Keeping Score (Part 1)

After sin entered the human race in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve and everyone born after them have suffered from relationship breakdowns.  Relationships were one of the hardest hit areas of life.  Stories of people who refuse to forgive their perpetrators, who hold grudges and who grow bitter fill the pages of human history.  Many refuse to forgive those who have brought offense and pain into their lives.  They keep a running total of wrongs done.

The New Living Translation renders 1 Corinthians 13:5 this way:  “Love keeps no record when it has been wronged.”  Agape love, or God’s love produces amnesia.  To God, confessed sin is forgiven sin!  Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”  In Isaiah 43:25 the prophet writes, “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for my own sake.  And I will not remember your sins.”  Isaiah 37:18 says, “It is You who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness.  For you have cast all my sins behind your back."  Psalm 130:3 reminds us that “If you Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?”  Sin placed under the blood of Jesus Christ is gone and forgotten!

Often we hear people say, “I’ll forgive, but I’ll never forget.”  I used to subscribe to this way of thinking until one day the Lord challenged my attitude.  A lot of Christians buy into this unscriptural teaching.  In reality, many times it’s justification for on-going grudge-holding. 

Forgive and forget.  Is it possible?  Yes and no!  All of us have been hurt by someone – probably more than once.  The prophet Zechariah said it this way:  “I was wounded in the house of my friends” (13:6).  Someone said, “I’m not God, so it’s impossible for me to forget hurtful people and situations in my life.  I don’t go brain dead when I forgive.  I still remember the details!” 

That’s not completely true.  Given time, none of us with one-hundred-percent accuracy remember the details of our lives.  However, we DO assign an emotion to everything that happens to us.  When offenses come our way, it’s not our spirit man who gets wounded; it’s our soul man.  Our soul – mind, will and emotions – reacts negatively during times of offense.  Again, we don’t remember facts.  We assign negative emotions to those facts. 

I am the middle of seven siblings.  It’s amazing when we get together as adults and discuss childhood memories.  None of us agree on the facts, and all of us assign different emotions to what took place.  Both positive and negative emotions come to the surface, depending on our individual interpretation of the facts.  Isn’t that crazy?

Like people in general, Christians get hurt along life’s journey.  Jesus warned us in Matthew 24:10 that offenses will accelerate in the last days:  “And then many will be offended…” However, we possess the indwelling Spirit, Who helps us righteously process those negative experiences that afflict our soul.  Through prayer God assigns new interpretations to our negative experiences.  What people sometimes mean for evil, God reverses for our good – and theirs! 

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK:  How this principle played out in the life of Joseph (His story is found in Genesis 37-50).

Fixer Upper

Chip and Joanna Gaines are going off the air after their fifth season on HGTV.  Many “Fixer Upper” fans are disappointed—including me! 

The other day I was thinking about our upcoming “Freedom Ministries” class, when it occurred to me that what the Gaines do to homes, God wants to do in OUR lives. 

My wife and I are on a quest for healing.  Hopefully, you’ve read my blog entitled, “Teeter-Totter” where I outline the role of body, soul and spirit as they pertain to our tri-part being.  My premise remains:  The healing of the soul is often minimized or even neglected in most preaching. 

Many Christ followers are on their way to heaven because they have placed their faith in the blood of Jesus Christ, but frankly aren’t enjoying the trip because they hold on to hurts, habits and hang-ups that keep them imprisoned in their past.  Remember, the soul is comprised of a person’s mind, will and emotions.  God of course, desires that we walk out of those things that hold us back from true freedom.  Keep in mind that while salvation is the “miracle of a moment,” the on-going healing of the soul is mostly worked out in process. Both salvation and soul healing, however, involve surrender to God.

At the beginning of each episode, Chip and Joanna find a suitable home for each excited couple. Then after the new and improved look is agreed upon, Chip does what he refers to as “Demo-day.”  He seems to really enjoy this aspect of the “fixer upper.”  He and his crew go in and demolish everything that needs renovation and/or replacement.  Walls get knocked down, kitchen counters are torn out, bathrooms are gutted, flooring is removed, etc.  Next, the Gaines refurbish according to plan.  Then, Joanna places the final decorative touches inside each home; and at show’s end, they unveil the finished product to a waiting and ecstatic couple.

