The Good Of The Father (How Well Do You Know God?) # 2002

 In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and I in you 

Johns Account 14: 20, Concordant New Testament 

I had the discussion the other day with a fellow gym friend about how well he really knew God.  What got me questioning his knowing of the Father was his expressing of the false separation theology spoken by the mainstream church.  When I run across someone such as this, I can empathize with them because I too once knew OF God but did not know who He is.  So, who is God?  For many well-meaning Christians, God is someone they read about in the scriptures.  We pray to Him and usually have a basic, fundamental knowledge of Him.  He created me in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  He also created all it is that we will ever know {Genesis 1:1}.  Our knowledge of the Father will usually come from whichever version of the scriptures we choose to use.  I have a friend who is immersed in the Eastern Orthodox way of thinking.  When we talk of God, he will speak of the traditions which he and his family follow.  Yet the biggest issue which he will speak to me of continues to be that of his own sin.  I have the feeling that my friends image of God is based upon what has been spoken to by his pastor.  That there is indeed a separation between ourselves and God.  That it is our sin which has doomed us to this fate.  Again, I grew up learning about God in this environment.  For much of my life, my own view of God reflected the theology of the church.  My own view of God changed when I began to join in conversation with a friend who is a retired pastor.  This is where the confusion started.  For too many years I has been exposed to the sermons from the church pulpits.  Often, these sermons spoke of the theology of the church and not the true identity of the Father spoken to by the evangel of the apostle Paul.  One of the first scriptures that exposed me to the truth of the identity of the Father is found in Galatians.  Here, Paul speaks to the truth of Christ in him {Galatians 2:20}.  For someone who has been exposed only to church theology most of their life, this can be a tough verse to unpack.  Jesus in me?  Jesus within a sinner?  Turns out that a lot of what the church had taught me about God had been in error.  

With Christ have I been crucified, yet I am living; no longer I, but living in me is Christ.  Now that which I am now living in flesh, I am living in faith that is of the Son of God, Who loves me, and gives Himself up for me

Paul to the Galatians 2: 20, Concordant New Testament 

Some time ago, I penned a page which spoke of the lies which the church told me.  For this I received a lot of pushback.  How could I dare say that the church has lied?  Well, let me make one distinction here.  God is incapable of lying, not so the man-made church.  The bitter truth is that the church is filled and led by error prone humans.  Knowing this, how could we not expect that there would be falsehoods involved in their teachings?  I have witnessed far too many disgraced pastors fall from their thrones due to one mistake or another.  One thing which we can be assured of is that Jesus is the same today as He was yesterday {To the Hebrews 13:8}.  I could never make that claim about the church.  There is a reason which the apostle John speaks to "Testing the spirits to see if they are of God" {First Epistle of John 4:1}.  We are called upon to test the words of our pastors, or anyone for that matter, to see if they align with the truth of the Father.  For the record, the truth of our identity in God is that we have never been separated from Him.  The truth, spoken from Christ Jesus, is that our life in IN Him {Johns Account 14:20}.  It is this truth of the Father which many people I speak to have difficulty understanding.  Their focus is on what the church has taught them.  Man is sinful and that sin has separated us from God {Isaiah 59:2}.  To this I will answer, what about Jesus?  Paul has spoken to the truth that it is Jesus Who has died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  Knowing this, what sin is it that separates us from God?  For Paul proclaims in response to his proclamation that all have sinned {Paul to the Romans 3:23}, that we have been justified by the deliverance which is in Christ Jesus {Paul to the Romans 3:24}.  This is the truth of the Father we find in the evangel.  This is the God that I know. 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Those Damn Christians) # 2001

 

Religion has actually convinced people that there is a invisible man living in the sky watching everything you do, every minute of every day.  And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he doesn't want you to do.  And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever until the end of time!  But he loves you.  He loves you, and he needs money.  He always needs money.  He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing and all-wise, somehow he just can't handle money 

