Feeling Sin

I've got a lot of thoughts: go with me here.

I've been reflecting on sin.

Sin is sad.

Devastating.

Destructs.

Divides.

Thwarts.

It's wicked. And it's sad.

I believe and I trust and I know that everything works for the Kingdom. The things that are wicked, God beautifully works in and redeems. I've seen the evidence of a rebirth and transformation firsthand! But God is not the author of pride, anger, lies, disunity, confusion, tension. And when the beauty of a rebirth comes through sin and not obedience, that's tough. It feels like life is full of human sin and stupidity and failings and short memory loss on how great God is. Because of sin, we need a Savior to save us.

Sorrow is always my last response to sin in my life. And I wonder if that's right. I feel anger and bitterness first at situations and events in my life, which builds to confusion and a constant questioning on what I need to do.. and then I mourn. The dust settles, reality kicks in, and I'm often overwhelmed by sadness.

But I wonder if that should be first. Maybe mourning and sadness over sin is the right response. To mourn the presence of sin: to feel your heart broken: to feel great sorrow. Because I think we feel a little of what God feels when we disobey.

When we run away.

Do it ourselves.

Ignore.

Divide.

Because feeling sin deepens the significance of the Gospel. Of the invitation we have to come before Christ as the unworthy, cruel, selfish, sinful people we are.

In Timothy Keller's sermon "The Gospel and Your Self," he talks about God moving from a concept to a reality. God as a concept is a God being shaped by us. It's a God that you believe in but hasn't changed you very much. You basically have more glory. But God as reality is you giving way to the glory of God. It's a radical change. God as reality is sacrificing your individual needs after coming into His presence.

But the point TK makes about this shift is this: you start to hate yourself. It's in the Bible everywhere: the moment the God of Job, Isaiah, Peter moves from concept to reality, they start to see themselves for who they really are. And that happens with us too: When God becomes reality, you think you're a sinner. You see your sin.

Keller says, "One second after Isaiah realized he didn't deserve to live and he was more wicked and flawed than he ever dared believe, he is now more AFFIRMED and VALUED and WANTED than he ever dared hope."

The more we realize our true nature, the more we realize who we are in Christ Jesus.

We become both bold and humbled: more wicked and more loved. All at the same time!

Why?? How??

The Grace of God.

We're nothing but sinners saved by grace.

I think when I focus too much on sin, I miss the point. I miss the redemption. Sure, sin is devastating but that's the humanity of a fallen world. And sure, it's right to mourn.. but we must proactively mourn. Be filled with sorrow at the sin we throw at our Savior everyday but be OVERWHELMED and MOVED and IN AWE at the grace and the love we receive despite that.

How in the same moment we see the sin, we see we're loved more than we could ever hope.

So sadness is our cue: our call: to look at the big picture and see Christ on the cross.

We worship despite our sadness.

We recognize our continual sin and that should push us closer to the One who died to save us.

We mourn our sinful humanity because we know we were made to be in harmony with God and this disease has thwarted that (for now).

And His grace is so undeservingly beautiful and unexplainably rich.

(P.S. A partial dedication to my friend Andrew, who I hope makes it to the end this time. AND who runs marathons without training!! Check it out: How to Hack a Marathon if You Aren't a Runner).

Who We Were: Who We Will Be

Have you ever read the story of Paul?

Back when Paul was Saul, he hated Christians. He destroyed the church and put God's people in prison. He approved of the execution of Stephen, who was the first martyr. His mission was to destroy the name of Jesus. His name was infamously known.

And then God steps in:

"But Saul still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' And he said, Who are you, Lord?'' And he said, 'I am JESUS, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.' The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank" (Acts 9:1-9).

He encountered the risen Christ.

There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias whom the Lord came to in a vision. He told Ananias to find a man named Saul and to lay his hands on him and to give him back the sight he lost during his Damascus Road conversion. Ananias had heard of Saul's reputation and the evil he had done to the Lord's people. Could this be the same man?

