Psalm 18:30-32
30 As for God, his way is perfect:
The LORD’s word is flawless;
he shields all who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God besides the LORD?
And who is the Rock except our God?
32 It is God who arms me with strength
and keeps my way secure.
No pressure right? I mean it can't be that hard to be perfect. Right... It's not even possible for us to be perfect. If I could make a list on Microsoft Word right now of all the times I fall short, then I'd have to change the font size to 1, make the letter spacing 0.5 points, and set the margins to .01. Quite frankly, that still wouldn't provide me with sufficient space to cover all my mistakes not to mention, all the red lines that would come up underneath some of the mispelled words. I would be making mistakes as I tell you my mistakes.
That's okay though. Don't waste your breath, or in this case, your time typing, to illustrate your imperfections. Sometimes we forget that God doesn't forget we're not perfect (read that again if you have to). He doesn't expect us to be perfect. He created us, so he must know! That doesn't mean we can't try. "Consider right and wrong choices," he tells us. Above all, learn from your mistakes and grow from them so you don't have any repeats!
God just wants the best for YOU. He wants us to be close to perfect. God is the only perfect one I've ever come to know, so get to know him even more. Don't forget about your daily reading from the Bible, you prayers, and your praise. I like to say practice makes almost perfect. Practice reading and such now, so that you can get to know the Lord and apply (almost perfectly) everything you learn from your Bible studies.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Letters to Sin.
Romans 6:13-14
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. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace
Do you ever think of enjoying sin as if it were a nice little package full of your favorite candy (chocolate covered feces as the great Christian speaker Mike Guzzardo calls it?) How about giving up your body to participate in the wicked ways of sin?
I just don't think the latter statement is necessarily true, but it serves as a hypothetical situation We don't offer ourselves to sin. It's just a matter of doing it. We are sinful. We sin without thinking about it. Either way, the consequences are the same even if we send sin a love letter with a nice little gift of our sinful body parts. In other words, a sin is a sin no matter the process or what it is. It's all equal.
Think about it though. It's time to watch our choices. Instead of writing a love letter to sin, send one to God because he freed us from a sinful death. Offer yourself to him so that he can use you to serve and bless others.
Our body is an instrument that can either serve sin (Satan) or serve God. Who have you been serving? Ask God to help you avoid wasting your life on sinful 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. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace
Do you ever think of enjoying sin as if it were a nice little package full of your favorite candy (chocolate covered feces as the great Christian speaker Mike Guzzardo calls it?) How about giving up your body to participate in the wicked ways of sin?
I just don't think the latter statement is necessarily true, but it serves as a hypothetical situation We don't offer ourselves to sin. It's just a matter of doing it. We are sinful. We sin without thinking about it. Either way, the consequences are the same even if we send sin a love letter with a nice little gift of our sinful body parts. In other words, a sin is a sin no matter the process or what it is. It's all equal.
Think about it though. It's time to watch our choices. Instead of writing a love letter to sin, send one to God because he freed us from a sinful death. Offer yourself to him so that he can use you to serve and bless others.
Our body is an instrument that can either serve sin (Satan) or serve God. Who have you been serving? Ask God to help you avoid wasting your life on sinful desires.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Want to Sin.
Romans 6:11-12
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
So you must be wondering by now, after all the talk this week, why do we sin? Why do we struggle with it everyday and trying not to sin at the same time? You have to realize that we've been freed from the power of sin. It's not in charge of us. However, we're not free from the "want" to sin. Even though we know sin leads to death. Even though we know it's so wrong. Even though we know that Jesus died for that reason. We still want it because we like how some sin feels.
It's time to do something with our evil tendencies. The want to sin is the want for something evil, even the "littlest" of sins that don't seem to be much of anything. You're free, so don't feel obligated to be a volunteer sinner. Don't let sin be stronger than you because it's not!
"With God in your life, Satan is toothless. He is a monster that is trying to bite you. If you ask God to remind you that you never have to give in to temptation, then it won't be much of a bite."
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
So you must be wondering by now, after all the talk this week, why do we sin? Why do we struggle with it everyday and trying not to sin at the same time? You have to realize that we've been freed from the power of sin. It's not in charge of us. However, we're not free from the "want" to sin. Even though we know sin leads to death. Even though we know it's so wrong. Even though we know that Jesus died for that reason. We still want it because we like how some sin feels.
It's time to do something with our evil tendencies. The want to sin is the want for something evil, even the "littlest" of sins that don't seem to be much of anything. You're free, so don't feel obligated to be a volunteer sinner. Don't let sin be stronger than you because it's not!
"With God in your life, Satan is toothless. He is a monster that is trying to bite you. If you ask God to remind you that you never have to give in to temptation, then it won't be much of a bite."