~George Carlin~ 

Somehow, I've become associated with one of "Them."  Despite the fact that what I believe in my heart speaks to a God seldom preached of in the mainstream church, I've become known as one of those damn Christians.  I see it as being guilty by association.  So, how is it that we've arrived at this point?  How is it that we who believe in God have become so reviled?  Well, I'd say that we as believers shoulder much of the blame for this.  We're the ones who have demeaned others in the name of the Lord.  We're the ones who have demanded a certain standard of behavior from others while seldom adhering to it ourselves.  All, of course, in the name of God.  Granted, not all believers fit this stereotype, just enough to leave a majority of the world with a bad opinion not only of the followers of the Lord, but of God Himself.  When I frequented the mainstream church, I was witness to many people who were shunned or turned away for one reason or another.  From the way you were dressed to the way you expressed your heart felt worship to the Lord, it seems as if someone was always critiquing you.  Like I said, I've been there.  This is not to say that every congregation is this judgmental, and I've been witness to a few that weren't.  Yet, somehow believers got it in their heads that we are not simply the voice of the Father speaking through us, but his mighty Christian soldiers ready to fight for His all-perfect plan for the world.  So it is that the almighty God, the creator of all which we see, has suddenly recruited the assistance of those who believe.  Does anyone but me see an issue with this?  Whatever happened to trusting in the Lord?  Whatever happened to trusting in God instead of fighting for what we perceive is His desire?  Somewhere along the way, the believers in the Lord got derailed.  

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but tests the spirits to see if they are of God, for many false prophets have come out into the world

First Epistle of John 4: 1, Concordant New Testament 

Like I said, I have found a belief in the Lord which is spoken by the apostle Paul in his evangel.  I can honestly say that this evangel is far different from that which I have heard spoken from any church pulpit.  It is Paul who speaks of our true image in Christ Jesus {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 3:18}.  It is the apostle John who speaks to the one true identity of our life in Him {Johns Account 14:20}.  Do not be misled that if you follow the truth of the evangel of Christ instead of the separation theology of the church that you are somehow going against the scriptures.  Nothing is further from the truth.  I believe in the truth of the spoken evangel that sin is no longer an issue for me {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  I believe that we have been created in the Fathers likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  I also believe that the mainstream church has been in error for speaking to our separation from God.  And it is this theology which we speak to the world.  A theology not of the true love of God, but of His judgement upon the world.  Folks, that ship has sailed!  We have been found guilty without a doubt.  Yet through the love and grace of the Father, He has provided our redemption through the sacrifice of the innocent on the cross {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}.  Make no mistake, God did not send Jesus into the world to judge it, but that ALL the world would be saved through Him {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  Jesus has also spoken that we are not to judge {Mathews Account 7:1-5}.  This means those who we feel are going against the Lord as well.  For God does not call on us to enforce His rules, but to exhibit His love through us {Johns Account 13:33-35}.  Do this, and we might not be seen as those damn Christians.  

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (What about Jesus?) # 2000

 

Now He said, also, to some that have confidence in themselves that they are just, and are scorning the rest, this parable:  "Two men went up into the sanctuary to pray, the one a pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee, standing, prayed this to himself, 'God, I am thanking you that I am not even as the rest of these men, rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tribute collector.  I am fasting twice of a sabbath.  I am taking tithes from all whatever I am acquiring.'  Now the tribute collector, standing afar off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his chest, saying, 'God, make a propitiatory shelter for me, the sinner!'  I am saying to you, this man descended to his home justified, rather than that one, for everyone who is exalting himself shall be humbled, yet he who is humbling himself shall be exalted." 

Lukes Account 18: 9-14, Concordant New Testament 

A good friend of mine sent an article to me the other day written by a man speaking to the "One thing separating most people from God."  Now, before even reading the article, I knew what his spin would be.  As I have written before, the mainstream church has made a business out of preaching the separation theology which claims that we have been separated from God somehow.  To back up their absurd claim, they often turn to the prophet Isaiah who speaks to the sins of God have caused the Lord to "Hide My face from you" {Isaiah 59:2}.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Notice that one of the scriptures that those within the church use to illustrate the false theology is taken from the Old Testament.  When I see this I often ask, well, what about Jesus?  For we know that it is Jesus Whom the Father dispatched to deal with that sin issue through His own death on the cross {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  So, how is it that you can continue to claim the judgements of the Old Testament while ignoring the saving sacrifice of Christ?  Can anyone besides me see the absurdity in this?  I am constantly talking with so called believers who adhere to the practice of stressing themselves in prayers for the forgiveness of their sins.  Well, what about Jesus?  Have you ever heard of Him?  Better yet, have you ever known Him?  For if you had known the truth spoken by the apostle Paul in his evangel, you would more than likely think twice about your own views of sin.  It is Paul who proclaims that Christ has died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  I have had the unique perspective in my own life to have seen both sides of that fence.  I have sat through countless Sunday sermons which spoke to my separation from God.  I have even feared for the loss of my own salvation as a result of these false teachings.  When I read articles like the one in question, I can see that the author is steeped in the separation theology of the mainstream church because I've been there myself.  But here's the kicker, I found the truth.  Through the help of that same good friend who sent me the article, I have been able to separate the truth from the false theology spoken from the church.  

