1-and-1 Free Throws and Spiritual Growth

March Madness is over.  Now comes a rather drab NBA playoff and then baseball.  Insert my sad face here.

And for the first time in history, my mom beat the other brothers and yours truly on our bracket picks.  I haven't even managed to tally the scores yet because of the embarrassment.

There's a situation that a player finds himself in as a basketball game goes on.  In the college game, you get to 7 team fouls in a half and you shoot a 1-and-1.  They call it that because if you don't get the first, you'll never get the second.  Missing one means missing two.  Make the first and you get a shot at the second.

There's a situation like that in the spiritual life as well.  One in which if you don't get the first, you won't get the second.  Missing one means missing both.

In our spiritual lives of following Jesus, if we don't take the time to do the basics, we'll miss the other stuff too.  In my opinion, the basics are prayer and Bible intake.  That's the first 1 of the 1-and-1.

What would be the others that you would miss?  Here's a possible list...

- Meaningful worship that is fueled be worship throughout the week and isn't solely an emotional experience.
- Service that's a joy instead of a labor.
- Sacrifice that doesn't mind being inconvenienced instead of only when I somehow benefit from it.

Should I go on?

Let me go ahead and caveat here:  if you don't read your Bible every day, you can still have meaningful worship, etc.  God is God and can do as He pleases.  Further, you can do the basics and have a bad attitude while you serve, etc.

That being said, the most consistent path to the And-1's of life with Jesus happen because a person chooses to commit regular time to prayer and Bible intake.

How to do that?  There are a number of ways.  I personally enjoy the McCheyne reading plan.  But on principle, just remember that prayer is talking with God about things of mutual concern and Bible intake is more than just reading words but interacting with a Person.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

Objective Measures, Part Deux

Yesterday I argued that there are a couple of objective measures in the spiritual life that help us determine how we're really doing.  One is the keeping track of our treasure (whatever form it might be, but especially and uniquely our spending) to determine the state of our hearts.  In my particular ministry context of suburbia, it's a good one to keep handy and steadily employed.

The second is how we deal with trials.  Peter talks about trials as walking through fire, being refined as you go.  There are multiple other images to go with that, but here's the essence of it:  how we respond when trials come is an objective measure of the state of our spiritual lives, of our hearts.

If we respond with griping, we are probably struggling with entitlement.

If we respond with multiple Facebook posts about how hard our lives are, we are worshiping the idol of attention.

If we respond with withdrawal, we are living with and in anger - at God, at ourselves, at our spouse, at our kids, etc.

If we respond with blame, we are either unwilling to accept our part (whatever it might be, big or small) or we are struggling with the victim mentality.

If we respond with joy, then our hearts are in pretty good shape.  So Paul (Romans 5) and James (James 1) both command us to rejoice in our trials.  And if that's what comes out of our hearts when trials come, we're in good shape.  

No, it may not come at first.  The Lord knows I'm prone to griping and withdrawing.  But an objective measure of the state of your heart is whether joy is present in trial.  It's never because of the trial itself.  It's always because of what the trial is working in us, uniquely the transformation of our hearts.

Treasure and Trials.  Two gifts (though not always wanted) to help us self-diagnose our hearts.  Strange gifts.  But good ones.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

Baylor Football, Objective Measures, and So Forth

On New Year's Day, I was sorely disappointed to watch my Baylor Bears blow a three-score lead in the fourth quarter of the Cotton Bowl.  But if you're "America's #1 Offense" and can't put any points on the board in the 4th quarter, I'm not sure you deserve to win a bowl game.

What it told me is that although Baylor is a very very good football program, one of the most exciting in the nation to watch, we're not quite top-tier...yet.

Bowl games (in that sense) are a good, objective measure of the entirety of the football program.  It puts appropriate stress on coaches, players, logistics, fan base, and so on.  When you're not quite ready for the big-time, it shows.  It's an objective measure.

There are a couple of objective measures in our spiritual life, though admittedly they're not as exciting as a bowl game and there's no national television coverage.

