Doing it God's way

 "For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh," Romans 8:3

Before Jesus Christ's arrival, mankind had the laws of Moses for a standard of living  and animal sacrafices for sin payment. It was work on part of the individual to live up to these standards and all failed, including some of God's most devoted. 

Thankfully God's love and compassion for mankind took on the labor of trying to do it right by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to make payment for the sins of mankind. One crucial benefit of Jesus Christ was a glimpse into God's thoughts and ways, recorded by the words of Christ in the bible. 

As God's child, your sins are covered by His blood. No longer do you have sacrafice an animal; that was taken care of by Christ. Does that mean you can live any old way you want? By no means. Your desire to be forgiven and understanding the sacrafice on your behalf should prompt you to live by God's standards of living. 

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:29-30 The way of Christ is not a burden, on the contrary it will enrich your life and bring blessings that you otherwise could not experience on your own. If you are saved, thank God for His love and sacrafice for you, and learn His ways. Life will be more free than doing it on your own. 

Working with your pieces

 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

Years ago I picked up the hobby of woodworking. I'd plan what I wanted to create and slowly work thru each step of the building process. Oftentimes I'd run into a snag, maybe something didn't fit right and I'd have to modify it or sometimes scrap it and start over. But one thing for sure, because of my determination, I always completed what I started out to create. 

As a child of God, He has a plan for your life. He works in mysterious ways to shape you into something beautiful. From your viewpoint, your life might not appear to be a work in progress. Maybe you have a lot of broken pieces of your life, or the times you let down God has you thinking He can't use you for anything worthy of His authorship. 

Friend, God has more determination to create something good from brokenness and failures. Your vision might be obscured from the craftsman's hands, but He knows what He is doing. Trust Him, talk to Him in prayer and believe that no matter what is going on in your life, it's part of His plan to create something beautiful. God bless. 

 

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, Ephesians 1:7

 

In the bible, Genesis 3:8-21, we read about Adam and Eve who just ate from the forbidden tree and because of their disobedience, they became aware of their nakedness. When God walked in the Garden of Eden, He called out to them both, but they hid because of their shame. Their sin was exposed and they didn’t want to face God. Can you imagine facing God with your sin, feeling the weight of your disobedience in front of the almighty God? I’d probably die on the spot.

 

As we read the passage though, it starts off with the “blame game”. Adam blames Eve and Eve blames the serpent, who deceived her. God addresses all three in the dialog and its not a conversation I would want to have taken part in.

 

So where am I going with this story? This morning as I read it, a beautiful thought came to mind about our sin and how God addresses us. Read Genesis 3:21: 21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.  Although God confronted their sin and addressed the results of their misbehavior, He still took the time to cover their naked bodies with animal skin. They were naked no more. 

 

Jesus Christ did the same for you and me. As believers in Jesus, we have the covering of His shed blood, a sacrifice for our sins and it covers us when we mess up. We no longer have to walk in fear when we come to God, His blood covers our nakedness. Best advice I can give you today…1 Corinthians 6:20 For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

 

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8 

 

If there is a prize for the world champion fishermen, it would have to go to Satan. He has perfected the perfect lure to entice people to sin. Think about it with me….

 

For starters, he plops that lure of temptation when you least expect it. Just the other day I was doing my best to keep my focus, when Satan dropped something in front of me that sent my mind in a downward spiral. It took several days to recover from that experience.

 

Secondly, Satan knows our weaknesses and will plop the right temptation that looks so satisfying and hard to resist. Just like a fish in water, we will chase that toxic lure until we bite into it.

 

Once hooked, Satan tugs the tempting lure so it hooks you even more and pulls you away from God’s single path of righteousness. Satan wants you far away from God as He can get you. Sin is what separates man from God.   

 

This morning God laid this passage on my mind, Philippians 4:8. Lets face it, our mind steers our daily decisions. Unless we keep our mind focused on God, evaluate every thought against God’s standards (2 Corinthians 10:5), we will fall for Satan’s lure of temptation every single time. We MUST keep our focus on Godly things, Godly thoughts and turn aside from anything that lures us away from the truth of God.

