Living by rules, laws, and "principles"

One of the freedoms of living in the Father's Affection is that I don't need to see this life in God in terms of rules and lists and laws that are thinly veiled as "principles."

I spent so many years first learning and then teaching systematic ways of relating to God through “theology” and “biblical principles” that sometimes I think it will take forever to break out of lists, formulas, steps and a-principle-for-everything approach to this life in Christ. I’m also seeing implications in my work in career counseling. I have learned and taught individuals how to come to a decision based on certain factors, make that decision and follow it to completion. This new God journey way of seeing our life in God seems to arrest some of my prior assumptions. While I can’t really say to non-believers in Jesus (I’m in a secular education/corporate setting), “What is the Father saying to you about your future?” I am rethinking how I approach other believers in this regard.

I think for a lot of us, like Peter, “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” I want to walk this New Life God Journey, and I am, but my old habits of trying to box everything up in nice, neat little categories seem to be hard to break. I have wanted so much to just walk in the freedom of his love each day, to be freed from my own selfish desires and agendas. To listen to his voice and know how to come along side what he is doing, both in me and around me, every day.

God did something in me about a year or so ago that seemed to open the door more widely to that than any other time before. It was one of those life changing moments. It was one of those many times that I was agonizing asking God to give me a close, intimate relationship and fellowship with him. I had prayed like that for a long time with great earnestness and wondered if it would ever happen. I was washing my hands in the restroom at the office of all places and was praying “Lord, please let me have an intimate relationship with you!” He surprised me. I sensed him say simply, “You’ve already got it.” That was it. I was surprised. It just dawned on me. Just like that. I have since lived along that vein, with the assumption that I do have an intimate connection and fellowship with the Father. I don’t have to beg for it anymore.

I’ll have to say that I don’t walk completely in that liberty all the time. I seem to slip back into doubt and selfishness often enough. But, now I know where I really stand with him. He is in me and at work all around me in every circumstance. I seem to still have to make a conscious effort though to live in that. During my times of failure, I seem to naturally move away from him. Sometimes, I even find myself trying to drown out his voice. Seems sort of wierd, doesn't it? It amazes me that I do that. Maybe I am afraid of what he’ll tell me. I guess I still need to grow in the confidence of his love for me. Even so, this ephiphany was so simple and clear. I don’t know why he chose that moment and what it was about that time. But he did, and I’m glad he did.

Here's a quote from one of my favorite books, So You Don’t Want To Go To Church Anymore.
“Every act of sin results from your mistrust of his love and intentions for you. We sin to fill up broken places, to try to fight for what we think is best for us, or by reacting to our guilt and shame. Once you discover how much he loves you all that changes. As you grow in trusting him, you will find yourself increasingly free from sin.” (p. 44)