Free to Sin

Romans 6:15 NLT
Well then, since God's grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!

I grew up in church. We went every Sunday since I was born. My parents were in the Word daily. God was everywhere in our house, our car, and with us anywhere we went. I knew I could not hide from Him.

I knew right from wrong, but that did not exclude me from sin. Temptation is always gathering us in and it seems almost impossible not to give in. Giving in with everyone else is much easier than standing our ground.

Even now that I have grown up and have Jesus as my Lord and savior. Holy Spirit resides in me. And yet, I still give in to temptation. I still find myself on the wrong side from time to time.

But I do not look for ways to sin. No, the tempter gains ground every now and then. With the help of Holy Spirit, I recognize what is happening and step back to the right side asking His forgiveness for what I did.

We are set free from the limits of law, but that does not mean we are free to do whatever we want to do. No, we are free to do what He wants us to do.

Trust in the Lord

Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

We go through circumstances beyond our control every day of our life. Some are small and others are bigger than we can comprehend. Because of our earthly experiences the result of past successes and failures we think we know what to do, how to react. We lean on our own understanding.

The truth is that we do not have all the answers. Our choices are limited by our experiences. Even if we seek the counsel of others because they have had different experiences than us, we still may make the wrong choice.

The only one with all the answers is God. He knows us like nobody on this earth can know us; even ourselves. He knows His plan for our life and the choices that will keep us on that path. And yet we tend to seek Him last; after all the other options run out.

Or we try to do it both ways. We seek man made opinions and options while at the same time seeking Him for a solution. I am not sure if that is trusting in man with God as a backup plan or the other way around; trusting God but having man's plan as a backup in case God does not come through or come through in our timing.

God wants all of us all the time. He does not want to be a part time God. He wants us to trust in Him with all our heart, mind, and soul. He wants us to step past our own understanding and let Holy Spirit take over. Do that and He will show us the path that leads to Him to healing to righteousness.

Work At It

Hebrews 12:14 NLT 
Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.

It is easy to fall into the trap that once saved we are holy. All we have to do is go to church once in awhile and we are all set for that final trip to heaven, eternity with God the father.

Just because we asked Jesus into our heart we think we are done. No, that is just the beginning. From that point on to our ultimate death in this life we change. Holy Spirit guides us down the path so those changes can occur.

Often we are plagued with challenges and as we look to God for help through them we are changed. We grow closer to Him and shed a little more of this earthly life.

Some change happens right away. Other change takes place as we listen for His voice correcting us when we fall into sin. Then we ask for His forgiveness and repent changing so we do not do that again.

Even before we are prodded by Holy Spirit, we find guidelines to living in our Bible and work to live the life we see we should be living. We give up the things of our old life, even many of our old acquaintances and friends so we can model Jesus in our day to day life.

We work at living in peace with everyone. We listen to that still small voice and work at doing what He says. We ask Him to help us change and to guide us daily down the right path.

On Purpose

1 Corinthians 9:26 NLT 
So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.

The health insurance plan I am on includes membership at the Y. This allows me to go as often as I want and train. That is to join an exercise program that gets me off my seat in front of my computer and actually use muscles other than my fingers typing.

Some go to professional looking gyms and hit bags or get in a ring and actually spar with others. Years ago I was into non contact Karate and enjoyed it. Others like kick boxing and other physical sports to keep in physical shape.

Then there is our spiritual training. We do not have a gym to go to; our training ground is other Christians. We hear a message at the church gathering of our choice and perhaps even attend a Bible study or two during the week. But the real training occurs as we allow Holy Spirit to guide us in a journey through God's Word as we let Him reveal to us as He peels away the next layer for our understanding.

It is time to get out of the gym sparring with others in training. It is time to get on with the mission Jesus gave us; the mission to go into all the world and preach the Good News!

Preachers Teachers and Speakers

Ephesians 4:11-12 NLT
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 

We go to church with varied expectations each week. The senior pastor is ready with a message for the day. And yet we expect this pastor to all of a sudden be a preacher, a teacher, or a Christian motivational speaker. We hear all three of those gifts from ministers on television but do not understand there is a difference. They are not all rolled up into one gift.

Here is my simple understanding of four types I see speaking from the church platform today.

