I don’t practice Lent. But I understand the season and the intent behind sacrifices, and evaluating our lives. In the middle of this Lent season, I followed a link from Tim Challies to a blog entry about Complementarianism by Mary Kassian. Then I looked around her Girls Gone Wise blog and that lead me to entries about Giving Life for Lent which had a link to She Is Safe. SIS is having a Lent campaign, asking people to give up something that would cost them about $30 a week and for the 6 weeks of Lent, and donate that money to SIS.

SIS and our partners do serious work to prevent, rescue and restore vulnerable women and girls from abuse and exploitation. Ultimately, we want to see every least-reached girl or woman safe and equipped to thrive: body, mind and soul.

That means they do good stuff. You don’t have to give up anything for lent, or make a long term commitment. But if you are looking for a way to help these victims of the world, this looks like a good place to give.

I began listening to The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges in January. It was the free audio book from ChristianAudio. I also own the book so I was reading each chapter after I listened to it. This helps me take notes and meditate on the subject.

I started blogging about my reading on Jan 13. Not entirely pleased that it has taken me over 3 months to finish it. But it has been timely for life over the past 3 months. Future re-reads will be a bit faster, since I don’t try to take notes or blog about each reading session. Below are my blog entries as I read through the book.

God’s holiness covered chapters 2 and 3

What is its motivation covered chapter 4

Little foxes covered chapters 5 and 6

with a little more in My own vineyard

Just do it! covered chapter 7 and 9

continued a bit in Working at it

But it’s so hard covered chapters 8 and 10

What if I were to not want to covered chapters 11, 12, and 13

Habit is stronger than reason covered chapters 14 and 15

Second verse, same… finished with chapters 16 and 17 as of March 21.

High level points from the book:

Why do we struggle so with sin and not able to be holy?
1.    our attitude toward sin is more self-centered that God-centered
we are more concerned with our own “victory” over sin than we are about the fact that our sins grieve the heart of God
God wants us to walk in obedience, not victory.  Victory is a by-product of obedience
2.    we have misunderstood “living by faith” to mean that no effort at holiness is required on our part
3.    we do not take some sin seriously

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About each action and decision – ask

1. is it helpful
2. does it bring me under it’s power
3. does it hurt others
4. does it glorify God

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When reading Scripture – as you read ask these 3 questions
1.    What does this passage teach concerning God’s will for a holy life?
2.    How does my life measure up to that Scripture; specifically where and how do I fall short? (Be specific; don’t generalize)
3.    What definite steps of action do I need to take to obey?

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About breaking bad or forming new habits:

first principle: habits are developed and reinforced by frequent repetition
second principle: in breaking sinful habits and acquiring new ones is to never let an exception occur
avoid the “just this once” type of thinking
third principle: diligence in all areas is required to insure success in one area
last: don’t be discouraged by failure

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Last two chapters of The Pursuit of Holiness touch on making it stick in every day life. He admits that we are called to be holy while living in a very unholy world. Surrounded by images and values and actions trying to draw us away or beat us down. We must be aware and prepared for these assaults. We must have a plan, have conviction to live by our Christian values. He mentions that one way to do reinforce this is to publicly declare our status as a Christian. In a gracious manner, not to beat people with it. We do know that expectations will be different if it is known that we are (or say we are) Christian. Sure, it may lead some to try even harder to tempt us or to disgust us, but it also validates our response when we refuse the temptation. And most of the people want to see that obedience on our part, even while they are cynical enough to expect us to give in.

He also mentions that our response shouldn’t just be defensive. We are called to be salt and light and our steadfast witness is combating moral and spiritual decay. But he doesn’t mean shoving our faith on others. Interesting reading this chapter after this blog post from earlier today. She has some sharp comments, about the current need to convert as many people as necessary being a terribly impersonal and misguided (something stronger perhaps?) attitude today. And about the attitudes toward people who don’t live as if every single word had to be aimed at converting someone. We are called to live a holy life and hopefully others will be intrigued and encouraged by that. Many others will also be offended by that.

Bridges provides an example of Henry Clay Trumbull, an evangelist, riding on a train beside a young man  drinking quite steadily. Each time he would take a swig, the man would offer some to Trumbull who would politely decline. Notice, Trumbull didn’t frown in judgment or initiate some monologue telling the man how awful it was to be drinking so heavily. Finally the young man started the conversation, saying he supposed Mr. Trumbull thought he was a pretty touch fellow. Trumbull’s response was “I think you’re a most generous-hearted fellow.” That is a personal conversation, and probably a good bit of forbearance as well.

The way to live in this unholy world, as we’ve heard throughout this book, is to stay in the Word. Let the Word cleanse our minds of the pollution that surrounds us, and shape and encourage us to seek God and His glory.

The last chapter is about the joy of living a holy life. We should not be a depressed or sour people. If we are obeying God, we are living the only way that can bring true joy. If we are in rebellion against God, and sinning, then the pleasure will not last and the results will (eventually) catch up with us, here in this life and in eternity. But as we obey the will of God more, we will know more pleasure. That doesn’t mean life gets easier and shinier, but that what we count as joy changes.

I’ll let Bridges have the last word.

But to experience this joy, we must make some choices. We must choose to forsake sin, not only because it is defeating to us, but because is grieves the heart of God. We must choose to count on the fact that we are dead to sin, freed from its reign and dominion, and we can now actually say no to sin. We must choose to accept our responsibility to discipline our lives for obedience.