Jesus said it this way:  "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  If you want to know the status of your heart, look and see where your treasure is.  Treasure, in this sense, is most easily and significantly monetary resources.  But it can be expanded to anything you count as a resource:  time, relational capital, unique abilities, and so forth.  The heart is the inmost part of our selves, the part Jesus lovingly lays siege to, captures, and ultimately conquers so that He can renovate it to His liking.

In an important way, that's a real gift.  It allows us to really see what the status of our spiritual life is, not what we think it is or hope it might be.  Where our treasure is, there our heart will be too.

But that also works the other way:  if we learn to redirect our treasure, our heart can come into line.  Our priorities determine our passions, not vice versa.

So here at the outset of 2015 with all our resolutions and diets and regimes anew, I hope we all take a moment and take stock, objectively, of the state of our hearts.  I hope we clear some path for our priorities to be realigned as necessary so that when 2016 rolls around the state of our heart is better off than it was today.

Priorities determine passions.  That's objectively true.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

Fear, Accountability, and stuff like that

I'm writing a paper for my most recent class on the theology of accountability in Jonathan Edwards.  Sound like a snoozer?  It's not.  Frankly, it's scared me more than a little bit.

I believe (and I think Edwards did too) that we must give an account to God for our lives.  It's not that we won't be covered by the blood of Jesus for our sin.  It's that we must give an account.  Edwards' last official sermon to his people at Northampton after they fired him was about how they and he must stand before God on Judgment Day to give an account for how the ministry was done and how the minister was treated.  That's courage.  Or conviction.  Or both.

Consider these verses, see if they place an appropriate amount of fear in you:

He who made the ear, does He not hear?  He who made the eye, does He not see? (Ps. 94.9)

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil (2 Cor. 5.10)

And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account (Heb. 4.13)


And there are many, many more.  Sin is tempting, but remember that accountability is real.  And that kind of fear is good in preventing us from sin and pushing us toward holiness.

A boring part of the Bible

Admittedly, not every part of the Bible is miracles and awe-inspiring.  I'm currently in the part that's not.  I use the M'Cheyne reading plan and I'm plowing through the Chronicles right now.  The first several chapters of 1 Chronicles are genealogies and, if I can be honest and still remain a pastor, ridiculously boring.

And so I was laying out the boring nature of these genealogies for God and reminding Him of how good a Christian I am that I don't skip these parts and He reminds me of two things...

First, the genealogies are roots.  They locate the story among a people.  Real people.  Real histories.  Real families.  Real happenings.  Real connections.  Real stories.  This is not some disconnected, golden tablet, angel revealed craziness.  The events happened in a real context with real people.  All of the stuff following in 1 Chronicles happens, at least in part, because Shimea met and married a nice Jewish girl and had Berechiah.

Second, the roots remind me that God uses real people.  None of them were perfect.  All of them failed the good and faithful servant test at some point.  But these were the people who perpetuated the Jewish lineage.  And, more specifically, these were the people who perpetuated the Messianic lineage so that another Jewish boy would meet and marry another nice Jewish girl, and though it didn't look like they thought it would, Joseph and Mary would be earthly parents to the One who would rescue us all.

When God reminded me of that, I had a little less attitude and a little more perspective.  Here's hoping you do too.

Blech...the indwelling residue of sin

I love preaching about the life change that comes through Jesus.  I love telling people about how He changes people from the inside-out, renovating them by ripping out old and building in new.  I love helping people understand the past-tense form of the verbs that speak about Jesus' death and resurrection:  so factual and so certain.

But I also know that most have struggles that still hang around.

Those addicted struggle against their addictions.  Those who gossip have words fly out of their mouths before their minds are in gear.  Those who are greedy have hearts that beat faster during commercials about the status symbols of success.  Those who have sexual pasts not only have flashbacks but longings.

That's the world we live in.  There is a residue of the cancelled sin.  The lyrics say it so well:  "He breaks the power of cancelled sin..." (O, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing).

That's the hope I offer.  Jesus is in the business of not just making our past into history, but making our present into His kind of future.  He changes lives.

And for all who struggle with sin:  remember that there are days coming when there will not be sin.  That's hope.  Hope keeps us going in the struggle.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

Lying pens

This verse came up in my Bible reading last week and I thought about you, dear reader, and myself and plenty of others who write consistently and for people's edification.  It's a brutal one, but what a warning.