In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you

Johns Account 14: 20, Concordant New Testament 

While the mainstream church speaks to sin separating us from God, the evangel of Christ Jesus proclaims that it is He who has given Himself willingly out of His love for us {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}.  Make no mistake, Jesus IS that sin offering.  Jesus IS our propitiatory shelter {Lukes Account 9:13}.  I find it interesting that the same organization which claims to believe in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross will so boldly deny that sacrifice through their own teachings.  Think I'm off base?  Has not Jesus come to perish on the cross for the forgiveness of sin, yes or no?  If you believe that Jesus indeed has given Himself for the forgiveness of sin, then you may just be on your way to knowing the truth of the evangel.  I say might because there are plenty of followers in the church who believe in the sacrifice of Jesus yet continue to adhere to the separation theology.  You might be saying to yourself, "But what about my past?"  Well, Paul speaks to this in Colossians.  Paul speaks to the Father 'vivifying us together with Him, dealing graciously with all our offenses' {Paul to the Colossians 2:13}.  If Jesus has given Himself to sin "Once for all time" as Paul proclaims, we can trust that He has defeated our sin past, present and future.  How many times will you send Jesus to that cross over some sin which has already been forgiven?  We should be in prayer graciously thanking God for His deliverance from our former state.  Yes, all have sinned {Paul to the Romans 3:23}.  But Paul also speaks to our being justified through the deliverance that we find in Christ Jesus {Paul to the Romans 3:24}.  Therefore, I hold to the truth of the evangel that I have never been separated from my creator.  

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Never Good Enough For God) # 1999

 

Who rouses Him from among the dead, you also being dead to the offenses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He vivifies us together jointly with Him, dealing graciously with all our offenses, erasing the handwriting of the decrees against us, which was hostile to us, and has taken it away out of the midst, nailing it to the cross

Paul to the Colossians 2: 13-14, Concordant New Testament 

How good do you need to be in order to be accepted by God?  Those in the church are fond of telling us that if we behave badly that we can and will lose our salvation.  The other day I had a conversation with a gym rat friend who mentioned to me that he didn't believe in God at all.  Before I tossed this man onto the growing pile of non-believers, I asked him why he felt that way.  His response surprised even me.  It seems that someone close to him had died a few years ago, and that his prayers had gone unanswered for their healing.  I can empathize with him, as I felt the same way when my mother passed away.  But my friend also didn't believe that God could ever love a man like him who had done so many wrong things.  Again, the church has done us zero favors in this arena.  We've been raised in a religious system where the good are rewarded and the guilty are judged and punished.  I see my friend as a victim of that system even if he has never known God before.  All around him are the so-called believers who preach verses of hell and punishment if he doesn't behave in a Godly way.  I used to be among that crowd when I was in the church.  But who could blame me?  This is how I was taught.  The church is filled with those whose idea of gathering souls for God is to shame people into submission.  But what is it that the Father thinks?  The apostle Paul speaks to the salvation of the lowly and downtrodden among us, that He has raised Christ from the dead and gathers us unto Him {Paul to the Colossians 2:14-14}.  He has also wiped the slate clean of our offenses and the judgement which those in the church continue to hold over our heads.  Many people who continue to congregate the church will bristle at the mere suggestion that they will judge people.  That's Gods job! they shout for all to hear.  But what should I think of someone who vehemently speaks to my losing my salvation if I don't behave in a Godly fashion?  Isn't that placing ourselves in Gods judgement seat?  Yet this is a story for another day.  What I reminded my friend of when he revealed that he was a bad person unworthy of Gods love was who he was in the eyes of the Father.  For in Gods sight, he isn't who unloved, but loved {Paul to the Romans 5:8}.  

