Christ doesn't become fragmented in us. Rather, we become unified in him. We don't reduce Christ to what we are; he raises us to what he is.
If you are the problem.....
You can't be the solution.....
You don't take Christ and try to fit him into your life so you can break free from your addiction....
Christ is not some sort of add on for better living....
Christ is not the latest app for our smart phone life....
Christ is the answer to every question you asked when you were out there running in the darkness.
Jesus isn't there to solely get you out of your legal troubles. He is there to change your heart and your life so that you can navigate all the legal hoops you have created for yourself, and never have to live this way again.
Why is it we want to take Christ and create him in our image?
Treat him like some sort of Holy-salve! Rub a little bit of Jesus on this spot and he'll take away the troubles and the pain.
No way! Open the heart up and let him empty it of everything bad. Let him turn you upside down and shake out all the darkness and emptiness of thought. Let him scrub the inside till it shines and is ready to be occupied by the Holy Spirit. Then he will give you a life worth living.
James 4:4-6 (Message)
You're cheating on God, if all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn't care? The proverb has it that "He's a fiercely jealous lover." And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you'll find. It's common knowledge that "God goes against the willful proud, but gives grace to the willing humble."
He raises us up. He lifts our vision of how life can be for us.
I Peter 4:1-2 (Message)
Since Jesus went through everything you're going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you'll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.
It is the power of God at work in a heart and life surrendered. Simple as that.
I don't want to trivialize the momentous, nor do I want to complicate the obvious, but only to speak the truth of the Gospel of Jesus.
He will do for you what you cannot do for yourself.
How can you argue against that? What logic can you bring to bear to dispute such claims by Jesus? None.
If Jesus truly possesses the power and authority to change me, and the evidence of my life is defined by the destruction I've created------would it not make sense to turn my will and my life over to his care rather than continue in my own way of thinking? I think it would.
God on you....
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We will not be having Vineyard Recovery on September 7th, but will return the following week, with Seth Barber as our speaker.
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