Meditations: Something to ponder

[biggandyy]

While meditating on sin in the Christian life (meaning my life), I was reminded of "Luther's Diabolical Shirt." In a sermon Martin Luther once lamented that sin is closer to a man than his shirt. That is pretty close indeed! But is there anything worse than sin perpetually crouching at our door?

Yes, I believe there is, and that thing is the Glory of God.

It is more toxic for a Christian to appropriate for themselves a portion of the Glory that rightly belongs to God than it is for them to wear a shirt woven from Plutonium.

Can you name some of the ways in your life that has born itself out? How did you deal with the realization of what you had done, or is this the first time you are considering this topic?

 

[Angelina]

Hmmm...I guess the temptation is always there but I know personally within myself, that without God I can do nothing and I am nothing.

The difficulty tends to be trying to convince others of that. Especially where it comes to leading people to salvation and watching their lives change dramatically or experiencing an instant healing after praying for them. It's difficult for new believers to appropriate the messenger from the message because you are in a sense [Christ to them in the flesh] this changes with maturity but it is a hard spot to be in at the start....

 

[Rach1370]

That's a really hard question. It's so easy to see where others fall down, but we tend to miss it in ourselves. I know that I have many flaws...some I can see. It's the ones I can't that scare me. But on occasion I have flashes, and understand with an intensity I don't always have, just how broken I am. Just how much and how often I try and place myself on the pedestal that is God's alone. It's a terrifying realisation, but it's broken up by joy...joy in knowing I have been forgiven, and that I have a mediator in Christ. And while I walk with him and the Spirit, they're bringing such realisations to me in order to put them to death. It's so freeing to know that I am not bound to sin anymore, and that the strength within me (read: Christ!) is much more powerful than any human nature clutching at my soul.

 

[Dodo_David]

While meditating on sin in the Christian life (meaning my life), I was reminded of "Luther's Diabolical Shirt." In a sermon Martin Luther once lamented that sin is closer to a man than his shirt. That is pretty close indeed! But is there anything worse than sin perpetually crouching at our door?

Yes, I believe there is, and that thing is the Glory of God.

It is more toxic for a Christian to appropriate for themselves a portion of the Glory that rightly belongs to God than it is for them to wear a shirt woven from Plutonium.

Can you name some of the ways in your life that has born itself out? How did you deal with the realization of what you had done, or is this the first time you are considering this topic?

So, what you are saying is this: It's more dangerous for us (spiritually speaking) to try to claim for ourselves glory that belongs to God than it is to engage in any other kind of sin.

 

[justaname]

I will come to the carpet here, yet admittedly it will be just short.

Before a dramatic conversion to authentic Christianity and a discipleship with the Lord, I had that notion I was god. Pantheistic in origin, yet in a nutshell the whole god is one thing none the less.

I had read quite a few books on new age theology, had a certain grasp on meditation techniques, and really looked to eastern religions for knowledge of what I considered to be spirituality.

God humbles the proud alright. I proclaim with the Psalmist 119:

65 You have dealt well with Your servant,
O Lord, according to Your word.
66 Teach me good adiscernment and knowledge,
For I believe in Your commandments.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray,
But now I keep Your word.
68 You are good and do good;
Teach me Your statutes.
69 The arrogant have forged a lie against me;
With all my heart I will observe Your precepts.
70 Their heart is acovered with fat,
But I delight in Your law.
71 It is good for me that I was afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.
72 The law of Your mouth is better to me
Than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

I do have to say though, after such a humbling experience, I do not see myself going down that road again, the Lord willing.

Yeah not on this side of the cross have I sinned in that manner, lifting my name as opposed to the Son of Man's, yet my human experience is not over yet. I still could get a case of the stupids, but I hope not. :lol: Those lessens are better adhered to by just being told as opposed to having to experience them. Kinda like, "The stove is hot don't touch it. OUCH! I told you the stove is hot."

This thread reminds me of the book of Daniel 4 and Nebuchadnezzar:


30 “The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’
31 “While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you,
32 and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’

Okay substitute Babylon for ministry, or business, or book, or song, or artwork, or family, need I go on? Yeah it can be easy to do. And we as humans can be complacent at times.

 

[aspen]

Ok so I think you are asking when have I taken the credit for outcomes that God has brought about? You might have said it better in the OP......

I think I end up doing it a lot more than I realize, unfortunately. Every time I give into superstitious thinking, I place trust in a ritual instead of God. Every time I look for someone to blame for any outcome, I am giving into soothing my fear of being out of control rather than trusting God. Every time I become paralyzed, refusing to move forward in my own life, I am assuming all of the responsibility for myself rather than trusting God.

The only way I have found to get grounded again and remember Gods sovereignty in my life is to stop running around frantically, and sit and listen and wait for God in prayer.