Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
This is one of my absolute most favorite verses. I often need the reminder that my relationship with God is not based on anything I do or don't do. God's love for me is the same always, no matter who I am. I cannot win God over or get Him to do anything for me by being "good". God is always for me and He is always doing good on my behalf. Sometimes I get the gumption to work on my own sanctification and try to make myself holy. For instance, I notice I have frustrated emotions or words about a particular situation and I think that I should try to control those emotions or words. Paul's words here are a strict reminder that if I decide to start trying to be in control of my own holiness, then I negate Jesus' work on the cross. If I'm going to take control of one part of my salvation effort, then I have to take control of it all. I don't want to do that. This verse reminds me to turn my holiness over to God and let Him sanctify me and make me beautiful through the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus. I must ask Him to do the work in me, as I can no more make myself holy in action and thought than I can make myself a cat. I am a new creation in Christ because God has made me such. I am transformed by the Holy Spirit because of the gift of grace God has given me. And this is the freedom Paul writes about over and over. We are not bound by the law on stone tablets. We are free in Christ, who writes the law on our hearts through the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Remain free by asking God to continue the good work He began in you. He will complete it. He has promised.
Monday, June 11, 2018
Friday, June 8, 2018
When God Moves
Have you ever experienced a time where the only one who could get credit for something was God? Have you ever had unexplained happenings where you think, this has to be a God thing? I love when God moves like that. I love when He gives us the opportunity to see His handiwork. Over my lifetime, I have been given plenty of these opportunities, but I have to admit that His current work is just unreal. Now, I don't mean that everything is going exactly how I want life to go, or that I'm not experiencing any hardship. No, what I am experiencing are things that can only be explained as God things. They are situations, happenstances, circumstances, coincidences, plans, whatever you want to call it, that can only be explained as something God has been doing. For some things, I can tell that it has been God working for years on a particular detail. For others, it's as if He just did it on quick notice. And these aren't just things that are directly related to me or Dalton. These are things I'm noticing in the world around me. It's hard to explain, which is how I know it to be God. I want to encourage you to search for those things in your day that are unexplainable, those things that are seemingly ridiculous because the chances of it happening are just so minuscule, and give God the praise. Start looking and you will see His work.
Thursday, June 7, 2018
The Greatness of Hope
Psalm 143:8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
Aren't there just days that you can't wait for them to be over so you can go to bed and start with a fresh day? That's one of the beauties of following Christ. His mercies are new every morning. He brings word of his unfailing love at the dawn. The evenings can be lonesome and the nights can seem so long, but there is light coming. The hope that rises the sun is the same hope with which the Son has been risen. When the darkness falls and your spirit seems to lie down in the depths, renew your strength with the hope of Christ. Pray for His living Spirit to come close and carry you through the deep into the new day, where hope is seen in the dawn. For if we trust in God, He will lift us up on earth as it is in Heaven. We have assurance through His Word that He will lead us on, as He has done for His people throughout the ages.
Aren't there just days that you can't wait for them to be over so you can go to bed and start with a fresh day? That's one of the beauties of following Christ. His mercies are new every morning. He brings word of his unfailing love at the dawn. The evenings can be lonesome and the nights can seem so long, but there is light coming. The hope that rises the sun is the same hope with which the Son has been risen. When the darkness falls and your spirit seems to lie down in the depths, renew your strength with the hope of Christ. Pray for His living Spirit to come close and carry you through the deep into the new day, where hope is seen in the dawn. For if we trust in God, He will lift us up on earth as it is in Heaven. We have assurance through His Word that He will lead us on, as He has done for His people throughout the ages.
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Faith Worth Losing
Psalm 111:2 Great are the works of the Lord: they are pondered by all who delight in them.
