Thursday, January 30, 2014
Wondering What Happened
Friday, January 24, 2014
One Good Way To Memorize Scripture
Why Your Pastor Wants You To Memorize Scripture
They are my joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear your name,
O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.
and a light for my path.
that I might not sin against you.
So there you go. Incredibly helpful and foundationally shaping for me, I offer it to you in your walk with Christ.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
The Original Dr. Phil
Romans 6:20-23 HCSB
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from allegiance to righteousness. So what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death. But now, since you have been liberated from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification — and the end is eternal life! For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I have, quite literally, never watched Dr. Phil. The closest I've come is pausing on a rapid channel surf. I hear, however, that he is known for responding to his guests' revelations of their particular brand of crazy by asking, "how's that workin' out for you?"
Which is an excellent question. It is essentially what Paul is up to here. Just when we catch him admitting that the Christian life is tantamount to slavery, he comes back at us with, "you've lived a life 'liberated' from God's goodness and what do you have to show for it-other than stuff you're too embarrassed to talk about?"
Ouch.
Reality check: a life free of any allegiance is an allegiance in itself. To a life that ends in an unproductive, lonely embarrassing mess. But at least it's your mess, right? As my son would say, "Keep tellin' yourself that."
I gladly surrender myself, God of Holiness. I would rather be a slave to your Goodness than free to make a mess of my life. In Jesus. Amen.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Yer Not The Boss Of Me!
"Yer not the boss of me!"
Ever hear one child say that to another; or to a babysitter? If there's one thing we hate more than being bossed around it's being bossed around by someone who has no authority to boss us around!
Romans 6:12-13 NLT
Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.
In case you haven't heard, the Bible and Christian faith just want to boss you around. They are nothing but a restrictive system of "dos and don'ts." That's why I feel so hand-slapped and bossed-around by these verses! Or not....
These encouragements fairly represent what God desires for you. His invitation is not "don't do that!" and "do this!" as much as it is "be set free from that which controls you" and "give yourself to my freeing, life-giving love."
Thank you, Father, for setting us free in Christ. Amen.
Wilson