I'll never change.

This summer, God is teaching me about His armor for me and you in this battle living that we are doing. He gave us armor, so there must be battle. And it is battle living. Constant battle whether we see it or acknowledge it or not. This past week the focus has been the breastplate of righteousness. Stunning really. God's righteousness for us. Our sin for Him. How can it be?

After some real life conversation with Lea last night, I was reminded of a letter that I wrote a friend about how we ever change. How does change happen? Are we stuck, forever trapped in the mess of our hearts, never to recover? These were things that my friend was wrestling with.

As I wrote to my friend, I was really writing to myself and was aware that I needed to hear these words again this morning. The fact that God IS righteousness personified is truly amazing. It's how there is even such a thing as "right". From our sin affected hearts to our refrigerator water dispenser not working, there is eternal drive placed within us for things to be right. He planted it. I trust Him as your receive this letter, written to my friend, to myself and today to you and I together.

Dear friend,

“Every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart is only evil all the time.” Quite a letter opening huh?Those are words from the Bible. I shy away from them because they indict me and at the same time I’m drawn to them because they reaffirm what I secretly know is true about my heart (and yours). Though I don’t like it, hearing scripture say it’s true resonates what I know in my most honest moments. Facing that this is true is actually really important as we think about word number three (my letters were about four words to my friend: Heat, Thorns, Cross, Fruit), maybe the most dynamic word of the four. Cross. How would, “I’ll never change, I’m hell bound.” (these words from him prompted me to write to my friend and me) ever change to any kind of new life or perspective? The only way is if something or someone dies.

The decisions that you and I make have led us to the point that we think that we have the power to destroy our lives all by ourself and that we will never recover and know anything different than that destruction. Ever. But interestingly God tells us in the Bible book of Psalm chapter 46 verse 1 that “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble.” I would call the above intersection of our heart, trouble. The bible book of Hebrews chapter 4 verses 15 and 16 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet He did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine that Jesus would want to have anything to do with a dirty, needy heart such as ours. But the cross tells us that His heart is for us. He wants to help. His heart is moved with compassion towards us. Our need and desperation doesn’t push us away from Him. This changes everything!!!!!

The willing movement of Jesus to the cross actually draws Him toward us and draws us toward Him. Jesus actually slows in interest of a needy heart, rather than speeding up to avoid the messiness of my sick heart. This is astounding news for us as we look ruthlessly at our interior world and realize just how needy and messy we really are.

He wants to change us, not just help us change. The main route for that to be real is Him and the cross. “No Jesus, you don’t want to do that, not me, not Damon. I am not worth your attention. You don’t want to die for me. I am not worth being crucified for!” His death and beating death show I was worth it, and you!!!! Life changing. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21 declares, “God made Him who had no sin, Jesus, to BE sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (That last sentence is the definition of change, sin to righteousness!) He didn’t just die for our sin, He died covered in them, He became our sin. This overwhelmingly hard thought is the good news of Jesus. He actually became my sick, perverse, demented, hell loving, rebellious sin. He didn’t merely die for our sin. He BECAME our sin and He and our sin, now actually Him, all died. He infected Himself with the essence of who we were, oozing with sin, all the things that we could never change and recover from and changed us with the very drench of His blood.

You can’t change yourself. The cross of Jesus can change you. Jesus died there with all the things that you know you can’t change draped over His life, body and soul. So your sin died there too. You died there. By blood definition, when you claim that cross blood of Jesus over you, you can’t really help but change, because it’s not up to you. You’re not in charge. He is. His blood WILL change you. You can’t stop it. You’re not that powerful. He is. That’s good. And you don’t have enough power to destroy yourself if you’re washed in the blood of Jesus no matter how hard you try. I know. I’ve tried really hard. He wins. That’s good.

The death of Jesus on the cross means the new life of you now. You don’t have to keep dying for it, which you can be pretty good at trying. Jesus died. Once, and that was enough.

Dying to Live.

There’s More.