Kylie Bisutti is an American model who won the 2009 “Victoria’s Secret Model Search” competition. She beat out thousands and she was only 19 years old. So now you’re thinking, why are you reviewing a book written by a Victoria Secret Model? Especially one with the title, I’m No Angel?

Good Question.

Well, since the her contract with Victoria Secret, Bisutti has left the company and now says lingerie modeling conflicts with her Christian values: “My body should only be for my husband and it’s just a sacred thing.” Now Bisutti states that she will only choose wholesome jobs that will honor her Christian beliefs.

Released by Tyndale books, I’m No Angel is a look at the world of modeling from the inside. As a youth worker of many years, I believe Kylie’s story is one that every young girl should read. She talks about her struggles with body image and the pressures she feels from the outside world to appear older and more “experienced.” Her book is boosted with words of encouragement from the scriptures and is an encouragement for any woman who seeks to one day become a “Proverbs 31 wife.”

Today Kylie is a sought after speaker and she has a clothing line coming out soon. Kylie says, “My clothing line … will feature models of all shapes and sizes promoting our modest clothes. I want girls to see people who look like them, so they feel good about themselves.”

I’m No Angel is an easy read.

Thank you Tyndale publishing for an advanced readers copy for a fair and honest review.

photo credit: Steve Weatherford

Just like the fact that we all unique, we all have unique sins. We all struggle with different things. No one loves God exactly like you, nobody else learns exactly like you do, and nobody else sins exactly like you, either.

To use me as an example; I am a leader and so one of my sins is I tend to use people. I don’t show them appreciation, I forget that there is a living person there with real feelings. Sometimes people become tools to leaders.

Another of my signature sins has to do with appearing better than I really am. Of course it is, I’m a pastor! Pastor’s don’t ever sin, right? It’s funny (actually it’s sad) if a pastor ever gets fired, why do they get fired? Someone finds out they’re a sinner. Which is sad really, everybody gets to sin and struggle except the pastor. If we find out they have issues, they’re fired. Problem is, when your sin is trying to appear better than you are, one of the things you end up doing is hiding away.

We all had freedoms right? We have the freedom to say “yes” or “no” to God, to say “yes” or “no” to the Spirit all of the time, and at the same time we have the freedom to sin.

Romans 6:12-13 Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.

The bottom line is you either obey and trust the Spirit of God, or you obey the flesh and you obey the world. One way flows with the river, the other obstructs it. And you may not like to ask the question, “what sin damns up the river” but I find that when you realize and name those shadows in your life, those elements of darkness, you become less vulnerable to them.

Sin is selfishness. It’s true, any sin you have in your life, if you look hard enough you’ll find that selfishness is at the bottom of it.

Jesus said “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

Rivers flow when we surrender to them. Rivers stop when we damn them up. And the truth is, I can place my faith in my own hands, where I have the control to stop and start how I want, or I can place my life in His hands and give him total control.

John Calvin said, “As the surest source of destruction to men is to obey themselves, so the only haven of safety is to have no other will, no other wisdom, than to follow the Lord wherever he leads. Let this, then, be the first step, to abandon ourselves, and devote the whole energy of our minds to the service of God.”

That’s the hard part, right? Abandoning ourselves. A favorite phrase of mine is, “There is a God and it isn’t you.” Knowing that truth is the beginning of wisdom.  In fact, what was the very first recorded sin in the bible? Eve said she wasn’t supposed to eat the apple and if she does, she’ll die. And what does the snake say?

Genesis 3:4-5 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

You will be like God. The Bible says “the fool says in his heart there is no God.” Psalm 14:1. I think the bigger fool looks in the mirror and says, “there is a God and it’s me,”

Jesus said, Matthew 10:39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

John 12:24 I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

And abandoning ourselves doesn’t mean being passive and it doesn’t mean giving up, it doesn’t mean you stop thinking, surrendering to God is the glad and joyful acknowledgement that there is a creator, and there is a plan. God is running the show, and He is in the driver’s seat and not you.

In Romans 12:1 Paul explains what this looks like – he says I appeal to you by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship

You know what a living sacrifice is? Well, a typical sacrifice is killed, laid on the alter, separated and eaten. But Paul says we are to be a “living” sacrifice. That means we daily set aside our own desires and we daily submit to God. We daily say “no” to the old self and we daily live for God.

When I take steps to relinquish control of my life and give it over to God…

Ultimately what happens is…

Every day…

I take a little more of myself out of the center of the universe…

and I place God there.

photo credit: Paul Papadimitriou

Jesus said those who were thirsty could drink from Him – and interestingly enough, our intake results in our own outpouring. Jesus said we drink from him and then…. out from us “…. will flow rivers of living water.’”

Jesus was referencing Isaiah 58:11 The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.

Notice the garden, drinks in the water and then becomes a spring. Drinking from the river of life produces fruit in your garden. Walking and living in the spirit produces blessing.

