We’ve all experienced “Greener Grass Syndrome,” where we think something on the other side of our situation will make us happy. Guest Nancy Anderson shares her story of how her Christian marriage turned upside down when unhappiness turned to a willful affair. But as we read in John 8, Jesus acted in grace, mercy and forgiveness to the woman caught in adultery from that account. Watch as Nancy explains the amazing resolution and lesson she has learned when facing the “Greener Grass Syndrome!” Nancy’s book, Avoiding Greener Grass Syndrome, is available on multiple outlets for purchase.

“The house was filled with people weeping and wailing, but he said, ‘Stop the weeping! She isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.’ But the crowd laughed at him because they all knew she had died. Then Jesus took her by the hand and said in a loud voice, ‘My child, get up!’ And at that moment her life returned, and she immediately stood up! Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. Her parents were overwhelmed, but Jesus insisted that they not tell anyone what had happened” (Luke 8:52-56).

The little girl in this story was dead, and Jesus gave her life again. And believers hear this, nod and say, “Yes, yes,” and non-believers laugh like those in the crowd. Understandable…for both sides.

I can imagine that those laughing were laughing because “they KNEW she had died.” They were looking at the facts. Is that wrong? Of course not.

Jesus was saying something that did NOT make sense.

He was using words that seemed foolish, naive and completely illogical. I would think that laughing at that moment was a knee-jerk reaction that many of us would have had….if we didn’t really know (or had forgotten!) who was speaking to us.

Were the followers of Jesus in that crowd laughing (or weeping) too? I bet they were. I don’t know about you, but I too often find myself chuckling along with Sarah in the Old Testament when told she would have a child in her old age…”who me?” I look at my circumstances, and I think it is completely ludicrous the promises God whispers to my heart. “I can’t do that! It doesn’t make sense in light of who I see that I am. I’m weak here and here and have failed here and here!”

Or I’m among those weeping. Things around me seem dead. I feel dead. There is no life in me. Or so it seems. I see it. People around me see it. “They all knew she had died.” Its obvious. Then fear and victimhood does not feel like a choice, but a much stronger enemy ready to destroy me. And that’s what God calls our enemy… “a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

But, oh, the joy I still find in my heart when I read the rest of the story! Jesus didn’t stand beside her and yell, “DON”T BE A VICTIM!” Nor did He yell at those laughing and say, “HAVE COMPASSION!” He didn’t belittle or demean anyone, as is too often my temptation. He simply took the little girl by the hand and spoke to her. And she got up. But not before life returned to her. She couldn’t have done anything while she was dead. I can’t choose or do anything, (and nor can you, let alone stand up out of death!), until life returns.

Thankfully, He didn’t ask her to do anything that He hadn’t already given her the ability to do.

“God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.” I can only speak for myself, but if God hadn’t given me new life, hadn’t lifted me out of death once, and thankfully, repeatedly again every moment of every day – I could never choose as I ought…and I KNOW Jesus! I know His love and care for me. So how can someone who doesn’t even know Him do that? And yet He gives that choice…not so much to choose better or even do better, but to choose Him.

But as hope-filled as all this is, I actually haven’t gotten to my favorite part of this story! She was dead. Everyone knew that. No one was thinking of any needs she might have (especially the little girl herself), other than maybe her funeral arrangements. No one but Jesus.

And not only was He many steps ahead of anyone’s understanding of the situation, He already had a plan for who He would call on to help meet the needs of this hungry, once dead little girl.

If you already have trusted Jesus for forgiveness for your sins but still feel there is “death” in your life…dead relationships…dead opportunities…dead dreams…dead hopes…would you join me and trust Him again?

Would you stop right now and listen for His voice? I don’t know why I run from those times alone with Him when He calls me to trust Him again, but I do. The stench of death overwhelms me, and before I know it, (through as much my passive choices as my active ones), I “choose” victimhood. But you know what? God is ok with that. He doesn’t freak out or abandon me. He doesn’t get angry with my weakness or tell me to face the facts. He has a plan bigger than my fears or the facts…bigger than my lack of knowing Him…bigger than anything that I would choose over Him. And His desire is for me…for life…for joy…to feed my hunger. Even the hunger I don’t even know that I’m about to have, once He breathes life into me.

But when we’re in that “dead” state, we can’t see past our circumstances…but thankfully, Jesus sees further. He knows when and how He will take your hand and raise you up… AND He knows what your need will be after that… AND He already has a plan on how to meet that in your life! Stop and think about that for just a second!

I always think everything depends on me…but it doesn’t.

It never has, and it never will. Sure, He graciously invites me to participate in His plan…but He breathes life into me…He speaks to me in death and lifts me up into life, and He even calls on others to help meet my needs!! Amazing! Overwhelming! Humbling! So much love!!

