I resign myself to the fact that there are two of me. I've often wished there were two of me so I could get more done, but that isn't what I'm talking about... only one set of hands, one brain, etc. ... but there are two parts of me that are often in conflict.
It is amazing how much of the New Testament is devoted to the struggle between our natural self and our spiritual person, yet we count it as common knowledge and don't spend a lot of time thinking or talking or teaching about it. Our sinful nature cannot be made good, it must be crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6, Galations 2:20, Galations 5:24). Our sinful nature has to be overcome through the power of the Spirit and the grace of God (Romans 8:13).
How can I overcome this part of me that is inclined to selfishness, slander, and evil? Here are three things that, through the grace of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit I commit to in order to live an overcoming life:
1) I will deny myself daily (Matthew 16:24, Romans 8:12-13). We sometimes want things we shouldn't have, want to do things we shouldn't do, and not care about things we should care about because we are selfish. I deny selfish desires.
2) I will remove every hinderance (Hebrews 12:1). A lot of thing hold us back from who we want to be... I want those things out of the way.
3) I will resist temptation (Romans 13:14). We cannot stop temptations but we can resist them with the strength of God.
It is through the power of the Holy Spirit working in my spirit that I can overcome. We cannot just allow ourselves to be selfish and live double lives. To experience the overcoming victory God has for us we have to deny self, remove hinderances and sin, and resist temptation.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
A Friend of Sinners
It's hard to win with religious people.
Matthew 11:18-19 (NIV), "For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by her actions."
Jesus was called a friend of sinners more than once. Interesting. I'm discovering that as the years go by I get more and more comfortable with "sinners".
I am thankful that Jesus' priority was to redeem sinful man. I'm thankful for the transformation Jesus brings to our lives: old things are passed away and all things are made new. And, I'm thankful that Jesus came to give us abundant life. I am also very honored and thankful that I am an agent of this transformation.
Jesus doesn't seem very religious to me. Religious people have a way of building walls because of the things that can happen at the extremes of the continuum. Religious people gleefully put up signs on the freeway telling people they are going to hell. Religious people seem to want to remind people that they'd better stop enjoying their lives because Jesus is coming soon. What's that all about? (Yes, I do believe in both hell and the rapture...)
In the second half of my life I hope to spend more time hanging out with sinners than I did in the first half. After all we are the "salt" of the world. Salt brings flavor, but really, in and of itself, what is salt worth if it is too good to be sprinkled in the stew of life?
Matthew 11:18-19 (NIV), "For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by her actions."
Jesus was called a friend of sinners more than once. Interesting. I'm discovering that as the years go by I get more and more comfortable with "sinners".
I am thankful that Jesus' priority was to redeem sinful man. I'm thankful for the transformation Jesus brings to our lives: old things are passed away and all things are made new. And, I'm thankful that Jesus came to give us abundant life. I am also very honored and thankful that I am an agent of this transformation.
Jesus doesn't seem very religious to me. Religious people have a way of building walls because of the things that can happen at the extremes of the continuum. Religious people gleefully put up signs on the freeway telling people they are going to hell. Religious people seem to want to remind people that they'd better stop enjoying their lives because Jesus is coming soon. What's that all about? (Yes, I do believe in both hell and the rapture...)
In the second half of my life I hope to spend more time hanging out with sinners than I did in the first half. After all we are the "salt" of the world. Salt brings flavor, but really, in and of itself, what is salt worth if it is too good to be sprinkled in the stew of life?
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
70s Playlist
Got a new transmitter for my ipod, my old one ended up in my eldest daughter's car and...well, possession, as they say, is 9/10ths of the law.
Now, mind you, most of the time I listen to podcasts. On Sunday mornings on my way to ministry I usually end up listening to Alvin Slaughter sing "Holy Spirit Rain Down" about 15x...or until I feel the Holy Spirit start to "rain down", whichever comes first.
This is a tough admission but I have a playlist that is simply entitled "70s" that I pop in when I'm just feeling in a light, fun mood. This morning I slid my ipod into its cradle, put my shades on, put my SUV in gear and headed to the D.O. and hit my 70s playlist. Its funny but every once in a while I get this feeling that lasts about 1/10th of a second that it is 1977 and I'm in my 'stang. Funny how things remind us of a time long gone. In my case those memories are good... I was a dedicated Christ-follower in those days and usually only heard top 40 music when in my car. The rest of the time I was listening to Love Song, Randy (not Dave) Matthews, Larry Norman, yep some Imperials, etc. (Unfortunately I cleaned those LPs out before the tech to digitally convert :(
This is not a deep post but consider this... this morning might have been the first time in history that an IDAG guy jammed on the way to the D.O. to Joel, Simon, Croce, & a few more that deserve no mention.
My next post will probably be on "guard your heart lest you enter into sin"... until then...
Now, mind you, most of the time I listen to podcasts. On Sunday mornings on my way to ministry I usually end up listening to Alvin Slaughter sing "Holy Spirit Rain Down" about 15x...or until I feel the Holy Spirit start to "rain down", whichever comes first.
