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Showing posts with label Habitual sin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Habitual sin. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Why a Christian Can't Be an Alcoholic


It's very easy to beat yourself up.  When you sin or fail in some way, Satan puts self-critical thoughts in our minds which sound like our own thoughts.  Then, we run with them and before you know it, we create a narrative about how dumb we are, how ugly we are, what a big failure we are, what a sinner we are or what a terrible Christian we are.  We default to letting our struggles define us.
 
Yet, I challenge you to pray:  "Daddy God, I pray that You would cause my thinking to line up with Your thinking wherever they are different."  That is what a renewed mind is.  It's the Holy Spirit replacing our stinking thinking with God's astonishing thinking about who He is, who we are and how to live life.  I want to focus today on God's thoughts towards us.
 
Our Daddy says in Isaiah 55:8, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the Lord. It's very easy for us to take this as a scathing criticism from Him.  Yet, it actually reveals God's longing for us that His thoughts and His ways become ours.
 
When He looks at you, He's not thinking about your failures or successes for that matter.  He's thinking about what He did for you and to you in Christ.  He sees one of His children who is like Him.  He loves you because He sees you as a new creation who is righteous, a saint (holy), complete, forgiven, loving, patient, kind and so much more!
 
I personally had to remember who I was when two people criticized me last week for inviting you in the last few blogs to our Foundation for Transformation Conference (Romans 5-8).  One said I had gotten away from life giving blogs.  What surprised me is that this person had been transformed by Jesus through GLI.  I thought they would want to use those emails to invite people they love who are not free.  The other stated that they lived too far away from our office so they no longer wanted the emails.  I scratched my head wondering if they had somehow missed that no matter where anyone lives, they can join us via our powerful online system.
 
Sometimes, criticism is valid and we can learn from it.  Other times, it's not.  Either way, I reminded myself that it doesn't change my identity.  I am who Jesus says I am, period.
 
This is why a Christian can't be an alcoholic.  That doesn't mean there aren't Christians addicted to alcohol, opioids, meth or cocaine.  They need to admit they are addicted and need help so they can get help. Jesus and the experience of His deep love for them can free them from their addiction as they learn who they are in Christ.  There's so much more I would like to share with you, like why a Christian can't be a liar, a thief, a pornographic person.  Space doesn't permit here, but you will see below that there is a way I can, soon.
 
I leave you with two take-aways.  1. Line up your thoughts about who you truly are with God's thoughts about you.  2. Accept my invitation to come hear more at our Foundation for Transformation Conference IN OUR OFFICE or ONLINE so God can personally speak to you about what He's done that makes you as righteous as Jesus Christ. I will personally be teaching the first night, Monday, June 6. This is a FREE CLASS. SIGN UP HERE  (If you've attended before, invite someone you care about, remembering how God spoke to you there.)

Warmly in Christ, 


Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2016 Mark Maulding but feel free to pass it on!

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Free from Sin's Tyranny

    A man at one of my F4T Conferences told me an all too common story of how hearing a partial Gospel left him powerless to defeat sin. You see, a partial Gospel always produces a partial Christian. Not surprisingly, he became so discouraged with his failures; he gave up on ever being a good Christian and left the church. Interestingly though, he worked in an "end of life" area of a hospital where he took every opportunity to tell these dying people about the salvation offered in Christ. Yet, he remained miserable as sin controlled his body and his soul over and over without mercy. Over time, God gave him understanding that there was more to the Gospel than Jesus died to forgive our sins to get us into heaven. I could tell by the peace I saw on his face that day that he was living free from sin's tyranny.

   This freedom from the sin's tyranny is a great freedom God has provided for us in Christ. I use the word, "tyranny", because before we were in Christ, sin held power over us much like a cruel dictator. We were compelled to obey Him when we liked it and when we didn't.

   Jesus gives us hope by saying, "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." John 8:36 NIV Much like my friend above, many of us are surprised at how sin continues to control us, with some of the same old sins, even after we become Christ-followers.

   Has Jesus really freed us from sin's power over us or is that an illusion? Yes! He really has set us free. Here's how. The good news of the complete Gospel is that the part of us which was under sin's tyranny was put to death on the cross with Christ. Romans 6:6 says, "Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him..." The old self was our old nature or old identity in Adam we showed up with on planet earth.

   Romans 6:7 declares, "He who has died is freed from sin". Notice it does not say he "is free from sinning" but is free from sin, meaning free from sin as a power to tyrannize us. Sin referenced here means an unholy power in us but it is not our old nature because that is dead and gone. Sin here is like a generator whose power lines were cut in half when we died with Christ. Being resurrected with Christ as new creations, we have a new power source - union with Christ!

   This is the key to victory when we are tempted to default to that sin we often go to, especially when we are under stress. Do you know what I mean about the particular sin we end up in bed with when we are under a lot of stress? I can almost see you shaking your head "Yes". When we are tempted like this, our old dictator, sin, is offering to benevolent to us so we won't feel so stressed out.

   I have one of those sins which I tend to default to if I'm not vigilant. It's fear. Fear tyrannized my life for many years. And it still can if I allow it. Here's how I am learning to overcome it as my understanding of the complete Gospel grows.

   When tempted to be controlled by fear, I talk to the Lord saying something like this, "Father I know that I am not a fearful person in my identity in Christ. I choose to believe what you say about me rather than what my circumstances are saying. Jesus please handle this by living through me right now!"

   I pray this way based on Romans 8:15 which says, "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out 'Abba Father". NASB We all came into this world destined to live a life of fear because our old nature was as a slave of sin. The good news is that our new nature - our new identity in Christ yearns to experience the love of Abba Father which replaces more and more of our fears. Though I know this, I admit to you that it is still a mental wrestling match with circumstances screaming that I should be afraid and the Holy Spirit saying gently, "Mark, you are not a fearful person but a peaceful person whose very nature is to trust Me". This greatly helps reminding me that we are not in a power struggle with sin but a truth struggle.

   How about you? What is that sin which keeps beating you like LeBron James would if you played him in a one-one-one basketball game? Jesus HAS already freed us from sin's tyranny by changing who we are deep within but we have to believe it, and then talk to Him about it when we are tempted. You CAN overcome that sin - not by will power, rules or more dedication to God, but by the power of the cross. Be careful! You don't want to make this a formula. Sin is not defeated through a formula, rather by a relationship with God through our union with Christ. Let freedom ring!


Live Free In Christ, 


Mark Maulding, President and Founder 

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2013 Mark Maulding