God Goes for the Jugular; Romans 5-8

May the mumbling commence!

How much does God care about us?  The Lord cares about us enough not to mess around.  We are in need, and God does not count the costs.  God does not seek out the least amount that will save us.  God goes for the jugular… takes the bull by the horns… tackles the task head on.  Read from Romans chapter eight (Peterson’s The Message paraphrase):

God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son.  He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant.  In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once for all.  The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.  (Verses 3-4)

God laid it all on the line for you and me.  Our Creator was not afraid of getting dirty.  The Lord, through Jesus, entered the mess of humanity that we call home so that things could finally be set right – once for all.  I guess, there’s that principle – if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.  That’s what God did for us.

And we reap the benefits of being made whole in the presence of our God.

Praise God!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Spirit Wind Clear the Air! Romans 5-8

May the mumbling commence!

Allow the Spirit to take control of your life, and be introduced to a strong wind that will carry you to become the person that God intended for you to be.  Hold on tight!  It’ll be a wild ride that ends in blessing after blessing.  Read from Romans chapter eight (Peterson’s The Message paraphrase):

With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved.  Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous. low-lying black cloud.  A new power is in operation.  The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. (Verses 1-2)

The dilemma is resolved.  In this case, it is the dilemma of the sin ravaged body.  It is resolved by the great, strong wind of the Spirit of Christ.  It is inevitable for those who embrace that wind.

The imagery of wind makes me think about the theme in Tolkien’s The Hobbit that deals with “luck”.  “Luck” is much more than just the luck of the slot machines at some casino.  Luck is the will of God manifest.  It, too, is inevitable… like the strong wind of the dwarves’ song at Beorn’s house.

In The Hobbit, the balance of life and peace of all creatures must be restored.  It is much more than obtaining some great hoard of golden treasure.  And God desires that the balance of life and peace be restored in all situations.  And that victory will not come without costs and without learning new ways of embracing treasure and the peoples that populate our existence.

Thank you, God, that you cleared the air with the work of Christ!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Don't Try to Dress Up Sin; Romans 5-8

May the mumbling commence!

Though we like to broadcast the sins of other people, we try to dress up our own sins to look as good as possible.  Sometimes, we even can fool ourselves.  But we never fool God.  And the Lord has given us the Law so that we might not so easily fool ourselves.  Read from Romans chapter seven (Peterson’s The Message paraphrase):

But I can hear you say, “If the law code was as bad as all that, it’s no better than sin itself.”  That’s certainly not true.  The law code had a perfectly legitimate function.  Without its clear guidelines for right and wrong, moral behavior would be mostly guesswork.  Apart from the succinct, surgical command, “You shall not covet,” I could have dressed covetousness up to look like a virtue and ruined my life with it. (Verses 7-8)

When we pay attention to the Law, sin cannot hide anymore.  The light of the Law reveals it.  What we could once hide in the dark becomes revealed.  Fooling ourselves and others becomes much harder – though not impossible.

So let’s not try to doll up sins to look like virtues.  Let’s allow the Spirit of God transform us from dead living to vibrant and eternal life.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Our Mother Tongue; Romans 5-8

May the mumbling commence!

Have you ever been in a circumstance where your native tongue was not being spoken?  I think most people have.  It takes a lot of effort… oftentimes for greatly diminishing rewards.  Just imagine if we were freed up from all that effort!  Imagine what we could do!  God speaks that language – that mother tongue.  Read from Romans chapter six (Peterson’s The Message paraphrase):

What we believe is this:  If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection.  We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end.  Never again will death have the last word.  When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us.  From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word.  You are dead to sin and alive to God.  That’s what Jesus did. (Verses 8-10)

The language of Satan and sin is dead… death dealing.  The language of God needs no translation, and it means life in a newer and fuller way.  God has spoken through the work of Jesus.  Death no longer has the final word.

Jesus, in his resurrection, brought God down to us.  What a freeing and empowering thought!  Let’s listen to the wonderful mother tongue of God’s speech deep within ourselves.  We will be freed to do great things… to do godly things.

Praise the Lord!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

The Greatest of All Counselors; Romans 5-8

May the mumbling commence!