And to this, God responded:

"GO, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel." (Acts 9:15)

A CHOSEN INSTRUMENT. The one who used to kill Christians and hate them to his core is a chosen instrument of God!?

And Ananias went and laid hands on Saul and immediately scales fell from Saul's eyes and he regained his sight and was baptized. "And he immediately proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, 'He is the Son of God." (9:20).

I mean, have you ever heard a better story!?

I think you have. That story is yours and mine.

Our church has been spending an awesome amount of time dissecting Colossians (written by Paul!) and today we talked through 1:21-23. Check out verses 21-22:

"And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach him."

Sometimes I don't know how to articulate the significance of these verses. It's taken me a long time to get what they really mean: it's taken me a transformation. The 'you' that Paul is speaking to: is me.

Colossians 1:21-22 is the Gospel:

WHO WE WERE: is alienated. Aimless. Doing evil deeds. Worshipping idols. Enemies of God. David Chadwick put it well that we worship creation, not the Creator and that the focus of our worship has become distorted. Jesus came to change our minds.

WHO WE ARE: is reconciled. All our sin was poured onto Him. Now we're sons and daughters! Our identifier is now the Cross of Christ.

WHO WE WILL BE: is holy. Blameless. Above reproach. Perfect. Sin has been traded for a new righteousness. Jesus will PRESENT US before God with pleasure.

I can't even fathom a story like that.

But that's the transformation that takes place when you come humbled before Christ. That's the transformation of Paul, of me, of everyone. That's what happens when God reconciled us to Himself through death on the Cross. That's what happens when you encounter the risen Christ.

The Gospel transforms us.

The Gospel calls us to new life.

The Gospel frees us from who we were and welcomes us into who we will be.

The Gospel is changing us from evil deeds and is sanctifying us to perfection.

Jesus was the ultimate Chosen instrument of reconciliation so we could all be chosen instruments to carry His name.

The Gospel saves!

God in All Our Simple Deeds

Figuring out what I want to do for the rest of my life has never been automatic for me.

I played 'school' my entire childhood: with my students being the empty room. I made real homework assignments and kept track of the troublemakers whose parents I had to 'call.' I grew out of that game when I entered high school and my teacher aspirations went with it. Then I went to college and studied journalism before I realized it wasn't what I hoped to be. I found my passion in majoring in history and have never enjoyed studying anything more. But history stops in a classroom.. unless you want a career in a museum.

This past year, especially, I've spent navigating through a career: what to do with the rest of my life (which sounds so daunting, doesn't it?). I've recently realized it's the one thing I'm least likely to share with people, even my closest friends. The journey I make towards finding the right job and calling is one I prefer to do in private.

And I think it's because I still draw my deepest identity from having a job. I've become wired with a 'do' mindset.. and 'do' for the wrong person: me.

And in my recent shift from 'do' to 'done (by grace),' my insecurities over my job uncertainties have (stubbornly) been the last to go. And I'm learning (have learned + still learning) that having a job does not create happiness, worth, contentment, or value. Yes, it's essential and important and imperative in learning responsibility and in making a difference through a calling: yes, yes I love jobs. But it doesn't create ULTIMATE worth. That's the cross and that's the Gospel. That's Jesus.

In 'The Pursuit of God,' A.W. Tozer writes on 'The Sacrament of Living' and how most Christians divide their life into two areas: the sacred and the secular. He says this causes us to live divided lives because we tend to always bounce back and forth between our disunited lives. Jesus lived a united life.

Tozer writes that we "must offer all our acts to God and believe that he accepts them. Then hold firmly to that position and keep insisting that every act of every hour of the day and night be included in the transaction. Keep reminding God in our times of private prayer that we mean every act for His glory; then supplement those times by a thousand thought-prayers as we go about the job of living. LET US BELIEVE THAT GOD IS IN ALL OUR SIMPLE DEEDS AND LEARN TO FIND HIM THERE."

