Tag: Condemnation

Posted in Life Inspiration

Things that Ruffle my Feathers

Written by talk2shari Published Discussion Leave a Comment on Things that Ruffle my Feathers

Are you like me, in that I heap condemnation upon myself, until I am buried under the weight of it all and unable to walk in the newness of Christ because I’m carrying the old crap around? Perhaps it’s just me. Throughout my 60 years of life on earth I have allowed others in my life to make me feel like a dirt dog. I don’t know that it was ever their intention, but they did it through a comment, an attitude of righteousness, a haughtiness, anything that made me feel less, or under their scrutiny. It still happens today, especially with people who yield their righteousness like a caped crusader for Jesus.

Romans 8:1-2 KJVS
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. [2] For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Who’s Condemning Me?

Christ? No, it says that there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. So what exactly is condemnation. In the 1828 Webster’s dictionary it says that being condemned is to pronounce that one is utterly wrong, to blame, or to even go so far as to include the idea of utter rejection. Hello? Welcome to Shari 101. That’s how I feel so very often when I am in the presence of people of stature, position or worldly intelligence. I say worldly because people of Spiritual intelligence, generally speaking have spiritual wisdom, but not always. They too can run the risk of allowing their wisdom of the word to lack spiritual discernment in others.

When God began revealing His word to me, nobody was more shocked than myself. Who am I that God would speak such deep truths to my soul? And when I say deep, it’s not the depth of a person of great conviction to the study of God’s word. It’s just that God speaks deep truth’s to even silly people sometimes. Because He will use the foolish to confound the wise. It’s bible. Look it up!

So back to that feeling of condemnation. Where does it come from? It comes from the flesh. Both the flesh of others and the flesh of me. The flesh of others when they get on a high horse, and the flesh of me when I allow them to convince me I am less. I know this because the scripture said it, there is “no condemnation” in Jesus. So it comes from man.

Who’s Calling me Out?

Christ for certain will call me out when I sin. But my sins are generally not so bold and brazen to be committed in the eyes of others, so I don’t really have anyone calling me out for sins. What I have is people who call me out for having an opinion. I know this will come as a complete shock to people, but I am highly opinionated. I have a tendency to share what’s on my heart, and in so doing, it often ruffles the feathers of the people I give my opinion to. And the one thing I am highly opinionated on above all else is the Spirit of God and His work in my life. It’s never gotten old. It’s never NOT been exciting. But for some people, it’s just not that way. And for the love of all things Holy, I can’t understand it, but I don’t judge their lack of spirituality. I just assume they’ve missed the freedom part. But when people judge me for my Spirit, for me it’s as if they’re judging God. And I struggle. I struggle to the point of despair. Which is where I’ve been. It takes every fiber in my being to keep going some days, and that’s not me.

Who Want’s to be Dead?

Evidently some people do. I don’t know if it’s piousness or pride that causes a person to look down on another who “feels” deeper than they do. And I’m not above being in error about the whole thing. I just don’t understand it. Walter Truss, a preacher and friend who has gone onto glory spoke often about the “Church of the Frigid-Air.” I’ve been in many. My friend Tracy Miller always told me to just sing my heart out and find the one person that “get’s it.” They’re usually nodding to the beat, with a big ol’ grin on the their face and they’re happy to be there!

Not everybody gets it. Not everybody get’s me. And that’s okay. But I know for certain, I don’t want to die until I’m dead; and then, I’ll get it first hand how God wants me to act in service. I’ll bet it ain’t quiet.

Posted in Bible Journaling, Christian Service, Evangelism, Life Inspiration, Life's Failures, Uncategorized

How Crazy is it?

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The closer I get to Easter, the more my mind reflects on the cross. And the more I reflect on what God did that day the more I have to say that it’s got to be a crazy love that would be willing to do what Jesus did that day. When I look at the world we live in I think to myself “Why on earth would you have saved this wicked and rebellious generation?” For which I am one. I know my heart and how I can turn on a dime toward something sinful and ignore the Holy Spirit within in me that gives me more than enough support not to fall into it. And yet I do. And yet He still loves me. That’s crazy! But what’s crazier than His love is those who fail to accept it.

The Love of Jesus is Without Condemnation

While sin is not ever acceptable it is no less inevitable. 1 John 1:8 says “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” There is a difference between condemnation and conviction. Jesus will not condemn the child of God for the sins they’ve committed. That crazy day on the cross He died to cover every sin ever committed by His children. Is not that a worthy payment? Of course it is. Does that mean we can sin and not understand there should have been a penalty and yet may still be repercussions? Of course not.

If a store is robbed there is an earthly expectation of the penalty that freedom should be lost. If I hurt a friend without regard for them or our friendship I may lose that friend. But when I sin, regardless of the depth of the sin the penalty is paid in the eyes of God, and the relationship is restored the very second I turn to Him. That’s crazy love, but it’s how He works.

Sin is without condemnation but it is not without conviction. The Holy Spirit reveals to the child of God when sin is in the house, we know better. We may still fail but He has given us the power within us not to. If we fall into sin it is our choice.

The Love of Jesus Cannot be without Declaration

Matthew 10:33

But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Professing Christ is more than just saying that you know Him. Satan knows Him. The demons of Hell know Him, but they are not children of God. I knew Him in my head from the time I was a child until 1996. But not until I declared Him as Lord of my life and trusted in Him to save me did I know Him in my heart. It was then that I truly felt the Holy Spirit guiding me and putting that conviction upon me when I wasn’t going in the right direction. It was also when I began to declare my love for Him. Even when the world thought I was crazy.

My friend Doyle Ballengee said it best when he said “Go ahead and call me a fanatic, when you or someone you love gets a bad doctor’s report, you’ll be looking for a fanatic.”