Religion has actually convinced people that there is a invisible man living in the sky watching everything you do, every minute of every day.  And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he doesn't want you to do.  And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever until the end of time!  But he loves you.  He loves you, and he needs money.  He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing and all-wise, somehow he just can't handle money 

~George Carlin~ 

The sad fact remains that far too many people have been convinced of the false separation theology spoken by the church than those who have known the truth of the evangel of Christ Jesus spoken by the apostle Paul.  So it is that I am never surprised when I hear of someone who lives in despair, ashamed of how they think God sees them.  There is a reason that I spoke the truth to my friend of how it is that the Father looks at him.  This could be the first crack in the wall of deception that those in the church have built around him.  The wall which separates him from God.  That wall which has been built up by those in the mainstream church.  I know of what I speak, for I was a victim of this theology for years.  I've been in my friends shoes.  It wasn't until Jesus was revealed in my life that I began to see the truth.  With the help from a good friend, the evangel of Christ was revealed to me.  This is not something you'd hear from a pastor some Sunday morning.  No, this is the truth revealed to us of how the Father looks upon His children with love and grace.  No matter how far you think you've fallen in your life, the truth we find in the Father reveals to us that we are not sinners, but His loved child {First Epistle of John 3:1}.  We also do well to know that there is nothing which will ever take away that which the Father has freely given unto us through His Son Jesus.  It is Jesus who has that judgement upon Himself at the cross {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}.  Paul speaks to Jesus having died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  It is Jesus Who has taken the shame and punishment upon Himself for our sake.  What remains is our life in Him {Johns Account 14:20}.  

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (A Love Freely Given) # 1998

 

He who is not loving knew not God, for God is love 

First Epistle of John 4: 8, Concordant New Testament 

The conversation this past week centered around marriage and the love between two people involved.  I have been blessed in my life to have come to know a few Godly men who have been married for many years.  It is these brothers to whom I often turn to when seeking advice not only on the possibility of marriage but on relationships as well.  When I talk with those who have not been married very long there is a unique difference in how they often describe their relationship with their spouse.  A gym rat friend recently spoke to his need to earn the love and affection of his wife of only a few years.  Granted, I am not privy to the inner circles of their relationship, but this sounded strange to me.  How would someone who has promised to love another person until death do them part ever feel as if they needed to earn the love of the other?  Well, in the context of what we've come to know as church and religion, this is exactly what we've been taught about our own relationship with God.  The fact that we have to earn His love.  I've spent many a Sunday morning listening to one pulpit pounder after another threaten me with losing my salvation if I didn't behave in a way pleasing to God.  Sadly, there are many well-meaning Christians out there who have resorted to finding love and acceptance from another person instead of realizing the love which has been freely given to us from the Father.  The apostle John goes so far as to speak to the one nature of God, which is love {First Epistle of John 4:8}.  Indeed, I would offer that it is His live for us which drives all which the Father does.  It is through His love for us that we were created in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  It is also through His love for us that He dispatched His Son to be that propitiation for our sin {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  God does not seek payment for that which He freely gives to us.  It is the knowing of the Fathers love for me that has brought me through many a tough time.  It is that realization of His love that has revealed to me that my value and worth are not determined by how others around me perceive me.  I am His child, and He loves me as His own {First Epistle of John 3:1}. 

Yet God, being rich in mercy, because of His vast love with which He loves us (we also being dead to the offenses and the lusts), vivifies us together in Christ (in grace are you saved!) 

