The Place for Abiding

1. Self-righteousness is a main contributor to defeat
--find oneself repeating the same sins over and over with no power over the flesh to control them
--self-righteous person is one who is attempting to make themselves whole by their own effort. Don't have to be vocal about it, some of the most self-righteous people are the most quiet! Working feverously to get closer to God.
-no one knows what they are really dealing with on the inside--part of the problem!
-creates a beautiful fassad of a building from the outside, but get to the door and its padlocked shut. just a window and wall and nothing behind it (like the old western movie set houses)-just putting on a front.

2. "I can't" opens the Abiding Door, while "I can" closes it
--PRIDE!
-our first response to sin, temptation, defeat, is, "I can do this, I'm strong enough, I should be strong enough"
-focus is on the "I", it's all about "me"
--Humility is the one key that opens the door
-not about putting oneself down, but accepting who I am apart from God
-saying "I can't" opens up the abiding door, adds value to our life. Not a magic word, what our heart says I can't.

3. Long term victory over sin and the flesh comes as you moment by moment open the abiding door of your heart
--Never going to have it completely figured out
--duffel bag analogy, replacing things we learn with Christ=pride

4. God allows failure and defeat in your life to bring you into an awareness of your need for abiding in Christ
--viewing defeat as more than just a slap on the hand, but as a path to living in an abiding relationship with Christ
--failure and defeat are simply pointing toward our need for Christ in our life
--when we fall in the christian life it's not a measure of our weakness, it's a mark of how much faith you have ex: looking good in the lodge vs. taking risks on the slopes and falling down
--if you didn't want something greater, then there's no failure. if you never fail, not living by faith

Belief System for Abiding

"He must become greater; I must become less" John 3:30

1. The closer I get to God, the further I should see the distance separating us
song: "Space Inbetween us" by Building 429


2. Nothing you can do can make you any better
Jesus expresses His life through me

1 = Jesus

0 = my efforts

1, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

2/11/11

Bumper sticker: If God feels far way, guess who moved?

-My self-effort (or lack thereof) is what keeps me from getting closer to God--add plusses (+) to my life

What could or would I do to make that statement not true?

-Read the Bible, -Pray, -listen to Christian music related to that (ex. Space Inbetween Us by Building 429), -Worship God/Jesus, -Go for a walk outside in nature, -Take action on whatever sin was revealed to me, -Talk to a close Christian friend or mentor, -Read, or re-read online devotional e-mails

Again: "The closer I get to God, the further I should see the distance separating us"

Thoughts about this:

Honestly, it's kind of a hard concept for me to grasp b/c even though it makes sense, it seems almost offensive. It's like saying, "you know all those things that you were doing to show effort on your part and keep your word to God, yeah, that actually counts for nothing." It is almost demeaning. At the same time, I know that is my own pride talking b/c no matter what I do it can't ever match up with or even out with the sacrifice Jesus made for me to make that connection with God possible. So really, it's my own self-righteousness talking when I think that. I know it's true--yet it still is hard to come to terms with fully. Another thought that comes to mind is, is that supposed to invalidate any feelings/revelations/comforts or spiritual sensations that I might get after doing those things on that list, if all they are are a bunch of "0's" adding up to nothing in the end?

Relief vs. Satisfaction

Relief=short-term solution to a long-term problem

Satisfaction=solving the long-term problem

Spiritual relief vs. Spritual satisfaction