More than Conquerors

I receive an email devotion from a Canadian pastor I once met. I met him in my church in Jarabacoa of all places and have been receiving his devotions ever since. They are always edifying, but one line in one of his recent emails cut straight to my core."What would you do if you knew it was impossible to fail?" I was challenged and wanted to answer it. Here are the first things I instinctively jotted down:

• I'd speak up more.
• I'd love better.
• I'd follow my heart.
• I'd take more chances.
• I'd see myself differently.
• I'd be myself.
• I'd do everything that scares me.
• I'd really be living.

I surprised myself a bit because I expected to write down some specific desires of mine that make me apprehensive because of the thought of failing. Instead it ended up being a much larger and broader list - really getting at the core of how I'd live, not what I would specifically do.

The more I think about it, the more I see the fear of failing as toxic. As we walk into our God-given destiny of becoming more like Him and of living out the calling He has on our lives (which is more about how we live than what we do), we cannot be afraid and we cannot see ourselves as failures. We are simply not. Since the Bible is clear that we are more than conquerors through Christ, it is in fact impossible for us to be failures.

So, what would it mean if we understood this truth? How would we live if we understood each opportunity, whether big or small, as just that - an opportunity for growth and learning? Not something that we have to do perfectly, or get a lot of recognition for lest we've failed. Understand me here. I'm talking about taking chances that God puts in front of us, not disobediently taking chances that are against the Word and very Spirit of God. But the Lord, our perfect Daddy, wants us to open up and live freely. He puts great things in our midst and in our paths, but I see many of us, myself included, who shy back and say, "What if it doesn't work?" "What if I don't succeed?" Well, we did succeed. The second Christ was resurrected from the grave, we won. We succeeded. 

I'm challenging us to stop thinking of ourselves as failures. Who even sets the bar for what a failure is except God Himself? Who is the Judge, and what does He say about those who've been washed in Jesus's blood? I want us to think about things we don't do or the way that we don't live because of fear of failure. And who are we afraid of failing? Is it fear we'll fail others? Is it fear we'll fail God? Is it fear we'll fail ourselves? Is it fear that our worthiness will be taken away if we don't do well enough or if things fall apart? Friends, our worthiness can't change. It's impossible. Just like it's impossible for God to change. 

So, live today as though you cannot fail. Remember, it's impossible. God is the one who decides if you are a failure - and He already said that you are more than a conqueror. 

Peace.

El poder de nuestro testimonio

Como creyentes de Cristo, como los que confían en un Dios abundantemente bueno, nuestro testimonio es increíblemente importante.

En la Biblia El Mensaje, 1 Pedro 2: 11-17 se parafrasea así:

Amigos, este mundo no es su casa, así que no hacen ustedes acogedor en el mismo. No satisfacer su ego a costa de tu alma. Vive una vida ejemplar entre los nativos para que sus acciones se refutar sus prejuicios. Entonces van a ser ganados al lado de Dios y estar allí para unirse a la celebración cuando llegue.

Hacer que el Maestro orgullosa de ti por ser buenos ciudadanos. Respetar las autoridades, cualquiera que sea su nivel; son emisarios de Dios para mantener el orden. Es la voluntad de Dios: que haciendo bien, es posible curar la ignorancia de los tontos que piensan que eres un peligro para la sociedad. Ejercite su libertad por servir a Dios, no por romper las reglas. Tratar a todos los que conoces con dignidad. Ama a tu familia espiritual. Revere Dios. Respetar el gobierno.

¿Sabemos lo importante que nuestro testimonio es? ¿Sabemos que a pesar de que todavía estamos siendo perfeccionados por Cristo y somos todavía "en construcción", estamos llamados a ser santos y justos en la tierra aquí y ahora?

Me pregunto a veces si la Iglesia es una barrera real para los hijos de Dios que vienen a Él. En realidad, yo no pregunto, lo sé. Y sí, la decisión final para una persona para seguir a Cristo es su propio, pero si la Iglesia realmente se comportó como Dios quiso, sería que su plan de redención suceder más rápida? ¿Habría menos escépticos y más creyentes?

Creo que los cristianos son vistos como hipócritas mucho porque lo son. Nosotros somos. Se llega a ser un poco complicado, porque los cristianos son personas imperfectas que viven por la fe y la gracia, y no creyentes no llegan a comprender eso en medio de sus "críticas" (por falta de una palabra más dura). Lo entiendo y estoy de acuerdo con eso. Sin embargo, les damos razones para dudar de la misma cosa que proclamamos? Decimos: "Confía en Dios, Él es bueno" y luego vivir nuestra vida de una manera totalmente incrédula. O señalamos nuestro dedo en el pecado de una persona que no conoce a Dios y dejar de recordar parte de nuestra vida que nos queda sin resolver - partes de nuestra vida que Dios quiere redimir.

