It Aint No Struggle, Really...

Struggling believers often quote Paul's dilemma in Romans 7 as a justification for their difficulty in overcoming their sin:

Well what about Paul?, the argument goes,  Look at how he struggled with doing what was right.

They quote:   I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.(Romans 7:14)


So if Paul, I mean PAUL the incredible zealot who gave up his entire adult life for Christ struggles, then why shouldn't I?


Here's what I see today, and you can correct me if I'm wrong:  Paul was making a point  here that started way before this verse.  He's talking about sin and why we sin and if we should even sin in this new Spirit state that we have received.  But the point he is making does not end at this verse!

I believe it ends in Chapter 8:

But you are not controlled by your sinful nature.  You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you (And remember that those who do not have the spirit of Christ living in them are not Christians at all) (Romans 8:9)....
So dear brothers (that sounds like a summation to me!) you have no obligation whatsoever to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. (Romans 8:12)  

THIS is his point -- not that issue back in Romans 7, but here in Romans 8:  we don't have to sin and if we do it's because we CHOOSE to!  Come on, what's the purpose of having God's Holy Spirit living in us, directing us, infusing us with wisdom if we aren't going to allow Him to change our lives?  Here is the real struggle:  is it Him or is it Me?

I know that many argue about whether or not Paul was speaking about himself as a Jew before conversion in Romans 7,  or whether it was a personal, autobiographical statement of what was going on in his life at that moment.

I don't think it really matters.  What matters is that although we may struggle with the CHOICE of doing right or wrong (i.e. submitting to the Holy Spirit or not), we struggle not because we  have to, but because we want what we want when we want it.

Now where those desires come from is another question for another day...

I have been accused of being condemning and harsh when I bring up the Truth of Scripture in light of something that a person has been describing that's going on in her life.  Ironically, this comes from people within the church more than in the jail.

(People in jail know they need help!  It's us "free people" who are truly caught up in the snares of our sins and justifications.)

But anyone who knows me well knows that I have had  a whole litany of sins in my  life -- starting with number One and going all the way to Ten on the list in Exodus.  I haven't avoided one of them.

In my experience, freedom comes from allowing the healing, penetrating, powerful heat of God's Holy Spirit to get inside of us and do His redemptive work, not to run from it.

Well it's hard!   some people tell me.

Yes, it is hard to put yourself in the spotlight and ask God to burn it all off -- all the dross, all the impurities, all the ugliness that we have been carrying around inside us for years and years.  It's embarrassing.  It's humiliating.  It's painful.

And it's worth it.  What could be more fulfilling than to bask in that Light-- be warmed by that same, sweet, penetrating Light, be comforted, be given strength and purpose?

The rewards so outweigh the painful process that brings you there...

Finding Healing-- Speaking in Tongues for the First Time

Repressed Baptists don't know much about the Holy Spirit. It's a sad truth, but one that must be faced. We hear the words and we read about it all through Scripture, but for the most part, the best we can do is to relate it to the feelings of peace we have during prayer, the thrill we have when we're singing during worship.

It is difficult for us to come to terms with the reality that the Spirit of the Living God is here -- on the inside of us, working, prodding, speaking, moving. It takes catastrophic experiences, sometimes, to blast us into the next level.

I am speaking about my own experience. It might be different for others, but I think there are a number of God-fearing Christ-followers who know this to be true.

There is no question that we are saved -- we can stand at the throne of Grace boldly because we love Jesus, we live our lives for Him, we worship Him with our our decisions, our time, our money, our efforts. We often feel His presence. But the Holy Spirit? It is that ephemeral, ghost-like apparition that puzzles us. What do we "do" with It? or is it Him?

Some things we just gloss over in Scripture -- or we say things like, "Well that was then, and this is now..." Does the Holy Spirit really have to operate like He did in the book of Acts today? I mean, we've got the Bible, don't we?

Some people even believe it is nearing blasphemy to say that the Holy Spirit is operating full-force today. But this is what Jesus says to His disciples:

  It's actually best for you that I go away, because if I don't the Counselor won't come.  If I do go away, He will come because I will send Him to you and when He comes...He will guide you into all truth.  He will tell you about the future.  He will bring me glory by revealing to you whatever He receives from Me. (John 16:  5 - 15, NLT)

Are we to assume that this revelation stopped at some point along the way?


All this is coming to me today. This morning. I have spent the last hour doing something I didn't even believe in 2 years ago -- speaking in tongues. The few moments I had of "earth thinking" while it was going on I was thinking to myself -- "Okay, now you really have gone nuts. The pressure of living through your husband's death and everything that followed has finally brought you to madness."

The rest of the time I was saying "Oh Yippeeee! Now I get it. Now I see it. Now I know what this is about."


Apparently, I have the gift of sobbing tongues because every time I have spoken in tongues (this was the longest by far), I sobbed from deep within. I know certainly that this is a healing process. God is pulling out all of the stuff that's been bottled up for years and years and years. I know also -- don't ask me how, I just do -- that my healing is leading to the healing of others. So through this magnificent experience I am made aware of one thing: we all need healing.  There is so much going on outside that reflects what is broken inside.

Of course to have the Holy Spirit, the Comforter,  does not mean you must speak in tongues or have a dramatic manifestation. 
I am not suggesting that every believer should speak in tongues.  I have gone for thirty years as a believer without the experience.  I could have continued a wonderful, fruitful Christ-filled ministry without it for the rest of my earthly life.

But why would I?  Wow.  I feel like I've been living in a glorious mansion for many years and just discovered the secret room where generations before me have stashed their treasures.

God has presented me with a way to be fully healed and to heal others on my way.  Broken hearts and lives cannot stand up to this.