Spirit of Grace and Truth
Dear Friends,
Greetings in the wonderful name of Jesus, may the Spirit of Grace and Truth be in your hearts in abundance.
As I was seeking the Lord on what to write to you, I found myself at a loss. So I laid aside the composition of this letter, cleared my mind and JUST started reading the WORD. Amazingly, (duh) after about an hour and a half, the Lord dropped this illustration into my heart.
Being the eldest of five children, the task of watching after the younger children often fell on me. Dad was a stonemason, and worked out of town a lot. Mother ran our sporting goods store, and sometimes would have to make trips to pick up bait or supplies.
On one such occasion, a beautiful spring day, I put one of my little brothers down for his after noon nap and took the others outside to play. I had the door to the house open so I could hear the napping brother, when he woke up. It occurred to me that he seemed to be sleeping longer than usual. So I went to check on him.
Well, to my great surprise, he was awake all right and doing something thoroughly disgusting. He had soiled his diaper and was making matters worse by finger painting the walls and his crib with his little treasure. He seemed happy and proud, not in the least way ashamed, or convicted that what he was doing was wrong.
What the Lord wanted to show me through this childhood memory was not what he doing, BUT how I reacted to the situation. I did not, run over and merrily join him in filthy pursuit, or make light of what he had done and pretend not to notice the wrongfulness of his deed. No, I certainly did not.
The Lord reminded me, that how I reacted was the way He wants us to react to SIN.
Sin in the world, sin in the church, sin in our own lives.
We should not want to run and play in the worlds sin, and thus defile ourselves. We do know better than that, dont we?
We should not turn our heads and pretend not to see when our baby brothers, are dabbling in things that will defile them and cause them harm. No, our nature is to help them.
We should not try to camouflage our own shameful down fallings; by shutting ourselves off, closing the door of fellowship in hopes no one will smell or see our mess. No of course not!
This is what the Lord showed me. How at such a young age I unknowingly used the principals of Grace and Truth, to deal with the mess and the Messer.
First, I did not hold the mess against the Messer; that was Grace in action. He had no knowledge that poop (sin) was bad. He was my baby brother and I loved him. I did not love his mess, but I loved him.
Second, I told him the Truth, in love. What he did was wrong; Mom and Dad would not be pleased, at all. It was nasty and unhealthy and not some thing to continue doing.
Thirdly, I took my little brother to the bathtub and washed him. Why? Because he did not yet have the ability to wash himself properly. That is what we, as Christians, are to do with our little brothers. Take them to the water of the Word and help them wash, till they can do it themselves.
And lastly, I had to deal with my own shortcomings. I had a mess to clean up. I did not make it, but I was in charge, so it was my responsibility. Just like in our own lives, we as believers must clean the effects of sin out of our lives. Not just turn off the LIGHT, close the door, and shut off the room where we hide our personal sin. Hoping that no one will notice the closed door, or smell the sin inside.
As believers we have inherited some messes from our old selves. Sometimes old stinks (sin, habits, thought patterns) that we had no idea we had hidden, will emerge.
And when they do, how should we act? Not in shame, because we are so dirty, and filthy, and nasty, unfit even to be called a Christian. NO, NO, NO, that is condemnation straight from the pit of Hell, being lorded over you by some puny low-level devil.
You are to use the same Grace and Truth on yourself that you use on others. I often see believers struggling to love their Brothers because they have never learned to love themselves. Love does not hide sin, no; Love uses Grace and Truth to wash it away.
I hope this has enlightened the eyes of your heart, may Grace and Truth be multiplied to you. Till next month, if the Lord Jesus tarries.
In HIS Service,
Sister Jannean
(FaceSeekr)
WORD
I John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
James 3:13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.
Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope-- the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
Greetings in the wonderful name of Jesus, may the Spirit of Grace and Truth be in your hearts in abundance.
As I was seeking the Lord on what to write to you, I found myself at a loss. So I laid aside the composition of this letter, cleared my mind and JUST started reading the WORD. Amazingly, (duh) after about an hour and a half, the Lord dropped this illustration into my heart.
Being the eldest of five children, the task of watching after the younger children often fell on me. Dad was a stonemason, and worked out of town a lot. Mother ran our sporting goods store, and sometimes would have to make trips to pick up bait or supplies.
