Seeking Perfection...

This past week I have read a couple articles on the church, and it's quest for perfection. I have seen, time and time again, people being paralyzed by their fear of the future- seeking God's perfect will for their life, along with trying to fit the mold of the "perfect" Christian- which is not even possible. We have to all come to terms with the fact that we are sinful, broken, and ugly people to our core. We are not able to function in this world without constantly coming to God and asking for forgiveness. We also cannot figure out God's will for our lives in some little neatly tied package- it will be revealed to us in it's entirety at the end of our lives. We just have to live day to day, and let him sanctify us-it's a slow process though. "Progressive sanctification" is what this is called. I just listened to a sermon by Matt Chandler on his Podcast about this. The name of the Podcast was called: "Ultimate Authority (Pt 4): Confronting the Mess"- in case you are interested in listening to it.

We have to "confront the mess" and realize that we are all broken people, and have to strive to draw closer to Him, day by day. Each morning we have new grace, new mercies. But, we should be longing and desiring His presence in our lives to complete us. Sometimes He has to break us down to nothing in order for us to allow Him to build us back up and put us back together. He humbles us. My pastor at my home church, Tim, talked about being humbled tonight. We are not supposed to be perfect beings, because if we were- we would gain too much pride, and not focus on glorifying HIM. We would be glorifying ourselves.

Anyways, I pray that every day this week I rest in contemplation on the fact that His mercies are new every morning, and that He will heal and forgive me for the sinful nature that seeps out of me. But, I always pray He strengthens me and molds me into a more mature Christian woman. I want to know Him better. I am trying really hard to focus on that, but it's easy to get caught up in distractions- like career, or friends, dating, etc. We all have some type of distraction. As soon as you can figure out what is keeping you from drawing closer to Him, try to distance yourself from it. I have realized that I am filled with a fear of being lonely or alone. It's extremely hard for me to sit still and be to myself. But, I am finding this solitude is extremely important in my growth as a Christian, because those are the times I can be alone with GOD and pray! Or meditate on scripture. I have really, honestly, been lacking in reading the Bible lately, and I need desperately to get filled with the Word again. So, I am praying for that passion to read the Word to come over me.

Here's the verse I was talking about above...

"Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." -Lamentations 3:22-23

Off to bed! Night!