In reviewing my posts so far (it has been a little while since I found time to blog) I realized I skipped talking about chapter 8 of The Pursuit of Holiness. I understand why, given the topic I was trying to cover in chapter 9. But I did find chapter 8 to contain a very good point in those 4 pages.

The title of chapter 8 is Obedience – Not Victory.

The point is that if we use language like “victory over sin”, then we tend to use language like “defeated by sin”. That is passive voice victim whining right there. (my words, not the author’s)

Romans 8:13 says “you put to death the misdeeds of the body” making it clear there is work for us to do too. With the help of the Holy Spirit, as chapter 7 made clear. But very specifically in our will as chapter 8 makes clear. Chapter 9 and 10 points out ways we do it.

The wording we should use is obedience and disobedience. This put the responsibility squarely on our shoulders. We are defeated because we have chosen to disobey.

Chapter 9, covered in the previous post about this book, talked about the need for conviction and commitment.

Chapter 10 is all about discipline. If we are going to become obedient, it requires planning and effort. We don’t stop sinning overnight. There aren’t 3 easy steps to righteousness. There’s no pill or miracle machine that we can use. We have to just do it, and do it over and over until we start to get it right.

Discipline is not easy for me. Hard work and training even when something is hard is not my cup of tea. But the Bible is clear that we need to exercise discipline, we need to train, we need to put in the time and effort and perseverance necessary to change our patterns of living. In 1 Cor 9:25 says that like the athletes we must exercise self-control. Then 1 Tim 4:7 says we must train for godliness.

Bridges points out that all discipline begins with the Word of God, see 2Tim 3:16. That means a disciplined plan for intake of the Scriptures and for applying them to our lives. That means we need a planned time for being in the Scriptures every day. And we need a planned method of intake – hearing, reading, studying, memorizing are all different and are all necessary (not every single day maybe, but regularly).

And we must meditate on it – think about it and its application to life. This can be done during blocks of minutes throughout the day – a commute (not my short one down the hall) or while waiting for service somewhere. Remember that the objective of meditation is application – obedience to what the Word says. This requires discipline to change the patterns in our life.

He suggests that as you read ask these 3 questions

1. What does this passage teach concerning God’s will for a holy life?
2. How does my life measure up to that Scripture; specifically where and how do I fall short? (Be specific; don’t generalize)
3. What definite steps of action do I need to take to obey?

And he ends with the fact that a necessary ingredient of discipline is perseverance. We will always fail at the start. But we cannot stop, we have to get up and keep going. Know that it will take time, have a plan for getting back in the game. It’s like changing eating habits, just because you blow one meal isn’t reason to blow the rest of the day. And just because you blow one day doesn’t mean you might as well give up on the whole week, or month, or year. You start again from right now. Sinning is the same way. If you sin, acknowledge that you did, repent, and get back to your plan for working toward obedience in this area.

He also points out that the more we read and see God’s law, the more we will see just how far we fall short. Romans 7:15  describes our struggle. This isn’t meant to discourage us or make us give up. It should reassure us that what we are going through is normal and part of the ongoing daily battle. Keep working at it.

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My last post about this book was Feb 11. In that post I confessed my attitude at work and my intention to to fix that. Since the Holy Spirit is convicting me of this in just about everything I read lately, there is good reason to expect ready assistance from Him any time I cry out. And I do mean everything I am reading. This blog post by Octamom was just another place where the Holy Spirit was speaking directly to me.

So, I know I need to work on it, I’m actually keeping up with my Bible reading and memorization plans, and I even shared some plans with a friend for “catching” myself each time I have a fit. All of that means I have surely seen great success since then, right? Welllll, not exactly. Things have been busy and work is crazy, and really, if people would just read the documents I’ve written I wouldn’t have to repeat all of this to them over and over.

Now you know why I write these blog posts – to keep myself honest. I’m starting (again) and I’ll start (again) as many times as necessary. I will cry out to the Holy Spirit, I will pray for myself and the others that I’m frustrated with, I will stay in the Word. And there is no telling how long it will all take before I see victory. And even then I promise you there will be something more to work on.

It’s a lot of work, it’s hard, and it is worth it!

My sister (in-law for those keeping score) has a yoga studio and I love to go take a class when I can. (See my thoughts on yoga here.) I haven’t made it in the past few weeks due to a busy schedule, but today freed up so I headed down for her 9:30 class. The floor is cork, the lighting is just right, the atmosphere is good for a challenging and refreshing yoga practice.

One reason I headed down to Charlotte on what could be a day off is because my left hip started hurting (again) earlier this week. Nursing it hasn’t worked, so it was time to do something different/better. Yoga is strenuous in ways and comforting in ways, and usually a good balance for a body part that is sore.

I had a few thoughts while sweating and breathing and stretching.

Being content – in class and out of class

Early in the class Christine stated that our breathing and emotional state should be consistent throughout the practice and life. (not her exact words, it was a few hours ago.) It occurred to me that this sounds like the call to be content in all circumstances.

No, I do it myself!

Toward the end of class, as I tried to get into pigeon pose, I realized I often start a pose by tensing my muscles and struggling to get into the right position, knee over ankle, arms up or out or down, hips even or open, whatever it is. The struggle then is to stop struggling   I need to learn to relax into the pose. As I was doing this I meditated on the fact that I do the same when I try to live in my own strength. I struggle to do the right thing, have the right attitude, feel the right emotions. But I do better when I relax into the strength of the Holy Spirit. Again – not that I’m just taking it easy and kicking back. But I turn to the Holy Spirit for the help, guidance, and strength that I need. Then I trust that He is there, giving me the words or the patience or the wisdom.

And sometimes it’s just time for a good nap.