On one such occasion, a beautiful spring day, I put one of my little brothers down for his after noon nap and took the others outside to play. I had the door to the house open so I could hear the napping brother, when he woke up. It occurred to me that he seemed to be sleeping longer than usual. So I went to check on him.
Well, to my great surprise, he was awake all right and doing something thoroughly disgusting. He had soiled his diaper and was making matters worse by finger painting the walls and his crib with his little treasure. He seemed happy and proud, not in the least way ashamed, or convicted that what he was doing was wrong.
What the Lord wanted to show me through this childhood memory was not what he doing, BUT how I reacted to the situation. I did not, run over and merrily join him in filthy pursuit, or make light of what he had done and pretend not to notice the wrongfulness of his deed. No, I certainly did not.
The Lord reminded me, that how I reacted was the way He wants us to react to SIN.
Sin in the world, sin in the church, sin in our own lives.
We should not want to run and play in the worlds sin, and thus defile ourselves. We do know better than that, dont we?
We should not turn our heads and pretend not to see when our baby brothers, are dabbling in things that will defile them and cause them harm. No, our nature is to help them.
We should not try to camouflage our own shameful down fallings; by shutting ourselves off, closing the door of fellowship in hopes no one will smell or see our mess. No of course not!
This is what the Lord showed me. How at such a young age I unknowingly used the principals of Grace and Truth, to deal with the mess and the Messer.
First, I did not hold the mess against the Messer; that was Grace in action. He had no knowledge that poop (sin) was bad. He was my baby brother and I loved him. I did not love his mess, but I loved him.
Second, I told him the Truth, in love. What he did was wrong; Mom and Dad would not be pleased, at all. It was nasty and unhealthy and not some thing to continue doing.
Thirdly, I took my little brother to the bathtub and washed him. Why? Because he did not yet have the ability to wash himself properly. That is what we, as Christians, are to do with our little brothers. Take them to the water of the Word and help them wash, till they can do it themselves.
And lastly, I had to deal with my own shortcomings. I had a mess to clean up. I did not make it, but I was in charge, so it was my responsibility. Just like in our own lives, we as believers must clean the effects of sin out of our lives. Not just turn off the LIGHT, close the door, and shut off the room where we hide our personal sin. Hoping that no one will notice the closed door, or smell the sin inside.
As believers we have inherited some messes from our old selves. Sometimes old stinks (sin, habits, thought patterns) that we had no idea we had hidden, will emerge.
And when they do, how should we act? Not in shame, because we are so dirty, and filthy, and nasty, unfit even to be called a Christian. NO, NO, NO, that is condemnation straight from the pit of Hell, being lorded over you by some puny low-level devil.
You are to use the same Grace and Truth on yourself that you use on others. I often see believers struggling to love their Brothers because they have never learned to love themselves. Love does not hide sin, no; Love uses Grace and Truth to wash it away.
I hope this has enlightened the eyes of your heart, may Grace and Truth be multiplied to you. Till next month, if the Lord Jesus tarries.
In HIS Service,
Sister Jannean
(FaceSeekr)
WORD
I John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
James 3:13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.
Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope-- the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
posted by FaceSeekr | 12:52 PM
5 Comments:
Amen! That is an awesome illustration! Thank you!
Wow! Thanks for your words. My appolgies for not commenting as much as I should. Things are a little more calm now that school is out and we are back from Canada and Oregon.
Do you think you and I could get around to that lunch this summer?
well MUM, I would have commented back on your blog... but it is gone... thank you for visiting... stay tuned for more
I can't get a post to show. I think my blog hates me. The name "Queen Mum" is very special, given to me by dear friends and I don't want to start a new blog with a new name. I am praying for the girls and will contine while they are gone. I know several teens that are there and I hope they have a good time and become more like Christ because of this camp.
I think of sunday School and Church service as camp for myself. I find that I learn so much. I find myself surrounded by others like me who are not perfect, fail, need forgiveness and most of all that are striving to serve Christ in spite of the constant battle with the flesh and humanness. Grace is the most awesome thing. Especially to a wretch like me. Love ya.
God is really blessing me through ur blog
the part where u spoke about helping our younger brothers in the Lord really spoke to me
thank you
and Praise God
prayers
thomas
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