The “F” Word and uncooked chicken!

I went out to eat with a friend the other night to one of my favorite restaurants–Outback. I usually get the fillet mignon, but for some reason I wanted to get the Alice Springs chicken. (It is a chicken breast covered in cheese and bacon and has some honey mustard on the side!)

To be honest–I usually can’t finish the entire meal…it is a lot of food–BUT I was in a zone and completely cleaned my plate.

BUT–when I home my stomach began to do weird things…it literally began making noises that I just knew didn’t need to be coming from inside me–and then I began experiencing cramps…serious ones…it just was NOT good.

I asked Lucretia if we had any medicine for this and she told me we had some Tums–which I proceeded to find–and when I did I began to eat them like candy! I wanted some relief…

Speaking of relief…when I got up this morning the pain was still there…that is until (and this is going to be gross) I made it to the restroom. Let me just say that I had a “moving” experience (ever seen Dumb & Dumber, enough said!)–and there is now nothing unclean inside of me!!!

What is the moral of the story? Simple–something was inside of my body that didn’t belong (uncooked chicken), my body rejected it–experienced pain because of it, I tried to medicate it…but ultimate relief came not through medication but rather through getting what didn’t belong out of me!!!

It is the same with a Christian in regards to this thing the Bible calls sin.

Someone once asked me, “Perry, how do I know that I am a Christian–that Jesus really lives inside of me?” My reply to them was that a Christian, someone who has been crucified with Christ, will NEVER be comfortable with sin reigning in them. EVER! If any area of their life is dominated by sin–there will be a serious uncomfortability level in the life of a Christ follower.

I remember my first experience with conviction! Before I came to Christ I used to cuss like crazy–I tell people that when Jesus saved me He took away half of my vocabulary.

SO…a few days after my conversion experience a young lady made me mad and, as a result, I used the “f” word! AUTOMATICALLY I felt horrible…like I needed to throw up or something. It was weird–I had never experienced that before–and I had said the “f” word hundreds of times before that. It was the Holy Spirit inside of me saying, “Hey P, that isn’t acceptable around here anymore!”

I said it before–I will say it again–there is NO WAY a follower of Jesus Christ will ever be comfortable with an area of their lives being dominated by sin. This goes for the person who abuses alcohol, is having sex with someone they are not married to, is watching porn–you name it. If Jesus is living inside of us then there is no way He will tolerate sin being in “His house!”

WAIT–before you go off on me–I am not saying that if you are a Christian that you do not sin–COME ON–we all sin! BUT…what I am saying is that if a Christian, someone who belongs to Jesus, has an area of sin that dominates their lives then they will be miserable until what doesn’t belong in the body is gotten rid of.

I have met WAY too many Christians who try to excuse and justify a sinful lifestyle when what the Bible calls for is confession and repentance.

We all sin!!! The question is what do you do when you sin? Confess and repent–or justify and make excuses…or maybe even “medicate” the problem with church attendance and listening to a Christian radio station for 15 minutes.

Trust me…you and I will never be able to call “right” what a Holy and righteous God calls “wrong.” If there is something in your life and it doesn’t belong–trust me again–you will NEVER get over being miserable until you respond to the Lord and say, “You own me, You paid for me…if this is wrong then help me to get it out!”

There is NOTHING like getting something out of your body that doesn’t belong!

One more thing…I have had Christians ask me, “But Perry–what if there is sin in my life and I just don’t know it.” Trust me…if you are pursuing Jesus and something is in your life that doesn’t belong…HE WILL LET YOU KNOW. He is not come cruel cosmic dictator who punishes us for things that we are unaware of–He will reveal our sin, not to condemn us–but in order that we may repent and the relationship may be restored.