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Death on the Cross - One Time.
Romans 6:8-9
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
As soon as I read this part of Romans I was reminded of what I heard someone say the other day in passing: "Every time you (knowingly) sin, you put Jesus on the cross all over again." I thought about it and wish I could have had a conversation with this person. It's a wonderful way to make someone feel guilty, that's for sure. It's as of our sin makes Jesus suffer even more on the cross...
Well, here's what I have to say about the statement: I absolutely disagree. It may be a good guilt trip, but it's also deceiving - a lie. Jesus Christ DIED. That happened once, in the past. Yes, he did experience excruciating pain during this time. However, instead of guilt washing over us, we should be overwhelmed by appreciation considering the amount of pain he faced for our selfishness and sinful decisions.
The fact of the matter is that the cross is empty just like the tomb. The suffering is long gone. Jesus doesn't feel the intense pain even though I still think he winces at some of our decisions; still, it's nothing like before. Paul tells us here that "He cannot die again." Jesus was victorious over death. Period. He's alive in spirit and is able to carry on with God's work. As Christians, our sin is also dead, and we are given the freedom to continually serve God.
I know it may be hard to believe that he died for us so long ago, but thank God. Thank God for Jesus' death on the cross and that his pain is over so that our sinful lives can be painless.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
As soon as I read this part of Romans I was reminded of what I heard someone say the other day in passing: "Every time you (knowingly) sin, you put Jesus on the cross all over again." I thought about it and wish I could have had a conversation with this person. It's a wonderful way to make someone feel guilty, that's for sure. It's as of our sin makes Jesus suffer even more on the cross...
Well, here's what I have to say about the statement: I absolutely disagree. It may be a good guilt trip, but it's also deceiving - a lie. Jesus Christ DIED. That happened once, in the past. Yes, he did experience excruciating pain during this time. However, instead of guilt washing over us, we should be overwhelmed by appreciation considering the amount of pain he faced for our selfishness and sinful decisions.
The fact of the matter is that the cross is empty just like the tomb. The suffering is long gone. Jesus doesn't feel the intense pain even though I still think he winces at some of our decisions; still, it's nothing like before. Paul tells us here that "He cannot die again." Jesus was victorious over death. Period. He's alive in spirit and is able to carry on with God's work. As Christians, our sin is also dead, and we are given the freedom to continually serve God.
I know it may be hard to believe that he died for us so long ago, but thank God. Thank God for Jesus' death on the cross and that his pain is over so that our sinful lives can be painless.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
The Power of Sin.
Romans 6:6-7
6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
Happy December! Man, that means the Holidays are getting that much closer!
I don't know about you, but this passage from Romans definitely has some meaning. It has some important concepts that you don't want to miss, so don't jump on the bandwagon and ignore them!
What is this "old self" that was "crucified with Christ" as Paul describes? Well, it's not your sinful nature or desire to sin, because quite frankly, that will always exist. Your former self is the B.C. version of you...before Christ. You may consider that to be several years ago or just a few months ago. At any rate, this was when sin controlled your life. Sin was your master and you were its slave. You had to listen to sin. Therefore, you had little or no power to conquer sin.
In order to avoid sin's slavery, your old self had to die with Jesus Christ when you accepted him as your Lord and Savior; the one who delivers you from and forgives your sins. With death, sin becomes the powerless one. It doesn't have you to unleash its power any longer. Can you say freedom?!?! The only thing is, we still sin. I'll talk about that later in the week.
Did you ever consider yourself to be enslaved to sin? Thank you God for ridding my old self and allowing me to be free from sin.
6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
Happy December! Man, that means the Holidays are getting that much closer!
I don't know about you, but this passage from Romans definitely has some meaning. It has some important concepts that you don't want to miss, so don't jump on the bandwagon and ignore them!
What is this "old self" that was "crucified with Christ" as Paul describes? Well, it's not your sinful nature or desire to sin, because quite frankly, that will always exist. Your former self is the B.C. version of you...before Christ. You may consider that to be several years ago or just a few months ago. At any rate, this was when sin controlled your life. Sin was your master and you were its slave. You had to listen to sin. Therefore, you had little or no power to conquer sin.
In order to avoid sin's slavery, your old self had to die with Jesus Christ when you accepted him as your Lord and Savior; the one who delivers you from and forgives your sins. With death, sin becomes the powerless one. It doesn't have you to unleash its power any longer. Can you say freedom?!?! The only thing is, we still sin. I'll talk about that later in the week.
Did you ever consider yourself to be enslaved to sin? Thank you God for ridding my old self and allowing me to be free from sin.
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