Who can stand in judgment of that which Christ has declared clean? Certainly not I. I cannot lift the gavel.

What grip can sin claim on me, if the Image of Perfection calls me His own?

When my Savior bore the full wrath of my God, He destroyed my sin, my shame, and my guilt. 

Why then would I hold more tightly to that annulled shame than to the joy of my redemption?

Where now is my accuser? I've been acquitted. Only the court of my own mind passes judgment on me; in an unjust arbitration I sit at both the bench and the dock, barring entry to my Advocate in cosmic perjury of the oath of allegience I've sworn to my King.

How then can I do anything but rejoice? There is now no condemnation for me; I am in Christ Jesus.

My case is dismissed, and my charges dropped. Praise to my Defense.

There are a lot of "good causes" in the world. Politics, careers, hobbies, friends, family....all demand attention and varying levels of fervor. And as Christians, we're called to work diligently as to the Lord in whatever we do (Colossians 3:23-24).

So what do you do if you "run out of gas?" If you wake up and feel like you have no more zeal to give? Everything seems numb, suddenly. You should be enthusiastic, but you're just not.

I don't have a formula to produce the mental, emotional, or spiritual octane. But I know that when that coldness hits, I need to check what had animated me to begin with.

What is it that moves me? What is my driving force, the motivation behind my thoughts and actions?

Is it the glory of God?

If it is, I should consider that God's rule hasn't come to an end just because I'm not feeling "up to it" that day. Scripture tells us over and over again that His mercy and love abound continuously to ...

Just a couple of quick verses that've been rumbling about my head recently.

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

 

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

 

(Philippians 4:10-12,19-20 ESV)

Contentment is not just about being satisfied with what you have -- it's about knowing that God is sovereign, and that His will is best. It's not about not wanting more, it's about being certain that our Father will provide ...

Sometimes I think I know myself too well and my God too little. I get a funhouse-mirror view of myself; shapes becoming contorted, faults magnified and expanded and stretched in all directions. I look in this funhouse mirror and come to the conclusion that the blobbish creature that appears there is exactly me, and starkly unlike all those normal people.

Then starts the cycle, a single-party dialogue that would leave Tolkien's Smeagol kinda weirded out: "oh, wretched sinner that I am," followed by "all have sinned and fall short," itself countered by "that's no excuse for my weakness."

This whole post sounds like a pity party, but I promise it's not. I come, to paraphrase Julius Caesar, not to bury myself, nor to praise myself.

I come to praise my God.

Even when I get into the spin-cycle of self-deprecation and self-justification, I know quite well that God chooses the foolish things to shame the wise. And I know that His glory shines bright when it's obvious that He is strong and I am weak.

But ...

As Christians, we can be confident in the victory of Christ Jesus. He is Lord of all, and He has conquered every foe; all things have been made subject to Him, including death itself (1 Cor. 15:26-27).

We are heirs to this triumph, as Romans 8 tells us, so we know that when we walk in obedience to our victorious King, we too will be victorious.

The thing we tend to forget is that bit about walking in obedience. We sometimes take it as assumed that our God-given victory extends to everything we do, forgetting that in our fallen state we are prone to sin against God. Against God, mind you -- that's what sin is by nature.

God doesn't lose. It is not in the nature of the sovereign, omnipotent, righteous Creator to fail in anything He desires.

So when we go against God -- that is, when we sin -- the outcome is clear: we lose. We often bear some small measure of discipline for our sin  (small contrasted with the penalty of sin -- death)  as admonition from ...