I want to choose hope and compassion over fear and victimhood. But before I can do that, before you can do that, we need to choose Jesus. We need to – like all those in this story – look honestly at our circumstances and agree with Jesus where there is death in our lives.

Did you know that the Greek word that we usually translate into English for “confess” literally means “agree?” To “confess” our sins means just to agree with God. Agree with the One who is always kind, always patient, always ready to receive us. Agree that – like everyone who has ever walked on this earth – we are not perfect and have sinned and can never attain to the holiness of God unless He reaches down and breathes life on our lives.

And if you’ve done that sometime before – whether it was trusting Him just this morning in prayer or many, many years ago in a life that seems so far away like it was someone other than the life you’re living now – would you trust Him again? Would you confess the pride, or jealousy or fear that threatens to kill the life He wants to bring to you in every area of your life?

It’s scary to see who we really are….but only if we don’t know or have forgotten who He really is. He is the one who not only brings life, but prepares a banquet in the presence of those laughing, those standing in enmity against us….even if it’s ourselves. Because our enemy, Satan, “comes to kill, steal and destroy, but Jesus comes to bring life, and life abundant.” Choose Jesus. Choose life. He is calling you to life out of death. He knows what you have need of. He loves you so.

The Gospel is the “good news” concerning who Christ is and what He has accomplished. It is the power of God to redeem sinful humanity, replace the sinner, remove the sin, release the bondage, reverse the curse and reconcile man to God. When we proclaim the Gospel, we are actually telling Christ’s personal testimony about His birth, life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension.

O, how glorious is this gospel…and yet, how easy it is to underestimate the full extent of its power!

Perhaps, we would do well to consider what actually happens in the spiritual realm when the Gospel is shared and lives are set free.

When Jesus preached His own Gospel to His disciples, Satan immediately overtook Peter in getting him to rebuke the Lord saying, “Far be it from You Lord; this shall not happen to you!” Then Jesus immediately came back with a firm response of His own, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (Matthew 16:22-23, NKJV).

Do you see how quickly Satan reacted upon hearing Christ proclaim His own death and resurrection? Have you ever experienced this kind of opposition? Where do you put your trust today? Are you more focused on the temporal than the eternal and more mindful of human remedies over God’s remedy?

The idea of God coming down to sacrificially give His life for us in order to solve our deep spiritual condition by absorbing the punishment we deserve sounds too good to be true. However, if one’s Jewish expectation cannot grasp the idea that the Messiah needed to suffer for us before reigning over us, it can seem like nonsense.

Or if one’s secular worldview esteems man’s accomplishments over God’s accomplishments, the gospel can easily become an intellectual offense.

This is why Paul says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God… to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18,23-24).

According to the Gospel accounts in Mark and Luke, the first time Jesus casted out an evil spirit was not among unrighteous heathen or a company of sinners but within a religious synagogue in Capernaum where there was an affinity to God’s laws and ordinances. It was here that a man with an unclean spirit cried out, “Let us alone! What have we to do with you Jesus of Nazareth? Did you come to destroy us? I know who You are – the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:24).

As I considered this passage recently, the Lord renewed my mind to see some powerful insights concerning the glorious gospel of Christ:

First of all, the Gospel engages the divide of two spiritual kingdoms and brings with it the power to deliver someone out of darkness, to loosen Satan’s grip on their life and to enable them to experience Christ’s love and forgiveness. Paul declares this in his letter to the church in Colosse: “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).

Furthermore, evil spirits always see things as they really are even if they do not want to come under the authority of Christ. Unlike the religious crowd that was gathered together, the evil spirits knew exactly who Jesus was and what He was capable of doing. “I know who you are – the Holy One of God!” – seeing Him as a threat to their agenda.

We see a similar response when an evil spirit answered the seven sons of a chief priest who tried to exorcise demons in Christ’s name saying, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” (Acts 19:15).

It was only when Paul was freed from the blindness of his own religious zeal and was graciously converted by the risen Christ that he became a threat to the kingdom of darkness and came to understand what the evil spirits already knew. His conversion story confirms that Jesus can change anyone “…From darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:17-18).

This begs the question: Are you a threat to the kingdom of darkness by the way you live and give the gospel?

Finally, let us consider what the evil spirits actually said to Jesus in the synagogue that day – “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth?” Is this not the same message often broadcasted today by various means of culture and media outlets that do not make room for the Christian message to be spoken in any public sphere under any circumstance, since it would rather promote atheism, relativism, humanism and hedonism before it gives any credence to the Gospel of Christ.

Why is this? Because the Gospel requires us to see sin as sin, so that we can repent and see Christ as the one perfect solution; so that we can believe.

