“May grace and peace be yours from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. He died for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. That is why all glory belongs to God through all the ages of eternity. Amen.”
Three powerful verses, containing the whole truth of the gospel. Let’s unpack the riches here.
Grace and peace…two items I am desperately seeking right now, and I’m sure if you think about it, you are pursuing them too. I’m struggling to find a balance in my schedule, now a whole month since school started. Every day I feel exhausted from the pressures of taking care of my family, making my health a priority, scheduling in time to work at my job and as a housewife, serving in church ministry, and of course, spending time with my husband. You know what has been my greatest challenge in the past month though? My relationship with the Lord! I feel so frustrated by my inability to keep all the balls in the air—but I know I’d have more grace (to deal with my unforgiveness toward self and others) and peace (to face challenges with the right perspective) if I just spent 15 minutes with the Lord every morning. I’ll keep you informed as I work toward that goal.
The second verse is the Good News that I need to hear. God the Father had a plan before people even existed to send Jesus to die for our sins, and rescue us from the world. I work so hard every day to guard my children from the evil voices of the world and teach them God’s principles to counteract their own sinful tendencies. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the responsibility to teach them the right thing, and sometimes I feel discouraged by my own sinful nature that wins way too often. Yesterday at church we discussed Romans 7, Paul’s “I do what I don’t want to do” treatise. Interestingly enough, Paul finds relief from his internal struggle only from Christ himself, as he says in Romans 8:1, “…there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus,” which is the same principle in verse 2 today. The only relief we can find from both external and internal evils is because Jesus rescued us when he died on the cross for our sins. That is reason to praise him!
All glory belongs to God…this verse shifts my focus from my problems back to God. No struggle I face now—and there are several—is too big for God to handle, and no sin has been left behind at the cross. I have to repeat that last sentence to myself many, many times every day to keep my focus right. And I don’t always succeed; in fact, lately I’ve failed more often than succeeded at keeping my focus on God. My true heart’s desire is to glorify him by being a godly wife, mother, friend, family member, leader, and servant. I know that what I do now will pay eternal dividends, and I want to show God that I love him through my actions, not just my words. Again, if I develop the daily habit of spending time in his Word, I’ll be reminded of my eternal purpose to glorify God, and that will carry over into my daily actions…which will bring me grace and peace.
How do today’s verses speak into your life right now?
Copyright 2009
Showing posts with label Bible study. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible study. Show all posts
Monday, September 14, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
September 9 2 Corinthians 11:14-15
“But I am not surprised! Even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder his servants can also do it by pretending to be godly ministers. In the end they will get every bit of punishment their wicked deeds deserve.”
I read yesterday that bank tellers are trained not with counterfeit bills, but with real money to be able to discern a fraud. They become so familiar with the sight and feeling of the real thing that they instantly recognize what is false. That’s exactly why Christians need to be so familiar with God’s Word that they can instantly recognize a demon or a false prophet, no matter if they dress themselves up as God’s servants.
I’m both intrigued and repulsed when I watch real-life stories on television about people who used their guise as a minister to swindle people out of their life savings, or in the case of the BTK Killer, as a church leader while committing horrendous crimes. I ask myself, “How did those people not know that person was bad?” I’m sure that the more vulnerable the person and the fuzzier their doctrine, the more likely they are unaware of the truth. But then I ask myself a scarier question, “Is there anyone I know who may be a wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing within a church context?”
Jesus warned his followers many times about demons, false prophets, and wolves in sheep’s clothing. He also taught them many times that he is the way, the truth, the life; the light of the world; the fulfillment of all the prophecies; and the good shepherd. He wanted his disciples to become so familiar with the one true God that they would instantly recognize what was false.
Have you ever recognized a false prophet or a false church servant? Perhaps you didn’t recognize them at first and you got hurt by someone like that. I’m sorry if you’ve suffered that way, and I hope you’re willing to give other true Christians the chance to minister to you again. And I hope you are willing to learn what is true and what is false. I’ve found that my ability to discern a false doctrine or teaching or servant has grown directly in proportion to the time I’ve spent in study of God’s Word. It takes effort to really dig in to the truth of God’s Word, but nothing else has changed my life for the better more.
How can you take action to grow in your discernment between the one true God and the enemy?
Copyright 2009
I read yesterday that bank tellers are trained not with counterfeit bills, but with real money to be able to discern a fraud. They become so familiar with the sight and feeling of the real thing that they instantly recognize what is false. That’s exactly why Christians need to be so familiar with God’s Word that they can instantly recognize a demon or a false prophet, no matter if they dress themselves up as God’s servants.
I’m both intrigued and repulsed when I watch real-life stories on television about people who used their guise as a minister to swindle people out of their life savings, or in the case of the BTK Killer, as a church leader while committing horrendous crimes. I ask myself, “How did those people not know that person was bad?” I’m sure that the more vulnerable the person and the fuzzier their doctrine, the more likely they are unaware of the truth. But then I ask myself a scarier question, “Is there anyone I know who may be a wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing within a church context?”
Jesus warned his followers many times about demons, false prophets, and wolves in sheep’s clothing. He also taught them many times that he is the way, the truth, the life; the light of the world; the fulfillment of all the prophecies; and the good shepherd. He wanted his disciples to become so familiar with the one true God that they would instantly recognize what was false.
Have you ever recognized a false prophet or a false church servant? Perhaps you didn’t recognize them at first and you got hurt by someone like that. I’m sorry if you’ve suffered that way, and I hope you’re willing to give other true Christians the chance to minister to you again. And I hope you are willing to learn what is true and what is false. I’ve found that my ability to discern a false doctrine or teaching or servant has grown directly in proportion to the time I’ve spent in study of God’s Word. It takes effort to really dig in to the truth of God’s Word, but nothing else has changed my life for the better more.
How can you take action to grow in your discernment between the one true God and the enemy?
Copyright 2009
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