Do You Feel Like a Fraud? (Part 2)

“Saul, also known as Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he looked the sorcerer in the eye. Then he said, ‘You son of the devil, full of every sort of deceit and fraud, and enemy of all that is good! Will you never stop perverting the true ways of the Lord?’” (Acts 13:9-10 NLT)

Sadly, there are times in each of our lives when we pervert “the true ways of the Lord” by not being authentic about what we know to be true about Jesus. Because we’re not perfect, not only in our walk with the Lord, but in most every area of our lives, it’s easy to pretend. At times we try to pretend we know more than we do or act in ways that seek to draw attention to ourselves rather than point others to Jesus.

May I be honest? There are times I just don’t want to be around people I perceive as more spiritual than myself. It’s not, but in my mind, it seems it’s a competition, like I’m trying to be better than I think I am. Why would I do that? As I understand my own heart, I do it to protect the truth from being revealed. What truth? That I’m never going to be as good as I want to be, that as hard as I try, I’ll always fall short.

And here’s the kicker – on many levels that’s 100% okay! As a Jesus follower our goal isn’t just to be good, it’s to be obedient. Do you remember how quickly the disciples scattered when Jesus was betrayed? It’s as if after three years of walking side-by-side with Jesus, hanging on His every word, all they could think about was saving their own skin. And yes, in retrospect, it’s very likely a good thing they did.

How do you think they felt? How would you have felt? In your heart and mind, you believed whatever happened you would NEVER turn your back on Jesus, yet every one of them ran away. But here’s the miracle, at least as I see it – they reconvened, stayed together, and waited.

Sometimes, perhaps especially, when we fail to live up to all we thought we were, or, at least, what we’d hoped we were, it’s as if we’ve run away to save our own skin. Rather than face the difficulties we’re having within, we retreat to a place, if only in our minds, where we can feel safe. And the irony to me is that Jesus meets us there.

He walks through the closed, locked doors of our mind to remind us He will never leave us. I’m learning that to our Savior, there’s nothing we can do that is so bad He won’t still love us, embrace us, forgive us. There are times I can feel the tears forming as I realize how small I am, how crippled my spirit can be, and how big and powerful and loving my Savior is.

We’re not frauds because we fail, we’re frauds when we think we can be all we want to be for Jesus without Him. Oswald Chambers wrote: “The Holy Spirit is the deity of God who continues to apply the power of the atonement by the Cross of Christ to our lives. Thank God for the glorious and majestic truth that His Spirit can work the very nature of Jesus into us, if we will only obey Him.”

Even as believers we too often believe we can work our way into a right standing with the Father, believing our good works will surely be a pleasing and acceptable offering to Him. In an effort to overcome the weakness revealed in our failure to live up to the standards we have established in our mind, we want to work harder. Then the Lord reminded me of 1 Samuel 15:22: “What is more pleasing to the Lord; your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to His voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams (our good works).”

Frauds pretend to be something they’re not. Servants of Christ repent, seek forgiveness, and move forward in obedient surrender to their Master.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