This is what God wants to do in our lives.  He first takes an original project that has been negatively impacted by time and life in general (US). He then shows us where we are not walking in freedom and gives us a game plan to walk out of our pain.  He then begins demolition – exposing those hidden away, “rooms” in our heart that need to be removed or refurbished. Then as we surrender to His truths versus our formerly held lies, He begins a process that brings beauty and a new look into our lives.  Only when we see Jesus face to face will our “fixer upper” be totally renovated!

“Freedom Ministry” is designed to place tools in the hands of God’s people who perhaps unknowingly live below their “Calvary privileges” -- the fullness of God’s grace and the abundant life afforded to them because of the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

Each Monday evening, beginning October 9 at 7:00 p.m., my wife and I will bring biblically sound “freedom teaching”, which will be followed by times of introspection and prayer.  Hope Community Church welcomes you to participate in this six-week, life-changing course.  How can you know if “Freedom Ministry” is for you? Take a moment to answer the following questions.  If you answer “yes” to any, then you need “Freedom Ministry.”

Do you…

1.     Get easily offended?

2.     Easily offend others?

3.     Readily get your feelings hurt?

4.     Struggle with insecurity, rejection, anger, depression, jealousy, lust or unforgiveness?

5.     Have difficulty making and sustaining friendships?

OR, have you…

6.     Left behind a trail of broken relationships?

7.     Spent your life blaming others for your pain?

8.     Been molested or raped?

9.     Experienced emotional, mental, verbal or sexual abuse

10. Struggled with substance abuse of any kind?

THEN, let me ask you one final question: Are you breathing?

If you answered “yes” to this question, then you need “Freedom Ministry!”

 Final note:  Childcare will be provided.

The Teeter-Totter

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

In our faith tradition we talk a lot about people getting “saved.”  What exactly happens at salvation?  According to the Bible, specifically in Paul’s teachings, “our spirit man is sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 1:13).  In other words, when we come to faith in Christ, our spirit, or the part of us that connects to the Spirit of God, comes alive.  We are born-again, saved, redeemed, (welcome to this Christian cliché festival)!  The part of us that knows and responds to God comes alive.  We are no “longer dead in our trespasses and sins.”  

According to the Bible, two classes of people exist:  “Saints and Aints” – those   who have experienced His grace and those who have yet to come to new life in Christ. 

The Bible lends support to the idea that man is a tri-part being.  He is a spirit, who lives in a body and who is guided by his soul (mind, will and emotions).  Those who experience the new birth are hot-wired to know God intimately and to hear His voice.

Then comes the body!   That part of you that stares back from the mirror every morning!  You have to love it.  The Bible discusses body care and maintenance.  Your spirit-man and soul constantly vie for control of the body man.  Yikes!

Now, let me briefly concentrate on the soul.  It’s the one that most preaching neglects to confront. 

Do you remember riding the teeter-totter on the playground at school?  Up and down, up and down!  Always balancing on the middle pole to insure a safe ride.  How many times did you crash to the ground because the other smart aleck decided to bail? 

Picture this:  The middle pole represents the spirit.  One seat represents the soul.  The other seat represents the body.  The middle pole is necessary to direct the seats.  The middle pole functions as an equalizer.  So it is with your spirit.  It is the great equalizer!  If it malfunctions, neither the soul nor the body can function properly.  The soul is governed by the spirit, and the body is guided by what the soul dictates.  Remember, our mind, will and emotions dictate the actions of the soul, who must be driven by the spirit, who derives authority and power from the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.  We are complex, yet intricately designed.

When we don’t feed our spirit on the Bible, God’s Word, it derives its nourishment from sources that cannot properly nourish it; and in turn, our soul takes a nosedive (like on the teeter-totter), and our body follows its own path as well.  And believe me, when we are not in line with God’s Word, we get ourselves into a mess, don’t we?

An unhealthy soul is transformed by input from the Spirit.  Root issues, when exposed by the Holy Spirit, are brought into the light of the Gospel and previously held lies are exchanged for God’s truth.  Soul issues of course, can be healed instantaneously; however, most are exposed and healed through process. 

I have just skimmed the surface of a very inexhaustive topic.  And I hope I have whetted your appetite to learn more about this tri-part teaching.  Hope Community offers Freedom Ministry, which explores the “healing of the saved,” and helps individuals come into fullness of life that Christ makes possible. Ask about our next session.