Paul to the Ephesians 2: 4-5, Concordant New Testament 

I cannot imagine a life lived where my own self-worth was dictated by someone else.  Yet this is the point where I was before my life in Him was revealed to me.  I would look to those around me for the acceptance I desired.  It was their opinions of me which often drove my own feelings of self-worth.  If they didn't like me, I all too often didn't like myself too much.  I look back on my conversation with my friend this week and I see those same struggles in him.  Each day fighting for the right to earn the love of someone who has vowed to love him forever.  I will note that my friend is one of those who knows about God, but has never known Him in that personal way in which I have come to know Him.  Therefore, I can see his own struggles in those which I once faced.  I have taken it upon myself to remind him of the Fathers love for him at each and every opportunity.  My prayer is that God will open his heart to that revelation of His love for us.  Although it seems sad and tragic to be involved in a relationship where we feel the need to validate the love of another, this is where we find ourselves.  Social media is thick with people who struggle with the acceptance of others each and every day.  Clicking that "Like" button has become more important to most people than actually liking someone for who they are.  For their part, the mainstream church speaks to God having His own like button.  He will click His like button in our favor if we behave in a way which pleases Him.  However, if we don't, His approval of us will wane to the point that our own freely given salvation could be in doubt.  This is what religion has taught us!  I am grateful that I have the truth of His love in my heart.  The truth not of the acceptance of others, but of a love freely given. 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (All Things) # 1997

 

Trillions and trillions of prayers every day asking and begging and pleading for favors.  'Do this' 'Gimme that' 'I want a new car' 'I want a better job'.  And most of this praying takes place on Sunday.  And I say fine, pray for anything you want.  Pray for anything.  But...what about the divine plan?  Remember that?  The divine plan.  Long time ago God made a divine plan.  Gave it a lot of thought.  Decided it was a good plan.  Put it into practice.  And for billions and billions of years the divine plan has been doing just fine.  Now you come along and pray for something.  Well, suppose the thing you want isn't in Gods divine plan.  What do you want Him to do?  Change His plan?  Just for you?  Doesn't it seem a little arrogant?  It's a divine plan.  What's the use of being God if every run-down schmuck with a two-dollar prayer book can come along and fuck up your plan? 

~George Carlin~ 

It's one of the most commonly asked questions in Christianity.  How is it that God can allow bad things to happen to good people?  How is it that God can allow such suffering in the world?  Indeed, I've often had difficulty in explaining to others the answer to these questions.  Mainly because I myself was unsure of that answer.  For I have often prayed for the Fathers provision in certain areas of my life.  Before my mother passed away, I did exactly what those in the church instructed me to do, I prayed that God would heal her from her pain.  I was not seeking something for myself, only that my mother would be free of her suffering.  The night she passed away, I was not only filled with sadness, but an anger at God which I had never felt before.  How could God simply ignore my prayer and take my mother from me?  Had I not prayed for her healing?  Had God abandoned me in my time of need despite proclaiming that He would never leave me nor forsake me?  In my time of mourning, it certainly seemed that way to me.  Then, a good friend from the church spoke something to me.  What had happened had been according to His will for her.  What?  Killing someone is according to Gods will?  It wasn't until some time later that God revealed to me that He had indeed answered my prayer, just not in the way I had been expecting.  My mother was now free of her sickness and pain, which was what I had been praying for all along.  I have no doubt that God knew even before time began everything that would transpire through the passing of my mother.  As believers, we know that God knows all things.  Nothing will ever escape His notice.  The author J Preston Eby describes Gods plan for the ages.  The apostle Paul writes of this divine plan in Ephesians {Paul to the Ephesians 3:8-11}.  So, how is it that God can allow such suffering into His creation?  That's been His plan all along.  I know that this sounds like a somewhat trite answer to the question, but it is nonetheless accurate.  Throughout history we have been witness to the unfolding of the plans of the Lord.  The failed plans of Satan to overcome God.  The disobedience of His creation in the garden and the reconciliation through Christ Jesus which He ordained from the beginning.  When we have this revelation, we can be assured of the words of Paul that God is working all together for the good {Paul to the Romans 8:28}.  

To me, less than the least of all saints, was granted this grace: to bring the evangel of the untraceable riches of Christ to the nations, and to enlighten all as to what is the administration of the secret, which has been concealed from the eons in God, Who creates all, that now may be made know to the sovereignties and the authorities among the celestials, through the ecclesia, the multifarious wisdom of God, in accord with the purpose of the eons, which He makes in Christ Jesus, our Lord 