This is a tough admission but I have a playlist that is simply entitled "70s" that I pop in when I'm just feeling in a light, fun mood. This morning I slid my ipod into its cradle, put my shades on, put my SUV in gear and headed to the D.O. and hit my 70s playlist. Its funny but every once in a while I get this feeling that lasts about 1/10th of a second that it is 1977 and I'm in my 'stang. Funny how things remind us of a time long gone. In my case those memories are good... I was a dedicated Christ-follower in those days and usually only heard top 40 music when in my car. The rest of the time I was listening to Love Song, Randy (not Dave) Matthews, Larry Norman, yep some Imperials, etc. (Unfortunately I cleaned those LPs out before the tech to digitally convert :(
This is not a deep post but consider this... this morning might have been the first time in history that an IDAG guy jammed on the way to the D.O. to Joel, Simon, Croce, & a few more that deserve no mention.
My next post will probably be on "guard your heart lest you enter into sin"... until then...
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Politics
(Note: It's been a while since I last posted... I promise I will keep up. Grad school, work transition; wah, wah, wah...Now on to the post...)
The American political climate that bombards us once every 4 years is annoying but necessary, at least in some form. In every organization politics (positively stated: social interactions, etc.) are necessary.
I really dislike political maneuvering (read: manipulation). Transparency is so much better.
What would happen if Obama just said, "Look, the health care system of this nation is so messed up I'm not sure anybody can fix it and those who say that can are delusional or they are liars." or what if John McCain said, "Hey, it doesn't matter who you elect, we are going to have to either tax you out the wazoo, stop paying some entitlements, or our infrastructure will soon fail us for lack of attention."
On another front...
We have a District Council coming up (a business meeting where things are discussed and decided, usually according to Roberts Rules of Order). I'll probably not say much because sometimes what I want to say won't help things much anyway. I think a good policy, when possible is just hold my comments for the things that I think will affect eternity and leave as much of the other stuff for someone else to deal with as is possible.
My name is David Delp and I'm not sure I approve this message and I doubt anyone else does either...
The American political climate that bombards us once every 4 years is annoying but necessary, at least in some form. In every organization politics (positively stated: social interactions, etc.) are necessary.
I really dislike political maneuvering (read: manipulation). Transparency is so much better.
What would happen if Obama just said, "Look, the health care system of this nation is so messed up I'm not sure anybody can fix it and those who say that can are delusional or they are liars." or what if John McCain said, "Hey, it doesn't matter who you elect, we are going to have to either tax you out the wazoo, stop paying some entitlements, or our infrastructure will soon fail us for lack of attention."
On another front...
We have a District Council coming up (a business meeting where things are discussed and decided, usually according to Roberts Rules of Order). I'll probably not say much because sometimes what I want to say won't help things much anyway. I think a good policy, when possible is just hold my comments for the things that I think will affect eternity and leave as much of the other stuff for someone else to deal with as is possible.
My name is David Delp and I'm not sure I approve this message and I doubt anyone else does either...
Monday, February 25, 2008
Whose road is it?
A decision to follow Jesus is a decision to follow his path. After walking his paths for a number of years it is easy to forget that I am following Jesus and not my own ideas. I've traveled the road that I'm walking for so long sometimes I forget that it wasn't my road in the first place.
Sometimes I feel that I'm being self-centered if I ask God to help me on this journey or if I ask for favor in new opportunities but I am reminded that it is his reason-for-creating-me and not my purpose that I'm fulfilling. It's God's responsibility to fulfill what He asked me to do in the first place. The journey to which I willfully submitted.
I'm so big on making sure that I'm on the right path that sometimes I forget that it is altogether God's path anyway.
Thinking back to the starting place of this journey, I remember I wasn't thrilled about walking this way but as the assurance and peace of God swept over me I wanted to walk this path more than anything else in life. I would often sing this song with tears in my eyes and deep joy in my heart:
I have decided to follow Jesus
No turning back
Though none go with me still I will follow
No turning back.
Yeah, sometimes I've got to really watch self-will even while on God's path but not much has changed. I'm still walking the same path and I needed to be reminded today that it wasn't a journey of my making but of my obedience and though I now find great joy in the path it is still God's purpose for my life and I will depend upon Him to keep lighting the way and giving me favor to do what He asked me to do in the first place. In this season, for me, it is not self-centeredness, it is self-denial that has brought such joy that is almost feels self-centered at times.
Self still has to die every day but I've got to keep straight who the path belongs to. Especially when it takes some strange twists and turns.
God makes Good Deposits into our lives.
Sometimes I feel that I'm being self-centered if I ask God to help me on this journey or if I ask for favor in new opportunities but I am reminded that it is his reason-for-creating-me and not my purpose that I'm fulfilling. It's God's responsibility to fulfill what He asked me to do in the first place. The journey to which I willfully submitted.
I'm so big on making sure that I'm on the right path that sometimes I forget that it is altogether God's path anyway.
Thinking back to the starting place of this journey, I remember I wasn't thrilled about walking this way but as the assurance and peace of God swept over me I wanted to walk this path more than anything else in life. I would often sing this song with tears in my eyes and deep joy in my heart:
I have decided to follow Jesus
No turning back
Though none go with me still I will follow
No turning back.
Yeah, sometimes I've got to really watch self-will even while on God's path but not much has changed. I'm still walking the same path and I needed to be reminded today that it wasn't a journey of my making but of my obedience and though I now find great joy in the path it is still God's purpose for my life and I will depend upon Him to keep lighting the way and giving me favor to do what He asked me to do in the first place. In this season, for me, it is not self-centeredness, it is self-denial that has brought such joy that is almost feels self-centered at times.
Self still has to die every day but I've got to keep straight who the path belongs to. Especially when it takes some strange twists and turns.
God makes Good Deposits into our lives.
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