tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1598186252583758979.post924745673345059069..comments2009-10-23T14:23:41.564-05:00Ryan Flaniganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12868978678824395324noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1598186252583758979.post-8990381216772777992009-10-23T14:23:41.564-05:002009-10-23T14:23:41.564-05:00Eric,<br /><br />It was great to meet you and Ben in NC. You guys really seem like you are in a good place, and I particularly appreciate your depth of thought and concern for theologically-informed worship.<br /><br />I&#39;ve been thinking a lot lately about what you commented on, and I believe the key to avoiding the complacent Christian walk is to stop trying to avoid sin and instead to abide in God. Unfortunately, in our religious Christian culture today, we live defensively. We stand in one place, frantically trying to dodge the arrows of the enemy, getting hit all the time, and feeling guilty because we can&#39;t get our act together. But this kind of defeated, passive life is not what we&#39;re called to. God wants us to be on the offensive, actively pursuing His righteousness.<br /><br />When by His grace we begin passionately pursuing God, our desire for Him will increase. Soon David&#39;s prayer will become our own, and we&#39;ll desire one thing only: to dwell in the house of the Lord, to be held in His arms.<br /><br />If we just try to rid ourselves of our sinful actions and don&#39;t replace them with godly actions, we&#39;ll be left standing there, a clean house for seven demons to come and attack us stronger than ever before. Not to mention if we spend all of our time avoiding sin, we&#39;ll become self-righteous moralists, who have no love for God, and therefore no desire to abide in Him.<br /><br />There&#39;s so much to say about this, but the bottom line is that we avoid sin by abiding with God. We don&#39;t avoid sin first, cleaning ourselves up, and then God will accept us. We bring all of our junk to God, he does the cleaning, and when He does we are overwhelmed with his saving love, so our only desire is to dwell with Him.<br /><br />Simple as that...Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06390921796548200259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1598186252583758979.post-77032328056779826942009-10-22T08:01:34.186-05:002009-10-22T08:01:34.186-05:00&quot;I stuff myself so full of worldly entertainment, pleasure, and all kinds of idolatry that I have no appetite when I turn my eyes upon Jesus.&quot;<br /><br />This line in particular really struck me where I&#39;m at. I&#39;ve been wondering why my desire for prayer, scripture, and meditation has been so weak, and I have a feeling that your thought here may be a key to that answer.<br /><br />Have you found any ways to avoid this that are particularly effective?Eric L'Esperancenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1598186252583758979.post-23415975723202133652009-10-16T11:54:09.658-05:002009-10-16T11:54:09.658-05:00hey, i&#39;m going to share this on my FB. thanks. -lesThe Bailey 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/12015944948487540174noreply@blogger.com