The Phil Files

In my Heartlight.org post this week, called Delivered, I reflect on Jesus “dominating the dominion” of darkness and delivering us from the powers that hold us captive. Paul mentions three specific habitations of the dominion afflict us:

1. Rulers and powers, both spiritual and political
2. Consequences of our wrong and rebellious choices
3. Rules, laws, and the whole effort to justify ourselves through religious systems

So will you abandon the addictions that hold you and follow Jesus, relying on His community to help you find new life? (Finding ways to get out of our deception mode and trusting others to help us is crucial, but feels very dangerous to us.)

Will you trust Him to lead you through the consequences of our rebellions to a better place and a fuller life? (After all, it is our own rebellious spirit that got us into most of our troubles to begin with.)

Will you abandon rule-keeping as the basis of your salvation and trust His grace to be your source of goodness? (For those of us who are religious, especially those of us claiming to be followers of Jesus, maybe we need to go back and read the Gospels and assume that Jesus’ comments to the religious leaders of His time are intended to make us think and evaluate ourselves!)

What is holding you back from fully trusting Jesus to help you escape? (Be honest with yourself. What will you not relinquish to the Lordship of Jesus?)

Those are tough questions, but ones I hope you will answer either in the response section below, or share with a couple of other folks seeking to follow Jesus.

Several days ago, I sat with a friend who was sick from a powerful chemo cocktail. This was the second round of this person’s battle with cancer. Though a person of strong faith, that faith was a battle every day because of the the physical illness, weakness, and emotional roller coaster caused by the combo of powerful drugs.

Several days after our visit and frank, but tender conversation, I found the image below. I was drawn to it for many reasons. One reasons was because we battled for years to find images of faith that pictured people of color — I have often used this as an example of “institutional racism” that us white folks often don’t notice. This image, however, is a powerful statement of faith, and it caught my eye immediately. A second reason I love the image, is the lighting — if you have ever been in a battle of life and death and experienced the grace of God’s light invading your darkness, you know what I mean. Finally, my meanderings around in the Psalms led me to this powerful verse (Psalm 49:15), which seemed to articulate for me, the prayer and faith hidden in the image:

But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself.

Here is a small version of the image. It doesn’t really do it justice, so I’ve included links to the full sized images that are prepared for Heartlight.org and the free Scripture graphics there.

You can find three versions of this image, Text (pictured above), Title (my personal favorite of the three), and Plain (only the image on a black background, but still very powerful).

You might, at first, think of this as a verse of resignation — giving up and saying, “OK, God, I know I’m going to die, but I trust you will bring me to yourself.” And granted, it can mean this and should offer us comfort. God will not abandon us to the grave. He will bring us to himself. Faith in the face of such things is a powerful and comforting blessing.

But I also think of Hezekiah, who found out he was going to die and then prayed with Isaiah, and God redeemed his life and granted him fifteen more years of life (2 Kings 20:1-6). I am also reminded of my friend, Saundra, whose liver tumors vanished “without explanation” between the time other malignant material was removed from her and her trip to MD Anderson in Houston to one of the few surgeons who could do the surgery she needed at the time. She is still alive today nearly two decades later.

Yes, we are all going to eventually die. But my whole being believes that God does redeem our lives from the power of the grave. He does this sometimes by rescuing us from immediate death and brings us to himself, bringing healing and granting us more years on this earth. He also does this sometimes by rescuing us through death and bringing us to himself to await the glorious day of Jesus’ return. Paul says it well, and I will end today on this note:

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christi and to die is gain (Philippians 1:18b-21 tniv).

Today, we’re also joining Randy Elrod with Watercooler Wednesday — How to Recycle a Church?

Confronting our hidden sins, our rebellion, and lies are never easy. But confession is the open door to God to step in and change our hearts and lives, and also redeem our relationships. Take comfort in such sweet reassurance. Take action when falsehoods fill your relationships.

Blessed are those
      whose transgressions are forgiven,
      whose sins are covered.
   Blessed are those
      whose sin the LORD does not count against them
      and in whose spirit is no deceit.

   When I kept silent,
      my bones wasted away
      through my groaning all day long.
   For day and night
      your hand was heavy on me;
   my strength was sapped
      as in the heat of summer.

   Then I acknowledged my sin to you
      and did not cover up my iniquity.
   I said, “I will confess
      my transgressions to the LORD.”
   And you forgave
      the guilt of my sin.

   Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
      while you may be found;
   surely the rising of the mighty waters
      will not reach them.
   You are my hiding place;
      you will protect me from trouble
      and surround me with songs of deliverance.

   I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
   I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
   Do not be like the horse or the mule,
      which have no understanding
   but must be controlled by bit and bridle
      or they will not come to you.
   Many are the woes of the wicked,
      but the LORD’s unfailing love
      surrounds those who trust in him.

   Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous;
      sing, all you who are upright in heart!

\o/ — Comments Psalm 32: Surround me with songs of deliverance! — \o/

Few things wilt a heart, undermine a relationship, and destroy a sensitive spirit quite like hidden sin. Our hidden, unconfessed sin poisons us. The longer we incubate it, the more dead and broken we become inside.

In relationships, there is no integrity, no genuine intimacy, when hidden sin separates a husband and wife or two close friends. A close friendship is rendered false and shallow because of secrets and sin. A person’s own heart is chewed up with real guilt and the toxic shame of unconfessed rebellion. Our hidden, unconfessed sins poison our relationship. The longer we incubate it, the more dead and broken the person we love becomes, poisoned of heart by our own hand.

The psalmist’s graphic description of sin’s power to rot a person physically as well as spiritually is powerfully described here.

“BUT GOD …!”

Ah, what sweet reversal the simple words “But God …” can bring. Confession, honesty, a genuine and thorough audit of our hearts opens the door to for hope to say, “But God can bring healing, health, hope, forgiveness, deliverance, righteousness, and songs of joy.

He can restore heart, soul, mind, and strength … and sometimes … in fact often times … He helps to restore the broken relationship.

As James said so long ago, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (James 5:16).