Nature or Nature?

Hello peoples!

So.. With all that's been happening lately, and everything being said in the media about "dirty cops", riots, racism, injustice, and everything else, I keep thinking about something my father said a long time ago that seems very fitting:

"The people who tell us that humans evolved from animals are the same exact people who turn around and are SHOCKED when humans act like animals."

 And it's so true, isn't it? People spend their whole lives digging up research and facts to prove that we share common ancestry with monkeys, and that we are just slightly more evolved. These people stare into the face of humanity, boldly declare that we are evolved from animals, and then go completely shell-shocked when a riot brakes out over the death of one man, and the choice to not imprison another. We are SO floored by this concept and we demand answers.

Look around at humanity demanding justice! Everywhere there are people who are angry and confused. "How could this happen?" "This isn't right!" "Why is this person behaving in this manner?" We don't understand why people will act the way they do out of fear and anger.

We go about several different ways to try to find the answer. We watch trial videos, read interviews and reports, and pitch in our two cents to explain how we "Have the answer, and everybody is wrong except me, and you have to listen because I am very much informed now." after having spent the last half hour looking over jury notes and court case details with our morning cup of PG Tips English breakfast tea... Or whatever you drink. I'm not gonna judge you.

As an adult, and an American citizen, I absolutely believe it is our right, and beyond that, our obligation to be informed about what is happening around us. I believe in justice. If you have done something wrong, you need to pay the price. I am convinced, from what I have studied, that each of us is born with a sense that there is justice, and it must be implemented. We must have a reaction when there is an action.

But I also believe that, as a human being, we need to know what is at the heart of the issue that is going on here.

The issue is not justice .. Well, I mean, it partly is.. But the actual problem starts way before justice.

The problem, ladies and gents, is where we come to the conclusion of why people do what they do. How did we get to this point in the first place? It raises questions like: "Why did the people in Ferguson riot and destroy their own city when Officer Wilson was not charged with the murder of Michael Brown?" or "Why do the members of Isis murder the lives of innocent children?"
We know "why" they do this - it's because they are _fill in the blank_

-Angry
-Sad
-Hurt
-Scared

We know in general why people react to situations. But what we need to ask is "why do people react in violence when they are _fill in the blank_?" What causes us to lash out at others when we are frustrated, or what causes us to act a fool and throw a TV through a shop window when we are angry?

Do we act this way because it is a biological nature? To act like animals... because we are animals? What a crass thought. Comparing ourselves to creatures with nothing but raw emotion? No creative thought process, or ability to control ourselves.
I don't know about you, but this option doesn't make sense at all to me. Because we do have that ability to judge whether or not something is a smart move. We watch documentaries on the Discovery channel and I can GUARANTEE that each of you has at one point said out loud "Don't go over there, antelope! You're gonna get killed by those lions!"
Coming home from work, driving down the street and a bunny runs out in front of your car, causing you to have to slam on the brakes in order to avoid murdering Peter Cottontail. What's the first thing you think to yourself? "Dumb rabbit, I almost killed you!"

Do you see what I am saying? Our minds are not set up like the minds of animals. We can process words, we can learn languages, we can recognize people from years after not seeing them! We can memorize Shakespeare, learn new instruments, go fishing, drive, snowboard, run on two legs.... Operate heavy machinery!

 Guys.. We flippin figured out how to show emotion through written word by the use of punctuation!!

All I'm saying is to give credit where credit is due.. You are special. There is no way that I can see, how, even after "Millions of years" One species could evolve enough to do ALL of those things, when other species can't evolve to do even one.

So, coming back to what I was saying earlier about biological nature, it seems to me a foolish thing to blame "animal instinct" on something that we make a conscious decision to do.

But what if we look at it from a different perspective? What if we look, not at biological nature, but "human nature".  We've heard different descriptions of what human nature is, we've all heard the song by MJ "When they say, why? why? tell em' that it's human nature" You know what I am talking about.

It's the way we act as untouched, left-to-ourselves human beings.