Galatians 5:22-23 The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Last week we read Psalm 100:3 Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his

You were thought up by God and you are his project. The bible also says God will complete his project. So here is one more thing I want you to grasp. All of your gaps are different. Because all of your lives are different. So that means, each of you will ride the river a different way.

The You that God wants you to be, is a unique design and a beautiful creation, and it will be completely different than the person sitting next to you. That means the life in front of you and the journey it takes to get there will be just as unique.

I think this plays out beautifully in 1 Sam 17 in the story of David and Goliath

³² David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of Goliath; your servant will go and fight him.”

³³ Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, ³⁵ I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. ³⁷ The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

³⁸ Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. ³⁹ David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.

“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off.

David says he wants to fight Goliath and first Saul says, You’re too young. You’re a shepherd not a solider, but then oddly enough Saul allows it. And honestly, I have no idea why – other than Saul was a terrible leader and a terrible King.  But God knew what he was doing, and I think God convinced Saul it was a good idea. “Ok, fine here’s my armor,” says Saul. But Saul is a size 52 long and David is a 36 regular. Saul was a man, and David was a teenager. Saul was a king, David was a shepherd.  David tried to walk around in Saul’s clothes and he couldn’t. Saul’s tools didn’t help David. David knew he needed to defeat his giants the way God best equipped him.

What we need to see is that the very things that would help Saul, actually inhibited David.

But David had enough self-awareness to set aside those tools and to trust the “Me” the self that God designed.

David was unique.

His journey was unique.

This is good news for you.

It means your journey will be hand crafted for you.

photo credit: aussiegall

Galatians 5:16-17

Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do

The word walk, used 32 times in Galatians, and it is used figuratively as a way of life. This Greek verb is in the present imperative state and it literally means “to keep on walking.” To continue walking. In other words, the believer who continuously lives in and walks with the Holy Spirit will be protected from worldly desires. And the difference here between living in the spirit and walking with the spirit is the difference between setting your mind to something and then continuing to do it.

To walk by the Spirit of God is to be sensitive to the God’s leading and then to follow Him. Paul says, Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. That sounds like a high and mighty promise doesn’t it?

As Christians we’ve all been tempted by and given into our natural desires.

But what Paul is saying is, the Spirit of God will always lead us to shore.

If we allow the river to carry us, God will always lead you in the right direction.

photo credit: m.gifford

1 Thessalonians 5:19 Do not quench the Spirit.

Haven’t you noticed as a Christian you have a free will?

You can say no or yes to anything.

God is asking you to participate and you can say “yes or no” to whatever comes your way. You might do it in church, you might do it when you read your bible, you might do it when you hear a word through prayer. We either adopt it… or we try to stand up in the river.  We build damns to stop the river don’t we? Sometimes, we jump ship whatever it is…we go as far as “we want” to grow with God. And then along the way we find ways to stop or disrupt God’s work. The bible calls that “quenching the spirit” ringing out the sponge.

The NIV says, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.”

How do we do that?

Well, the more I say “no” to God, and the more I say “Yes” to my old life, I quench the spirit. The world wants us to follow our heart, or go with our gut, or we do what “feels good.” But that’s not a good judge of right and wrong is it?

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick

Romans 8:7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God

Our natural inclination is to stand up.

Riding the river doesn’t feel natural to us because we don’t like feeling helpless and not in control.

We’ll come back to that idea later….

Romans 8:5-7

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

Notice Paul says how we live starts with how we think. How often we fail in disciplining that vital part of life! When our thoughts begin to drift from God, then we become anxious, lustful, and hateful. We begin to think proudly of ourselves and our lives are selfish or we go the other way and we give in to self-pity.

Paul says to set your mind on the Spirit and then you’ll live in the spirit. Those that set their mind on the Spirit have the inner assurance that past sins are forgiven, that present events, no matter how painful, are being overruled for good, and that nothing that might occur in the future will be able to separate them from the love of God.

Your greatest blessings in Christ will come when you learn to live in the Spirit. Because a mind set on the Spirit is a life at peace.

Isaiah 26:3 says, You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

Setting your mind is the first step, it’s like standing on the shore and deciding it’s time to jump in. And yes, that first initial leap is always the toughest part. It’s that long debate at the top of the diving board, it’s working up the courage to pass that note to the cute girl, but once you can get past it…. once you can just decide that you’re you going to jump in…

The rest is just riding the current.

photo credit: jgoge

John chapter 7 takes place during sukkot, or the Festival of booths (or the festival of tabernacles) it took place in October and it was one of 3 shalosh regalim. (the days required to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem). It was a week long festival where everyone goes camping.

Pretty much. The Hebrew people would build tents from palm branches called sukkah that were to remind them of the temporary dwellings they lived in during the exodus. It was a holiday when the Hebrew people celebrated life and God restoring that life to their people.

Moses instructed the children of Israel to gather for a reading of the Law during Sukkot every seventh year (Deut. 31:10-11). King Solomon dedicated the Temple in Jerusalem  on Sukkot (1 Kings 8; 2 Chron. 7). And Sukkot was the first sacred day observed after the reinstatement of sacrifices in Jerusalem following their captivity in Babylon. (Ezra 3:2-4).

