Grace-full Obedience

The other day Mitchell and I were having a conversation with a couple who are good friends of ours and also students at Southern Seminary here in Louisville. I became overwhelmed as I thought of the opportunity that we have as Christians in seminary, to learn how to walk this life of holiness we are called to walk as we have the privilege of observing and learning from fellow members of the Body of Christ.

I mean, we are literally being discipled by some of the greats in the faith. We're being equipped to better understand the Word, to know what we believe and to apply it. That's huge. 

(Hubby chatting with one of our profs)

As I realized the opportunity I have here I also realized the responsibility that comes with it. Almost immediately Scripture's command to us as followers of Christ came to mind: to be the very picture of good works, teaching soundly and living with integrity, so that the Enemy will be put to shame and not have anything evil to say about us.—“Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us” (Titus 2:7-8). My immediate thought after reading this? Well, shoot. 

It’s easy for me to look at my life and think, “My opponents would have many things to say about me.” I’m selfish and arrogant at times, I know the evil that wars within me to control my actions. The list could go on and on. But, that’s why I love what you see if you go down just a few verses in Titus 2:

“For the grace of God has appeared…”

Let’s stop there for a second. Hear the truth in these words. If you look back at verses 1-10, the Lord is commanding us to live what seems to be this perfect life characterized by self-control and purity, faith, love, and steadfastness. And if you’re like me, you read those things and automatically think “Well, I’ve already failed in pretty much all of those areas…how in the world can I do this?!” When I read what seems to be a list of impossible requirements of me, I pretty much feel like this:

But then you come to these precious words, “For the grace of God has appeared”. We’re right—we CAN’T do this on our own. But our Lord has shown us grace in a way that enables us to do these things. Here’s what the author of Titus goes on to say:

“For the grace of the Lord has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11-14).

So. Let’s recap:

• God redeemed us (bought us back from slavery to sin).
• The cost of that redemption was the death of His Son, Jesus.
• Now that we are His, He intends to purify us for Himself and make us zealous for good works.
• All this was done because of His grace (undeserved favor) toward us
• And now, based on that same grace, He is training us to live this life described in verses 1-14.

My point? My obedience to the Word of God rests on His promise that His grace is sufficient enough to enable me to obey. On my own, I cannot. But I’m not on my own, and therefore I can take the things I am learning here and teach them to others. I can live a life of integrity and purity and self-control. Resting on His promises and His grace that came to me in Christ's life, death and resurrection, I can. And so I must, because I have been entrusted with a precious truth that saves lives. We all have. If you are a follower of Jesus doubting your abilities to live the life of holiness the Scriptures command (1 Timothy 6:11-16, 1 Peter 1:13-16) or doubting you can actually share the truth of the gospel with someone, find refuge in this truth: The same power that raised Christ from the dead is working in you to enable you to continue to grow in holiness (Romans 8:2, Ephesians 1:19-20, 2 Peter 1:3-11). And that power is dependent on God and His grace, not on your works. Rest in this truth. Act in this truth.

What specific area in your life is the Lord calling you to obedience in? 

It may be the act of coming to Him for salvation, or repenting of a sin you are living in as if you're a slave to it (even though Scripture says, as His child, you're not--Romans 6), or admitting your dependence on the Word of God and committing yourself to reading and studying and living by it. Whatever it may be, do not let fear of failure stop you. For me, at this point in my life, it is to teach and protect the deposit that has been entrusted to me: "Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity" (1 Timothy 4:11-12). This blog is a very practical example of me striving to pursue obedience to the Word of God, as I share what I am learning during this time of intense discipleship and growth. So for you, whatever it may be, ACT. Repent. Walk in obedience. This is the life of a Christian--a constant pursuit of obedience and holiness that is based on the grace-filled promise of our Holy God. 

"But as for you, O man of God, flee these things (worldly pleasures). Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." (1 Timothy 6:11-16)

Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me.

For those who know me, it's no secret that my all time favorite hymn is Rock of Ages.

There are a multitude of reasons why I love this hymn, but today I saw an even deeper connection between the hymn and a story about Moses found in Exodus...I had an "ah-hah!" moment, if you will.

