Without A Net

Whether we realize it or not all of us are walking a tight wire of some kind in our lives and the balancing act we do is always at risk given the thin nature of the "reality" we subscribe to. Everyday, people in this hard little world fall off that wire, land hard, and are injured in way's that can be hard to heal. The repercussions of that fall are what we sometimes call a "crisis" which interestingly enough is a word that's based on the Greek term Krinein which means "to decide".

Decide what?

Any trapeze artist you happen to meet will most likely tell you that a certain level of fear or respect is essential to the performance of their craft, but that if you allow that fear to take center stage then walking that wire becomes impossible. And while a net can be something that catch's us and keeps us safe from a fall, it can also be used to keep us in bondage after we've lost our balance and fallen into a trap or snare of some type! Safety is of the Lord, but fear is a symptom of spiritual bondage to sin. Just as Adam found out in the garden. How is it that that after thousands of years we still hide in the bush's from a loving God?

The greatest fear any of us have is the fear of not being loved. So why does it seem as though we run from the very thing we need the most or pretend to be above it in some way? Perhaps it's because in lieu of being able to procure it, we've taken on the mantle of god in our lives and arrogantly chosen to express or exercise our "divinity" by making choice's about our lives that no one else can change, even if we're the one's that suffer as a result of that choice. Isn't that a shame?

Ultimately it isn't us who make our choices, but instead they, who make us!

It's at these familiar crossroads, these moments of sudden confusing complexity, that like any other subscription we've signed up for our fear delivers to us our default answer....

What about me?

Our lives become a frustrating failure when we try to take on Gods role or when we project onto God our flawed human understanding of love. Most of these misguided actions and bad choices flow from a core belief that the universe we live in is a decidedly unfriendly place, that real love is a lie, and that if there is a God He's probably mad at us!

No wonder we're anxious and afraid to step out! We're walking on a wire and we believe that we're working...

Without a net!

Why am I saying all of this? Because there are way too many people who go through their lives making decisions that originate from thoughts that are sponsored by fear, not love. Who instead of living the life God had planned for them are tangled up in the net of this world and are presently miserable as a result! If hell is an eternal separation from God, Who is love, then you might say they've already started doing their time here on earth! In fact, I've heard more than a few people refer to their lives as being a "living hell"...I don't believe that Gods pleased with any of those things at all, actually I think it break's His heart, mine too...and since I'm on His team I'm trying to do whatever He enables me to do to help others to choose Him instead! Being a Christian is simply an awareness of who we are in Christ and the joyful acknowledgment of Gods saving love that has freed us from the necessity of fear in each and every moment and circumstance of life! What it means for each of us is that,

Above all we are greatly loved!

Come what may, we do have a safety net...

Jesus caught each of us when we cried out for Him to save us!

You've done that right?...Is your life going to suddenly become perfect after you come to know the Lord? NO! what it means is that whatever you go through in this life He's in the midst of it with you! God never promised us a smooth ride, but He has promised us a safe landing! While we're here we don't have to live a life of fear, shame and doubt, or be prisoners to things like worry and anxiety! There's no reason this life has to be an empty meaningless existence without a hope for eternity when all we really have to do is stop for a second and simply reason this thing we call life out!

Have YOU traded in fear for faith!

That's a choice I'm committed to making every day!

"Faith is that state of being in which we're able to find present comfort in the arms that have held us up all along, and future peace based on the past and the present."

FREE!

Galatians 5:13

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.

If you're anything like me you love that word, but it's meaning can be rather confusing. The first rule of economics tells us that there is no free lunch, that it's either already been paid for or the bill is yet to come. Knowing this, we're more likely to be skeptical of things that are free, and even less trusting of the phrase "At no cost to you" I guess it just doesn't have the same ring to it.

I said ring, perhaps I meant hook...

The difference between the two is subtle, "free" denotes something we aren't beholding to anyone for, that we might indulge ourselves in without impropriety, without feeling encumbered by any sort of obligation. That being thankful for is merely good manners on our part, not a requirement.

Whereas, "at no cost to you" suggests something else that most people aren't as comfortable with. Just knowing that there was a cost to someone at some point registers with most people as something that's "owed". Even if it's merely some due consideration such as being thankful, it's seen as being a liability or as undesirable.