For some reason, today I was thinking about the phrase "faith worth losing". I once heard someone say that anyone who would walk away from God, had a "faith worth losing". His point was, have a faith that means more than anything else on earth. Of course, I think about this long enough and I start to realize that some of the reasons people might walk away from God are seemingly legitimate. A loved one dies of cancer when you prayed for them to be healed. Did God even hear you? Does He even care? You've sought something particular for a very lengthy amount of time waiting on God to do something, everything from material possessions to familial hopes. God didn't do anything, or at least didn't do it the way you wanted. You see people who claim to be Christians who do horrible, awful things to other people, maybe even actually being a hypocrite. Does God do anything? God allows so much evil to happen in the world. Does He have any justice? Here is the one thing I will say. In order to have faith, and definitely in order to have a faith worth keeping, one has to let Jesus in. One has to spend time with God in more ways than praying for a particular thing fervently. Purposeful, intentional, sincere time with God is all God is seeking from you. He's not asking you to do anything particular or believe a particular thing, or even act a particular way. He is simply asking you to spend time with Him. There are lots of ways to spend time with God. Praying, yes, but there are many others. Going to church can be positive, and it's not simple to find a good one either, I know. Started with a positive attitude will help tremendously. And if you're going to go to church, if that's going to be a way that you are going to spend time with God, then you have to be ready and willing to meet Him there and do what you're prompted to do. You can spend time with friends who are Jesus followers. Read the Bible. Do a daily devotional. There are so many ways to get close to Jesus. I realize that sometimes the issue isn't so much that we don't want to get close to Jesus, it's more that we are uncomfortable with Him getting close to us. Unfortunately, that's the only way to have a faith worth keeping.
For some reason, today I was thinking about the phrase "faith worth losing". I once heard someone say that anyone who would walk away from God, had a "faith worth losing". His point was, have a faith that means more than anything else on earth. Of course, I think about this long enough and I start to realize that some of the reasons people might walk away from God are seemingly legitimate. A loved one dies of cancer when you prayed for them to be healed. Did God even hear you? Does He even care? You've sought something particular for a very lengthy amount of time waiting on God to do something, everything from material possessions to familial hopes. God didn't do anything, or at least didn't do it the way you wanted. You see people who claim to be Christians who do horrible, awful things to other people, maybe even actually being a hypocrite. Does God do anything? God allows so much evil to happen in the world. Does He have any justice? Here is the one thing I will say. In order to have faith, and definitely in order to have a faith worth keeping, one has to let Jesus in. One has to spend time with God in more ways than praying for a particular thing fervently. Purposeful, intentional, sincere time with God is all God is seeking from you. He's not asking you to do anything particular or believe a particular thing, or even act a particular way. He is simply asking you to spend time with Him. There are lots of ways to spend time with God. Praying, yes, but there are many others. Going to church can be positive, and it's not simple to find a good one either, I know. Started with a positive attitude will help tremendously. And if you're going to go to church, if that's going to be a way that you are going to spend time with God, then you have to be ready and willing to meet Him there and do what you're prompted to do. You can spend time with friends who are Jesus followers. Read the Bible. Do a daily devotional. There are so many ways to get close to Jesus. I realize that sometimes the issue isn't so much that we don't want to get close to Jesus, it's more that we are uncomfortable with Him getting close to us. Unfortunately, that's the only way to have a faith worth keeping.
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
A Job Moment
Job 13:15 Though he slay me, yet I will hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.
Job is a fascinating study. He was a man of God who did everything for God. And God allowed Satan to mess with him, in a very substantial way. Everything Job ever had was taken from him, except his life. His friends were horrible advice givers. His wife told him to just give up. Yet Job held firmly to God. Even in his statement here, that if God would kill him, Job would still have hope in God. I love it! I talk about "Job moments" with my sister. We discuss the fact that Job was faithful to God in and through all things. We talk about whether or not we are all-in for God in the same way, that no matter what happens in our circumstance would we cling to God? Have you had your Job moment? Is God bigger in your life than any circumstance? Have you built a relationship with Jesus that is worth fighting for and clinging to in the midst of great trial like Job? That's the goal for me, to reach a place in my relationship with my Lord where nothing on earth can tear me away from Him. He has already promised that nothing will separate Him from me because of Jesus. Now to make God big enough in my life so that I never want to separate from Him. It's a journey for sure.