In Exodus 33 Moses is talking with the Lord (which is NUTS, by the way...he's literally just having a convo with God...) about his next move as the leader of the Israelites. In verse 18 Moses asks God to show him His glory. What an odd request. I mean, this is the same Moses who is talking with God in a pillar of cloud a few verses beforehand (Ex 33:9), not to mention the same guy who saw God bring the plagues upon Egypt (Ex 7-12) and who witnessed God split the Red Sea (Ex 14), and yet he's asking for the Lord to show him His glory. Weird. It's almost as if Moses could sense that he was still not in full and complete fellowship with God, despite all of the ways he had seen and interacted with Him.

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So how does the Lord respond? "'I will make all My goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you My Name 'The Lord.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy'" (Ex 13:19). So He agrees! Oh how elated Moses must have been in that moment, that the Lord said He would show mercy toward Moses and reveal Himself to him! But, there was a catch. The Lord would show Himself to Moses, but not fully, because He knew that Moses was a sinful man and that the Law was not enough to grant Him complete access and fellowship with Him. So instead, in His mercy, God offers a cleft for Moses to hide in as He passes by. "And the Lord said, 'Behold, there is a place by Me where you shall stand on the rock, and while My glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with My hand until I have passed by'" (Ex 33:21-22).

Example of a cleft in a mountain

The Lord provided Moses with a way to behold His glory, to have access to Him. Why? Because He chose to be merciful toward Moses!

So, here's how this ties into my favorite hymn. The first verse of the hymn says,

"Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee; let the water and the blood, from Thy wounded side which flowed, be of sin the double cure; save from wrath and make me pure." 

It's the first time that I connected the magnitude of the fact that Christ is our cleft! He is what the Lord has given in order to grant us full fellowship with Him! (1 Timothy 2:5 says, "For there is one God, and there is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus...") On our own we are unable to have fellowship with God because of our sinfulness (1 John 1:5-6) or walk in obedience and righteousness (Gal 2:16), but with Christ and because of Christ we are able to not only have fellowship with God but continually grow in becoming more and more like Him. Thus the second verse of Rock of Ages:

"Not the labors of my hands can fulfill Thy law's commands; could my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow, all for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone."

Thou must save and Thou alone. After Moses encountered the Lord, he wore a veil over his face because it shined so brightly that the Israelites couldn't bear to look directly at him (Exodus 34:33). When Paul talks about this veil that kept the Israelites from beholding the glory of God in Moses, he says, "...because only through Christ is it (the veil) taken away" (2 Cor 3:14). 

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So, here's the greatness of the gospel. Are you ready? Under the old covenant and the law, Moses needed a cleft to hide in and a veil to cover his face because he (along with Israel) could not bear to have full access to the glory of God. "But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed...And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another" (2 Cor 3:16, 18). Did you catch that? Because Christ is our cleft, our Mediator, we have access to God and we no longer have a veil over our faces; instead we have the opportunity to have full fellowship with Him and to grow more and more like Him each day. We've not only been transformed, but we are being transformed!

So, what does this mean for us?
        We have freedom (2 Cor 3:17) to walk boldly in the presence of the Lord because He has mercifully given us access to Himself through Christ and is now purposefully transforming us into His image. Meaning, even though I can look at my life at this very moment and see ways I have failed to walk in obedience to Christ, I can look at myself and compare where I am now to where I was 4 years ago, when the Lord revealed the gospel to me, and see that He has been continually transforming me to His image each day. I am different, I am transformed; I can see this in the way I spend my time, the way I treat those around me, where my priorities lie, etc, etc. And the beauty is, I will continue to be more and more transformed until the day Christ calls me home. This is why I can boldly sing,

"While I draw this fleeting breath, when mine eyes shall close in death, when I soar to worlds unknown, see Thee on Thy judgment throne; Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee." 

Psalm 18 - In My Own Words.

I have been challenged this semester to learn how to meditate on Scripture. 

The first time I heard this, I imagined myself sitting with my legs crossed and eyes closed thinking really really hard about a verse in the Bible I had read...and I thought that was weird. But I have been corrected in my understanding of meditation. For one, I didn't realize that the Lord commanded this of us in multiple places: 

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it." -Joshua 1:8

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." - Psalm 19:14 

 There are many more within Scripture telling us to dwell on, meditate on, think about the Word of God. But how? Well, today I tried one particular method that my professor, Dr. Donald Whitney, taught us in class from his book, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. 

I read a Psalm and then put the Psalm into my own words. Specifically, I read Psalm 18. The outcome was a beautiful reminder of what the Lord has done in my life in short 3 years, and the pure salvation I have experienced through Him. I wanted to document this to serve as a reminder to me and anyone else who reads it of the powerful redemption of our God, and to serve as an example of how you can spend time dwelling on one passage in Scripture. 

