Routines

This morning as I drank my coffee and I spent time in the word, I couldn't help but be thankful for what has become my new routine. Although most routines happen at the same time each day--mine happens when I can sit down and do it. I'm in love with what God has given me.
I sit down each day with my prayer journal, and I write out my prayers. I love that I have come into this new place of writing what I pray--1) it allows for me to go back and see what God has answered but 2) it allows for me to really get in depth with my prayers and for me not to lose focus as I tend to do.
Once i've had my prayer time, I move on to my daily devotional which comes from Paul Tripp's book "New Morning Mercies". I love sitting down each day and hearing exactly what God needs to say to me for that day--I've noticed a pattern as of late--most of what I'm doing in my devotional ties together with what I'm doing in bible study, and it's beautiful. Just yesterday I wrote about wisdom and I wrote about some verses from James--today I found myself in those same verses during my devotion time as it talked about Envy. Read James 3 when you get the chance!
When I finish with my devotional I spend time doing scripture writing. You can get a scripture writing plan for each month from here
I love the scripture writing because it allows for me to really hone in on the scripture and focus in on what God's word has to say. Usually each month there is a theme. But it keeps my heart focused and my mind focused on God's word.
Then I normally go into my Bible Study Fellowship time and I love that time because it's so in depth and beautiful.
God is really teaching me about who He is through this routine. I sit with my coffee and just take in the beauty of who our Savior is. I love it. I love knowing my savior loves me at all times, no matter the circumstances. No matter what--I am His.
If I miss a day of my routine--He forgives me.
He loves us all.
He longs for us to spend time with Him.
And can I tell you something? I long for that time too! While I'm teaching each day I can't wait for a break where I can spend time in God's word. My bible goes with me to school. And if I have no meetings during my planning period, then I spend time in God's word. And it's always beautiful.

What's your routine?

Whose Wisdom do we seek?

Who is wise among us? Wisdom is spoken of throughout the words of the Bible. From Isaiah, to James, to 1 Corinthians--we see Wisdom as a key element in the word of God. As I'm learning about things in my life, where I'm seeking out wisdom in these areas, I'm reminded of whose wisdom I am seeking.

Isaiah 5:21 says "Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes" while 1 Corinthians 2 says "...and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God".

Those who are wise in their own eyes will be humbled by God with the foolish. We should not seek out our own wisdom or man's wisdom, but the word of God and the power of the Spirit.

I say all this to say that while I'm seeking out what I should do about situations in my life--I pray for wisdom from God, not from myself. While I'm being held accountable by people in my life--I should seek out God's word and what He ultimately has to say about the situations in my life. Man is not God. I should not idolize people. So when I'm finding help for what I'm trying to be healed from, I must always seek out the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit.

We're all called to this. While God gives us wisdom from himself, man is not Christ. Man cannot save us, or heal us. Only Christ can do that. So draw near to God. Lean on the Holy Spirit and seek out the power that is given to us only by the Spirit. While wisdom is good, it must be found in the right place.

Draw near to Him.

What are we seeking?

Pleasure. A feeling of happy satisfaction or enjoyment.

We all seek it. We all find it in food, in sex, in exercise, in whatever gives us contentment. Some of us seek pleasure in places that cause us to be overweight, underweight, in debt....the list could go on. We seek pleasure in things that are disloyal. Things that will eventually lose their buzz.

Here's the kicker--God did not create us to find pleasure in this world. We were not designed to find pleasure in food when we're stressed, or to find contentment in our worldly desires. We were designed to find joy and peace in Christ.

So when we're stressed. When we are in need of something that will give us enjoyment, we shouldn't be seeking after the things of this world. All of those pleasurable experiences will end. We will stop finding our contentment in things once enjoyable. Christ, however, and the joy and peace we find in Him, is never ending. It never ceases.

We were created by an awe inspiring creator to worship Him. Not creation. He created us to bring glory to Him. At the end of the day our joy and the fulfillment of our desires should be found in Him.

So short and sweet...seek Christ. Find joy in Christ. For He did not create us to find happiness, but he did create us to find joy.

The Mortification of Sin

Sin. An immoral act that is a transgression against God.

We all do it. We have since the fall of man. Since darkness entered the world and killed the perfection that existed, we were born sinners.

In psychology Lawrence Kohlberg says we are innately bad.
Innately we are sinners.

So, then, what is it that we can do to come before our Holy God?
Nothing on our own.

However, there is good news for us innate sinners. God sent himself in the form of man to take the immorality and the sin and the "bad" upon him. So He did. And since then, since Jesus Christ came into this world and rescued us from what we deserve, we have been able to freely approach the throne of God.

But we still sin.

Jesus coming into the world saved us, yes, but it did not take away the temptation of Sin. It did not take away the fact that until the day that He fully returns and takes us all home we will continue to do things that are immoral against God.

