Repentance

"As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him."

-Matthew 3:16

      What is repentance? Repentance is an act of turning away from sin and deciding to change. Repentance is necessary for everyone to do in order to approach God. Why? We all have sinned, and as I mentioned in another post, we are all responsible for our sins. We chose to sin. Therefore we have to repent for our sins because we are the ones who have committed them. We cannot blame someone else or something else. We are the ones who need to repent.

      So how do we repent? Repentance has four steps, according to "The Jesus Creed". The steps are conviction, confession, commitment, and consequences. In order to repent we need to be convicted of our sins, and realize how much they hurt God. We need to tell God the truth about our sins and confess to Him. We need to decide to change our actions based on our confession, and we need to demonstrate that we have truly repented. I think it is easy to fake repentance, or not repent completely. We usually can be convicted and confess our sin, but we often forget that true repentance requires change in our actions and attitude toward sin.

      There is a problem with repentance; we aren't perfect. Only a sinner needs to repent, but only a perfect person can repent perfectly. What am I taking about? We are so caught up in sin we don't even realize how bad it is. We think we understand, but our sinful nature corrupts us and we fail to truly comprehend the destructive and evil nature of sin. However, a perfect and sinless person really understands sin and how much it hurts God. They aren't corrupted by sin and therefore can truly perceive it correctly.

      Well we aren't perfect, and if we were, we wouldn't need to repent. So what can we do about this? Truthfully, nothing. We can't repent perfectly- but Jesus can. Jesus was the only perfect person who lived on this earth, therefore He was and is the only person who can repent perfectly. In the bible Jesus asks John the Baptist to baptize him. Baptism is part of repentance. Why did Jesus repent if He was already perfect? Jesus lived on the earth for one reason; to demonstrate His love for us. He lived for us. Jesus was baptized not for His sins but for ours. He repented for our sins and He did it perfectly, so that we could live without guilt or shame. He only asks that we allow Him to repent for us and participate in His repentance. We still need to repent but we also need to participate in the repentance of Jesus, because it is perfect.

-Smart     

More Than Enough

"Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.'"
-John 4:13-14a
      This post is going to similar to the one I did on entertainment, just slightly different. I've continued reading "The Jesus Creed" by McKnight and he brings up a point I think about a lot. Today I want to talk about desiring things. More specifically, desiring more than enough. Many people would agree that they want things. I personally want a lot of things; a car, basketball, xbox games, new clothes, and money in case I want to buy more things. We all desire a of things, and we also want money so that we can continue to buy more things. Why?
      The reason I ask why is because we already have enough things. Think about it; if you are reading this you have to be alive, and more likely, you are pretty well off. This really bothered me for a long time and still bothers me a little bit. Why do we want more things if we already have plenty? Animals and creatures don't want more than they need, so why should we? Why can't we be satisfied with food water and shelter? Why do we need more and more things?
      The only explanation I could come up with was summarized very well in "The Jesus Creed". To summarize, the reason we feel like we always need more is because of the deep yearnings in our spirit. What makes people different than animals is that we have a need for meaning in life that is eternal. This need is the source of the hunger for the meaning of life, and it refuses to be satisfied with any meaning less than the eternal.
      The bible says that God made us in His image, so I think it is reasonable to conclude that means we desire the things God desires. I think God is only satisfied in Himself, so that means we also can only truly be satisfied in Him. This aspect of ourselves is often tainted by our sinful nature, and we think we desire more and more things of this world. Our sinful nature is not our true nature however, because God made is in His image, not in sin. That is why we can never be satisfied in this world, because this world can only give us "enough". God can give us what we really desire; then and only then we will be satisfied with more than enough.
-Smart      

Achievements

"The death He died, He died to sin once for all".
-Romans 6:10
      I posted a long time ago about success, and today I want to talk about something similar. Today I wanted to share my thoughts on achievements. Achievements are things that we accomplish and take pride in. Achievements are usually something great that we do and want to be noticed for. Everyone wants to achieve things in their life, although those things differ. I believe that everyone wants to do things that they can take pride in and possibly get noticed for.
      When we think of achievements, we often think of great people that have achieved great things. Michael Jordan is known for being one of, if not the, greatest basketball players ever. He has won many NBA finals and has many trophies. He has done this with his amazing athleticism and by practicing hard everyday. Now he is in the basketball Hall of Fame and is recognized for his greatness in basketball.
      This is only one example, but it describes someone we often hold up because of his achievements. While that may seem great, I don't believe it is that great. Sure he was one of the greatest basketball players, but what does that do for him? He gets paid well and gets to keep many trophies, but when he dies will that matter anymore? His achievements can't follow him to the grave, unfortunately. Even though he has worked so hard to achieve things in his life, it won't help him when dies and it won't last.
      It may seem that I think that nothing is worth achieving or doing, but that isn't the case. Michael Jordan has done something I think is worthwhile- using his money to help charities. While he might not be known or recognized for that, I think he should. His basketball career won't make as much of an impact as his funds to charity. I think the achievements we should be working towards are ones that help other people more than ourselves. Why? Doing things for ourselves is nice, but it won't matter after we die. Doing things for other people can change others and maybe even the course of history. Martin Luther King Jr. is recognized for helping achieve freedom for slaves in America. He changed America and made an impact even to this day, just by doing something for others. I think that is an achievement worth recognizing.
      The more we do for other people, the greater our achievements become. Rather than strive to earn medals or self recognition, we start to help others and make an impact that will last. The greatest achievement ever was Jesus dying on the cross. Why? Jesus died to save and help other people, not himself. He died for all people, and in the process earned nothing but death for himself. These are the greatest kinds of achievements; ones where a person gives up something to help other people. Jesus gave up everything to help us. Through his achievement all people benefit and history has been changed. Now we aren't all supposed to do amazing things like Martin Luther King Jr. or Jesus, but we are supposed to do the best we can to achieve something to help others. What do you want to achieve?
-Smart    

