Christ's Righteousness As My Own

I'm a pretty nasty person in my eyes, and in most other peoples eyes. I continue to sin, and have pretty much given up on being perfect. I feel like Paul when he says "I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate!"

I am always doing something wrong, something that I do out of impulse, like speaking wrongly to my Mom, acting disrespectfully with my Dad, saying something I know I shouldn't, being a rear to my sister, etc., etc. It's emotionally draining! It's hard to talk to God when you've done soooo many things that you know He's displeased with. Think about that.

Here's a glimpse into the brilliant wandering mind of Joshua Privette:

Let's say your Dad gives you a list of rules to follow and says "Son, if you can keep all these rules and live accordingly, I will lavish good things upon you and you will be so happy." and you say "Okay Dad! I'll do it!" and so for the next two days you follow all of the rules.

BUT... one of the rules is: Do not covet. Uh-oh. As you're hanging out with your friend, you start talking about a girl. She's a girl you both know, and She's shown some interest in you. You adore her. And you plan to ask her out tomorrow. You haven't told your friend (let's call him "Jared" for fun) that you're going to. So you're talking to Jared and He says "Hot Dog! I asked this girl (let's call her Rachel) out today and She said yes. My Goodness, She is fine!" You think "What a dirty rotten friend Jared is! I can't believe he asked Rachel out! Doesn't he know I like her?! I've liked her since I was like, 10!! Boy, if I can't have her, I don't want him to either." So you start Plotting ways (in the left lobe of your brain) to break them up. An alarm goes off in your Dad's office that is conveniently labeled "Joshua is breaking our agreement" And you know it. So you say "$#!% I can't believe I broke the agreement!" And then you think "GAH! I just broke it again! (one of the rules was no cuss words) Do you really want to rush in and have a "chat" with your Dad just then? I wouldn't. I would be kind of scared. But did you know that your Dad (let's call him God) would say "Joshua, I'm gonna whip your rear, and don't ever do that again, but I know you're human and have human tendencies, so let's get over it and move on. I still love you and will still lavish great things upon you, just because you're my son."

See!? When God looks at you after you sin, he doesn't see your sin! He sees Jesus' righteousness! Instead of being tremulous after we sin we should go RUNNING back to him as fast as we can praying for forgiveness. It only prolongs our own misery to wait and be afraid of what God will say. I just found that out. I couldn't wait to tell.

Haul Booty Back to God

God Revealed Through Nature...

"Nature and the entire cosmos blare the message of a powerful Designer. Our natural world, from the most minute atom, to the complexities of molecular DNA and RNA, to the innumerable galaxies—all shout the Designer’s intelligence. “For since the Creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His internal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made” (Rom. 1:20). “The heavens declare the glory of God…There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard” (Psalms 19:1,3)."

This passage from Know What You Believe by Paul Little reminded me about just how real God really is! Sometimes I get wrapped up in my own life so much to the point where I fail to notice God's existence and His amazing Creation all around me. God is so awesome...

The Salesman in the Sky

I was contemplating today some of the attributes of God, and I realized that I always saw God as this big insurance salesman in the sky. I recognized that I had viewed him as the salesman that I called up and asked to sell me the best heaven insurance available. My family had been loyal customers for years, and they all said how great the service was, so I bought it. I was very happy. I went to all the company meetings, and every now and then I would call up the salesman and ask him how things were going; not really caring what he said to me. I would try to get my friends to switch to Christianity if the subject was brought up, but it wasn't much, since most of my friends had Christianity coverage already. I was sure that if and when I died I would go to heaven, since I had signed up for the plan. It never crossed my mind that I wouldn't. I mean, I paid all my dues! It had nothing to do with grace. If I paid I went to heaven, if I didn't my policy got cancelled.

Through some godly people and reading the Bible, my appetite has been whetted for something much greater than insurance. I've been a lousy guy. I've done some (alot of) things I'm not proud of. In my human mind, I can't fully understand Gods grace. Why would he choose to love someone like me, who's done things that are worthy of death? How can he call me his child? I don't know, but I accept it. I am much happier now than I was, and it's nothing I can take the credit for. God's grace truly does surpass all understanding.