Relocating

Well, here it is. It’s Saturday, raining, and everyone is either still sleeping or at work. Perfect meditating time. It’s also a PERFECT time to post a new blog! I spent some time reviewing past blogs I’ve written and realized that I’m too wordy. Thus, I’m going to do my best to be a little less verbose and get straight to the point. After all, that’s truly effective writing. If you spend a lot of time speaking about nothing, nothing will be remembered. So, let’s journey a little into my mind =).

I spent this morning reading reading the book of 1 John. It’s such a heavy book. The whole Bible is God-inspired, holy, and to be taken deeply. However, 1 John, John, Romans, and James hold so much weight in my life. I wanted to encourage you with a specific verse that I read, and a little thought that ran through my head afterwards. 1 John 3:6 says, “No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.” Later on, in verse 9, it says, “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”

The content of 1 John is debated so highly. Is it possible to live sinless? If I get saved, as we put it, and then sin, was my salvation real? If it was real, then has my said salvation been lost? Unfortunately, this blog isn’t covering ANY of those topics. last week, I was in prayer for our weekly revival service on Sunday. Holy Spirit began to highlight joy and people who need it. He specifically said something to me that hasn’t left me since. He said, “The true joy of the Spirit isn’t momentary contentment, but it’s proper perspective.” I won’t elaborate here, but if you want to  hear more about that, go look at the archives at www.theramp.org . It was shared on 1/29 during the worship set.

Anyways, that phrase, “proper perspective” has stayed with me. More and more I’m seeing that it isn’t just about joy, it’s really about our whole existence as followers of Christ. So, how does that fit in with the couple of scriptures above? Simple, you must look at them with proper perspective, as He sees them. Most people look at scriptures like that and solely focus on the negative aspect of it. However, today, I saw them as invitations, callings to the heart that struggles with sin. You could look at yourself and say, “Man. I’ve gone struggles, temptations, and cycles of sin in my life. I must be far from God. He doesn’t want anything to do with me. He’s mad at me.” Friend, one, yes, God does not like sin. Psalm 45 says He hates wickedness. However, God has not left you abandoned to issues, struggles, and sin. If that were His purpose, why send Jesus?

Verse 6, from above, I believe, is a call to the believer who is living in the house of sin. That’s how I saw it. We’re in that house of sin. Why? Because we were born into it. The Bible says that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, meant to be indwelled by Him, but when we’re born, this life is depraved, without Him. Salvation, however, opens the door to burn the old house, the old temple, and move into a new home. Hence verse 9 that I put. We have been born of God, born again. So, we have an invitation from our Savior and Creator into His home, where He is. There, we see Him, we get the chance to know Him. From that lifestyle, how can we ever return to the household of sin and depravity?

Friend, I want to encourage you today. If you’re struggling, just move =). God is not afraid of our faults. In fact, He has the answer on how to fix them. The answer? Him. How awesome is that. He’s calling us today. Thus, we burn all bridges and move into Him, and let Him move into us to transform and regenerate us through Holy Spirit, whom He has richly poured out on us though Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Be blessed.