The Good Life

The Good Life: Go to college. Get a good job doing something you love to do. Make a lot of money. Be a good person. Do what you want. Do what makes you happy. 

I never really doubted that these were some of the most important things to value in life until I met some people who had a lot less money and a lot less access to education than me. It got me thinking. It seemed to me that whatever is most important in life should be universally accessible. It should be something that every person can attain. Even if they are not wealthy. Or healthy. Or very smart.  

Honestly, I didn't get any further in that thought process for several years. But the discrepancy stuck with me. There must be something better to value in life if what I value most isn't something that everyone can attain/achieve/receive. In the meanwhile, I fell back on the values I was raised with. I worked on my college degree and tried to figure out which career path would make me the happiest. Which classes would make me the happiest. Which apartments, friendships, relationships would make me the happiest. Which grad school would make me the happiest. Frankly, it was all kind of stressful. (And in retrospect, completely self-centered). I mean, what if I made the wrong choice at any point and didn't end up as happy as I could have been? 

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I was raised Catholic. I always believed in God and trusted God, but I never understood the bit about Jesus. I mean, if God was God and all-powerful and everything, who was this Jesus guy and why did he have to come and die and why the heck would we praise him when there was an all-powerful God to pray to and stuff? Seriously, this was my thought process as a 10 year old. 

...

Now that I know Jesus... I've been humbled (a little bit, at least). The Holy Spirit showed me that even if I think I'm a lot better than a lot of people, in His eyes, I am no better than a murderer, and adulterer, or a thief (without Jesus). It's kind of like looking down on the earth from the moon. Whereas on earth, the mountains appear to be so much higher than the depths of the sea, from a galactic perspective, the seemingly great difference becomes utterly irrelevant.

[I had some panic about this for awhile. Once I realized I wasn't so great, I wondered, what if God didn't save me? To stand convicted and realize God's great salvation, and to believe that you may not receive it is horrifying. Condemned is a truly terrible place to be. Thankfully, some nice folks explained to me that the Holy Spirit brings conviction, and it is the Devil who brings condemnation. There was a spiritual battle going on, and I was able to fight through it.]

Now that I know Jesus and have accepted what he has done for me, I'm a lot less anxious. I have true peace and an anchor for my soul. Sure, I can still get worked up about things, but my identity is no longer in what I do or how I do it, who my friends are or my credentials etc. etc. etc. I am free to be honest with myself and with God because I know he already knows me completely. I have a well of forgiveness to draw upon, because I know how much God has already forgiven me. I have an eternal perspective and identity. No matter what I do, I know God loves me. I know that, as a good Father, God wants me to grow and mature and overcome sin and selfishness, and I have the promise that He will help me do this (Philippians 1:6). I know I have life in Jesus, through whom all things were made, because where God once saw sin and separation from Him, He now sees Jesus' perfect life, sacrifice, and love for me. I know that God is my provider, so I can work from a place of rest and worship. I know that God created me and has a purpose for me, and I find joy every time I get a glimpse of this. I'm not afraid of death, because I know that I have eternal life to look forward to where all of creation will be free to do our truest and most joyful work of worshiping God.

This good life I have found is in almost complete opposition to the 'good' (self-centered, self-seeking) life I used to strive for. And in an unexpected way, it's so much better. (And, hey, it's definitely more universally accessible!)

And you know what? God wants this for you, too. And Jesus already lived and died and was raised for this purpose in your life, too. He wants to give you a new life and a new identity as a child of God, in love, as a free gift. I hope you'll consider and accept it. He already accepts you. He wants you to accept him, too.

"And [Jesus] died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." 2 Corinthians 5:15 

God... wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles. 1 Timothy 2:4-7

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What do you think? What is the good life you are striving for? What is your identity? What do you hope in? Can you explain the gospel in your own words?

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Let me know if you have any questions.

Grace, Part II

Here's are some things I learned about grace and about myself much more fully during my DTS. It's like this...