The Gospel is the supernatural remedy for a spiritual condition that only God Himself can solve.

The Gospel opposes the ideologies and priorities of a world system that seeks to promote and celebrate self while rejecting any and all moral absolutes and responsibilities in order to excuse immoral behavior and suppress the truth.

“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4 NKJV).

Once the light of the Gospel shines on our hearts, we are forever changed and everything looks different. The view from Calvary changes the way we see the world because it makes Jesus Christ the focal point and not ourselves.

At the beginning of every year, every season of life, or every day, we can say, “We have not been this way before.” A new adventure, a new way, things that never happened to us before give us the opportunity every day to experience God’s presence and power.

The question is, are you ready?

Are you willing? Do you believe it? The children of Israel, after 40 years of wandering in the desert, stood on the river shore, the Promised Land in front of them. All they had to do was cross the wild and dangerous Jordan River.
You can imagine the fear, uncertainty and hesitation that murmured through the people. Joshua sent instructions through the camp to follow the ark of the covenant being held by the Levitical priests because, “Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before” (Joshua 3:4). Joshua also instructed them, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”

It was harvest time. The river was at flood stage and not easily navigable. Enemies could be waiting for them on the other side. Did God order the soldiers and strongest men in the camp to lead the way? No, he put the priests and the Ark on the front lines. God fulfilled His promise to the children of Israel, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Like the Dad that He is, He goes before us, urging us to join the adventure, get our feet wet and step into the river, because He plans to do amazing things.
The priests stepped in to the river, and immediately, the water ceased to flow from upstream. Just like the stories of Moses, the elders remembered and the young ones heard told! It was the beginning of Joshua’s “amazing things.” The whole nation crossed the Jordan on dry ground.

You and I have been born in this particular stage of history, this hour in the history of humankind.

This is not an accident. God knows you, designed you and planned on your life being here at this time for specific reasons. We are another Joshua generation. We need to accept and understand our true identity. When we put our faith in Jesus, we inherit a new identity. We become His children, His son or daughter. But too many believers don’t realize this, nor are they seeing it manifested in their lives.

We need to engage and enforce our inheritance. The inheritance became reality the moment the Israelites stepped into the river. Passover was the night the nation was born. This day, the nation was baptized and revived as they stepped forward in obedience. Jesus taught, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). The word repent implies a change of action, to change your mind, to go in a new direction.

On this day, Israel received a new identity and headed in a new direction.

In Egypt they lived under a slave mentality. In the wilderness they held on to a survival mentality. Now it was time to embrace their new identity, as the recipients of God’s love, blessings and promises. Time to claim their inheritance. Time to develop an inheritance identity.

When we repent, we are changed. When we turn from the ways we have been thinking, living, believing and begin to follow the Lord into new territory, then and only then, do we experience what God promised.

We are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). We are “new creations” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We don’t have to live with fear, worries and anxiety. These are the idols of a past without God. The more we accept and believe God’s great love for us, the stronger our identity as His children is established. The false identity is removed, and the power of God’s kingdom can be manifested in our lives.

I’ve been a teacher/preacher for a long time and am disturbed by what some of my colleagues teach. We are indeed sinners, for “all have fallen short of the glory of God.” That fact has been drilled into the church for centuries. We are not just sinners, but worthless sinners, and God doesn‘t really like us all that much.

After all, when the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, he opened his letter with, “To the dirty, rotten, worthless sinners who live in Ephesus,” right? No! He wrote, “To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace.”

The truth is, God found us valuable and loved us even when we were yet sinners.

Jesus taught, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44). We are His treasure.

“Sinner” is no longer our true identity. We have been forgiven and cleansed of all unrighteousness the moment we repent. We are God’s treasure, His beloved. Despite our failings, weaknesses, disobedience and acts of rebellion, He treasures us enough to send His Son to sacrifice Himself for us. We are His brave and triumphant children who follow Him into the river, unafraid, ready to face giants, smash idols and receive our inheritance.

We have not gone this way before…but we are ready when we follow our Lord. We can move ahead with confidence and in the power and authority of the Holy Spirit Who dwells in us. We can be a Joshua generation.

Over and over again, I discover how easy it is to say the right things, yet how often I must be reminded to live them.

Over and over again, I am reminded how necessary it is that I preach the Gospel to myself.

I know that I am a sinner saved by grace. I have memorized the Scriptures, including whole books of the Bible in my teen years. I have sung the songs and read the stories, and the truths that have shaped my life are settled in my soul.

There is great danger in this kind of knowing. It means that I can say all of the right words without my heart’s chords stirring to the tune of the Gospel. In my daily, ordinary, unseen, unsung life, it means that I can speak of the work of God and fail to recognize how deeply and desperately I need that work in my own life.