 

Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, think about these things. God bless!

 

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” Romans 8:15

 

Do you recall those times, in your youth, when you were in trouble and your parent was going to address the trespass with you? The fear and dread of that conversation was heavy on your heart and you knew either your backside or pride was going to be hurt. I can recall those times and they weren’t pleasant.

 

This morning I was reading an excerpt from my grandmother’s journal and she stated that as a Christian, Jesus removes the “guilt of our sin”. I had to sit and ponder that thought for a moment, then God opened my mind to countless scripture about how His children shouldn’t fear, but have joy in the freedom we have in Christ. Jesus Christ paid our sin debt, 100%. Yea, we gonna mess up at times and should feel remorse, but the punishment has been taken care of by Jesus Christ. That fear of facing The Father has been removed. We can acknowledge our shortcomings, ask for forgiveness and move on without living in fear.

 

Fear is something Satan uses to keep God’s children in bondage of guilt and feel worthless. Until we close our ears to Satan’s lies and engulf ourselves in the gospel truth and understanding of our freedom in Christ, we will continue to feel the guilt and shame of our trespasses. If you are a born-again believer, you are free from sin’s payment of eternal death. You are free of sin’s guilt and the punishment that comes with it.

 

Live your life in Christ without fear and dedicate your ways to His perfect will and plan for your life. You will experience more of God’s blessings when you feel the freedom to live than the fear of death. God bless!

 

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

 

There is nothing more comforting than standing next to a heater in the dead of winter when its cold outside and you can’t seem to warm up even inside your home. As you get closer to the source of heat, your body feels it warming you on the surface, then goes inside to the core. I’m sure you can recall a time when you experienced a time of extreme cold and the heater was your friend.

 

As Christians, we go through cold spells in life when our faith isn’t warm, the daily grind seems to be a heavy burden and your nights are full of sleeplessness and worrisome thoughts. Can you relate? Over the past few weeks I have struggled with rest, feeling the pressures of life’s circumstances and worries. As a result, my patience became less, I was more emotional and reactive when negative things happened and my walk with the Lord seemed more hit and miss than a steady pace.

 

Things got so bad, I finally dropped to my knees in prayer, asking for God’s help. I made a commitment to God to pray more often, specifically targeting the problems I faced. After only two days of intense prayer, I saw God’s hand move in each and every situation. Even problems I didn’t anticipate, God already had a solution and was helping me navigate those challenges.

 

Friend, if you are having sleepless nights, feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders and just can’t seem to get it together, draw near to God. Through consistent and specific prayers, He will help you. One thing I also was reminded of, I must believe He will help me. Me doubting God’s ability to handle my most difficult situation only lessens my ability to let go and let Him take control. Read James 1:6–8. It’s when I put my faith and trust in His ability, did I start to see results of my call for help.

 

Pray, release your worries and believe in Him. Results and blessings will soon follow. Rest today in Him! God bless!

 

For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. Luke 21:15

 

Do you ever worry about what you’ll say to someone when your words really matter? Maybe it’s a heart to heart talk with your kids, a friend is going through a difficult time and needs words of comfort or wisdom or maybe you have an enemy who is trying to outwit you. Can you relate?

 

Yeah, my hand is raised. I can tell you that when you seek after God for His help, He will always supply you with the words and wisdom needed for that point in time. The key is trusting that He will speak through you and having the confidence to speak it. There have been times when I’ve talked to a friend about an issue, trusted in God’s wisdom and words, and its almost like God was speaking for me, using my mouth. The words just came out, without me messing up the message.

 

It’s amazing to see God works when you truly surrender yourself to Him. The next time you have to speak to a friend or even an adversary, call upon God to provide the wisdom and words, then speak it with confidence knowing the author is God. God bless!