STOP TRYING TO BE WHO WE CAN NEVER BE!

      I know what you are going to say. There will be those who shoot for perfection, who tell us that we are commanded to be like Christ, (which we are not). Or some will say, "We should be like Paul." Both are wrong. You have to know how I think to know who I'm going for here, and if anyone has read any of my blogs, will know I'm shooting for way less.  I'll try briefly to explain, but don't hold out hope on the briefly part.  Don't you think that Jesus knows that we cannot be like him or think like him? (Isaiah 55:8-9). 

      Jesus did NOT have a sinful nature. He was fully human but without a sinful nature. Theologically speaking, many say that GOD put Jesus in Mary's womb because the sinful nature comes from the father. I tend to believe that. Who was called on the carpet first? When did Adam and Eve realize they were naked, after her bite or his? Case closed.  This is very controversial, because many say he was perfect and without sin because he was created pure, but Grampie Heli’'s seed was in that ovary, so, he was FULLY human. The point is that Jesus never sinned. It wasn't because he couldn't, as in not physically able, it was because he couldn't in order to fulfill the purpose for which he was sent.

     In my personal opinion, although I love Paul as a brother in Christ, but, if I was going to church with him, we would not be friends. You can love your sibling in Christ and not be buddies that hang out.  I appreciate the fact that GOD chose him and trained him and used him to write 1/3 of the New Testament, but I think Christians have taken Paul way out of context and follow him as if he was as perfect as Christ. Too many Christians hang on every word he wrote when they have no context as to why he wrote it.  Reading the New Testament Epistles from Paul is like looking at a Jeopardy board, but never knowing the questions.  People who attain to be like Jesus or Paul are looking for perfection in themselves and demanding it others. That's usually when that ugly little pride virus attacks their heart, and it’s damaged sometimes for good.

     Paul’s words are Divinely Inspired, but they are not Torah within themselves. They come from a combination of the teachings of Torah, and the current Jewish mindset of that day.  Paul was taught the purity of TORAH, but, he was  taught the philosophy of Halakha. Most Christians teach as if Paul re-wrote The TORAH, which means instructions.  Even Jesus, when he went to Hebrew school, learned Halakha, hence why when he was twelve, he was at the Temple, attempting to straighten out the Teachers of the Law then.   We, like our children, have selective hearing when it comes to the Word of GOD, and we choose to hear only what we want to hear, or what we are taught to hear.  We choose what to hear from Jesus, most of the time. and it has to be to our liking, or we ad-lib a little and throw our opinion in there. People have said they find comfort in Paul’s epistles. Well I don’t, I never have.  Paul suffered and he had a sinful nature. He despaired at times, and he triumphed through GOD grace which was sufficient for his weaknesses. Just read, study and memorize Romans chapter 7, whenever you feel like you can't measure up. 

   Me, on the other hand, I choose to follow the leading of the flawed leaders, the ones who messed up, but had a heart after GOD's own heart. The Bible is full of screw-ups that GOD used to prove His grace and power working through humans who were a freaking mess. Jacob is my favorite mess, because it took 100 years for him to get it right. If I was going to live that long, it would take me longer. David, on the other hand was a bit more of a mess than Jacob. Besides being an adulterer, he did far worse things before he sat on the throne, and it was despair that made him do it.  Even before the Ziglag fiasco, he had already had three wives. He collected more after taking the throne, and even had concubines. All those wives and that male ego caused him many more errors of judgment than we will ever know.  He had sons who raped, murdered and forged an insurrection against him.  David fell into despair so many times, we can’t count them all, but the Book of Psalms exhibits quite a few of them.  David had a prodigal road in 1 Samuel 27, that would make most men today look like absolute saints.  David was promised the throne by GOD and anointed by Samuel one of the great ones, and yet, he believed that Saul would kill him so he hid behind enemy lines. He became a traitor for 16 months. He murdered for profit, and he made sure that no one was left alive to rat him out.  So, to put it mildly, David was a mass murderer, killing innocent babies, women, children, and men who were minding their own business, just trying to make a living and take care of their families. GOD never instructed or called David to this holy war, he took it upon himself, and skimmed off the top, and yet, what do we know about him?  What are we constantly reminded about him?  David knew how to repent, and repent well.  He was force fed much humble pie, and to this day, he has the best title of any ordinary flawed man, "A man after GOD's own heart."  If we make that our goal, then all our mistakes can only make us better people, not worse ones. 

     Every time the devil's minions tried to make me hate myself, GOD would always be there the next morning with new mercies, reminding me that trying to be like David was goal enough for me.   GOD doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, but he did give David a piece of his own medicine when He allowed Ziglag to be burned and all of the women and children to be taken hostage, yet, in GOD's grace, none of them died, which was a far better fate than what David did to those he killed in the villages he plumaged.  In this life, we will suffer the consequences of our bad decisions, that's inevitable, but we will also enjoy the rewards of our good ones, even more so.