Being Real and Strong ~ blog

Sometimes Christians can sound so syrupy sweet and repeat phrases over and over again that I can barely listen to them. They say “praise the Lord this…and praise the Lord that. Everything is glorious in their life, and they are being so blessed by God that surely they must have found the secret to the blessed life.

Sometimes I just want to say that is great for them, and for shock value that I am still struggling with being addicted to porn and sex, my wife is thinking of divorcing me, and my children hate me. The look on their face is so amusing as their trying to figure out if I am just being extremely honest or am the devil in disguise. They put their hand over the five-pound cross they have on their lapel, taking it off, and holding it between us as if I am a vampire.

They really do not know what to say because they are living in such an imaginary world, and they cannot conceive of a Christian addicted to porn…or not finding a parking space close to the main entrance of the church on Sunday that God Himself reserved for her. PTL PTL PTL!!

Pardon me while I barf all over your imaginary bubble. I am so not comfortable with the shallowness and their “blessed, oh thank you Jesusssss” façade. My days of wanting to be in a large church with a great band and an entertaining preacher have kind of been eliminated during the Covid-19 break we took from church for 18 months. I want truth and reality.

It is no longer bigness that I value. It is the reality of being with Christians who are not hiding the truth about their battle with porn and are fighting along with me to maintain freedom and walk in purity. Where people are being real…liars are discovering they can tell the truth and find a place where you can be genuine and if struggling…get the help you need instead of just a promise to pray for you and a quick pat on the back…as they waddle over to the Krispy Kreme donuts table in the fellowship hall for a refill.

Do you want to know what it takes to actually arrive in a place we would call blessed? Well…
we are told in Psalm 1…

“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,

Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.”

These words, written by David, the man after God’s own heart, are simple and not complicated at all. First, we are told to avoid hanging out with people who are against God. They are wicked because they do wicked things. They are sinners because they seem always to be back on the path to their favorite sin. They are scoffers because all they want to do is tear down others and make them the target of their anti-God scoffing.

However, the blessed believer…the person who is receiving God’s favor whether it is to be able to handle the tornados of life or enjoy prosperity given to them by God. The blessed believer…woman or man…delights in one thing overall. Blessed believer’s delight in the Law of the Lord. The Law here being a single word meaning all of God’s revelations in the Bible…not memorizing the book of Leviticus.

This believer makes time in God’s word such a priority that they meditate on it both in the day and at night. I do not know if there are any prizes awarded to someone who binges on Netflix day and night…having their brains switched off and absorbing another story while being entertained to death. That can be an escape from a stressful life, momentarily…but it adds nothing and does nothing for you…but meditating on God’s Word will.

That person will be like a tree deeply rooted next to streams of water. They are delighted to be hearing from God through His Scriptures. It is their bread of life…the meat and milk we all need to become the women and men God wants us to be.

And what happens to such a tree…it yields its fruit in season. It is productive and fruitful. It is being provided for by God and then its fruit provides for others around them.

Also, not it does not lose its leaves by withering because it is wintertime or dying because it does not have enough water. It is cared for by the Gardener pruning its branches so it can produce more fruit for more people.

And lastly…and this might be a little overstated…

“And in whatever he or she does, he or she prospers.”

Sounds good to me…and I am guessing it sounds good to you as well. It does not say there will be no droughts or problems. But its roots go deep into the love of Christ and experiences the value of loving and meditating on the Word of God.

1 thought on “Being Real and Strong ~ blog”

  1. Well said. I am in one of the very best teaching churches in the world, (in my opinion). But even at this church I attend, I can’t find anyone who really wants to let me “know their story”. Nor do they really want to know mine. In my church we are too formal, sophisticated, and highly educated in the scriptures for that kind of thing I suppose. Because we are taught so well, there is an unspoken rule that seems to mean we must have all our ducks in a row. This is completely wrong in my opinion. We have a kind of “private piety” that is not what our saviour had in mind with the His of “communion of the saints”. May God help me to find a brother who can relate to this “intense struggle with sin” which is supposedly common to all true believers. Our own Heidelberg Catechism states that we are “assailed by our 3 enemies” constantly. The world, the flesh and the devil. Assailed means “violently attacked” ! Hang in there..

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