What if I learned to live like that? To live out Colossians 3:23-24 ('whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward')? To find Him and love Him and serve Him in EVERYTHING? What if I refocused?

I think figuring out what I want to do wouldn't make me so fearful: because I would already be serving Him in all things and wouldn't be waiting for the one thing.

As this post gets longer and longer..

I've recently discovered what working heartily for Him NOW means and found my point of refocus.

It's been a year of stretching, growing, challenges, new life: by far my best year. Ever. And interwoven between those times of anger and bitterness and uphill climbs, there have been.. children. I spent the most time with kids than I think I've ever spent before and I've fallen in love with them. I found that I loved + laughed + learned from people.. some even 20 years younger than me!

There's a family of five who live down the street that I spend time with everyday. A 10 year old, 8, 4, 2, and a two week old newborn! And every day I go to their home, I get on the job training for future responsibilities. Their mom teaches me about motherhood: the struggles of a big home, what no one tells you about pregnancy, how she dealt with losing a child, how to incorporate the Gospel into tough conversations with her 10 year old: she's my teacher.

And then I get to 'intern.' The kids and I play, we do homework, make dinner, stretch and take baths (the 4 yr old loves to stretch before bathtime: ask a kid to do a sit up and you'll never stop laughing), read books, sing songs, say prayers, and tuck them in (burrito style is always the best).

These are my simple deeds.

This is my refocus.

In my recent journey through Luke, I reached the 9th chapter and the Transfiguration and had a moment of wonder:

"And as he was praying, the appearance of his face altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah"-- not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying "This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!"

This is a glimpse of the second coming: of the future glory of Christ. He is illuminated from the inside. He is the transcendent Son of God. The significance of Moses and Elijah is that Jesus is the fulfillment of both. He is far greater than the Law and the Prophets. All the Old Testament POINTS to him.

While reading this afternoon, I felt a charge to REFOCUS. Jesus came to fulfill the kingdom of God and the new covenant and he promises to come again in all his glory. He is the better Moses and he is the better Elijah. Instead of always offering up prayers of petition for my life, what if I remembered the Transfiguration and remembered prayers of adoration and praise for who God is, what He came to do, and what He will come to do? What if I prayed in anticipation of his glory?

A good friend told me this week what calling looks like vs. our desire. He says that deciphering the true calling of God involves a process: a process of seeing your desires crushed and heart broken, only to see it reborn in a slightly different way. It can become a joy and a point of praise to watch the destruction of our idea of "God's call wrapped in a thick layer of our glory" and to see the beginning of a joyful waiting for his calling to be revealed. But true calling is to abide in him. To heed His voice in the middle of it all.

To abide in the promise of the Transfiguration. And to remember He is in all our simple deeds.

Reading New

I've recently fallen in love with reading.

My whole life I've been a huge reader and have always more than enjoyed it (holler Harry Potter).. but in the past year, I've been learning the passion behind it.

How what you read affects how you think.

How what you read can shape who you are.

I've recently fallen in love with my Bible.

Which is hard to do when you've grown up with a 1st grade Adventure Bible (confession: I had mine until I was 22 years old). While the crafts explanations teaching your family how to make Noah's Ark out of toothpicks was fun, I'm not sure how applicable it was.. in my late teens/early twenties. But thanks to an intervention by dear friends, I now own an ESV Study Bible. And it's changed (and changing) the way I live.

I just finished A.W. Tozer's book "The Pursuit of God" and he writes an entire chapter on God's Voice called "The Speaking Voice." It's a chapter on how God is speaking: continuously and articulately: and how the whole Bible supports that idea. God is ALIVE and His word is ACTIVE. It is the nature of God to speak. The Bible is the "inevitable outcome of God's continuous speech."

Tozer writes: "God is speaking. Not God spoke, but GOD IS SPEAKING. He is by His nature continuously articulate. He fills the world with His speaking Voice."