In the court of the Most High God, we have available to us the Greatest Counselor.  He asks for nothing except your love and allegiance and faith.  And He is tireless in his efforts to bring us not only to full acquittal but to a fullness of life that we have never known before.  This, the Greatest of Counselors, is none other than Jesus.  Read from Romans chapter eight (NLT):

Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? Will God? No! He is the one who has given us right standing with himself.  Who then will condemn us? Will Christ Jesus? No, for he is the one who died for us and was raised to life for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us. (Verses 33-34)

When we choose Jesus as the Master of our lives, there is no more condemnation.  No accusations will stick.  The love and mercy of God have conquered all.

All we need to do is choose Jesus.  Christ pleads for us to do that.  Only we can do that.  No one else can choose for us… it’s that freedom and will and choice that is part of being made in the image of God.

After we make that choice, Jesus then turns and pleads with our heavenly Father.  And God will accept us with arms flung wide.  This gift of good standing is God’s to give, and the Lord is pleased whenever it is given and received.

So, what are we waiting for?!?  I accept Jesus as my Savior, my Master, and the Greatest of all Counselors.  What about you?

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Boast Post IV: Suffering Love; Romans 5-8

May the mumbling commence!

Christians will be known by their love.  Christians will also be known by their suffering because of their love.  To boast about being children of God means to love and to suffer for that love.  Read from Romans chapter eight (NRSV):

So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh – for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.  For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ – if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. (Verses 12-17)

Choose to live by the Spirit.  Cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in your life – love, joy, peace. patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 

As we do these things, we cry out to God “Daddy! Father!”  And the Spirit testifies on our behalf.  We are indeed children of God and heirs of the wonderful promises of the Lord.

What is the key to this glory?  We need to suffer… but not just any suffering.  We need to suffer for the Way we live in Christ Jesus.  We suffer because of our cultivation of love and joy and peace and patience… and kindness and goodness and faithfulness… and gentleness and self-control.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

God is My Pilot; Romans 5-8

May the mumbling commence!

Offer yourself to God.  When you do, it’s like signing a blank piece of paper that the Lord will fill in.  Have you ever seen the bumper stickers that read “God is my co-pilot”?  My response is: “You better move over”.  God’s Spirit pilots the lives of those who choose to follow the Way of Christ.  And the less I try to navigate, the better.

That, my friends, is being alive to God.  Read from Romans chapter six (NIV):

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.  Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.  For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. (Verses 12-14)

If I try to steer my own ship or even try to force my navigation on the pilot, I will make a terrible mistake.  My decisions are often based on the various needs and drives of my body.  And that basis is short-sighted at best and plain detrimental evil at worst.

God, I hand over to you my life.  Do with it as you please.  I trust that you have my best interests in mind.  I trust that I will never be disappointed in the end.  I trust that I will be surprised and, at times shocked, at your generosity – your amazing grace.

Yes, God is my pilot.  Period!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Boast Post III, God's Perfect Timing; Romans 5-8

May the mumbling commence!

We boast in our healthy relationship with God – a relationship that is possible through the work of Jesus Christ.  Before Jesus, such a life was impossible for us.  Read from Romans chapter five (Peterson’s The Message paraphrase):

Christ arrives right on time to make this happen.  He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready.  He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready.  And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway.  We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice.  But God put his love on the line for us by offering hid Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.

Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way.  If when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we’re at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life!  Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose.  We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah! (Verses 6-11)

God always has perfect timing.  God did not wait on us to be ready, so do not think that you need to achieve a certain level of righteousness to enter into relationship with God.  God has come much more than halfway.  God came all the way down to give us a hand up.  We need only to grasp that hand and stand.

God knows we are weak – better than we do ourselves.  God reaches out with amazing effort even at His own pain and suffering.  Our Creator does all of this without any guarantee that we will ever respond. Now that kind of love is one to sing and shout about!  I boast in the love of the Lord God!

Only because of God can we be at our best.  Expand and deepen our lives through the working of your Spirit, O God.  Usher us into this amazing relationship with you.

And we will have plenty of reasons to boast in our God!

Enough mumbling (boasting) for now…

Peace Out

Boast Post II, With Tears; Romans 5-8

May the mumbling commence!

I write this with a heavy heart.  I learned today that my Uncle Bill is going from bad to worse.  It doesn’t look good for him.  Soon, Bill will close this chapter of life… and go on to a life without pain and suffering.

No more pain and suffering for Bill, who has battled Parkinson’s for years.  That is a great thing.  But his passing will be keenly felt by those who loved him well… his wife Kathy… his daughters Laura, Nikki, and Stephanie… his grandchildren… his siblings… and me.