To make this practical, let me share a few examples. I have been reading the book of Esther; the story of kings and kingdoms, banquets and brides, feasts and fairness. In the first chapter, we read of Vashti, who refused the summons to the king’s presence. I have heard this passage taught many ways, but the simple application I received as I read was that one woman’s choice held massive implications, not just for her own relationships, but for her whole nation.

Quietly but insistently, God spoke to me:

“The choices that you make hold weight far beyond what you even realise.”

In the light of the Gospel, this means that my God is at work redeeming my poor choices and calling me to the choices that will reflect His sacrificial love.

Practically, this means that I must recognize, in light of the Gospel, that some of my choices will be the ones that must be redeemed. I am a sinner, eternally saved by grace.

It is far easier for me to tell others that their sins are ransomed and redeemed than to examine the ugly reality of my own poor choices. And yet…I am continually discovering my own faults and failings.

To choose another example, for years I have told teenage girls to wait to share their hearts to the one who is God’s best.

Until I fell in love myself and couldn’t figure out how to release that love for over a year. It is easy to say that I should give God my love life. It’s much harder to actually surrender what I desire. It is in light of these failures that the glory of the Gospel becomes ever more radiant. Although I know this is not true, I sometimes imagine that I have earned the relentless love of God. Preaching the Gospel to myself reminds me that every good gift in my life is an act of grace.

In subtle ways, I tend to package grace.

In my life, grace unwrapped looks like the gift it always has been: The unearned favor of a God who gave us a garden and the joy of His presence. In my life, redemption unfolded looks like the tree that springs forth with life from what seems bitter, the cross that carried the death of God Himself that He might live again, the hope that the only true King walked in humility; so that He could live in victory forever.

When I preach the Gospel to myself, I rediscover the wonder, the mystery, the radical awe of a triune God who is Father, Saviour, and Spirit. I re-engage with a love that precedes history and stretches past one trillion tomorrows.

When I preach the Gospel to myself, the story is no longer about me. I am so glad that there is a true and better hero. All of heaven sings His name.

Christians are free from sin’s rule, but not from its attempts to regain control. The battle that exists inside all of us, between sin and the new nature, will continue until we get to Heaven. This fact, however, is not a bleak one. The Bible tells us that Jesus rendered sin powerless at the cross. Being in Christ, we are not obligated to submit to sin’s dictates and desires. We can, by the Holy Spirit, make the right choices and take the proper actions to keep sin from regaining control of our thoughts, actions, and words. Here are five practical ways we can do this:

1. LOOK TO CHRIST AND HIS CROSS

The scene of God’s holy, incarnate Son suffering and dying on the cross is a shocking and horrific one. He became our sin and satisfied God’s wrath in order to rescue and redeem us from sin’s rule over us. This motivates us to love God and hate sin and to choose pleasing God over disobeying Him.

2. MAINTAIN A CLEAR AND CORRECT VIEW OF GOD

In Genesis 39, Joseph refused to commit sexual sin on this basis: “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9) How we think about God impacts how we think about sin. Seeing God as being, “Holy, Holy, Holy,” causes us to admit, “Woe is me,” and to regard sin as “unclean” (Isaiah 6).

3. DEVOTE YOURSELF TO GOD’S WORD

This includes reading it. Thinking about it. Obeying it. Psalm 119:11 tells us this, “I have stored your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” God uses His word to wash us and to make us clean (John 17:17; Ephesians 5:25-27). This is His work in us called sanctification; He is transforming us into the likeness of Jesus. By immersing ourselves in God’s word, we experience its purifying effect and sin-overcoming power.

4. BE DILIGENT IN PRAYER

In Matthew 26:41 Jesus told His followers, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Prayer is our offensive weapon against sin. It is a devastating blow against it; for this reason, it’s so hard to do. Jesus said, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” When it comes to prayer, we need to have a wartime mindset. We cannot afford to wait until we feel like praying before we pray; it has to happen consistently and continually. When temptations come, the first 10 seconds will generally determine the outcome. In this window of time, pray. In doing this, God provides the help and power we need to resist it.

5. CONFESS YOUR SINS TO GOD ON A REGULAR BASIS

Confession is the admission of our sins against God. In doing this, two things happen: First, God forgives us. This is affirmed in 1 John 1:9. Second, God renews in us a right attitude toward sin. In confessing our sins, we see the truth again that sin is evil, offensive, unclean, destructive, and full of hatred towards God. With this renewed understanding, we will reaffirm our love for God and refortify our defenses against sin.

In closing, I’d like to remind you of this message of the Gospel: Christ has set you free from sin’s rule. Daily live in this reality.

(For more on this subject, read Romans 6 and 8).