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Victory
"How can I be such a 'stake?" the little boy responded, obviously remorseful over something he'd done that earned him a measure of correction.
Most of us could utter similar statements: "How could I have made such a mistake? I know I'm only human, but that's no excuse!" When we recognize a wrong we've done, born of poor judgment (or worse, deliberate action), we feel the nagging weight of making restitution, somehow. When that isn't possible, we can end up in a perpetual state of regret, regularly pestered by the accuser, who seems to delight in pushing us back down into the miry clay.
"Where do I find this 'victorious Christian living' I hear so much about in messages from reading and radio broadcasts?" That was a chronic question in my young life. Our upbringing turned us into achievers, relief found only in being at, or at least near, the top of the class. (One of my siblings surprised me, one day well into adulthood, remarking that "Nobody could live up to Mom's expectations.")
That was probably a true statement, or at least Mom's behavior requirements had us fooled into thinking we had the power to excel. I think she is the only person I ever heard say "Shame on you!" And, her soft but withering tone of voice certainly drove the point home. If I realized I was "guilty as charged," it made me want to crawl under the bed and back into a corner to hide.
Since she obviously wanted us to have high standards of behavior, and the "courage of our convictions," it makes sense that she would feel responsible to program us to live lives above reproach. All of which made me think that was humanly possible. It didn't prepare us for the inevitable failure of missing the mark, however.
Dad's approach seemed more realistic. He regularly spoke of "works, meet for repentance." In other words, is genuine repentance evident in a change of heart and behavior? But, that helped me only in part. What about those spontaneous occurrences, like the escape of biting words, or besetting sins that plague us? The accuser has a pretty good idea where our weaknesses lie, and that is where he casts his lures to trap us.
In the middle of my muddle, in the Lord's timing, I heard a remarkable message from a campus pastor that finally registered and brought me a huge sigh of relief. He acknowledged the fact of our powerlessness to escape from the dilemma that hung like a thundercloud over my head. God knows our frame (much better than even one's mother does); He remembers that we are dust. So, where do we get the idea that we can be righteous enough to act like an angel, on our own, when that is absolutely impossible?
Victory is realized only in the power of God's Holy Spirit at work within us. That is what the Lord wants us to recognize and embrace for dear life. "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." – Acts 1:8
So many years ago, that I don't recall the title of the book or the author, I came across a light bulb of an idea. The writer posed the question: are we too often sin-centered Christians, rather than Christ-centered? What a thought! It's like trying to diet while focused on food, counting calories, etc. No, the best "diet" is to refocus attention elsewhere (digging in the garden, working in oil to paint a picture) that food is not an issue!
Which is why my favorite of all the Confessions we recite on Sunday mornings is the one from my childhood's old hymnal, acknowledging our very nature but focused, instead, on God's grace and mercy. When we read the words aloud, together, I can still hear the voice of my preacher papa:
"Almighty God, our Maker and Redeemer, we poor sinners
confess unto Thee that we are by nature sinful and unclean,
and that we have sinned against Thee by thought, word, and deed.
Wherefore we flee for refuge to Thine infinite mercy, seeking and imploring Thy grace for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ…."
For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. –Psalm 103:14
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. –1 Corinthians 15:57
---Edy T Johnson---
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