I do a boast post this day with tears in my eyes.  Read the words from Romans chapter five (NLT):

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us – they help us learn to endure.  And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation.  And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Verses 3-5)

We rejoice in our problems and trials… we boast in them.  They build endurance in us for the marathon of life that we live… a marathon that is at its core a relay race. 

And endurance strengthens our character, which strengthens our confident expectation of salvation.  I know that my Redeemer lives.  I know that by Uncle Bill will receive salvation from his hurt and pain. 

I know these things even as I feel the hurt and pain welling up inside of me.  I wish I could be there, physically, so I could hug my mother and my aunt and my cousins.  I wish I could be there as each of us in our own way lets go of the life that Bill has led…

It is hard.  But our expectation for salvation will not disappoint us.  God dearly loves us.

Fill our hearts with your love, O Lord!  I know God will!  I boast this even as I see the ones I love suffer and even as I suffer along with them.

Enough mumbling (boasting) for now…

Peace Out

Boast Post #1; Romans 5-8

May the mumbling commence!

I think it is time for a series of “boast posts”.  Though it is not right to boast about myself or my family or my church, it is more than right to boast about my God.  Today, I boast about the unlimited access that God gives me… gives us as followers of the Way of Christ.  Read from Romans chapter five (NRSV):

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. (Verses 1-2)

We boast in our faith.  That’s right our faith.  By it we are justified.

By faith in the Lord Jesus, we have peace with God.  We have that peace because we have obtained access to that amazing grace of our Lord God… and contained in that grace is hope.

We have hope of sharing in the glory of God.  And we boast about it – hoping to attract others to this wonderful life of faith lived through Jesus.  And the glory of God is awesome to behold.

What other god has shown itself to be alive?  What other god has taken human form and shown us the Way to live?  What other god has been willing to sacrifice itself for our well being?  How great is our Lord! 

Boast it loud!  Boast it proud!  And, through the work of Jesus, we have hope to share in the greatness of that glory.

Praise God!

Enough mumbling (boasting) for now…

Peace Out

Inner Conflict; Romans 5-8

May the mumbling commence!

Do you ever feel that you have inner conflict?  If you do, does this inner conflict make you worry?  If so, relax.  It is more problematic if you never feel that inner conflict.  Read from Romans chapter seven (NIV):

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. (Verses 21-23)

Each of us is a microcosm of the conflict that is inherent in all creation.  Our present and future are at stake.  If we feel no inner conflict, then perhaps we are not seeking the narrow path and the narrow gate.  Perhaps we are not wanting and seeking to do well.

When we try to live righteously, the devil and his allies will try to prevent us from doing so.  We become a part of the battle for our souls.  There is conflict between what God has made us for and what the world tries to tempt us to become.

Both natures are there – one to do right and one to do evil.  It depends upon us to choose one or the other.  The one we pursue more, the one we feed more, will grow… and will eventually overcome the other.

Seek to do right and wage war, knowing that victory is secure through the work of Jesus.  Wage war in this way and know that you have started the journey to being on God’s side.  And there is no better place to be!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

God's Grace > Sin; Romans 5-8

May the mumbling commence!

Do you remember those math tests where it needed to be decided between two amounts which was greater than (>) and which was less than (<) and which were equal (=).  Well, Paul gives us an equation in Romans chapter five that asks that kind of question.  But the answer goes far beyond numerical values.  Read from Romans chapter five (NJB):

When law came on the scene, it was to multiply the offences. But however much sin increased, grace was always greater; so that as sin's reign brought death, so grace was to rule through saving justice that leads to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Verses 20-21)

The Law makes us aware of our sinful natures.  It shines a light that can sometimes be quite uncomfortable.  It may seem to multiply the offenses.  Judgment should be king, then, right?

Not so fast!  Though sins are great in number, grace is greater than all the sin in the world. 

What a freeing thought!  Grace is greater than all my sin.  I am free – not to sin more but to make attempts at righteousness without fear of failing.

Go free to serve the Lord.  Go without fear of failure and judgment.  God’s grace is greater than all of our sin.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Dragon Inside; Romans 5-8

May the mumbling commence!

The wait is over… at least for the casting of The Hobbit.  I am Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thror, son of Thrain – KING UNDER THE MOUNTIAN.  Look out Erebor – here we come.  I am pumped.  Can you tell?

