I go where I am looking . . .

Every time my Christian friend went out, her spouse told her, “Now remember who you are.” He referred to her status as a child of God, perhaps to boost her confidence or to help her behave in such a manner that represented Jesus Christ.

It is a good reminder. When I am in a new situation and even in a familiar place with people that I know, thinking about who I am in Jesus makes a great deal of difference to my attitude and actions. John’s letter has these verses that give the basics of how this focus should affect God’s people . . .

And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 2:28–3:3)

Actually, this is more about who Jesus is than who I am because of Him. I need to focus on Jesus and the above passage tells me several reasons why. First, relying on Him changes the way I act and keeps me from saying or doing things that might make me blush when I see Him face-to-face. I know that sounds a bit like that Christmas ditty that begins, “You better watch out, you better be nice . . . .” but it isn’t a threat. His presence right now is a reality. If I walked into any situation with Jesus as my escort, holding my hand and opening doors for me as a physical presence, I would have an entirely different demeaner than being totally alone. This is not hard to imagine — but why is it so hard to remember!

Second, anyone who knows that Jesus is righteous will assume that when I talk and behave in a righteous manner that I am His child! This evidence of being a Christian will affect other people.

John reminds me that I am a child of God but some will not recognize me as His child, just as some did not recognize Jesus as God’s Son. I’m not to be surprised by that but remember that when He appears, I will be exactly like Him, a reflection of who He is. Thinking this way changes my ambitions. Instead of wanting to be popular, famous, an achiever, or gain any other temporary status, I am set on being pure. This word means faultless, not in the sense of selfish perfectionism (which is a flaw) but in the sense of being holy, sincere, a person of integrity, like Jesus. This ambition for purity is not to produce arrogance or flow from a superiority complex. Those are also flaws. Instead, it is a combination of humility (for I’ve nothing that earns or deserves it) and confidence in Jesus Christ.

At this point in my life, no one reminds me to, “Remember who you are” but the Holy Spirit can do that when I need to hear it.

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Lord Jesus, I also realize that focusing on You is not mainly about what it does for me. In Your motivation, it might be but on my side of it, I’m not to have any hint of “what’s in this for me” because selfishness ruins the focus on You! I’m to glorify You, not me. To be changed into Your likeness is to bring You glory. Certainly these reasons reveal why this is so difficult to do and to remember; it is far easier for sinful me to want all of this for myself.

Today’s thankful list . . .

- many reminders today of God’s grace in my life.

- visits with friends and those I’ve not met before today.

- seeing the excitement of a friend who needed a new car and God supplied it so quick that we are shaking our heads in wonder.

- Spring in November — aka 10 degrees C. at 8:00 pm

- an afternoon of rest before a big dinner out to celebrate two birthdays.

- Baked Alaska!

Habits and Disciplines

I’m reading an interesting book called Atomic Habits. The author has discovered that persistence in small changes is like compound interest. This method makes curves on progress charts go from zero to success in a steeper curve than could be imagined.

I learned that riding an exercise bike. I put a few miles on it each day. Over three years, that turned into several thousand miles and a great improvement of stamina.

This book also says that focusing on a goal is often defeating; a person needs to focus on the process or the steps needed to reach goals. He also says the best way to do that is thinking about your identity, who you are in relation to the person you want to become. For instance, saying “I can run a marathon” works far better toward that goal than “I want to run a marathon.”

This is interesting to me because of the relationship to spiritual growth as described in the Bible and by my experience. The goal is to be a godly person; God says I already am a godly person. I just need to learn how to act like it. The process is spiritual disciplines fueled and blessed by the grace of God.

The goal is to be like Jesus; the identity is that Jesus already lives in me. I’ve compared this to a soldier. When enlisting, that person is a soldier, yet it takes bootcamp and training to learn how to act like one.

This morning’s passage of Scripture is about a goal: to live in the Spirit and not in the flesh . . .

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:16–24)

How does it happen? A new Christian is called a “new creation” in 2 Corinthians 5:17, but it isn’t long before that old fleshy nature tries to spoil that by pulling us back into old habits. I learned the hard way that the process is like baby steps, tiny moves in the direction God calls me. Also, I need to avoid those slippery slope steps toward gratifying the desires of the flesh. Again, I am declared righteous in Christ; I must learn how to be what I am.

Reading the passage struck me with the contrast of its two descriptions. It seems that the flesh would be easy to recognize by the extreme bad behavior listed as examples. However, sin is more subtle. Jesus said sexual immorality includes looking at someone with lust in your heart (Matthew 5:27-28). Impurity can be mixed motives for doing good, such as pleasing God but also impressing others. Sensuality is usually about sexual misconduct, but it can include excessive indulgence involving pleasure of other kinds.

The list goes on, covering the extremes that Corinthian Christians fought against, yet are not obsolete. We still need to deny the sins of the flesh that lurk in our hearts, such as envy and division. God wants my life to be controlled by His Spirit, not my flesh. Doing this is about habit-forming, but the big difference between that book and the Bible is the power of the Holy Spirit at work instead of me needing to do this by myself, under my own steam and determination. As Jesus says, apart from Him, I can do nothing. God is not advocating self-effort for that is of the flesh also, even the very essence of sin.

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Wow, Lord! You have given me much to think about and act on. First, how much of my life and habits need change because they are not being motivated and fueled by You? Second, how many of my “systems” to reach goals are self-effort? And what can I rejoice in because I know You are at work? I’m glad for this list of spiritual fruit in Galatians for it is the best way to test who is running my life. If love, peace, joy, etc. are missing, then I have some confessing and repenting to do.

Today’s thankful list . . .

The guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Phone call from a friend not heard from for a long time!

The postal system.

Clear, helpful people at my bank.

A wacky quilt that just might turn out okay.

A bit of a dent in a pile of paper.

Never a dull moment!