Every day of sukkot, the priests of the temple would take a golden pitcher down to  the pool of siloam (1/2 mile walk), dip it in for some water and they would walk back.  And the crowds would follow the priest back with this pitcher of life. They would make a parade of it. And then in front of the temple the priest would pour the water out – typically with a blessing like

Isaiah 12:3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

And so in John chapter 7 as the priest is doing this, Jesus stands up …. and he says

John 7:37-38 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

In the middle of this sacred moment, this holiday to observe God’s provision, and during a ritual dedicated to water, life and salvation, Jesus shouts out… if anyone want a drink they can come to me – and if you come to me, entire rivers of water will flow out of you.

Huge moment.

Staggering moment.

Draw dropping moment.

Jesus says that he is the reason they celebrate sukkot.

Jesus says that the river of life, and the provision of life was all fulfilled in Him.

Lord, I pray that I become thirsty enough to find refreshment in Christ. May I not choose alternate sources of life, for they are all counterfeit and false. May my pallet be one that discerns true life from a false ones so that my life becomes a blessing, broken and poured out like Christ’s.

photo credit: Gianni Cumbo

Philippians 1:9-11 It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,¹⁰ so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

In other words Paul says, the more you say “yes” to the person God made you – the more you are able to see the fruit, the blessings of God’s work in you; and he says that we do it – why? “ to the glory and praise of God.”

Paul says quite simply, God is working in us so that we become filled with blessings and righteousness, more and more, every day and it is all for the glory and praise of God.

So if there is the “Me” that I am, and the version of “Me” that God plans, and there is a gap in the middle, how do we cross over? Well, first of all, stop thinking of it as a canyon and begin to think of it as a river.

The word “river” is in the scriptures 150 times. And interestingly enough the bible starts with a river flowing through the Garden of Even in Genesis 2 and it ends with a river in Revelation 22

Revelation 22:1-3 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. ³ No longer will there be anything accursed.

This is key.

Because everything between these biblical rivers, everything between Genesis 2 and Revelation 22 lives under the curse, right? Death, sickness, struggle, depression, anger, frustration, war, Jesus says one day it will all come to an end. But for right now… we live in a time between these two points, just like you live in a tension between who you are and who God wants you to be.

So what’s the best way to cross a river?

Jump in.

If God began a good work in you, and he will complete it, what is stopping you from simply jumping in and allowing God to navigate your life? Well one thing that stops us is typically fear, right? Rivers are scary. But remember, you’re God’s project; so quit fidgeting, hold still and allow God to guide you. Yes, the Holy Spirit will take you to new places more and more, and as you grow you will feel your old life dying, and your initial instinct will be to struggle against it. Your impulse will be to resist and to hold on to familiar things.

But it’s not your life anymore. It’s not about rowing against the current to rebuild and remake our own life, but rather just to jump into what God is doing and to allow Him to “complete” the good work that he started.

The Spirit is trying to make you more and more like Jesus.

Jump in.

photo credit: nffcnnr

Being a child of God, being a disciple, being a Christian isn’t like every other project or task or goal in our life. When we try to loose weight or learn French, or build a new deck we take the lead and we do all of the work. And when you start, there is a picture of your new patio, and a pile of wood and over the course of your summer vacation it becomes the long arduous process of building it yourself until the pile of wood looks like the picture.

But I think what happens is we see the gap between the two. The thing we have to be careful with here, especially when we discuss something like spiritual maturity, is that we end up with a goal, we see a person that we want to be and then we see the gap between where we are and where we want to be; and so then naturally, we begin to diagram and chart how best to cross that gap.

There is a gap so we being to attempt “gap management.”  And typically we approach gap management the same way we approach all other shortcomings. We try harder. We buckle down, and we grin and bear it.

“No pain no gain.”

We grind it until we find it.

In other words, we force it.

“I need to have a devotional, I need to read my bible more, I know what i’ll do, I’ll get up at 5 am.” Tell me, why is the American answer to fixing ourselves.. why does it always begin with “I’ll just get up earlier.” Americans are so weird. We won’t sacrifice surfing the internet or TV to better ourselves, but we will sacrifice sleep. So we get up at 5 am. We do that twice ….and then we realize… “Hey, I don’t like getting up at 5 am!”

And so “gap management” ends up looking like this: try harder – fatigue – quit – guilt

And so naturally in this cycle, we know we should be better and we seem to fail when we try to be better, so we feel guilty about not being better.

But Paul writes to the Philippian church that it’s actually not on our shoulders to better ourselves.

Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

God started the work

…and HE will complete it.

That’s what it says, right?

You’re his project.

And Paul starts by saying “I am sure of this.”

Which is great, because half the time, I am not even sure of myself.

There is nothing wrong with spiritual maturity or even having a goal, so long as we understand that it’s not up to us to cross the gap. Nor should we abuse ourselves on our apparent lack of progress. We are God’s project, and that means we grow at His pace.