Sanctum

Sanctum

Recently I  had the epiphany that I was trying figure out the God of all creation, to plot his movements in my life, and calculate common trends. Sort of like a weatherman does the weather. The last couple years of my journey  with Christ has truthfully been a battle of finding some rest and reprieve from myself, to capture what I think holiness and righteousness looks like. Regiments of discipline, and a rule and order for action have all been my self prescribed way of keeping my self to a standard worthy of my calling as a believer and lover of Christ. What I failed to realize is that I had forgotten my first love, or rather I had forgotten why Christ loved me. No matter the dissiapointments, shortcomings, and out right sin in my life, Christ took me as I was at the point of my conversion. He allowed me to come to him, as broken as I was, so that I could be cleansed. It is  Hebrews 6 and 7 that gives us glimpse into the old testament, of the regulations the priests would have to perform to make themselves clean first, and then the people’s souls they were responsible in atoning for. I likewise for sometime have had a habit of ritualizing my reading of scripture, my prayers, and the way in which I approached my problems on a day to day level. I wanted to make myself clean enough and good enough to talk to God in the “inner sactuary”. Hebews 6:19-20 says this “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,  where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

Life had seemed to be unfruitful and uneventful at times because God seemed distant, I had forgotten very  easily that a faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior was the only way to “bridge the gap”, and become clean enough to enter into the holy of holies. I somehow missed it in the book of life where it said I must repent of my sins, and have faith in our Lord and Savior as the only atonement, FOREVER.

My conversion point, and other moments of sin called my attention to the cross, but moments in between had me focusing on myself, and what I could bring to God’s harvest table.

I’ve repented of my American Dream cookie cutter Christianity which breeds complacency and sins of ommision. I’ve repented of my sins of commision, where I gave my doubts, fears and thoughts a playground to roam in the physical. Now I repent of my unbelief, faithlessness to my Savior, and an overall distrust.

The question came to mind last week, why would he send his only begotten son if he didn’t love us? Willingly sacrificing anyone’s life is the tallest order of sacrifice ever known in the history of man. My pastor Bill Copeland gave us a picture at the beginning of his sermon about Clint Eastwood’s character in a western coming into town from the desert, taking a bath at the nearest inn, and putting on the same dirty clothes.  This is our story as humans in a broken and fallen world, with pasts that were once broken and pathetic representations of what our lives could be in Christ.

Life on Earth is not perfect, and will never be for that matter. We will go through boughts with depression, fear and anxiety will loom when the bank account wains, and of course we will come face to face with mortality when a loved one passes on into eternity. The Great Comforter, a gift from Christ himself, and his Great Atonement on the cross, allow us to overcome a great deal of our sinful and fallen natures, and many trials and tribulation, in spite of ourselves.

The kicker is that faith is the only way we can put on clean and white robes of righteousness, which over time God uses to produce in us and through us the fruits of the spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22. A faith in Christ translates into a trust in the Father and his will for my life.

God gave me a word recently to focus on what God making me to be, instead of my unhealthy focus on only my shortcomings, pitfalls, and fears of things I can’t control or influence greatly.

The sanctum is defined as a holy place, the place where we enter in to commune with the Living God. With my tailor made robe of righteousness on, I step into the center of his will for my life, in good deeds, prayer and Christ like sacrifice, for the Glory of God and enjoyment of all men.

Enter In with a new found joy and a peace founded in the fact that it has been finished, and the work of the cross, and the will of God is going to bring about a work of completion.