hatchcreek.com Bible blog

Many Christian people are not really happy deep down inside.  Oh, they can put on a good front, and smile and make small talk, but when they are alone and all is quiet there is no peace inside.  This kind of person finds it easy to become involved in bickering, quarrels and arguments, especially at home.  Is this the way it is suppose to be?

Have you ever noticed when the electricity goes off we say the POWER is off?  When that happens we have all kinds of unexpected problems.  We can’t take a shower, do a load of wash,  or run the dishwasher.  We have no water period.  Also, most likely, the heating system in our house won’t work without electricity.  In the winter this can be a serious problem.   All those things that we take for granted every day are suddenly out of bounds for us just because something unexpected happened at the power station and the power went off.  We feel helpless!

The POWER can go off in our Christian lives also.  When that happens we cannot function right. Too many people today have a  powerless and miserable life.  Yes, we continue to try to do the right things.  Perhaps we get up on Sunday morning and have an argument with our spouse while getting ready for church, and yell at the kids.  Then we all pile in the car and go off to church.  When we arrive we put on a happy face, and look just fine on the outside.  We can participate in the choir and greet each other with a handshake or hug.  But, at the same time we might be miserable on the inside.  We leave church and again find ourselves in the same old situation quarreling and arguing with others.  What has happened? You have lost your power source!

The Holy Spirit is our power source.    Do you know that we short-circut the Holy Spirit’s power in our life when we sin?  This happens even when we do so called little sins.  We sin and it breaks our connection with God.  We no longer have fellowship with him.  We immediately then revert back to living in our flesh like we did  before we were Christians.  It would be good if a bell would go off in our heads and alert us to the fact that we have sinned and lost our power source, but it doesn’t work that way.  Instead we find ourselves thinking and doing things that are not pleasing to God.  We try to accomplish things in our own strength  which will not work.  This behavior will go on until we realize we are not right with God. 

God is holy and He cannot look upon our sin.  He tells us in His Word:

“So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.  (Isaiah 1:15) NASB

“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil,  (Isaiah 1:16) NASB

God doesn’t want us to be powerless Christians.  He does not want us to quarrel and argue.  God loves families and He wants us to have peaceful, loving homes to bring up our children. He wants us to be blessed with all spiritual blessings.  He wants the very best for us.  After all He bought us with His own blood when He died on the cross for us. He is invested in us.

When we get into arguments with others the issue is not what we are arguing about.  It is about us.  We are sinning, and we can’t be happy inside in this state.  We are being selfish and prideful. We insist we have to get in that last word.  We need to examine ourselves against the scriptures and see if we measure up.  Where are we going wrong?

God tells us when we become a Christian a change takes place.  We become a new creature  in Christ. 

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  (2 Corinthians 5:17) NASB

He has told us to put these old things aside.

But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  (Colossians 3:8)

Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,  (Colossians 3:9)

If you have a short temper and fly off the handle easily something is wrong.  We are not to fight and use abusive speech.  We are not to get even.  Some people I know say “I don’t get mad I just get even!”  That is the way of the world.   We are not to slander one another. And we are not to lie.  We are to practice telling the truth.  All of the above things are sin in God’s sight and when we do them we disconnect from our power source, the Holy Spirit. 

Some people say they can’t help themselves in these things because they are just made that way.   “Oh, I just have a short fuse.  My dad was the same way.  I come by it naturally.”  Well, that may be so, but just because your dad was a sinner doesn’t mean you have to continue in the same path.  These are simply excuses.  God requires change!  And, he has given us the tools to make those changes.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,  (Romans 6:12) NASB

We are to be in control and not let sin have it’s way.  Before we were Christians this was very difficult because we didn’t have the power in ourselves to do this.  But, now we have the Holy Spirit to help us, and we can have victory over sin. 

If you are an unhappy Christian on the inside, take time to examine yourself and see if you have unconfessed sin in your life.  Confess, repent, and get connected with your power source so you can please God and find true happiness.