Job is a fascinating study. He was a man of God who did everything for God. And God allowed Satan to mess with him, in a very substantial way. Everything Job ever had was taken from him, except his life. His friends were horrible advice givers. His wife told him to just give up. Yet Job held firmly to God. Even in his statement here, that if God would kill him, Job would still have hope in God. I love it! I talk about "Job moments" with my sister. We discuss the fact that Job was faithful to God in and through all things. We talk about whether or not we are all-in for God in the same way, that no matter what happens in our circumstance would we cling to God? Have you had your Job moment? Is God bigger in your life than any circumstance? Have you built a relationship with Jesus that is worth fighting for and clinging to in the midst of great trial like Job? That's the goal for me, to reach a place in my relationship with my Lord where nothing on earth can tear me away from Him. He has already promised that nothing will separate Him from me because of Jesus. Now to make God big enough in my life so that I never want to separate from Him. It's a journey for sure.
Monday, June 4, 2018
Be Clothed With Power
Luke 24:49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.
How difficult it must have been for the disciples to not tell everyone about what they had seen and heard with the risen Christ! Yet Jesus knew that they needed to wait for the Holy Spirit before they began their journeys with the gospel. This is a part of my journey that I sometimes forget to let God establish. I realize what I am called to do or recognize a passion I have and I want to just go do it. Instead I need to wait, be still, and let God clothe me with the power of the Holy Spirit in order that His calling and passion within me do the complete work that God intends. Being patient is not simple. Waiting on others can be even worse. Yet this is what we are called to do. We are to wait on the Father for His timing and His gifts in order that the Kingdom work can be completed. Do you know what Kingdom work God is asking you to do? Do you know have a passion that needs the Holy Spirit's power to be eternally impacting for those around you? Seek God. Ask for the power that raised Jesus from the dead to be made real and visible in your life, and then hang on for the ride!
How difficult it must have been for the disciples to not tell everyone about what they had seen and heard with the risen Christ! Yet Jesus knew that they needed to wait for the Holy Spirit before they began their journeys with the gospel. This is a part of my journey that I sometimes forget to let God establish. I realize what I am called to do or recognize a passion I have and I want to just go do it. Instead I need to wait, be still, and let God clothe me with the power of the Holy Spirit in order that His calling and passion within me do the complete work that God intends. Being patient is not simple. Waiting on others can be even worse. Yet this is what we are called to do. We are to wait on the Father for His timing and His gifts in order that the Kingdom work can be completed. Do you know what Kingdom work God is asking you to do? Do you know have a passion that needs the Holy Spirit's power to be eternally impacting for those around you? Seek God. Ask for the power that raised Jesus from the dead to be made real and visible in your life, and then hang on for the ride!
Friday, June 1, 2018
Unbelievable Joy
28 Psalm 72:28 But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.
I feel like I may have recently posted on this exact verse, but God has challenged me with telling of His deeds. Here is the sticky point. I don't want to share it on the internet for privacy issues. Nothing weird, but I don't want random people to know my very personal information. So, all of that to say, I can't share details but I can tell you that God has done an unbelievable act in my world and I'm probably going to share with you if we come into contact one on one. ;-) It's super cool! So what's my point in posting such a cryptic message? Well, I'm being faithful to God asking me to share His story, and I want to remind you that God is working on your behalf. He is always doing something for your good even if it takes three years. Trust Him for He is in control. Be faithful to Him and see what unbelievable joy follows.
I feel like I may have recently posted on this exact verse, but God has challenged me with telling of His deeds. Here is the sticky point. I don't want to share it on the internet for privacy issues. Nothing weird, but I don't want random people to know my very personal information. So, all of that to say, I can't share details but I can tell you that God has done an unbelievable act in my world and I'm probably going to share with you if we come into contact one on one. ;-) It's super cool! So what's my point in posting such a cryptic message? Well, I'm being faithful to God asking me to share His story, and I want to remind you that God is working on your behalf. He is always doing something for your good even if it takes three years. Trust Him for He is in control. Be faithful to Him and see what unbelievable joy follows.
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