And this: "The Bible will never be a living Book to us until we are convinced that God is articulate in His universe."

GOD IS SPEAKING. He isn't past tense. I've heard how difficult it is to understand the Bible because it wasn't "written for us" or it was an "instruction manual written for a different time." Haven't you seen it like that? I know I have: during my Adventure Bible days and beyond, I wondered how it applied to me. I attributed the difficulty of Christianity to the Bible being vague. I've seen it more as an historical work.

But what if we saw the Bible as alive? As powerful? As God's voice? And what if we stopped reading the Bible as a book about us or about what we should do.. but saw it as a book all about Jesus? What if we took the spotlight off ourselves while we read it and focused on Who we're reading about? What if we saw it as God's mighty power and sovereign word fulfilling the promise of His Son?

As a book "living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12)?"

Or "breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17)?"

I think we'd find we'd been reading the wrong book our whole lives.

Clayton King spoke tonight on how to read the Bible, why we read it, and why it exists. He answered two crucial questions: what do I do when I don't know the answers? And what do I do to keep from sinning?

And the answer was the same for both:

READ THE BIBLE. Live according to His Word. God will use what it says.

What's it telling you?

Reading the Bible starts your process and it ends it.

It leads you to the Cross of Christ. It points to Jesus.

The One who is resurrected and alive.

"It is important that we get still to wait on God. And it is best that we get alone, preferably with our Bible outspread before us. Then if we will we may draw near to God and begin to hear Him speak to us in our hearts. I think for the average person the progression will be something like this: First a sound as of a Presence walking in the garden. Then a voice, more intelligible, but still far from clear. Then the happy moment when the Spirit begins to illuminate the Scriptures, and that which had only been a sound, or at best a voice, now becomes an intelligible word, warm and intimate and clear as the word of a dear friend. Then will come life and light and best of all, ability to see and rest in and embrace Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord and All."

(Pursuit of God: Tozer)

The Best Part of History

I just finished reading a book on the Watergate scandal of the 1970's called "The Secret Man: The Story of Watergate's Deep Throat." I know it could just be me and my history obsession, but this story is one of the most fascinating ones I've ever read. AND IT REALLY HAPPENED.

The book is written by Bob Woodward, one of the two journalists at the Washington Post who were integral in bringing President Nixon's scandal to light (history AND writing? I'm in heaven). Woodward and his partner Carl Bernstein began their investigative journalism after a break-in at the Democrat's national headquarters in the Watergate office building in 1972. They did some research, began reporting, uncovered a money trail, and soon realized the break-in didn't stop there. By writing, they helped impeach a president.

But the coolest part of the story is Deep Throat.

Deep Throat was their secret source. A mentor to Woodward.

They would leave secret messages to each other and meet in parking garages at two in the morning. He wouldn't tell the journalists everything he knew: but would guide them and lead them in the right direction. Give them clues about where they needed to look. His identity was kept hidden for 30+ years until 2005 when he was revealed to be Mark Felt: the number two guy at the FBI at the time. The second in command at the FBI was meeting journalists in parking garages in the middle of the night to help them uncover and bring down a presidency? And nobody knew who he was for 30 some years!? I'm getting pumped just reading my own thoughts. This stuff is so cool!

One of the reasons I love history so much is because of stories like this. Because we can learn from it. We can read about it and go back to that time and dissect it and ask why and how things happened. We can look at the real people behind these events and see who they were. And they're not fiction: they made real life decisions and real life choices: it's fun to see the why.

And what I take from the story of two resilient writers: is perseverance. It's really incredible to think about the task they took on and what they were willing to do. It's cool to think of where they came from (Woodward was denied a job at the Post when he first applied) and how they sought help to get where they needed to be. And Mark Felt: the things he risked, his determination: it'll speak into your life whenever you're feeling lazy.