How can you say, "We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us"?  But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. (Jeremiah 8.8)

Did you see that?  Did you hear their claims?

We are wise and the law of the Lord is with us.  We've got this figured out.  We know what we're talking about and what we're doing.  We've read the Bible.  It's on our shelves and coffee tables and iDevices.  Oh.So.Flippant.

And what's worse is that the scribes, the ones who are supposed to handle the text with care and teach others to do the same, have made it into a lie.  When they write blog posts, they twist the Bible to mean what they want it to mean.  When they write books about living the Christian life, they add a heaping scoop of opinion to the revelation God has already given.  When they compose articles for magazines or other outlets, they're sure to make the Bible look like the crest of the cultural wave-of-the-moment.

Lies.

As a pastor, I know that reading the Bible "by yourself" can get you into trouble in a hurry.  Individually, we're prone to make it say what we desire for it to say.  So the believing community (including those who have gone before and have passed down a tradition to us) has to have a voice as we read.

But as a pastor, I also know that you can basically pick up a good translation of the Bible and read it and understand it.  There are some hard sections, but for the most part it's pretty plainly understood.  You don't need a new book (though I'm a fan of books) or a blog (though I'm a writer of a blog).  You need the Bible.

And then you need to obey it.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

Anger: The Righteous (?) Kind

I've wondered if there were actually a righteous kind of anger.  James is pretty clear that the anger of man doesn't accomplish what God considers righteousness (1.20).  The counter to that is Jesus in the Temple, apparently with a strong amount of anger driving out the money changers with a whip (and I don't think it was a for show or just a deterrent).

I would offer that there are two questions to ask to see if any particular anger that you're feeling is righteous anger.

1.  Is it the Truth/Right that is being offended or is it me?

This takes some discerning since I'm often on the side of "right" (as I see it, anyway).  But if this had no personal effect on me, would it still warrant my ire?  Is it the injustice of it or my personal preference or opinion that has been infringed upon?  Like I said, some discerning is certainly needed.

2.  Does the offense compel me toward a biblically modeled or biblically commanded action?

If the answer is no, then either (a) I'm not mad enough about it or (b) I'm just mad and it's not really righteous anger.  Righteousness always seeks the reckoning and reconciling of things, the relational rightness (a.k.a. shalom) of the world.

If the answer is yes, then what can I do that is biblically modeled or biblically commanded - and can I do that in love?  I can do a biblical thing without love, but I may end up being a clanging gong or a noisy cymbal (1 Cor. 13).

Righteous anger requires a pretty high bar, one not often reached by the normal situations in our normal lives.  But it shouldn't simply be set aside.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

Rebuff or Repent?

Here are some excuses that people use when convicted of sin in order not to repent of that sin but rebuff that conviction.  See if any of these sound familiar.

• “It was only once…”
• “I promise I’ll never do it again”
• “It’s not hurting anyone” 
• “God will forgive me” 
• “It’s just not that big a deal”
• “That’s just legalism”
• “I can stop anytime I want”
• “But what about them / that?” 
• “Our culture just isn’t like that now”

What happens when we rebuff the conviction rather than repent of it?

Spiritual Callouses.

Those are terrible things, demanding a kind of surgical work of the Spirit of God in order to make the rough and tough become pliable and supple again.  You cannot play with sin like that and think it won't have consequences.  And none of them are good.  None of them.

Don't rebuff.  Repent.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

George Jones is dead...but he can still teach us

I loved the music of George Jones.  Still do.  Somehow I feel like I'm still walking down to Braum's with my grandfather from their house in Dumas when I listen to him.

Choices (below) might just be the most biblically literate song ever sung by someone in the non-explicitly-Christian genre.  Heck.  It's more biblically literate than some of the explicitly Christian songs that get played on the radio today.

When he sings about choices, he is singing about his accountability before God.  And he knows they're not right.  And he struggles with sin, even though he's "still losing this game of life I play, living and dying with the choices I've made."