We must,as humans, desire to and pray for the fullness of Christ and the Holy Spirit in us. So when these temptations arise we can fight against them, because there is always a way out of the temptations. In fact, temptation itself is not sin. We do not sin until we give into that temptation.

So what is the mortification of Sin?

Mortification is death.

So the death of sin. Only those of us who are regenerate and who have been made righteous before God have the ability to mortify sin. What does that mean? That the sin no longer exists? That we grab it, kill it, and we are done with it? No. Then we will just replace it with something else. We must suffocate the sin in our lives. Especially those perpetual sins that occur again and again. The ones we struggle with. The ones that may go quiet and dormant for a little while, but then in the midst of our peace, they appear again. We must go to Christ, admit and repent, and never turn to those sins again. Repentance. Admittance. Recognition. Not in that order :)

The mortification of Sin means taking control of the sin in our life through the grace of Jesus Christ. Through His power. We are powerless on our own. However, we are FILLED with the Holy Spirit who has come on our behalf and the Holy Spirit mediates for us in this life. So when we are tempted, we take control. With God. We allow God to take control by stepping away and saying "Lord I cannot do this on my own, but YOU, Lord YOU can"

Perpetual Sin.

Sin.

It's dirty. It's disgusting. Repulsive in the sight of God.

I sin. And it repulses me. We all sin. And it is repulsive to the Lord.

But he rescued us! He loves us! He sent His son for us! And we may approach Him in the midst of the repulsion.

Kill the sin. Suffocate it. Take hold of it. Turn from it. Give it to Christ. And don't return to it.

Being reconciled to Christ

I always start a new blog and I fail to keep up with it. I, recently, however have wanted to truly share my thoughts on what I’m learning as I devour the scriptures. On this first day of February, 2020 I sat here doing my scripture writing, looked back in my notebook, and realized it had been one full year since I started scripture journaling. And I realized, too, I have a lot of thoughts.

So here goes.

My prayer is someone will come upon this blog and be encouraged.

In the last year I’ve been so off and on about being in Gods word and truly learning from Him. I’ve gone back and forth between doing well with devouring scripture and not falling into perpetual sin, to backsliding and not being in His word and falling into sin habits that should’ve disappeared a long time ago, so I thought.

But I’m human. I’m a sinner. We all are. What I HAVE learned from this is that when we are so deep in Gods word, and so saturated by what He has to say to us, we don’t have time or the desire to fall into our same sin patterns. I’ve seen this in myself even in the last month. I’ve been in the word every day since the new year started. But there’s a difference between being in the word and truly listening to God. I can read scripture all day long, but if my heart is not open to what God has to say, then my reading is worthless.

I praise God he has placed people in my life who hold me accountable and who I can’t help but be honest with. Transparency is so beautiful in the body of believers. When we are transparent and honest with each other, accountability comes in and strips us of pride. So in the midst of reading scripture I’ve still fallen into sin. Which is where my community comes in.

In the midst of church and sermons and Bible Study Fellowship there’s been a reoccurring theme. Community. It’s pertinent to our walks as Christians. God did not create us to be alone. In community we hold each other up. We share with each other. We point each other to scripture and we keep each other safe from harm. Praise God for the community He’s given me. Within this community I can’t help but be transparent and my transparency has led me to a Puritan book from the 1600’s. The unabridged version of “the mortification of sin” by John Owen.
This is not just a leisurely read, but it’s something you have to chunk and chew on.
In this book John Owen speaks of sin in such a way that it is something that must be killed in our lives. We have to stop leaning on ourselves and our desires and we have to start leaning on Christ and ridding ourselves of the things that kill our soul.
Instead of allowing sin to kill us slowly, we must kill sin.
“Mortification from a self-strength, carried on by ways of self-invention, to the end of a self-righteousness, is the soul and substance of all false religion in the world.”

Self.

We are led into sin by temptation and by reliance on self rather than God.

The Bible tells us we must die to ourselves. Maybe it’s not just about the mortification of sin, but also the mortification of self.

So as I read this book I’m reminded to be in the word. To mortify the underlying power of sin in my life. To be transparent.

I’m falling in love all over again with who God is. By diving into His word and saturating myself with its truth. By being reminded that sin and self must die. I’m desiring Gods perfect and holy will in my life, but I’m also desiring it for others in my life. I’m journaling my prayers and lifting up my community in such as way that I desire for them to be overcome by Gods good and perfect will in their own lives.

But this is not about me and what Gods doing for me. Rather it’s about Christ and what I can do for Him as I spend time learning from Him.

I want this blog to be about God and his healing power and what I’m learning from Him.

I want it to be a place of transparency where as I learn from God I share what I’m learning so others can see His mighty power.

So please, if you come across this blog, share it. Share your thoughts with me. And let’s also build a community of believers here where we can converse about who God is in our lives.