Comments on: When Lies Are Replayed — Over and Over Again

By: Jesus Creed » Weekly Meanderings

Jesus Creed » Weekly Meanderings — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 11:30:21 +0000

[...] daily post is a collection of news and fun. And of course Jim Martin is up to his usual wise stuff here. Now steady readers of Jesus Creed know that these are two of my favorites, but these two steady [...]

By: Bryan Riley

Bryan Riley — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 22:32:00 +0000

Absolutely a common issue for me. And it is often, I believe, the Enemy telling us the lies, as he is the father of lies. I think the best solution always is filling ourselves with Truth from scripture. I think the result of believing the lies is to continue struggling with sin, something I wrote about a while back.

By: Jim Martin

Jim Martin — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 20:52:20 +0000

Thanks Allan.Thanks Steve. I read that book some time ago and had actually forgotten about it. As I recall, it was a good book.Ben– Your phrase, "…locks on our doors and deadbolts on our hearts" is very sobering. In particular the "deadbolts."Thanks Lisa. Thank you Matt.

By: Allan R. Bevere

Allan R. Bevere — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:19:46 +0000

Jim:
Well said.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 15:07:12 +0000

McGee’s The Search for Significance continues to be very revelant to a large portion of churches and Christians who get their significance from how they perform or what others think of them rather than God’s abiding love for them.

Peace.

By: benoverby

benoverby — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:25:11 +0000

I still struggle with that lie. I think deep down it has something to do with the fact that we’re programmed to live off of grace, not just from God, but from each other. It’s not enough for us to simply know another or love another, we desperately want to be known and loved. Of course, the world’s a mess and we’re scared out of our wits of each other (why else to do we have locks on our doors and dead bolts on our hearts?). We jump through hoops to generate (earn ?) a bit of grace from the other person, when we should be so filled with it (in a future world) that we’re safe and content. I notice this in myself in the most subtle ways. I’ll be walking through the mall, and sometimes look into the face of women, not to see if they’re attractive, but to see if they think I am. That’s tragically superficial but it comes from a deeper need, a need that is ultimately satisfied only by the grace of God in Christ. The discipline of solitude is excellent for noticing this need and finding grace to tame it. If when we’re alone we find an urge to connect with someone NOW it might be that our flesh needs affirmation in the company of other humans. If we allow God to affirm us first and thoroughly, then when in the company of others we’ll settle down and be in a condition in which we can give an ounce of grace without demanding a pound in return.
Very thought provoking stuff, Jim. Thank you.

By: Matt Dabbs

Matt Dabbs — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 13:17:52 +0000

Speaking the truth on this one! People often only live up to what others think of them when they are able to do so much more.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 11:45:17 +0000

It is troubling how often we let the approval or disapproval of man determine our outlook and view of ourselves, even our sense of self-worth. Unfortunately, we don’t outgrow peer pressure when we graduate high school. The older I get, the more comfortable I become with myself and the less that others’ opinons about me matter to me…but that does not mean that I don’t still struggle with wanting that approval.