Thorin isn’t perfect – far from it.  He is stiff-necked and self-centered.  And he lusts for wealth beyond imagining.  Hmmm…  Sounds like many of the people who populate the world.

Yes, dwarves need to be delivered from their dragons.  So do we.  We need to be delivered from the hoarding, paranoid, and suspicious nature of the dragons that live inside of each of us.  It makes me think of that old INXS song “Devil Inside”.  I reworked the song to feature the idea of “Dragon Inside” instead.  With my regards to both Tolkien and INXS, here is my parody of “Devil Inside”:

Here come the wood-elves / With desire in their eyes

March from Mirkwood / Plunder on their minds

Bows as weapons, arrows in flight / Makes you wonder if the others will fight / Others will fight

Here comes grim Bard / With desire in his eye

Left with nothing / But full of pride

Look at him go / Look at him lead

Makes you wonder how the others will bleed

The dragon inside / The dragon inside
Every single one of us the dragon inside

The dragon inside / The dragon inside
Every single one of us the dragon inside

Here are the dwarves / With desire in their eyes

Hoarding gold and hungry, certainly right / Look at their faces / Hardened, grim and fell

It's hard to believe we need a place called hell

If we are to defeat the dragon inside all of us, we need to approach God together.  We need to work together in tandem with the Holy Spirit of the living God.  And we are quite fortunate or “lucky” as The Hobbit would put it. 

God cares for us.  That does not mean that “God is on our side”; it means that God desires us to welcome us into the fold of His family.  For this reason – God’s great care for us – we have nothing to fear.  Read from Romans chapter eight (NASB):

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 

Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. (Verses 31-34 / Chapter 8 NASB)

Thank the Lord.  Purge the demon or devil inside us all, O God.  Dragon be gone!  Be gone so that we may live in peace with one another and all the creation that the Great Creator has made.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Passionate Patience; Romans 5-8

May the mumbling commence!

I wait expectantly for what God will do next.  I try to wait with patience and hope, because I know that the Lord will fill to overflowing. 

We know about waiting in all its types and forms.  Another portion of waiting is drawing to a close.  Soon, I will hear how all my preparations have borne fruit as I find out who I will be cast as in the Family Community Theatre production of The Hobbit this late summer and early fall.

I have done many things to prepare myself for auditions.  I combed over the story numerous times and took notes on the characters.  I read scholarly works on the story.  I have practiced reading the story aloud.

Yes waiting is more than just a sedentary process.  Good waiting is waiting with a purpose in mind.  Good waiting is often rewarded in this world.

Yet good waiting is always rewarded when it comes to our waiting on the Lord.  Read from Romans chapter five (Peterson’s The Message paraphrase):

There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next.  In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged.  Quite the contrary – we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit! (Verses 3-5)

And good waiting on the Lord often happens in less than comfortable circumstances.  Be assured trouble will come.  Be assured also that God will fill us to overflowing as we wait well.  Paul calls this kind of waiting a passionate patience.  Those are two words that we don’t often put together. 

Waiting well is waiting with passion – looking eagerly for what God will do next.  There is neither reason nor time to feel shortchanged.  In fact, we will be overwhelmed by the generosity of God.

As we wait well with passionate resolve, let us share that generosity that God show us to the people around us.  Sharing God’s generosity is a part of waiting well, waiting passionately.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Obedience to God = Freedom; Romans 5-8

May the mumbling commence!

Some people have the mistaken assumption that obeying God will limit them in some way.  That assumption is a deadly one, because once you turn from obedience you will become a slave to sin.  And sin only leads us to death.  It is an age-old deception first used by the serpent in the Garden of Eden in his conversation with Eve.

Is the freedom of death what we are looking for?  Wouldn’t the freedom to live forever in the presence of the Lord be vastly preferable?  True freedom can only be found in obeying God.  So, embrace the freedom to be all that you can be.  Read from Romans chapter six (NLT):

In those days, when you were slaves of sin, you weren't concerned with doing what was right.  And what was the result? It was not good, since now you are ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom.  But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. (Verses 20-22)

Don’t believe the lie that by obeying the Lord you are settling for less.  Nothing is further from the truth.  You will never get the fulfillment of being in line with the will of the Lord from anything or anyone else.

So choose obedience to the Lord.  Leave eternal doom behind and pick up the gift of eternal life that is offered to us through Christ Jesus.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Only Good Can Come From Loving God; Romans 5-8

May the mumbling commence!

