Rolling in Dead Things

I love walking our golden retriever, Oban in the hills behind our home.  Oban is almost 4 years old now but still such a puppy.  Yesterday, he decided that he did not want to go for a walk after all but wanted to play tug ‘o war instead!  In goes the leash into his mouth…back legs braced, front legs extended, head pulling and shaking enticing me to P L A Y!  Ok, I know he was being bad, but he was so cute!  We tugged.  Back and forth and then running.  He was so happy!  I passed other dog walkers along the way who registered various states of disapproval.  “Bad Mommy!”  Oh well.

 

Then Oban and I went up into the hills where no people were walking, no dogs tempting and off came his leash.  OH HAPPINESS!  He loves to run and I love his boundless doggy joy!  But then, Oban found something dead to roll in.  What is it with dogs and dead things?

 

Oban plops onto his back slithering his body onto whatever gross thing he has victoriously discovered.  Over and over he rolls, not wanting to miss an inch of his now stinky coat.  He is savoring it, blissful as he covers his body with the scent of death.  He wants to marinate in it, become one with the stench and returns to me only with the greatest of reluctance.

 

Rolling in dead things.

 

It’s easy to do.

 

When I sin, it is really tempting to identify with it, marinate in it, and roll around in it.  It’s so easy to believe that being a sinner is the truest me and I might as well wallow in my sin and my self-pity.  Having failed again, the liar speaks with such authority to my weakened heart, saying that a sinner is who I am and sinning is all I’ll ever do so go ahead and just stay here.  Roll around in death.

 

Rolling in a dead thing.

 

But no, the scripture says, “The death (Christ) died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.  In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus!”  (Romans 6:10,11)

 

Hah!  I am not defined by sin!  I am dead to sin and alive to God!  I will not be like my dog that relishes the scent of death; I will be like my Jesus who is LIFE, LIFE, LIFE!

 

How will I do that?  Well, in a state of God given grace, I pray to humbly and quickly repent of sin and then turn and set my mind on things above where Christ is.  He is perfect.  Jesus is the only perfect One.  He is my savior!  I am crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me!  (YAY!)

 

When I fix my gaze on my ugly, smelly, sinful flesh, my heart spirals downward in despair.  But our Jesus urges us to “Look up!  Look to ME!’  I long to do that.  To fix my gaze on my God, my Life, my Hope, my Love, my Jesus.

 

One of the ways that helps me to do that is in worship.  As we enter the summer months, the pace of my life slows down a bit and affords me more time to gaze at my Savior and relish who He is.  I hope you will have more time for that as well.

 

To help you, what follows is a worship set of various songs I have been enjoying recently.  They help me to stay in the Truth.  The truth of who Jesus is (Truth himself) and the truth of who I am to him.  Which means who I really am.  And who you really are, too.

 

I pray they bless you as much as they have blessed me.

 

With love,

Stasi

 

Mighty Breath of God     Jesus Culture   Come Away    

One Thirst (feat. Jeremy Riddle & Steffany Frizzell) [Live]    7:05    Bethel Live    Be Lifted High (Live) 

When I Speak Your Name (feat. Kari Jobe)    5:28    Klaus    Glory          

My Home Is You (Live)    6:48    Darrell Evans    Trading My Sorrows - The Best of Darrell Evans    

More Than Ashes    5:54    Tim Reimherr    Let the Weak Speak    

Fill Me Up    6:25    United Pursuit Band    EP          

The Fragrance of Your Name    6:40    Cory Asbury    Holy           

Faithful to the End    4:14    Cory Asbury    Let Me See Your Eyes           

Great I Am    5:35    New Life Worship    Great I Am - Single           

Holy    6:36    Matt Gilman    Holy    

Yeshua (Live)    7:37    Will Reagan & United Pursuit    Live At the Banks House    

 

 

Comments

[Amy]

The Captivating Retreat cracked open the wells of worship for me. I have never experienced Jesus in worship like I did tucked away in those Mountains. It changed my journey and life experience forever. You are lovely Stasi! Thanks so much for these songs and this post. Both are and will be such a blessing!