Here's what I need (and you too).  We need a little more George Jones in our relationship to sin.  We need to see it for what it is.  We need to fight against it.  We need to lament it when it grabs us.  Instead of whining about it, instead of loving it, instead of embracing it, we need to George-Jones it.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...


And as a bonus, here's what just might be the greatest country song ever:

A Reliable Pattern for Spiritual Growth

I see this all over the Scripture.  I originally ran across this concept in a conference where Dallas Willard was teaching and have tweaked it some since then.  But I do see it all over Scripture.

Here's the pattern for spiritual growth:  soaked in the Word, active in the disciplines, faithfully enduring trials (whether large like cancer or small like traffic).

Consider this passage from 1 Timothy 4:6-10:

If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. (v.6)  Soaked in the Word.

Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths.  Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come (v.7-8).  Active in the disciplines.

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.  For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. (v.9-10).  Faithfully enduring trials (toil, strive - these are words we love, right?).

So in which are you lacking?  What will you do to address it?

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

Why we want to be busy

My friend and all-grown-up college student from college ministry days, Christina Gibson (whom you can follow here), put this fabulous post together.  I asked for her permission to post it.  And it's powerful...

At the top of my pet peeve list is unproductivity.  I hate it when I’m still wearing my pajamas at noon.  I can’t just talk on the phone with a friend, or hang out on hold with AT&T, I have to start a load of laundry, unload the dishwasher or walk the dog with my cell phone taped to my ear.  The real sign that I’d crossed over into hyper-productivity mode was when I asked for a Fit Desk for Christmas.  It’s essentially a stationary bike with an attached desk, so I don’t have to waste time exercising—I can return emails and update my Facebook status with the funniest one-liners I can think of.  It’s not enough to read a book by Thomas Kelly—I have to be biking 40 miles as I’m reading about the contemplative life.

I think I like being busy.  There’s something about it that gives me purpose when I wake up.  I’m important.  I have things to do.  I have people who expect me to be at a certain place at a certain time.  I do hate the over-commitment or the over-involvement.  I hate the stress that comes from promising things I don’t know how I’ll fulfill.  But I’ve found that what I hate more are the snaky questions that come when I’m not busy.  Why don’t I have something to do today?  Why have I accomplished nothing this morning when I could have been solving world hunger?

Almost three months ago, I had a completely different life.  I was in seminary, I had a wonderful job working as a pastoral associate at Baylor University.  I was a Zumba instructor, a bible study teacher and preparing for the adoption of our third daughter.

Then, Brett took a job in Richardson.  Overnight, I was friendless, unemployed, done with my graduate studies and dealing with the loss of a disrupted adoption.  My overflowing plate was now starkly empty.  And I hated it.  I hated the idea that I wasn’t preparing for another baby.  I hated the idea that I had no one to invite over, no people who would miss me if I didn’t show up, no one who knew that I have an uncanny knack for mixing theology and profanity.

I was alone.  And it was annoying.  Worse, I was no longer busy and that meant I wasn’t productive.  I wasn’t making money.  I wasn’t writing books.  I wasn’t counseling people or even teaching them Latin-inspired dance moves.  I was in my pajamas til noon.  The only people I spent time with were 3 and 5 and often whining that they hated the food I’d just made.

I spoke with my dear friend in Austin, navigating similar waters and she said, “I think God might be asking you if its enough just to be with him.”

What if I am in here just to be with God?  Is that enough?

It wasn’t a question I felt the need to answer.  It was a question I needed to sit in.  And by “sit in” I don’t mean ride my Fit Desk while dying my own hair and knitting blankets for poor kids.  I mean the real sitting.  The kind I’d been afraid of.  The kind of sitting where it’s eerily quiet and you recognize that the shadows in the corner are actually your insecurities you’ve tried to avoid.

Silence and solitude are the agreed upon enemies of those who are busy, because solitude calls our schedule into question.  Silence reveals that we wear busyness like it’s a badge of importance.  Silence asks us why we want to be seen as busy.  It exposes our motives—revealing our deep, insatiable thirst to be noticed, loved, and included.  How much of what we do is done to feel better about ourselves?

