13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Because of the awesome gift Jesus gave us through his death on the cross, there is no limit to the forgiveness we can receive. However, we must be careful not to abuse this gift by continuing to live sinfully. Even though we will be forgiven, our disobedience will keep us from growing closer to God. Not only will this cause our own spiritual lives to become stagnant, but it will also prevent others from seeing God’s love through us.
So instead of selfishly indulging our sinful nature, we should focus on showing love to others. If we show love to everyone we come across, we will be showing unsaved people the love of Jesus, and we will also be bringing strength and unity to the church. Focusing on others rather than ourselves will also bring fulfillment and spiritual growth to our own lives.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
—Galatians 5.1–12—
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.
Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. Brother, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
As a man I do not find myself purchasing shampoo with much frequency. I do not possess a luxurious mane of hair to maintain. Yet occasionally I do run out of shampoo.
I find the shampoo section in the store quite intimidating. The only reason I can find to choose one brand over another is price, which is all well and good, but who knows what I could be missing in this brand, or this brand, or that brand. Part of me wants to believe that somewhere there exists a giant faucet that pours out all the shampoo in the world into a single vat to drain through an infinity of little nozzles into all the different brand names and types and specialties. Call me a shampoo conspiracy theorist.
Too much choice can lead to paralysis. Before I know it I've killed off 15 minutes staring at shampoo and still have nothing in hand.
In the race we run in pursuit of Jesus Christ, many times (if we are honest) we would prefer someone, anyone, to simply tell us exactly what we need to do. Even though Jesus deposited his spirit in us and set us loose to live, our lives still seem murky a lot of the time.
Paul is clear on what should guide us: "faith expressing itself through love."
Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. Brother, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
As a man I do not find myself purchasing shampoo with much frequency. I do not possess a luxurious mane of hair to maintain. Yet occasionally I do run out of shampoo.
I find the shampoo section in the store quite intimidating. The only reason I can find to choose one brand over another is price, which is all well and good, but who knows what I could be missing in this brand, or this brand, or that brand. Part of me wants to believe that somewhere there exists a giant faucet that pours out all the shampoo in the world into a single vat to drain through an infinity of little nozzles into all the different brand names and types and specialties. Call me a shampoo conspiracy theorist.
Too much choice can lead to paralysis. Before I know it I've killed off 15 minutes staring at shampoo and still have nothing in hand.
In the race we run in pursuit of Jesus Christ, many times (if we are honest) we would prefer someone, anyone, to simply tell us exactly what we need to do. Even though Jesus deposited his spirit in us and set us loose to live, our lives still seem murky a lot of the time.
Paul is clear on what should guide us: "faith expressing itself through love."
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
—Galatians 4.21–5.1—
To understand this section of scripture better, I encourage you to read Genesis, chapters 15, 16, 18 and 21.
Genesis 18:21 says: Then one of them said, “About this time next year I will return, and your wife Sarah will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent nearby. And since Abraham and Sarah were both very old, and Sarah was long past the age of having children, she laughed silently. “How could a worn-out woman like me have a baby?” she thought. “And when my husband is so old?”
Genesis 21:1 (But) the Lord did exactly what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant, and she gave a son to Abraham in his old age. It all happened at the time God had said it would. (Vs. 6) And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter! All who hear about this will laugh with me. For who would have dreamed that I would ever have a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age!”
So. The question of the day becomes this:
WHO WOULD HAVE DREAMED…WHO WOULD HAVE DREAMED SOMETHING SO AMAZING?
God would have, and still does.
Maybe the road ahead is uncertain, maybe your vision is cloudy, and maybe you even doubt like Sarah did.
But hold fast, young people.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 says that God has a plan for you. Plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray He will listen. If you look for Him in earnest, you will find Him.
Treasure this in your hearts.
Genesis 18:21 says: Then one of them said, “About this time next year I will return, and your wife Sarah will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent nearby. And since Abraham and Sarah were both very old, and Sarah was long past the age of having children, she laughed silently. “How could a worn-out woman like me have a baby?” she thought. “And when my husband is so old?”
Genesis 21:1 (But) the Lord did exactly what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant, and she gave a son to Abraham in his old age. It all happened at the time God had said it would. (Vs. 6) And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter! All who hear about this will laugh with me. For who would have dreamed that I would ever have a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age!”
So. The question of the day becomes this:
WHO WOULD HAVE DREAMED…WHO WOULD HAVE DREAMED SOMETHING SO AMAZING?
God would have, and still does.
Maybe the road ahead is uncertain, maybe your vision is cloudy, and maybe you even doubt like Sarah did.
But hold fast, young people.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 says that God has a plan for you. Plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray He will listen. If you look for Him in earnest, you will find Him.
Treasure this in your hearts.
Monday, May 4, 2009
—Galatians 5.13-15—
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Because of the awesome gift Jesus gave us through his death on the cross, there is no limit to the forgiveness we can receive. However, we must be careful not to abuse this gift by continuing to live sinfully. Even though we will be forgiven, our disobedience will keep us from growing closer to God. Not only will this cause our own spiritual lives to become stagnant, but it will also prevent others from seeing God’s love through us.
So instead of selfishly indulging our sinful nature, we should focus on showing love to others. If we show love to everyone we come across, we will be showing unsaved people the love of Jesus, and we will also be bringing strength and unity to the church. Focusing on others rather than ourselves will also bring fulfillment and spiritual growth to our own lives.
Because of the awesome gift Jesus gave us through his death on the cross, there is no limit to the forgiveness we can receive. However, we must be careful not to abuse this gift by continuing to live sinfully. Even though we will be forgiven, our disobedience will keep us from growing closer to God. Not only will this cause our own spiritual lives to become stagnant, but it will also prevent others from seeing God’s love through us.
So instead of selfishly indulging our sinful nature, we should focus on showing love to others. If we show love to everyone we come across, we will be showing unsaved people the love of Jesus, and we will also be bringing strength and unity to the church. Focusing on others rather than ourselves will also bring fulfillment and spiritual growth to our own lives.
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