[Sallie]

Oh thank you for the list! May we all roll in life as we relish our Jesus! Thank you so much for carrying his life in such accessible and beautiful ways my friend!

[jill dyer]

What hope! Thank you, Stasi. Timely words and new music to check out. Couldn't be better.

[Christine]

Stasi, I have been so longing for a list of your current favorites! What a blessing! - both your words and the songs. I am always so pleasantly surprised at God's goodness in using your words as a balm to my heart. He is so good in the way He encourages us to keep our eyes on Him when we are tempted to focus on our failures. Oh, how I am grateful for His faithfulness! And for the many many ways that He speaks through you. :) Thank you for your willingness to share your heart.

[Jennifer]

Thank you Stasi. Needed to read this today, feeling heavy. I know my heart is good, but am so easily pulled in by the enemies lies and I end of feeling awful. It is a daily battle for me to fight and being grounded in truth is survival. Must get out of the house, enjoy my beautiful day outdoors with my favorite worship music cranked on my ipod.

[Ed]

Stasi,I always enjoy reading your blogs, but I have to admit when I got to the part about your dog, Oban, rolling in something dead I didn't agree with your analysis. Being a man and a hunter as well, I figured this isn't about wanting to roll in death. It's about wanting to mask ones scent in order to get closer to our prey for the hunt.

But I also recognized what your were after and you are so right about us constantly still living in our sin. I often find myself believing the lies of my enemy and not what is true....I am dead to sin and alive to God.

However, I did decide to google the question "why do dogs roll around in dead animals?", remember I'm a man and that's what we do, we over analyze and have to figure things out.

After googling the question, I discovered that there was no real clear answer and in fact there were several theories on the matter. But I did find an observance from a dog owner that really stuck with me and I think it's true for us as people too.

When our Golden Retriever was about a year old, we brought her to a small Wisconsin lake. She was roaming around freely and went into some bushes. I was wondering what she was doing there, so I took a look. There she was, rolling on a dead fish that someone had thrown into the bushes. That fish must have been there for days, because did it ever stink!

As our dog got older, rolling in something smelly was not such an issue.

It is that last sentence that really struck me and hit home..isn't it so true as we get older or more mature in our walk with God we no longer walk in some of our old sins. As we allow God to continue to restore us and renew us and heal our brokenness we begin to find freedom from the sin we once lived in. But it is an on going process and we have to walk in His Love and invite him into our brokenness in order for us to not believe the lies of the enemy....daily.

I just reread the scripture you posted Romans 6:10,11 and I had a thought: Instead of rolling around in the sin and death of our past we need to DAILY cover ourselves in Christ's death and his blood in order to protect us from the warfare of the adversary who relentlessly accuses of our sin CONSTANTLY. And not only that but to to also walk in his LIFE because that is the offer.....LIFE!

Thank you Stasi for your very insightful words, a very good reminder that we are all in this journey together and I need to daily walk in the covering of Christ's Blood, His Life and in His Authority....and to keep my gaze upon Him, Jesus!

[Stasi]

Wow!  Thank you, Ed!!!!  Yes!

[Catie]

Thanks for sharing, Stasi! I really get hung up on making mistakes sometimes and then get lost in the stench of my failures, fearing to make a new mistake. I'm encouraged and uplifted by your words. I need to look up and see Jesus, to remember who I am in Him. He is right there, wrapping me up in His arms, letting me know He thinks I'm lovely!

[Sara]

I love this reminder. Thank you Stasi for your heart.

I am also struck tonight by this exchange: my husband came home from a men's group where 50 men are gathering weekly to go through the Fathered by God series. Two weeks in, the impact is already obvious. Men in their twenties to men in their sixties, touched by this message.

Then I read this post -- a handful of the songs you list here are written and sung by men in our church community. The same community that your ministry is reaching with a message of the father's heart, is alluring you to His heart through their worship.

What a beautiful exchange.