Genesis Chapter 1 gives us the clear understanding of how we came to be. Humans! Who were in perfect fellowship with God, our Creator. He made us intricately and lovingly. He gave us minds that were intelligent, arms and legs that were strong, hands and fingers that could move, tear, place, cup, tickle, snap, brush off, clap, touch.. He gave us beautiful , perfect minds and bodies, and He made us in His own flawless design. *sigh*.. I have to pause a second because whenever I go through that in my mind, just how painstakingly we were fashioned, I don't know how anyone could want to believe that we were an accident, and evolved from pond goop. The thought is irrational.

Moving forward in Genesis, we learn about how we came to have the "Human Nature" we do now. Adam an Eve, God's first created humans, chose to sin against a Holy God, and thusly, sealed the fate for the rest of mankind. Our state, in it's creation, was that of  "passe non peccare/posse peccare" from the Latin, meaning it was possible for us to sin, and it was possible for us to not sin. God chose, in His sovereign wisdom, to give us volition in that area. We had the choice. And the first time that the option came up, that is mentioned in the Bible... What do we do? We mess it up. Causing mankind to fall into a state of "non passe non peccare"  meaning that it is now impossible for us to not sin.

This makes the term Human Nature synonymous with the term Sin Nature. It is us deceiving ourselves into thinking that we can create our own justice, and our own way of carrying it out.

Jeremiah 17:9 says that "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?

We know from the Word of God that there is a sin issue in this world. Humans, in their fallen, untouched, human nature, will act like untouched fallen humans. When left to our own devices, sinful emotions will always result in wicked actions.
Sinful human nature means that when we are angry about the results of a trial, we want people to feel our anger, so we do what we thing will make them understand! We lash out, we hurt, we destroy in order to try to make others feel as bad as we do.

In our sin filled, human nature, we seek out earthly vengeance and label it "justice".

It is not our biological nature, but our SIN nature that causes us to rationalize these actions that are so destructive and evil.

It is not animal instinct, but wickedness that would cause a man to think that slaughtering a CHILD could be a stepping stone to success.

It is not us... Channeling our inner beast that makes us riot in the streets with the express intent of causing chaos and injury. It is the sinful, fallen nature of a human being who denies his Maker, and runs away from the beautiful mercy that is offered.

How... How beautiful of a thing  would it be if there was no more of this? No more violence, no more pain and suffering for the innocent. No more injustice. No more hate, or anger?
We are promised that this will not happen on this earth. Mankind is full of sin, and sinners will act like sinners, and we cannot expect anything else.

The hope, my friends, is the amazing Gospel. The simple truth that God, who is rich in mercy and righteousness, came to earth as a perfect man, and died the death  that we deserve. Cancelled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. When He died, He took our sin on Himself. When He rose again, He showed that He was qualified to do so.

Our God is a just God. Our sins demanded a payment, and He paid it in full, redeeming us from the consequences of our sins. Talk about justice huh?

The hope that we have, is in trusting in the God Who created us, to take away the sin that now plagues us. Asking forgiveness from the One Whom we have sinned against (Psalm 51), and asking for Him to put into us a new life. A life that lives for something more than the ordinary. To live a life committed to showing others the miraculous truth of God's life changing mercy.
A life lived in Christ does not mean that we will cease from all sin. But it means that we have new life that is guided into the righteousness of Christ.

I just want to leave you with this final thought:

God is good. Right? And there is good in every situation because He is good, and He is at work. We can trust Him to do good.

1 Peter 4:19 - Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

My Mood vs My Joy

"Moods nearly always are rooted in some physical circumstance, not in our true inner self. It is a continual struggle not to listen to the moods which arise as a result of our physical condition, but we must never submit to them for a second. We have to pick ourselves up by the back of the neck and shake ourselves; then we will find that we can do what we believed we were unable to do. The problem that most of us are cursed with is simply that we won’t."

Oswald Chambers - My Utmost For His Highest - May 20

 I once heard a quote that said "We cant let our circumstances dictate whether or not we are joyful." It was such a simple saying but it has had a constant impact on my life because it's so stinkin' true! There is no such thing as a perfect day, and if we wait around for one in order to be joyful then we will live our entire lives in a self dug pit of depression, anxiety, worry,  anger... The list goes on and on, but the point I'm trying to make is that if we are not fighting EVERY SINGLE DAY then we will be absolutely consumed by our own sinful thoughts and fears.