After the tears, Micah (my son) had a good first day at Kindergarten.  And I was worried!  Today, there were no tears when I left.  And we will have the weekend to recover.

I know that some Christian like to point out a particular passage from Romans chapter when other people are worried or when other people slip into hard times.  Sometimes the passage is held forth as if it is a talisman to turn bad things into good.  Read it below from the NRSV:

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family.  And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Verses 28-30)

Often times, it is only that first verse that is quoted (the sentence in bold italic).  Sometimes, I wonder if the thought process ends at the word “good”.  You know, all things work together for good.  What a nice idea!  But that is not what Paul is trying to say with these words.  If they are misused in this way, they can harm rather than heal.

We must consider the context of this thought.  All things work together for good for those who love God.  What does it mean to love God?  Think about what Paul speaks about right before this verse.  Paul speaks about prayer.  Paul speaks about how the Holy Spirit of God intercedes for us when we do not know what we are to do or say.  And the Holy Spirit interceded in accordance with the will of the Lord.

To love God is to do the will of the Lord… to be called according to His purpose.  Obedience was God’s plan from the very beginning.  Obedience will forge us into the family of God.  Obedience is in imitation of Christ.  It is the call of Christ Jesus to us.  Christ’s obedience to the Father in heaven has justified us and glorified us.  Let us return that glory unto God.

To grow in obedience to the Lord is a painful process.  That is evident from what precedes the passage on prayer with the Holy Spirit.  We will suffer as we seek God’s way in the world.  But that suffering will be well worth it, because our hope is far greater if we choose this path.

So all things work for the good for those who love God and want what God wants.  I do not define what is good and what is not.  God does.  I want what God wants – no matter what pain and suffering that will follow in the here and now.  Because I know that what God wants is the very best for me.  In fact, what God wants for me is perfect for me.  What God wants for us is perfect for us.  May we be perfected in God’s love!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

NOTHING Can Separate Us from the Love of Christ; Romans 5-8

May the mumbling commence!

Today starts the day of a brave new world.  Then, why do I not feel so brave?  Today is the first day of Kindergarten for my son, Micah. 

There were tears as I left him at the school in the capable hands of his teachers.  They were his tears not mine, but still there is a sadness.  I know from my mother telling me that I cried on my first day of Kindergarten, too.  I wonder how she did it.  Maybe it was because I was her eighth child to take to a first day of school.

 But it is hard.  An old chapter is ending.  A brand new chapter is beginning.  How will I perform as a parent of a school age child?  How will Micah get along with his teachers and his classmates?  Will Micah make a friend or two this school year?

There is angst, but there is also reason for courage.  Micah knows that his mommy and daddy love him.  He got multiple kisses and hugs before the start of the school day.

And, as life sometimes seems to be whipping us, we too have reason for hope and courage.  Read from Romans chapter eight (NIV):

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  As it is written:

"For your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." 

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Verses 35-39)

We have reason for hope and courage because of Christ’s love for us.  Nothing can separate us – neither life nor death.  Yes, that includes Kindergarten too.  Through the Spirit of Christ’s love, we will be more than conquerors.

Show us the way, O God, to be good children, good parents, and good teachers.  May we follow the greatest Teacher of all – Jesus Christ.

These things I think and pray about fervently as I await the sweet reunion with Micah this afternoon.  I await it in this almost disturbingly quiet house.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Be Alive to God; Romans 5-8

May the mumbling commence!

Yes!  We are free!  Free from condemnation!  We are free to work.  And what will we do?  Shall we work righteousness as the Spirit leads us?  Or shall we become enmeshed in that old work of evil that abides so readily in the lusts and passions of our bodies?  Read from the beginning of Romans chapter eight (NASB):

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.  For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 

However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.  If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.  But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. (Verses 1-11)

The choices are clear.  We can choose evil, or we can choose good.  The pattern and juxtaposition is there.  I highlighted it in dark red and green.

Are we going to live according to the flesh?  Or are we going to live according to the Spirit?  It is a matter of reaping death or reaping life and peace.  It seems an easy choice.

I only wish the choices were as clear in my daily living.  Daily we are asked to trust the leading of the Spirit.  Daily I need to approach the Word of God.  Daily I need my family at church.  I need to be a part of the body – functioning and listening with all the other parts.

May it be so!  May I be dead to sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ, my Lord!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out