Es muy lamentable cuando las personas tienen una visión distorsionada de Dios, porque las personas que dicen que lo conocen y siguen se comporta de una manera impía. Y por supuesto, siempre habrá críticas. Y el punto no es para apaciguar a los no creyentes o críticos en absoluto. El problema existe cuando proclamamos a Dios de una manera, pero actuamos como sus hijos de una manera completamente diferente. Existe cuando vivimos nuestras vidas en un frustrado, de manera egoísta, sin amor. Esto no es un retrato exacto de la hermosa Iglesia de Dios. Esto no es un retrato exacto de Su hermosa novia que Él ha hecho santo por Su preciosa sangre.

Por lo tanto, vamos a preguntarnos. ¿Qué nos ha reprendido nuestro dulce Papá ultimamente? ¿Hay partes de nuestro modo de vida que se interponen en contraste con la Palabra de Dios?

Si la hay, éstos deben ser abordados. Ellos realmente hacen. Dios quiere redimir a todo en este mundo que no es como debería ser, y que incluye "las pequeñas cosas", como la frustración, la falta de confianza, la ira injusta, la indulgencia en la comida o la bebida, las voces críticas sobre los demás (incluyendo figuras públicas), y impura relaciones con los demás. Cuando se abordan estos defectos, cuando permitimos que Dios opere en y eliminarlos y hacer nosotros todo de nuevo, vamos a dar al mundo una mejor idea de quién es Dios y que su Iglesia es. Entonces ya no seremos tropiezos u obstáculos a los que se salvan. En vez vamos a ser instrumentos eficaces y eficientes en el gran plan de redención de Dios.

Amén.

The Power of our Testimony

As believers of Christ, as those who trust in an abundantly kind God, our testimony is incredibly important.

In The Message, 1 Peter 2:11-17 is paraphrased like this:

Friends, this world is not your home, so don't make yourselves cozy in it. Don't indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they'll be won over to God's side and be there to join in the celebration when He arrives.

Make the Master proud of you by being good citizens. Respect the authorities, whatever their level; they are God's emissaries for keeping order. It is God's will that by doing good, you might cure the ignorance of the fools who think you're a danger to society. Exercise your freedom by serving God, not by breaking the rules. Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government.

Do we know how important our testimony is? Do we know that though we are still being perfected by Christ and are still "under construction", we are called to be holy and righteous on earth here and now?

I wonder at times if the Church is an actual barrier to God's children coming to Him. I actually don't just wonder, I know. And yes, the ultimate decision for a person to follow Christ and be reconciled to God is their own, but if the Church really behaved like God wanted it to, would His redemption plan be speedier? Would there be less doubters and more believers?

I think Christians are seen as hypocrites a lot because they are. We are. It does become a bit complicated because Christians are imperfect people who live by faith and grace, and unbelievers don't quite grasp that in the middle of their Christian "critiques" (for lack of a harsher word). I get that and I agree with that. However, do we give them reason to doubt the very thing that we proclaim? We say, "Trust God, He's good" and then live our life in a totally unbelieving way. Or we point our finger at the sin of a person who does not know God and fail to remember part of our life that we have left unaddressed - parts of our lives that God wants to redeem and make whole.

It's very unfortunate when people have a distorted view of God because the people who say they know Him and follow Him behave in an unholy manner. And of course, there will always be criticism. And the point is not to appease the unbelievers or critics at all. The problem exists when we proclaim God one way, but act as His children in a completely different way. It exists when we live our lives in a selfish, frustrated, unloving manner. This is not an accurate portrait of God's beautiful Church. This is not an accurate portrait of His beautiful bride who He has made holy by His precious blood.

So, let's ask ourselves. What has our relentlessly kind Daddy been rebuking us about? What has Holy Spirit been nudging us about or flat out telling us to change in our lives? Are there parts of the way we live that stand in contrast to the Word of God?

If there is, these need to be addressed. They really do. God wants to redeem everything in this world that's not as it should be, and that includes "small things" like frustration, lack of trust, unrighteous anger, indulgence in food or drink, critical voices about others (including public figures), and impure relationships with others. When these defects are addressed, when we allow God to operate on and remove them and make us whole again, we'll give the world a better picture of who God is and who His Church is. Then we will no longer be stumbling blocks or barriers to those who are being saved. We will rather be effective and efficient tools in God's great redemption plan.

Amen.