A pastor is a servant caring for those in the church God has entrusted him with. He is constantly in prayer and in communion with God. He cares for all the needs of his church family be they physical or spiritual. He visits the members at home, in nursing or extended care facilities, and in the hospitals. He is ready 24x7 to take a phone call from someone in need of a shoulder to cry on, a prayer, or even a visit.

A preacher is ready in season and out of season. He is constantly in prayer and in God's Word receiving revelation knowledge from Holy Spirit. That is Holy Spirit preparation. He stands in front of the church and opens his mouth expecting Holy Spirit to fill it. And He does. What we hear is exactly what we need for that time and place because he is lined up with God.

A teacher is also prepared, but differently. He too is in constant prayer and communication with Father God. Holy Spirit gives him what is needed and he creates a PowerPoint presentation to present it to the church. He knows what he is going to deliver line by line before he steps up on the platform. It is Holy Spirit created, but delivered by the teacher.

A Christian motivational speaker comes with a prepared message; one he has probably given at a number of churches. It was created by blending a number of facts with knowledge gained from many others and pieced together to speak to any crowd. He has a relationship with God and allows Holy Spirit to help generate the message and is available to hear from Holy Spirit as he gives it.

In all types listed above, Holy Spirit may cause the presentation to drift into what He knows need to be said for the people being spoken to that day. That is His prerogative.

Can one person be all four? With God all things are possible, and Holy Spirit will give us the gift we need at the point He needs us to have it. Typically we are gifted in one area and open for Holy Spirit to use us however He chooses.

We should realize what our "pastor" is gifted in and praise God for it. We should not expect things from him outside of that gift but be happy when Holy Spirit allows it to happen.

Time Eternal

Isaiah 46:10 NIV
I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.'

I guess my interest in series started in the 50's when I would go to the movies on Saturdays and see the Superman serial in between the two main shows. I can't tell you what those movies were about, but I always remembered what was happening with Clark Kent and Lois Lane.

Dianne and I like to watch TV series. Years ago we would have our favorite shows and each week see the next episode. What we like about them is the way the characters develop and the relationships form between them. Now we stream them on Netflix through our Roku box and get to go from the beginning to the end of the series one right after another without commercials.

One of most difficult concepts to grasp is how God knows the beginning and the end and everything in between. It is not because our lives, our every step is predetermined. It is because we live on two different planes of existence.

We live in a time that has a beginning and and end. It is a linear existence. We start at point A and move on to point B and so on. When we are at point D we cannot go back a revisit A, B or C. They were and will never be again except in our memories. And we cannot see into a future time to know what is coming for E and beyond. We take it one day at a time; one experience after another. Our choices while at point D determine the destination for point E.

God, on the other hand, lives in a timeless environment. There is no beginning or end. He sees into our plane of existence at any point He wishes and perhaps even at all of our life all at once. Our choices determine our next path in our life and He sees all the future points based on each choice we make. This does not make our life predestined, it makes His view timeless.

This was a difficult concept to grasp. But a couple of weeks ago we started to watch a TV series we had watched on regular TV a few years ago. We had not started the series on TV at the beginning. I think we picked it up in the middle. It took a few nights to settle in and we enjoyed watching it.

Recently we found it on Netflix and decided to watch it from the beginning. We enjoy the relationships and the character development occurring from episode to episode. After a watching a few of the series we realized we knew the future. We knew what was going to happen and could see how the choices being made would affect the outcome. Because we had seen the second half of the series we knew what was to come. We had a God like, timeless view of their lives.

"Father, help us to make choices each day to make us more like Christ. Help us decide to take the path that leads us closer to you. In Jesus name, we pray."

The Name

Philippians 2:5, 9-11 NIV
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

When someone comes knocking we want to be sure we know who they are before we let them into our home or answer their questions. We are careful to check their identification; at least we should be. If it is a policeman, we expect a badge or uniform we recognize.

Their identification gives them the authority to enter or speak with us. In the matter at hand they have a higher place than we do and we acknowledge that.

God wants us to have the mindset of Jesus in our relationships with other believers. He wants us to treat them as we expect to be treated; as we would expect Jesus to treat us. God even gave Jesus the highest lace and the name above all names. And that name is Jesus.

So when we pray asking for anything we can ask in the name of Jesus and expect an answer. He did not say to pray in "your name" or in "your son's name" or in "Christ's name". He said to pray in the name of Jesus, the name above all names.