[Stasi]

:-)  He IS!

[Carrie]

Just love you. Love how your heart see things. Love how you communicate. Love how you remind me of what's true about God and about me. Just love you.

[Mashawn Hepner]

I constantly need to remember to slow down, spend time in God's prescence, especially when I'm stressed! I tend to roll in the dead stuff a lot more when there is pressure on, instead of refreshing my spirit in Him.
Thanks Stasi! I needed to read these words this morning!
(I am looking forward to summer slowing down too! My kids are home now, out of school, and it's nice to be with them again!)

[Cate]

Stasi,
Thanks so much for your timely writings. Not the first time you guys have been the ones to encourage my heart. Just this weekend, the Holy Spirit revealed some deep places where I have been decieved by our Enemy into believing lies about who HE is and who I am. I'm afraid my first response was just to wallow in the mess I've made of my heart. But, you gave me yet another reminder that I am free.... free to get up and focus on who He is and not to stay in the pit. A moment by moment challenge. Thanks again.

[Melody Schrock]

WOOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!! What a great reminder. "He who is in me is greater than he who is in the world" PRAISE THE LORD! HE IS MY HERO!!!!

[AR Henderson]

Thanks Stasi - pray your Sabbath rest was good....

[Linda]

Thank you for this... I have been tempted to marinate.

[Kevin B. O'Neill]

Stasi,

What a great post! I love the joy of my Labs playing and doing what they were created to do! So much fun to watch them just be free in who they are. Mine found a pile of dead fish one day and also rolled around in it, thoroughly covering themselves with the stench and decay. Truly disgusting!

I never drew the parallel between that and what we can do with our Sin, remaining in it far longer than we need to. You hit the nail on the head! Thank you Jesus for your love and grace and freeing us from the stench of sin and death!

[Sarah E]

Stasi,

I am reading Captivating for maybe the 3rd or 4th time, but it isn't until now how much it means to me to read it. These last few years have been very difficult for me, and reading your book is helping me to heal, and see that I am am truly worth something and longed for by the king of kings.

I am a college senior that is finally in my first 'normal' semester of my college career. I have needed to know that God has healing that goes deeper than the outside wounds. But rather for a wounded spirit, and hear examples of other women who have made it through.

This is truly a special book for me, and is helping me in ways that I cannot express. Thank you so much for your willingness to allow God to use you!

Always in Christ,
Sarah Beth

[Lindsey]

Happy Thanksgiving to the Eldredge family!! I'm very thankful for you and John and your ministry of restoration! Hope your Thanksgiving weekend is wonderful.
~Lindsey

[Monica]

Hi Stasi,
I am reading Captivating for the second time and it is doing a number on me. In a good way! I just wanted to share an amazing testimony that I wrote about on my blog that came about because of reading your book. God has used you to speak right to my heart and I am so thankful.
Here is the post:
http://setfreefromme.blogspot.com/2011/12/beauty.html

[Eileen Peterson]

Hi, Stasi--how would you suggest that I find groups in Minnesota to study the Ransomed Heart stuff with--I've searched and searched and can't find any churches that are doing it. There are a few men's groups doing "Beautiful Outlaw," but I can't find any other groups at all. Help! :)

[sunglasses hut]

I just wanted to share an amazing testimony that I wrote about on my blog that came about because of reading your book.

[how to write]

Thanks for the post! Great as usual! Keep it up!

[Beats By Dr Dre]

New Wilderness Adventures is a growing ministry committed to a God sized mission. They are adventurers, guides, and followers of Christ in a shared mission. They are not men's ministry programmers or fillers for Sunday morning brotherhood breakfast; however, they welcome every opportunity to share God's message of freedom and life.

Located in North Carolina, New Wilderness Adventures offers a variety of ministry adventures, with the mission to orient, teach and release men to bear God's image as he intended and restored through our Lord Jesus.

To contact New Wilderness Adventures, or to learn more about their mission, please visit their website or contact them by email at

[oakley frogskins]

Not you have to articles was so good, later to focus on.