That’s how I feel about my declaration of love for Jesus. Go ahead and say I’m crazy when all I want to do is talk about my Lord and all that He’s done in my life. Because when your life gets turned upside down but this old world, someone as crazy as me can help you set it up aright by showing you how Jesus did that for me.

I know it sounds crazy to the world when I say that Jesus died for me. Because the world wouldn’t give you the time of day if it cost them anything of any magnitude. But Jesus will give you more than you could ever imagine in return for your declaration, acknowledgement of Who He is. God.

The Love of Jesus is Not without Expectation

I can hear the naysayers now, “Oh, there it is. I knew you had to do something.” No, you can sit on your toosh and do absolutely nothing and still make it to Heaven. Jesus paid the price once and for all at the cross. All who accept, believe and declare Him as Lord, that He died on the cross, rose again the third day, and ascended to Heaven to make intercession for you will be saved. But if you want to be all you can be for Christ, and have the reward of His glory, on earth and in Heaven, there is an expectation.

I sat at a table with three friends this past Wednesday, each with their own story of coming to the knowledge of Christ in their lives; four very different people with one common bond…Christ.

  • One came to Christ because she grew tired of being with people, and yet alone.
  • One came to Christ because the religion she had grown up with let her down when she needed it most.
  • One came to Christ when He realized the law wouldn’t save anyone.
  • And this one, me, came to Christ when I realized there was no peace in this world without the Prince of Peace. And “religion” wasn’t the same as a “relationship.”

Each one of us now serve Christ and desire to serve Him greater because He did that crazy thing on the cross.

How crazy was it? He was beat until His body was unrecognizable and said to have looked like hamburger, He was spit upon, and ridiculed, at the height of His pain had a crown of thorns rammed on His head and was mocked as King of the Jews. His earthly mother sat at His feet with her friends and wept for the Son God had allowed her to give birth to. Some of His final words were “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34 in part) That’s crazy because it’s true.

He did that for you. Have you experienced His love? Declare it and share it! He is worthy.

Posted in Grace, Life Inspiration, salvation

But Now… that’s not My song

Written by talk2shari Published Discussion Leave a Comment on But Now… that’s not My song

Chick knows

Job 35:10-15

But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night; Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven? There they cry, but none giveth answer, because of the pride of evil men. Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it.  Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judgment is before him; therefore trust thou in him. But now, because it is not so, he hath visited in his anger; yet he knoweth it not in great extremity:

So today is not about me… again. But I thought it was when I lay in bed this morning arguing with God that I was growing weary of this “but now” series. My Attention Deficit Disorder thought there was likely something shinier I needed to be looking at. Ha! God said. My Word always shines!

So last night I’m sitting at home and I get an unusual call from a fella who’s near and dear to me, but the last thing he usually wants to discuss is church; because he knows I’ll be on him like white on rice. But this time he’s on me. Sunday morning, when I was where I was, and he was where he was, he’d seen a video on one of the cable music channels. He had previously heard this song on a local radio station, but this time it had images to go with it and a purpose; and none of it was good. The song is titled “Take me to Church” and can be found on Youtube by clicking the song title. I don’t recommend it if you’re squeamish, but it was needful for he and I to see it, because God had a message for us both.

I quickly skimmed the song facts before returning my friends call to answer as to “what I thought of the song.” The song was successful in that it’s intended design was to slam Christianity. The singer, Andrew Hozier Byrne, was quoted on songfacts.com

Written in the wake of a breakup with his first girlfriend, this is both a love song and a contemplation of sin, drawing influence from the late atheist writer Christopher Hitchens. Hozier described it to The Guardian as, “a bit of a losing your religion.

I found it odd that he was quoting an atheistic view point, but capitalizes the name of God in his article, as if God were someone. Well, He is Someone. But He’s not who they characterize in the video. The song criticizes the oppression of gay people in Russia and is said by Hozier that it’s not “an attack on faith.”

Well, this seriously isn’t an attack on Hozier, because he’s not the one responsible for that song. He was a tool, and mightily used by Satan himself. The friend who called was not affectionate of gay people. As a matter of fact, you would more than likely find him either telling or laughing at a gay joke. He’s a red-blooded American boy brought up in the heart of the country. But this song struck a chord in him. The chord that it was intended to strike; the one that paints the church as a narcissistic governing body of people that preach hate.

So, I had some explaining to do. Because it is unfortunate that we are portrayed that way because of a few (by comparison to the numbers who don’t preach hate).

So back to the “But Now” scripture in Job that I whined to God about. Elihu, the “friend” of Job is he who speaks the words in scripture. He too touts to Job that it is obviously because of his wrong living that he has landed in these dire straights.

Elihu is not singing God’s song.

Neither are the religious that damn the homosexual. Because as it says in John 3:17 “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” And the gay person is no greater a sinner than the drunkard or the glutton, yet they are all sinners and need redemption.

God does hear vanity, and He ain’t happy

Elihu said that surely God will not hear vanity, insinuating that Job was being self-centered because of his suffering. Really, Christian folk do that? Yes! Every time we fail to hear the cry of a hurting soul because of their sin, thinking that they “brought their suffering upon themselves,” it is we who are vain and stand in the place of God, judging.

Judgment will come… on the sinner and the church folk too

As I said before, this isn’t about Hozier. He needs to know that Jesus loves him. But what Satan meant this song to do is convince him that Jesus hates him, and that’s a lie right out of the pits of Hell. Christian’s who preach hatred will have their day before God. I’m not saying they’re lost, because Christian people make bad decisions and God doesn’t throw them out of Heaven for it. But they will stand before an Almighty and Powerful God and answer as to why they drove someone away from Jesus.

But Now… God’s song is “Jesus loves me this I know.”

Click on the song link and give the Devil his due!