But above all, the story has helped show me the importance of mentoring and seeking and trust.

At church on Sunday during a study of Colossians, we learned of Epaphras, a Christian teacher who spread the Gospel in Colossae (the cool thing about Epaphras: he's real! He's a part of our history too!). And David asked the question: who is your Epaphras? Who in your life is bringing you the Gospel and teaching you?

And in a historical kind of way, Deep Throat reminds me of Epaphras. Someone in the shadows, pointing in the right direction, facing risks, determined. It's empowering to know someone's teaching you, mentoring you, leading you, encouraging you to think for yourself and come to the answers with your own thinking and a little push.

Who are you seeking?

And on the other end, who are the Bob Woodwards in your life? The students who are seeking, the ones who want to learn, the ones who are writing, the ones you can point to the Gospel?

To echo David: to whom should you be an Epaphras?

Our ultimate Epaphras and our ultimate Deep Throat is Jesus.

He wants to be sought after: Hebrews 11:6 says we are rewarded when we seek Him.

His characteristics far outweigh those of our humanity and His motives are pure. He came and He died and He loved for us. He's our ultimate Teacher, Mentor, and Leader. He's ever present to lead us through the scandals of our lives.

Reading through the Gospel of Luke has given me a valuable lesson on who Jesus is.

He's the best part of history.

A Pause

Taking a pause. Taking some time to soak up holiday.

In the meantime:

What I'm listening to.

Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. I don't care how big of a diva he is: he's genius.

(Check out 'All of the Lights' and 'Monster').

What I'm watching.

Last night the Knuckles family gathered around the fireplace for a night of Toy Story 3. No matter age: I'll never grow tired of those toys. My brother also gave me season three of 30 Rock for Christmas: best show on TV.

What I'm reading.

Chronicles of Narnia!

I'm currently on 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' (which, did you know, is the second of the series, but actually the first of the seven books published?) and it's fascinating writing. I feel like I should have read them a long time ago. 'The Magician's Nephew' is the first, often forgotten, tale of the founding of Narnia. It's the story of the beginning, of how Aslan sings Narnia into existence, and how man brings evil into creation. It really is awesome: I can't stress that enough.

Luke.

I needed a recent perspective change: and decided to get it from Luke. I've never been a big picture person: I'm always small picture/details. And while that's good sometimes, it's detrimental other times. Lately I've been focusing on the details and overwhelming myself with finding all the answers. I needed some tough words from friends to remind me of the big picture: of the Gospel, of heaven, of redemption. And so I found myself in Luke: and the things I'm learning are amazing! Things being read this time with a different perspective. I'm seeing how incredible John the Baptist was, what his story was like, what Jesus' ministry looked like, his temptation, his healings, his teachings.

Jesus' baptism: " Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, 'You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased. (3:21-22)

Jesus in the synagogue in Nazareth: "He unrolled the scroll and found a place where it was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.'.. And he began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.'" (4:17-21)

What I think you should read.

Some of my favorite bloggers have recently taken blog breaks: in the meantime, read what my sister is doing in Africa! She'll inspire you too.

HERE I AM SEND ME

What I'm learning.

I'm learning big picture. I'm learning the importance of spending time alone with thoughts and to place the things that are just between me and God right where they belong. I'm learning faithfulness to the process (patience has never been my strong suit). I'm learning the POWER of friends: community. The power of knowing you're not alone: the power of knowing you're loved and you're being walked beside and cared for. I feel like the power community has will always be amazing to me: I'll always be blogging about it.

This Christmas Eve was the one of the most important ones I've had: too long of a story to start here but I'd love to share with whoever wants to hear it!

What I'm memorizing.

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world."

John 16:33

What I'm remembering.

The Gospel. The manger = the cross.

And the more you seek Him, the more clear His voice becomes.

Take a pause. Then keep going.

The Dragon and the Lion

THE DRAGON.