Paul to the Ephesians 3: 8-11, Concordant New Testament 

One of the most difficult scriptures I've ever had to unpack are the words of Paul we find in Romans 8:28.  That God will work all together for good for those who are loving Him.  Really?  How is death, pain and violence considered working all for our good?  Again, this is a question often asked by well-meaning Christians looking for that simple answer to the troubles of life.  Of course, the answer to this question may just be too complex for them to handle.  That God created all from the beginning.  That He indeed had a purpose for His creation.  We might live in a black and white reality, but God doesn't work in that way.  All too often, that which we feel is best for us is not what the Father has in mind for our life in Him.  Our decisions are often based upon physical possessions and emotions.  If we were to strip away these filters, then perhaps we could see through the eyes of the Father just what He desires for us.  Instead of praying for that new car, how about praying for the Lord to open our eyes to that good which he has for us?  Why?  Because to do this provides no immediate physical reward for us.  Indeed, knowing of a gift is not as good as receiving one.  Yet we can be assured that the God who created all according to His desire for our good will also make known unto us What His desire for us is in His timing.  

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (The Devils Choice) # 1996

 

Be observing accurately, then, brethren, how you are walking, not as unwise, but as wise, reclaiming the era, for the days are wicked.  Therefore do not become imprudent, but understand what the will of the Lord is

Paul to the Ephesians 5: 15-17, Concordant New Testament 

I have many well intended Christians speak to how we should be seeking the Lords help for delivering us from whatever addiction we might be facing.  In the church I used to attend, there was a small group whose intention it was to assist those who found themselves in recovery from addiction.  While I agree that we should pray for Gods help in delivering us from whatever addictions that we may face, I believe also that we are speaking about addiction that we're missing the point.  When we come to the realization that we are making choices that are destructive to us, we often seek the help of the Lord.  We do well for doing that.  I have a brother who I have been in prayer over for some time.  It's no secret among his brothers and friends that he has a history of making terrible choices when it comes to his own addiction to alchohol.  In my case, I can and have emphasized with my brother because there was a time when I too made life choices that led to my own addiction.  When it came to my own addiction to pornography, I often struggled as to why the Lord would allow me to suffer through that hell.  I can only imagine the struggles and questions which my friend is asking of the Father these days.  But what many in the Christian community have been missing is that the addictions we suffer are all too often a result of our own choices we make.  Yes, God is all in all, but He has also created us in His very likeness, with the ability to make choices for ourselves {Genesis 1:27}.  This is why it is a good thing when we come to that realization of our own self-destructive behavior that we seek the help of the Lord through prayer.  In my own addiction, I knew that I what I was doing went against what the Lord had planned for me.  I chose the flesh and not the Lord.  This is the devils choice.  Does this mean that our choices led to our own separation from God?  Not at all.  Those within the mainstream church will tell us that it is our sin which leads us into separation from the Lord.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Yet through our own choices, we choose to accept this lie of the church as truth.  

For all am I strong in Him Who is invigorating me -- Christ! 

Paul to the Ephesians 4: 13, Concordant New Testament 

Those who know me have asked me more than a few times how it is that I overcame my own addiction.  I have one simple answer them...Jesus.  I recall standing outside that strip club that night, about to feed my addiction once again, when I suddenly had the thought that this was not the man that I really was.  At the time I wasn't aware of just who I was, but I had the feeling that my choices of the flesh were not a part of it.  Something changed in me that night.  I often feel that this must have been how the apostle Paul felt when he looked back on his trip down that road to Damascus.  That man Saul wasn't who he truly was.  Paul speaks to this in Galatians, that "When it delights God," that He would reveal His son in him {Paul to the Galatians 1: 15-16}.  I believe that my own life followed the similar path as Paul's life did.  So, what can Paul's experience teach us about our own addictions?  Well, first, that there is always room for God to reveal unto us how He looks upon us and not how the world sees us.  Whenever I come across someone in the struggle of addiction, my first question is always, "Who do you see when you look in the mirror?"  More often than not, others will tell me that they see a failure rejected by God because of their sin.  They've chosen to accept the lie of the deceiver.  When I stood outside that building that night, I knew in that moment that something had changed.  I wasn't that guy I thought I had been.  In that moment, the Father opened the door to an entire new reality for me.  My life is not in the world, but in the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  Those in the church will tell me that my sin has separated me from God.  The evangel of Christ Jesus assures me that Jesus has given Himself once for the sin of all {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  

~Scott~