The Jonah mindset
"as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us."
Psalm 103:12
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit." Romans 8:1
Everyone knows the story of Jonah, right? The guy who was swallowed by a fish and stayed there for three days and three nights because he as running from God's direct order to go to Nineveh and warn them to change their evil ways and turn back to the Lord.
Most people know the rest of the story, too. Nineveh repented. But Jonah still wanted the whole city wiped out. He wanted them to pay for their sins, even after God had recieved them with grace.
Gut check: how many times have I done that? how many times have I thought it unfair that 'sinners' live in prosperity while 'model christians' sometimes struggle in this earth?
Take a new spin on this: how many times have you had a hard time believing God's gift of grace and forgiveness to yourself? this is one of my big heart issues. I have a huge tendency to beat myself up with all of my past sins. Everything I've ever done wrong, I remind myself. but God forgives me for it all. And God is perfect, as is His love. so, my own extension of grace must be imperfect if it differs from God's in any way. how will that affect my ability to forgive others and extend God's perfect grace to them?
I've had a great interest in the life of Martin Luther lately, and something that hit me was a story about his days as a monk. Martin Luther said once that if anyone ever got to heaven by being a perfect monk, he would have been one of them. And thats probably true. If heaven was gained by works, then Martin surely would have gained entrance by his acts as a caltholic monk. But since you can't get to heaven by human works, then he felt something missing. He would spend hours in confession, racking his brain, trying to think of some sin he had not yet confessed so that God could forgive it. His confessor finally snapped after one such 5 hour session and said, "man, God isn't angry with you! You are angry with God."
Whoa.
what?
Martin Luther was angry with God? It makes sense if you think about it though, doesn't it? I believe that Martin Luther had the same sort of mindset as Jonah, but for Luther, it was himself he was waiting to see punished. It wasn't until his extensive study of the Book of Romans and his discovery of the principle of justification by faith alone that Martin really accepted God's gift of grace.
How about you? do you have a Martin-monk mindset? Are you relating your entire life story to yourself in your head, trying to pick apart everything that you've ever done wrong?
Well, stop.
Paul wrote in Romans 8:1 that God won't hold against us things we did before we followed Him. he removed our sins from us as far away as possible. As long as you are pursuing Christ, and you recognize that your sins were wrong, and you ask for God's forgiveness, then there is absolutely no reason to beat yourself up about it any longer! It's over! done with! closed chapter. It's between you and God. His is the only opinion you need to worry about, and He says it's all good! until the day you meet God face to face, you will never have a reason to remember everything you've ever done. And if you have accepted Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and as your personal Lord and Savior who died on the cross and rose again so that you may have eternal life, then you have salvation guaranteed.
It sounds simple, but it's easy to complicate if we let our anxieties get the better of us. And that's exactly what the enemy wants. The devil wants us to be so entangled in our fears that we are paralyzed and unable to live fully for God and reach more souls for God's kingdom. But God says our accounts are settled! A weight has been lifted off our shoulders! No more condemnation!
HALLIJUAH!
so far has he removed our transgressions from us."
Psalm 103:12
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit." Romans 8:1
Everyone knows the story of Jonah, right? The guy who was swallowed by a fish and stayed there for three days and three nights because he as running from God's direct order to go to Nineveh and warn them to change their evil ways and turn back to the Lord.
Most people know the rest of the story, too. Nineveh repented. But Jonah still wanted the whole city wiped out. He wanted them to pay for their sins, even after God had recieved them with grace.
Gut check: how many times have I done that? how many times have I thought it unfair that 'sinners' live in prosperity while 'model christians' sometimes struggle in this earth?
Take a new spin on this: how many times have you had a hard time believing God's gift of grace and forgiveness to yourself? this is one of my big heart issues. I have a huge tendency to beat myself up with all of my past sins. Everything I've ever done wrong, I remind myself. but God forgives me for it all. And God is perfect, as is His love. so, my own extension of grace must be imperfect if it differs from God's in any way. how will that affect my ability to forgive others and extend God's perfect grace to them?
I've had a great interest in the life of Martin Luther lately, and something that hit me was a story about his days as a monk. Martin Luther said once that if anyone ever got to heaven by being a perfect monk, he would have been one of them. And thats probably true. If heaven was gained by works, then Martin surely would have gained entrance by his acts as a caltholic monk. But since you can't get to heaven by human works, then he felt something missing. He would spend hours in confession, racking his brain, trying to think of some sin he had not yet confessed so that God could forgive it. His confessor finally snapped after one such 5 hour session and said, "man, God isn't angry with you! You are angry with God."
Whoa.
what?
Martin Luther was angry with God? It makes sense if you think about it though, doesn't it? I believe that Martin Luther had the same sort of mindset as Jonah, but for Luther, it was himself he was waiting to see punished. It wasn't until his extensive study of the Book of Romans and his discovery of the principle of justification by faith alone that Martin really accepted God's gift of grace.
How about you? do you have a Martin-monk mindset? Are you relating your entire life story to yourself in your head, trying to pick apart everything that you've ever done wrong?
Well, stop.
Paul wrote in Romans 8:1 that God won't hold against us things we did before we followed Him. he removed our sins from us as far away as possible. As long as you are pursuing Christ, and you recognize that your sins were wrong, and you ask for God's forgiveness, then there is absolutely no reason to beat yourself up about it any longer! It's over! done with! closed chapter. It's between you and God. His is the only opinion you need to worry about, and He says it's all good! until the day you meet God face to face, you will never have a reason to remember everything you've ever done. And if you have accepted Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and as your personal Lord and Savior who died on the cross and rose again so that you may have eternal life, then you have salvation guaranteed.
It sounds simple, but it's easy to complicate if we let our anxieties get the better of us. And that's exactly what the enemy wants. The devil wants us to be so entangled in our fears that we are paralyzed and unable to live fully for God and reach more souls for God's kingdom. But God says our accounts are settled! A weight has been lifted off our shoulders! No more condemnation!
HALLIJUAH!
Amen, my friend! <3 SO great--and also a lesson that's taken awhile to be drummed through my thick skull. ;)
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