Eustace lives in the fantasy of Narnia as cousins to Edmund and Lucy: the king and queen. In the fifth book: third movie, Eustace finds himself on 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader' and immediately, he's incredibly unlikeable. His attitude is awful: the only words coming from his mouth are in the form of complaints. He doesn't like anyone, especially the ones who are trying to help him. He lives in a self-centered world and is confused when others don't seem to live in his world too. He really is terribly irritating and you just want him to get left somewhere.

In chapter six, Eustace stumbles upon a treasure and as he falls asleep thinking selfish, greedy thoughts, he awakens to find himself turned into a dragon. His first feelings are ones of sorrow, loneliness, and regret at his behavior as a boy. He slowly begins adjusting to his new life: longing to be a boy again. He lives in nagging pain that comes from a golden bracelet that's tightly stuck on his leg and that cannot be removed no matter how hard he tries.

THE LION.

Eustace tells the story of his transformation back to boy. He wakes up to see a lion saying to follow him. He leads Eustace to a well and tells him that he must undress first before he can bathe and relieve the pain in his leg. Eustace undresses himself beautifully: all of his dragon skin falls off: only to find himself perfectly dragon again. This happens three times.

And then this:

"Then the lion said.. 'You will have to let me undress you.' I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I lay flat on my back to let him do it.

The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling my skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt.

He peeled the beastly stuff right off- just as I thought I'd done it myself the other three times, only they hadn't hurt- and there it was lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking than the others had been. And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me.. and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that, it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing, I found that all the pain had gone from my arm. And then I saw why. I'd turned into a boy again.

After a bit, the lion took me out and dressed me.. in new clothes."

It's easy to get rid of the shallow parts of our lives. We take off our old skin: our sin: and then we realize we haven't even touched the deep stuff: the Sin. And we'll try and try on our own to get rid of what's unwanted, but it's too hard with human effort. It's actually impossible. Like Eustace, we'll shed the things we can see.. but without the help of Christ, it eventually rebuilds itself. And we'll try to avoid the hurt and pain of removal and transformation and correcting: but it's that hurt and that pain that produce resurrection.

In order to remove the pain our golden bracelets cause, we must be willing to go through even greater pain. And receive an even greater reward.

THE CROSS.

In 'The Pursuit of God,' A.W. Tozer writes about the Self being the veil that lives within each of us. He says it's the veil that hides the face of God. To get rid of it cannot be done by mere instruction: "when we talk of the rending of the veil.. there is nothing pleasant about it. In human experience, that veil is made of living spiritual tissue; it is composed of the sentient, quivering stuff of which our whole beings consist, and to touch it is to touch us where we feel pain. To tear it away is to injure us, to hurt us and make us bleed. To say otherwise is to make the cross no cross and no death no death at all. It is never fun to die. To rip through the dear and tender stuff of which life is made can never be anything but deeply painful. Yet that is what the cross did for Jesus and it is what the cross would do to every man to set him free."

And then he says this:

"THE CROSS IS ROUGH, AND IT IS DEADLY, BUT IT IS EFFECTIVE. It does not keep its victim hanging there forever. There comes a moment when its work is finished and the suffering victim dies. After that is RESURRECTION glory and power, and the pain is forgotten for JOY that the veil is TAKEN AWAY and we have entered in actual spiritual experience the Presence of the living God."

So welcome the pain and put on the new.

Colossians 3: 1-17 talks about taking off the old and putting on the new and what that looks like. Verse 3 and 4 say because you have died, your life is hidden in Christ: when Christ appears, then you will appear also. And 2 Timothy 1:7 says God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control. He's given us instruction and He's equipped us.

And He's died for us: showing us the ultimate pain and the ultimate resurrection.

Let Christ and the Gospel peel away your dragon and let Him put on your new clothes. Because it's absolutely necessary to experiencing new life. Because the best part of the dying is the rebirth. And because it's exhausting on your own. Free yourself.

And let the lion do His work.