Read Psalm 18 either before, after, or side by side with this entry...it'll make more sense that way! 

Psalm 18

My Lord is my rock. My refuge.

A mighty fortress is our God.

The cords of death encompassed me;

in my sin the snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called upon the Lord;

to my God I called for help.

From His temple He heard my voice,

my cry to Him reached His ears.

And He answered me. In power He came,

the foundations trembled and quaked,

because He was angry.

A righteous, powerful anger for His chosen daughter,

crying out for His rescue.

He sent from on high, He took me;

He drew me out of the water that was encompassing me.

He rescued me from my strong enemy,

for satan and sin were too mighty for me.

He rescued me, because He delighted in me.

And now, the Lord deals with me according to my righteousness,

a righteousness not earned through what I do,

but through the sacrifice of His Son.

The perfect sacrifice.

No longer must I pay for my sins sacrifice after sacrifice

after sacrifice to earn my Lord’s forgiveness.

He gave us the perfect, ultimate sacrifice through Christ.

Through Him we are forgiven. (Romans 5:12-21)

Now He deals with me according to the cleanness of my hands.

For by grace, through Christ, I am now blameless before Him

and able to keep myself from guilt.

With the merciful, You show Yourself merciful;

with the blameless, You show Yourself blameless;

with the purified, You show Yourself pure.

I am these things because You have made me so.

For it is You who light my lamp;

the Lord my God lightens my darkness.

This God - His way is perfect;

the Word of the Lord proves true;

He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him.

For who is God, but the Lord?

And who is a rock, except our God--

The God who equips me with strength

and makes my way blameless?

You’ve equipped me; bow, shield, and armor (Ephesians 6:11-18)

to fight this war with sin that  wages against my soul (1 Peter 2:11).

With You, the battle is won.

The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,

and exalted be the God of my salvation--

the God who delivered me from my enemy.

I will praise You, O Lord, among this nation and others

and sing Your Name and tell of the 

great salvation You bring to Your people.

I Spent My Day Wasting Time.

How many days can I say that about? Unfortunately the amount is beyond my ability to recall or number. TV shows, movies, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pet Saga, internet browsing, long naps. The list goes on of things I allow to fill my time. And by fill I mean waste. Looking at the way I spend a lot of my time, you would think I was created to find the best way to be comfortable, entertained, and happy. I’ve allowed the culture I live in to tell me that I deserve:

rest (which is true, rest is needed, but what the general culture would call rest, really is just laziness) 

time to myself (aka selfishness) 

and whatever I want to make me happy (aka pride, gluttony, idolatry, etc.)

Instead of doing what I have been created to do--make disciples of the One God who created this world (Matthew 29:19-20), live a life holy and blameless before Him (Ephesians 1:4), and share with the world the incredible redemption I have experienced that has given true and pure freedom (Romans 8:1-2)--I’m busy wishing Tony and Ziva would get married, or wondering if the BAU is going to catch the bad guy…again, or trying to save 9 pets and get 30,000 points so I can move to level 46. 

I mean…what? WHAT?! When I take a minute to sit back and think about my Lord, who has the salvation of the world on His heart and the urgency of that salvation in the forefront of His mind, seeing me spend hours a day serving myself and wasting time when He has given me the command to join Him in His mission…I mean…I’m ashamed. When I ask myself, "Do I live out what I was literally created and designed to do?" My response is: Sometimes. Kind of.

Sometimes. Kind of. Imagine what those answers would produce in our world today.

- Does your phone work like it should? Sometimes? Take it back.

- Is your food hot when it comes out at the restaurant? Kind of? Send it back.

- Is the toy you bought your grandbaby working? Sometimes? Take it back and exchange it for a new one that will work.

You get my point.

The culture that I live in has taught me that if something doesn’t perfectly fulfill its purpose and meet the expectation you have placed on it, it’s not worth your time or effort. Get rid of it. Take it back. Get a new one. So when I sit here and realize that I am a creation that is not only beat up and broken in places, but that is literally not doing the very thing I was created to do…I weep. I fear. I become defiant. I rebel. I become defensive. Why?

            Because I’m expecting my Creator to give up on me.

I’m expecting God to look at me and sigh in frustration. I’m expecting Him to look at the ways I am wasting the gift of redemption, time, and life He has given to me and say, “Give me a new one, this one is broken”. Because in all honesty, that’s what I would do. And that’s what this world tells me I would have the right to do.

But, praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, my God is not of this world. 

My God, the Creator of this world, can look upon His creation, despite the worlds corruption and the scars of sin, and call me His child (Romans 8:21), His wonderful creation (Psalm 139:14), His beloved (Colossians 3:12). Why? Because when I come before Him, I come bought and claimed by His Son, Jesus, who died—“the righteous for the unrighteous” (1 Peter 3:18)—so that my sin could not only be forgiven but cleansed before Him (1 John 1:9). I do not have to fear rejection by God because He has literally told me that He cannot and will not ever give up on me!

“He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?...Christ Jesus is the One who died—more than that who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?...For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." ( Romans 8:32, 34-35, 38-39)

My security rests in Christ Jesus, who sits beside the Lord interceding for me (even when I’m sitting, wasting my time). Because of Christ, the Lord does not look down in disgust and toss me aside. Instead He looks on me with a love I can never separate from and sends me a Helper who can equip me and teach me to live the life I was created to live (John 14:26) despite my sinful desire not to at times. I am no longer a slave to my self-serving sin, therefore I am able to spend the majority of my time seeking to serve my Lord and others, not myself. Praise be to God.

((Disclaimer: Please know that I am not intending to condemn all forms of entertainment, including those listed in this post, but instead to challenge myself and my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to reflect on both the time spent and the motivation behind said entertainment.))

The Story of Wilda and Tuck.

Mitchell and I celebrated our 1-year wedding anniversary yesterday! I wanted to do a blog post to set up a reminder of the sweet, redemptive, Gospel-reflecting marriage the Lord has placed me in. I decided to do this both through pictures and by sharing the vows the two of us wrote and made exactly one year and one day ago with the Lord and with one another. 

So, allow me to share the story of Wilda and Tuck.

Mitchell and I began our relationship as friends...a goofy and (as most of you would attest) somewhat awkward friendship...

After a year this friendship flourished into a fun dating relationship, long distance (for a year) and together in College Station (whoop!).

A year and a half later this happened...

And 9 months of engagement followed!

And then we got married. (and danced!)

And now here we are! One year into marriage. What a story. Of course, there is so much in between those big events; so much learning and refinement, tears and rejoicing and growth. I think the past 4 years are best wrapped up into the vows Mitchell and I wrote for one another on our wedding day. They encompass the depth of the promise of unconditional, steadfast love that we have for one another, and more importantly the absolute reliance we have on the Lord to walk in that love. I'll let them speak for themselves :)

Mitchell: 

"I, Mitchell Cannon Hartt, with great honor take you, Lindsey Jo Letbetter, to be my beautiful bride. I will uphold this oneness by devotedly seeking our God as my primary love, that I may love you fully. In the same manner with which Christ loves the church and humbly gave himself up for her, so will I vow to lay down my life for you. I vow to honor, serve, and protect you. I will strive to continually remember our marriage as a thriving example of the Lord's love for us. I promise you my purposeful and steadfast love throughout whatever life may bring. I will remain faithful to you. I will not divorce you. Death alone will separate us." 

Me:

"I, Lindsey Jo Letbetter, take you, Mitchell Cannon Hartt, to be my husband. On the foundation of grace, I promise to follow you and humbly submit to your leadership. I will love and respect you regardless of circumstance or condition, just as the Church loves Christ. I promise to keep the Lord as my primary love, to be faithful to you, and to never divorce you. I will serve as a reminder to you of the man our Lord has designed you to be and the Gospel which has redeemed and restored us both. I promise to walk this life together with you, Mitchell, 'til death do us part."  

There are times that I look at those vows and think, "Man. That is BOLD." And it is. Those are bold words that we promised one another. But I have learned day after day that the only reason we are able to promise that kind of love is because that is the kind of love that has saved us both. We love each other through the love God has shown us, period. There is no other way for our marriage to succeed.

"For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that One has died for all, therefore all have died, and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who, for their sake, died and was raised." -2 Corinthians 5:14

Today I am so thankful that the Lord chose to redeem Mitchell and I both, and has given us the opportunity to reflect that love within our marriage and to the world. Hopefully this serves as a reminder to all that we ARE capable of unconditional, steadfast love through the power of Christ's love, which controls us. Praise God for that foundation of grace. 

P.S.

 Farmers Market and Stoney Creek yesterday to celebrate!

THE END!