One day, I parked my car and when I came back from my errand I noticed a parking ticket on the windshield. Darn those Madison parking police! And can you believe, the ticket was for $828 BILLION DOLLARS. Outrageous. Unfair. I mean, I really shouldn't even have gotten a ticket, I only parked there for a few minutes and it really wan't like I maliciously parked illegally, and maybe the parking dude just messed up and put it on the wrong car or was checking the wrong side of street or something.

I do not want to accept that I did something wrong.

Ok, well, so I called down to the parking enforcement office and they explained about the ticket, and I guess they are right. It was trash removal day or something like that and so I really shouldn't have been parked in that spot between 7am and 8am. It's so frustrating. Oh well. I guess I do need to really admit that I messed up this time and get on to dealing with the ticket. It was odd, though, when I was on the phone with the parking office and they finally convinced me that I had parked illegally and I admitted it, they suddenly mentioned that Jesus had already paid off my $828 billion dollar ticket for me.

I'm not really comfortable with that, though. I mean, I totally realize now that I messed up, and really,  I have a job and if Mike and I both work really hard (and are very, very careful about where we park for the rest of our lives)... we'll save up our pennies and... Hm. No, I guess even then I probably still wouldn't be able to pay off the whole thing...  Sure, I've heard this Jesus is a great guy and probably has enough money to cover this ticket, but I really think I should pay for it myself.

I do not want to accept that someone else paid the consequence for something I did wrong.
(I feel like I should still be paying for it.)

But that's ridiculous. The ticket IS ALREADY PAID FOR. And, even if I wanted to repay it myself, I'd never, ever be able to. 

That is grace. 

That is what Jesus did for us. 

That is what Jesus wants us to realize and accept.

That is how much God loves us. 

That is freedom in Christ.

Christ paid it all. For every last sin. It's already paid for. He doesn't want you to be burdened by the debt anymore. Admit that you have sinned. Accept what Jesus did for you. Be free!

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 

- Galatians 5:1

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
- Romans 8:1-2

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. 

- Romans 3:22

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. 

- Romans 5:1-2

Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. 

- Galatians 3:23-25

Grace

Reposting a couple of my posts from an old blog because I think they belong here.
--
Hi All,

I've been meaning to write about this for awhile now, but the stars have just now aligned properly -- I have my proper notebook, bible, and internet (as well as sufficient battery life on the computer). I pray that this will come out eloquently or at least clearly.

Grace. It's hard concept to get your brain wrapped around. It's definitely not how this world functions. Our church teaches a class about it. It's the foundational message of the gospel. Sometimes I think I kind of get it. Then I get a better glimpse and am further blown away. Here's an example...

Second Samuel chapters 11 and 12 tell an account of King David:

• King David finds himself attracted to Bathsheba, the wife of one of his soldiers, 
• so he calls her over and sleeps with her. 
• She gets pregnant. 
• To cover up the mess he's gotten himself into, King David sends a letter with the husband, Uriah, to his captain. "In it he wrote, 'Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.'" (2 Samuel 11:15). 

Apparently, even after sleeping with this man's wife and then having other people kill him to cover up for it, King David doesn't really feel bad about it. God sends a prophet to enlighten him. The words God uses to illustrate this point make me want to cry:
"There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The right man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup, and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him." (2 Sam. 12:1-4)

King David did horrible things. Numerous horrible things. And here is God's reply.

Brace yourself.

The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. (2 Sam 12:13)

Now, don't miss the fact that King David, slow as he was to do so, did recognize what he did was wrong wrong and repented. (Read Psalm 51 for more about that).

Ok. I don't know how you're feeling right now, but I actually felt angry when I read this. God forgave him? How could he forgive all of that? Why would he? (It wasn't that there were no consequences to the sin. There were. But there was also forgiveness and grace). It doesn't make any sense to us, because that's not how this world works. But that's how God works. Unbelievable.

A lot of times I don't know how to be "relevant" to people in terms of sharing my faith. But something I've seen again and again is the transforming power of God's grace.When you think no one could or would forgive you and realize that God already did. It's powerful. I think it's what people need.

I hope some part of that came across in a way that made some bit of sense.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited power as an example for those who would believe on him and have eternal life.
- The Apostle Paul in his first letter to Timothy

Time for bed.

Goodnight!

~Lauren