Silence strips off the wall paper of our desperate attempts to be important.

And the bare walls are shocking.

Who am I if I don’t belong?  Who am I if I don’t even work?  Who am I if I’m not recognized as busy?

Solitude and silence birth the question we’ve tried to suppress.  Finally. Our souls can breathe enough to say what we’re really most afraid of:  Do we matter if no one else thinks we’re amazing or productive or multi-talented?

Rest, quiet and space are lights on the path to discovering our identity as those loved by God.  Until we can sit in the question, we’ll keep running faster and faster out of fear of the answer.

But in solitude, when there is no one to distract, nothing to demand your attention or your leadership, you can stop running.  And hear the shattering truth that you’re just as loved when you build an orphanage as you are when you’re hibernating for all of winter.

And in this place, we finally see that it isn’t God who despises unproductivity—it’s us.  Maybe we have a completely different value system than the Creator.  And maybe that needs to change.  But you can’t change what you value if you don’t stop long enough to remember who you are.  We’ve gone hoarse screaming through our busyness how important we are.  But God never stops reminding a forgetful creation that it really is enough just to be with him.

M'Cheyne Bible Reading

I don't know if you've ever heard of the M'Cheyne Bible reading plan, but it's been a gift to me this year.  It's based on the devotional life of Robert Murry M'Cheyne, a Presbyterian minister from Scotland.  His plan takes you through the Psalms twice, the New Testament twice, and the Old Testament once.  It's about 4 chapters per day from various parts of the Bible.

As a side note, D.A. Carson's devotional books called For the Love of God (vols. 1-3) are based on these readings.  There are also apps on the App Store that you can download for free that will let you start on any date you desire (I have one that's pretty awesome called ReadingPlan).

If you're looking at challenging yourself to read the Bible through in the new year (which is always a good challenge to take), this is an interesting way to do this and one I highly recommend.

As always, the best Bible out there is the one that's read, no matter its translation or condition.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

A Fecal Garage

I woke up to the day after Christmas hangover.  You know the one - where trash and boxes and paper and little pieces to toys are still on your floor and still need to be picked up.  (Caveat:  would've been a lot worse had the Queen not directed us to make a couple of loads yesterday.  All hail the Organized One)

But I also woke up to something a little less pleasant.

Max the Dog had to sleep in the garage last night because although the day started at 70+ degrees, it finished in the low 30's.  I moved Max the Dog and the nice bed he sleeps on into the garage.  He's getting old now, and so a nice comfy bed in a nice warm garage is a good deal.

Until he poops on the floor.

And not just any poop, but the you-shouldn't-have-given-me-that-fatty-piece-of-leftover poop.

And so at 6-something this morning, I was hosing out my garage and using my hands on the broom's head to get the poop out.  Just what I wanted to be doing at 6-something when it's 30 degrees outside.

So as I'm thinking about Max the Dog and how much I love him (where's the sarcasm font?), that little voice rises inside of me.  He says something about how much fun this is to watch me doing this and how sometimes He enjoys doing that as much as I am enjoying it right now.

Because the truth is my garage is a little messy.  It could use some straightening.  But it also had (until this morning) some really gross, unhealthy, foul-smelling stuff in it.  That had to go too.  Can you imagine me picking up a few toys but leaving the feces?  The toys would be easier.  The toys would be cleaner.  The toys would show a quick improvement.

But they wouldn't deal with what really needed to be dealt with.

And so it goes with our hearts.  What are the little things that are easy to clean up in your heart?  Words to a spouse or child?  Not fudging an expense report at work?  Giving a little more on Sunday?

How about the really stinky, unhealthy things though?  Mismanaged (or unmanaged!) desires?  Jealousy?  Greed and materialism?  Those don't show near the improvement, take a lot more scrubbing, and are just plain gross to reckon with.  But they move the garage toward cleanliness, or in this case, the heart toward holiness.

One is easy to see, but the other is better to tackle.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

What would you pay to sleep well at night?

Brian Davis paid $400,000 (give or take a few pennies).  I have no idea where he stands spiritually, but his testimony to integrity is powerful.

Blowing your nose in the car

He was blowing his nose in the back seat.

