Life in Christ: The Sin Outfit, Part 2

Returning to Right Fellowship

Last week I left you stuck in rebellion and sin with no way out. This week I will begin by showing you a personal demonstration of how I give God permission to remove the sin and put me in a right frame of mind and heart so I can hear and learn from Him as well as be cleansed from my sin.

Let me show you what each item of clothing represents and how I work through yielding my life to Jesus. Many times I have found myself wandering away from God and sometimes I have ended up in out and out rebellion. Each time I wander away from God, the process back to right fellowship with Him requires thoughtful consideration on my part and a yielded heart.

The Umbrella: Removing the Barrier

The umbrella represents a barrier between God and me. I am cut off from God's cleansing and direction until I make the choice to confess the barriers that I have placed between us. God will always wait for me to come to Him. The reason God waits is because I am not ready to listen to Him until I make the choice to hear from Him. It is for my sake, not His sake, that He waits for me to bring down this barrier. In order to hear from God I must choose to humble myself before Him.

Prayer: "Lord, I confess that I have not given You full control of my life. I now choose to surrender all of my life over to You. Reveal to me the areas that I have been withholding from You, and teach me how to have a right relationship with You. I choose not to argue or make excuses any longer for my behavior but surrender to You, because You love me with perfect love. In Jesus' name, amen."

The Glasses: Seeing Clearly

"Lord, I agree with You that I have not been looking at life from Your perspective. Instead I have had a shaded, self-centered view, choosing blindness instead of the light of Your truth. Forgive me, Lord. Will You give me clear eyes to see myself and others as You see us? Lord, I pray that when others look into my eyes, they will see You."

The Hat: Renewing My Thought Life

"Lord, examine my thought life. Remove deception and reveal Your truth. Show me the decisions that I make that are self-centered. Reveal thoughts that are not pleasing to You. What plans have I made for my day that are contrary to the plans You have made for me? Forgive me. Lord, I now choose to make decisions to bless You and to serve others. Teach me to think with the mind of Christ and protect my thought life from deception."

The Boots: Returning to His Path

"Lord, I confess that I have gone my own way. I have been running away from You and keep falling down. I have been on a path of destruction instead of peace. Cleanse me from my disobedience, Lord. Will You now guide me back onto Your path?"

The Backpack: Giving Him My Burdens

"Lord Jesus, I have been carrying all the burdens of life. I confess that I have been trying to handle all of my worries, anxiety, the guilt of life, my circumstances as well as other people, and trying to control it all. I now choose to trust You and believe what You promised when You said, 'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light' (Matthew 11:28-30). I now give You my burdens and take on Your light yoke. Teach me Your ways."

The Coat: Honoring the Body

"Lord, show me the way I have used my body in an unclean way. I agree with You, Lord, that my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, that You bought me with a price. I confess that I have been living as if I were my own, as if You were not present in me. I confess indulging the lusts of the flesh and receive Your forgiveness and cleansing."

Will You Begin This Process?

Tonight, I would like to give you the opportunity to begin this process with our Lord, if you are willing.

Before we begin, did you notice that this outfit is really ugly? However, you need to know that it is really comfortable. What's my point? If you are really comfortable with your walk with God, you may need this process more than you know.

A Time of Personal Confession

Will you please bow your head? Some of you may be struggling right now. You may even be fearful at the thought of being so vulnerable with God, knowing that He wants you to surrender all of yourself to Him. Take a moment to prepare.

Begin by removing the umbrella. Think about barriers that keep you from going to the Lord. Barriers like: stubbornness, anger at God, anger at yourself or with others. Other barriers may include thinking that you are just fine with God and thinking you don't need to do this. Fear of giving up control of your life. Lack of trust. He is the only one you can trust. If you humble yourself before the Lord, He will lift you up.

Now invite Him to examine you with His eyes. Ask Him to search you and know your heart and identify the ways you have not done what is right before Him.

Glasses: Let's begin by removing the blinders from your eyes. How has your sight been distorted? Ask Him to give you His sight. Have you given into temptation? Do you view yourself and others as He does? Do you make judgments about others without knowing details or the truth of the matter? Confess your blindness and ask for forgiveness.

Hat (thought life): Now let's work on wrong, deceptive thoughts. Ask the Lord to reveal truth to you and show you where you have been deceived. Ask Him to examine your thought life. What plans and decisions have you made apart from God's will? Confess unclean, vile, perverted thoughts, including those toward God. Ask for cleansing. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins as we confess them.

Boots (rebellion): Examine where you have gotten off track. Ask Him to show you where you have strayed away from Him. Are you on His path for His kingdom's sake or off on your own way, only going where it seems right to you? Confess your sin and ask for cleansing.

Backpack (life's burdens): Ask God to show you the burdens you are carrying. Are you trying to control circumstances or people? Do you have many anxieties, worries, guilt? Place your burdens in the hands of Jesus and then exchange them for His yoke. Now, receive His rest.

Coat (lust of the flesh): Confess the ways you have used your body in an unclean way, anything that you would be ashamed to do in the presence of Christ, things like dressing inappropriately or sexual activity outside marriage. Ask Him to show you His standard for holy living and to judge your sin from His perspective. Ask the Lord to show you the emotions that have been distorted because of your actions. Agree with Him that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Stand Vulnerable Before Your Creator

Remember, He is waiting for you to take off every bit of the ugly covering that separates you from Him. You must be willing to stand totally vulnerable before your Creator so He can cleanse and heal you. Trust Him. He has a plan of freedom for you, if you will let go of the controls.

Now, ask Him to show you any sin that needs to be confessed out loud to a trusted person, to break the bonds of habitual sin. Ask Him who you should tell if you don't know, and the courage to say it out loud. Make a commitment to God to follow through on this part of the confession so you may be set free from this bondage. Remember, those things done in secret remain a bondage until they are brought out to the light; then the power is broken.

Close in prayer. Write a letter to Jesus for what He has taught you. Next week we will close out this Bible study with sharing what we have learned, any changes that have occurred in our thought life or actions, and to express what our expectations were and how God did or did not meet them. Fellowship time and prayer time together. Also, we will talk about the next Bible study starting October 3.