Reputation vs. Identity

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
-Ephesians 2:10
      Recently I have been reading a book titled "Jesus Creed" by Scot McKnight, in which he discusses the two greatest commandments; love God and love others. One of the chapters is about reputation and identity, and he focuses on the story of Joseph. I want to give my thoughts about this topic.
      A reputation is what someone gets from other people. It's what other people say you are. If you are seen studying a lot, your reputation is that you are a studious person. If you are very kind to other people, your reputation is that you are a kind person. A reputation is based on what other people think you are or what they think you do. Therefore, the only actions you do that will affect your reputation is what you do in front of other people. What you do at home by yourself can't damage or help your reputation. People can only give you a reputation based on what you do in front of them. This allows people to make themselves look better than they are, because they are able to do things in front of others that make them seem like good people. A reputation is easily built and easily changed.
      An identity is different though. It is what you really are, not what others perceive you to be. It is independent of how you act, how you dress, or what you say. It is based on where you belong or who you belong to. Knowing your identity is crucial to living a purposeful and productive life. Knowing your identity allows you to ignore what others say because your reputation no longer matters. Once you know who you are you start to live the way that you are supposed to be. You're not worried about building your reputation, but protecting and proclaiming your identity.
      I want to end with an analogy. A reputation is like a nickname. It is given to you based on what others think of you. If someone gives you the nickname "brains", people believe that you are smart, regardless if you really are or not. Your identity is like your real name. It is who you really are and where you belong. It cannot be changed based on what others think, because that can't change who your parents are. Your identity can't be changed by your reputation, but your reputation can be changed by your identity. What other people believe about you doesn't change where you belong. The more you show your identity, the more people start to recognize who you are and your identity and reputation become the same thing. To show your identity, you have to know it first though. Where do you belong?
-Smart

Sanctification

"May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through."
-1 Thessalonians 5:23
      Recently I had the pleasure of cleaning my family's trash can. It was nasty and disgusting, but it had to be cleaned because flies were constantly in it and started laying eggs. I wondered what the point of cleaning it was, since it would just get dirty again. After all, a trash can constantly has trash put in it and is always full of trash. Why bother cleaning it? Even though I knew it would get dirty again, it was so disgusting I couldn't just leave it in that state. I know I will probably have to clean again, but I'm willing to do it because I don't want it to have flies in it and stay dirty.
     As I thought about these things, I realized that this is similar to how God "cleans" us. Sad to say, we are like the trash can. We always sin and are full of sin. By nature we are sinful, just like by nature a trash can has trash in it. Despite what most people think, we are not "clean" people. In other words, we are not righteous people, but sinful and dirty. The good news is, just like I was willing to clean the trash can, God is willing to cleanse us.
      Why cleanse us if we are just going to sin repeatedly? Trust me, God knows that we are sinful people and we are going to keep on sinning, but He also doesn't want us to be that way. God cleanses us so that we can do what we have been called to do according to His purpose. He doesn't just clean us once; it is a continual process. He wants to sanctify us everyday. He doesn't want to leave us in the sinful state we are in, but He wants to sanctify us everyday to make us more like Him.
     This brings up another important question. Why did Jesus die on the cross if we are just going to keep on sinning? Jesus died for us once for all. This means His grace covers all our sin- past, present, and future. All of our sins have been taken by Jesus on the cross, and His righteousness has been given to us. Obviously this cannot mean His righteous character because we continue to sin, similar to how Jesus did not have a sinful nature. Rather, we take the consequences or benefits of Jesus' righteousness, just as Jesus took the consequences for our sins. Jesus died so that we might be considered righteous before God.
      Sanctification occurs so that we develop a righteous character. God knows there is no possible way that we can become righteous before Him, which is why He sent Jesus to die for our sins. He sanctifies us to make our character more like Jesus' character. God is not satisfied with our sinful state, and He wants to continually make us more and more like Jesus. The point of sanctification is not to save us, for that is what the cross has done, but to allow us to do good works for God. Let us continually ask God to sanctify us and make us more like Jesus.
-Smart