, or probably even stealing – we’re not going to do jail time. It’s not how our legal systems work. I just read about a teenage boy this morning who raped two girls and got off with a slap on the wrist.

Satan tries to make us look bad to our fellow man or to “ruin our testimony” by highlighting things we’ve done wrong throughout our lives. But in this world, his accusations, whether true or not, don’t generally carry much weight. However, in the kingdom of God, he knows that sin carries a far greater penalty. That’s why he takes his accusations to God – not mere man.

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But once we’ve become a part of the glorious body of Christ, his accusations hold no weight at all. Jesus paid the price for every sin we’ve ever committed – or will ever commit. He’s even paid for the sins we thought about committing! His blood paid the price for all of it.

“Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.”

Revelation 12:10 (NKJV)

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No matter how ugly our past was littered with sin, it’s time we walk in the new garments God has given us!

“The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”

Romans 13:12 (NKJV)

We are quick to criticize ourselves. “If God knew what I’ve done…” Guess what – He DOES know. And He’ll forgive it. All of it! Cast off those works of darkness. Put on His armor of Light!

When He hands you His Robe of Righteousness, put it on! It’s the Righteousness of Christ we put on – not our own. Our own righteousness can never be good enough.

God has the perfect size for you, because He’s perfected you in Christ. Now you can move freely!

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In Christ, every garment He gives us fits just right. Put them on!

By the way, your robe of Righteousness goes UNDER the armor of God. We can’t wield the Sword of God’s Word without right-standing with Him. 

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Denial?

Striving for that perfect body? With new year resolutions abounding, many of us have jumped on the weight-loss bandwagon. Most of us won’t stick to it, but many of us will learn a new lifestyle that proves powerful in our physical bodies. I hope to be one of them.

 

But even those of us not working toward the perfect body, most of us would like a great body. And those of us not willing to put in the hours at the gym, at least want a healthy body. Our health is to be treasured, but so often we fail to take care of ourselves when we’re young, living to regret it as we get older, feeling trapped in the bad habits we’ve accumulated.

 

There is help out there if we seek it. But all the help in the world won’t help if we don’t implement it.

 

Often times we neglect the spiritual aspects of our life far worse than even our bodies. But just as often, we think it shows more on the outside, because people can see the shape we’ve allowed our bodies to get into.

 

Do we seriously think they can’t see the mess we’ve gotten ourselves into spiritually just as easily?

 

I think that’s called denial; and that’s a river we’ve all floundered around in at one point or another in our lives. Whether it was over how we were raising our children or the relationships we were avoiding or the success we were running from or the inches being added daily to our waist – to the emptiness that fills our souls because our spirit is hungry.

 

Why do we deny our spirit the nourishment it needs? I suspect for the same reasons we don’t take adequate care of our bodies or our relationships.

 

Denying there’s a problem goes a long way. The scary part is that so much of the time, we don’t recognize the denial; we don’t believe (at least on a conscious level) that we’re doing anything wrong.

 

This year, launch: Self-discovery! Look inside and discovery what’s hurting, what’s lacking and find the strength to overcome. It’s all in there, because God made us to flourish and rebuild the broken places; He made us to reflect His glory, and we don’t do that as well when we’re in denial.

 

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” – Matthew 6:21, Luke 12:34 (KJV)

 

“For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.” – 1 John 3:20 (KJV)

Parenting Afterthoughts

 

I think sometimes wanting the best for our children comes back to bite us. It can be perceived as expecting too much from them.

I read somewhere to expect more and a child will usually measure up. If you set the bar low, hopefully the child will at least meet that measure, but they may not grow up thinking they can do better. You can encourage a child without pushing them off the deep end. You can go overboard as well; demanding perfection from an imperfect being can prove destructive both to the child and your relationship with that child.

Clearly none of us is perfect. No one parents perfectly and no one grows up the perfect child.

Most of us want more for our children than we had. Unfortunately, they can’t learn from our mistakes. It would be great if our children didn’t have to suffer the hurts we have. But they have to learn for themselves the high costs those mistakes can sometimes impose. I think the hardest part of parenting is watching your children hurt - and then there’s the tormenting yourself over what you could have done to prevent their pain. Sometimes it’s just not preventable.

You’d think I’d learn by now to speak less, while saying more. But I still put my foot in my mouth all the time. I ramble. My conversations sound trite to my listeners. Honestly, I don’t know how certain people put up with me! I think sometimes parenting has more to do with closing my mouth, than pointing out from experience what’s proven hurtful to me; most of the time the warnings go unheeded anyway. Most of us want to explore and learn and understand for themselves. I can’t say I’m any different.

So to the children of this generation and the next, I will try, and I won’t be perfect at it, but I will try to sit back and watch quietly. I’ll always be in your corner – praying for you as you navigate life’s rivers.

I’m always here if you need me. I love you.

3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. (KJV)