The only problem was he didn't have a Kleenex, a piece of paper, a paper towel, a cloth, a handkerchief, or anything else.  He had his hands.  They were working for him.

Me:  Please don't blow your nose in the car when you don't have anything to blow it into.

Ninja:  I'm using my hands.

Me:  But you don't have anywhere to put it.

Ninja:  I'm using my mouth.

Queen:  *gag* *almost puke* *gag*

Me:  *headshake*

But no, I've never been guilty of intaking things that weren't good for me and doing so willingly and against common sense.  No, not me.  I've never watched too much TV, spent too much time in front of my laptop, overeaten at the buffet, listened to music or talk shows that do my soul more harm than good, dwelt on a thought that I should've taken captive, or kept a relationship I should've let go.  No not me.

I've never been guilty of doing that.  But I might know some people who have.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

A singing salvation

I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry.  He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.  He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD. (Psalm 40.1-3)

I spoke about this yesterday, but I'd like to reiterate it here.  For those in whom salvation has taken root, who have experienced the pit-defying rescue and the solidity of the Rock underfoot, singing is a natural result.

It's not the only result.  It, like other fruit from the True Vine, can be fabricated, faked, feigned.  But those who have been delivered do have a song in their mouth, a song of praise to their rescuing, delivering, security-ensuring God.

So how about you.  What song are you singing?

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

Noise

Music and silence - how I detest them both!  How thankful we should be that ever since Our Father entered Hell - though longer ago than humans, reckoning in light years, could express - no square inch of infernal space and no moment of infernal time has been surrendered to either of those abominable forces, but all has been occupied by Noise - Noise, the grand dynamism, the audible expression of all that is exultant, ruthless, and virile - Noise which alone defends us from silly qualms, despairing scruples, and impossible desires.  We will make the whole universe a noise in the end.  We have already made great strides in this direction as regards the Earth.  The melodies and silences of Heaven will be shouted down in the end...

Uncle Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood
in C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters, Letter 20

(and for those unfamiliar with the book, it is a series of letters from an older demon to a younger one, thus "Our Father" refers to Satan and the notable contempt for Heaven)

And for the record, as I finished this post, my cell phone noised about, letting me know I have a text message.  Ironic, isn't it?

Personal Devotion Reflection

In my personal devotions as of late, I've been using the NT75 plan that we developed and implemented as a church a couple of years ago.  It was a huge hit and I was at the point where I had spent a lot of time in the Psalms, so taking big portions of the NT was a fresh change.

Two things I've noted, not that you haven't already grabbed hold of these yourself, but I'll say them anyway.

First, if I don't read slowly enough, I will miss some things.  There have been daily assigned readings that I have simply blown through to get them done.  But the times I've slowed down and savored what I was reading, it has been glorious.

Second, the 4-chapter-a-day approach is good for a while.  I have engaged with some broad themes and have seen some larger picture sights that have been good.  I have also, of course, been challenged by particular verses and commands.  But I'm also ready to settle down back into smaller, thought-provoking texts.  I'm not sure what book is coming next for me to digest, but I'm going to work through it bit by bit.

So whether you're in a season where large portions are good or smaller are what benefits you, I encourage you to be in the Word and really be in it.  Slow down.  Don't skim.  The time will be worth it.  You'll never look back and say you wish you would've got up from your Bible earlier.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

Clearing to see

The Queen had me out cleaning up the hedges that she had trimmed.  She did all the trimming so that our house wouldn't look like Boo Radley's house.  It needed to be done.

But you know what?  You can see now.  You can see the street from our window.  You can see the front porch from our front yard.  You can see the fence.  You can just see.

So much of that is true of our lives.  The Spirit searches us and reveals what needs to be revealed.  The Word convicts by the Spirit, piercing even the division between soul and spirit.  God grants us a beautiful grace by letting us see.  Yes we see sin.  But we see grace too.  The sin is clear.  But what stands clearer is is the cross.

It often takes some clearing though.  Time in the Word.  Time with God's people.  Conversations that sometimes hurt.  Confession of guilt.

But the gift is this:  you can see.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...