We don't wait to take care of our responsibilities until we "feel" like doing them. I am no expert, but I feel like if Jesus had waited until He "felt" like going to Calvary... We might have been waiting a while. The reality is that our circumstances change. They change for better or for worse. A lot of the time we look at what God is doing in our lives, and the trials He puts us through and we become discouraged because it's "not what my life is supposed to look like!".. I HATE that... I really do! Because I am so guilty of that so often! I look at Pinterest and scan through the interior design ideas and look at all the pretty things I could do. I sit and I think "I could totally do that if..." It's that little word: "if". It gets us all thinking, doesn't it? "IF I only had the money to do that", "If I only had a job that paid enough for me to be able to do that", "If only my husband had a job that paid enough for me to be able to do that", "If only I had a husband!"... If, if, if...

That stupid little word.. Who would have thought that two letters could start such an Indiana Jones style rock slide of discontentment?

And the sad thing is that most of the time we let it run its course! We don't fight it like we need to be doing. We become bitter, sad, melancholy, and discontent because we listen to closely to how our moods tell us to feel. 

I keep thinking of the verse in 2 Corinthians that says "But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 

How amazing is it that I have a God who makes His power perfect in my weakness? I sit and let myself be berated by sinful, ugly thoughts and here is my King looking down on me with mercy and compassion, and works in me to make me holy like Him despite that??

As good little Christians, we all know that God has given us the tools to fight our sinful thoughts and moods. That's pretty much common knowledge. I'm blown away by how blunt Oswald Chambers was when he stated that the problem is not that we CAN'T pick ourselves up, the problem is that we WON'T! God has given us volition, which means we have free will to act and make decisions for ourselves within the limits He set for us. That awesome gift of volition also presents us with very real personal accountability. That means that we are free to fight or succumb to our sinful moods, but we are not free from the consequences thereof. 

But when you think about it, the only reason we would stew in our own thoughts is because it makes us feel victimized. We LIKE having a pity party. Who wants to be accountable for something when we can just play the victim? But in training our mind to go there, and blame circumstance for the fact that we are not joyful, habituates us into becoming bitter, hard, angry and un-compassionate peoples. If you become this way, you have let yourself leave your first love, and you are no longer living in the reality of the gospel.   What kind of person wants to listen to someone complain about life for an hour, and then hear them turn right around and start talking about how wonderful Christ is? You would sound insane.. You cannot be a good ambassador and witness for Christ if you are a crazy Christian!

Now, please don't hear this as me saying that if you have bad moods, or find yourself complaining, that you aren't saved, or that you are a bad Christian. Because that is 0% what I am saying.  I complain so much, and my heart is so often consumed by my moods and emotions, that sometimes I start to feel anxious about my situation.. and my life is pretty stinking wonderful!!

What I am saying is that no matter what your life looks like, there will always be something that you are waiting for, something that is wrong, and something that you desire. Wherever you are, and at any given time, you will always have those 3 things. But by the grace of God, we don't have to let those three clouds keep us from seeing the Sun. :) Do you get what I am saying? God is the One who ordains our lives. He has given us everything we need for life and godliness, which means you have what you have, and do not have what you do not have because He said so! 

We need to stop looking at the unmet earthly desires so much, and focus on what is true: the message of His glorious gospel, His magnanimous compassion and forgiveness,  His unfailing and all consuming love and mercy, His never-ending faithfulness, and perfect provision for our every need. When we study, meditate, and focus on these things, then we are freed up to live in the reality of our glorious salvation. :)

The fight against my discontentment, emotions, and moods isn't going to end in this lifetime. But I walk in the spotlight of the Almighty who is ever living and working in me, and has promised to finish what He started(Philippians 1:6)!  We have the ability, by the grace of God, to fight our sin, to wage war against our sinful nature. And the best part is that we are not alone and we will never be left alone. 

So my advice, for those of you who have those 3 things burning in your head: "I am waiting for _____, ______ is wrong in my life, and I desire ______", my advice is to do exactly what Paul tells us to do: "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

Do not let your circumstance dictate whether or not you are joyful. 
Give Him your anxious thoughts, your desires and your worries, and let your mind be filled with the truth of His amazing love and provision. You don't know everything, and you will never get to know everything. For now, your responsibility is to put it in the hands of the Creator, and to walk excellently while you are waiting, knowing that He who is in you, is greater than he who is in the world, and He will not let His child go without what they need. :)