We are not “acquainted with grief” in the same way our Lord was acquainted with it. We endure it and live through it, but we do not become intimate with it. At the beginning of our lives we do not bring ourselves to the point of dealing with the reality of sin. We look at life through the eyes of reason and say that if a person will control his instincts, and educate himself, he can produce a life that will slowly evolve into the life of God. But as we continue on through life, we find the presence of something which we have not yet taken into account, namely, sin— and it upsets all of our thinking and our plans. Sin has made the foundation of our thinking unpredictable, uncontrollable, and irrational.

We have to recognize that sin is a fact of life, not just a shortcoming. Sin is blatant mutiny against God, and either sin or God must die in my life. The New Testament brings us right down to this one issue— if sin rules in me, God’s life in me will be killed; if God rules in me, sin in me will be killed. There is nothing more fundamental than that. The culmination of sin was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and what was true in the history of God on earth will also be true in your history and in mine— that is, sin will kill the life of God in us. We must mentally bring ourselves to terms with this fact of sin. It is the only explanation why Jesus Christ came to earth, and it is the explanation of the grief and sorrow of life.

Either Oswald Chambers has a more complex meaning to his phrase…”Sin will kill the life of God in us” or I misread Philippians 1:6 and Romans 8:38-39….God will complete the work he has begun in you….and……. Nothing can separate us from the love of God (my paraphrase).

Perhaps Oswald is talking about the grief and pain we cause our spirit when we sin, and sin we will. However, I am convinced that  we can overcome all sin in our lives, over time, through Christ Jesus. We conquer sin day by day. and totally overcome sin just like and just when  we also conquer death through Christ Jesus. And  until then, by the grace and love of God, we get back up again every time we fall. We grieve but are not locked into grief forever,  we stumble and are not crushed, we are dissappointed and discouraged but do not give up, thanks be to God  through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. JDV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAA0ASlh1HU

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Journal for Today-JDV

June 23, 2010

When I read a devotional like this one I wonder about the power of grace and love of Jesus Christ. I wonder if we are to be trapped between the grace and forgiveness and the grief of falling as we do inevitably. I wonder and speculate that others may be able to simply decide to stop sin in their lives, but I cannot, and then as a result my thoughts begin to run off with the idea that perhaps I am not as worthy as others, or perhaps I missed the “stop sin” tool that was distributed at a private church meeting somewhere.

And God says….”You are forgiven all things through the blood of My Son. But grace is not license. When you fall you “get back up again” through prayer and repentance. Prayer not to repent of your sin and ask forgiveness again, that was settled at the cross, but a prayer of thanks and appreciation confirming that you no longer have to be trapped in sin. The evidence will follow.