As I was thinking about what these words mean I wondered if there was a worthwhile comparison involving these two definitions and some of the ways in which the gospel is presented to people. Peoples misconceptions concerning Gods free gift of salvation can be a stumbling block, as an ambassador of Christ I feel it's useful to understand them. I've always believed that if the gospel was presented to people from the perspective of grace they'd have no reason not to accept Christ! Unfortunately, most of what I've heard seems to come across kind of like this,

"You're a hopeless sinner on your way to hell! Accept Christ's free gift of salvation, and then spend the rest of your life trying to be good enough to keep it".

Yes! You are a hopeless sinner and Yes! salvation is a free gift, but once you accept it you're NOT on the "Holiness" hook! Yes, God wants us to be Holy, but it doesn't count for anything if we're just doing it to save ourselves! I think He wants us to be holy out of our love for Him, not to be coerced or guilted into it or be told that our salvation depends on it. That doesn't sound like grace, which is the UN-merited favor of God, that sounds more like a doctrine of works or the "at no cost to you" type of free.

2 Timothy 1:9

Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

The point I'm going for is that man has great difficulty accepting that salvation is a free gift, or in understanding what love really is. Perhaps because all he's known or experienced is the "strings attached" type, it could be that the obligated version of "free" may be all he understands. I feel like that's pretty common in this world, but this is the greatest example of real love! Even though man may be much more familiar with the worlds lesser examples of love or more comfortable with seeing himself as being "worthy" of salvation, that's not the real gospel message. Many Christian's also prefer variations of that perspective because they feel it somehow puts them above other people in Gods eye's which is of course "dead wrong", many non-Christian people want nothing to do with "it" or them for much the same reason!

My favorite saying related to this topic is,

We're not saved BY works, But instead FOR works!

Love is always a choice! Serving the Lord is my greatest joy! Living a God honoring life is something I attempt to do out of my own freewill because of my love for God and other people, in response to a love that was first shown to me! It's not out of any sense of obligation, my salvation is a done deal! Therefore there's nothing to "earn" or no ongoing dues that I must pay, I believe that I was blood bought, not blood "pawned"! The only thing I owe is to tell others what Christ has done for me and that is absolutely no problem! Some of what is preached by "Christians" is intended to stir up guilt and condemnation in people which tends to have the effect of turning them into unhappy, self righteous, "religious" people!

I'm so not into that...and I can understand why the world isn't either!

Why? Because it's a game you'll never win, forever comparing yourself to others caught in some sort of tail chasing spiral that either falsely puffs you up or brings you down...fun huh?

I've heard this preached many times,

"We could double the attendance here in a month, all we've got to do is tell people they can do whatever they want and still go to heaven"

Why not say that? It's a bit of a challenge as I see it!

Go ahead and put that on the sign in front of your church and when the people show up we'll tell them about the love of Jesus and how He chose to die for all of our sin's. We'll show them a little piece of that love in the Christian fellowship we'll extend to them. We'll be patient and supportive while the Holy Spirit works in their heart and their walls of resistance are broken down by the great love of Jesus! And when that time comes and their ready to accept what Christ did on the cross as being for them and recognize it as being the only way to wipe away their sins we'll pray with them that Jesus would come into their heart and be Lord of their lives! Then, If they've truly had a born again experience I think you'd be safe to tell them,

" Go ahead and do whatever you want! Do whatever your new best friend the Holy Spirit will abide!"

Why? Because they've been set FREE!

From my perspective either you believe that greater is He that is in me, or that greater is he who's in the world...That there's power in the blood of Christ to save us and keep us, and to forgive us, no matter what we've done or what we will do, or you don't! I believe that coming to know Christ is a life changing experience, and even though there are times that we're all going to fall short of the mark I'd put my faith the power of the Holy Spirit over that of the world anytime!

1 Corinthians 7:22

For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant.

I know that some of what I've written here could be easily misinterpreted. So just for the record let me state that in no way am I advocating using grace as a license for immorality or sin, neither am I saying that I don't thoughtfully consider or that I take for granted the great price that Christ paid on the cross for my salvation. Doctrines of works and of grace can both be taken to flawed extremes. Personally, I feel as though I want to do my best in this life, to always choose love. But I know that I fail at it and that if it weren't for the Gods grace I wouldn't have any hope at all! I believe that because God is all knowing and loves us so much He made it very simple and totally free for us to be saved!

Thank You Father God!