Romans 8:1-8
English Standard Version (ESV)
I remember someone once telling me about adopting former racing greyhounds. They've been cooped up so long in pens and cages that they need a fence to serve as a barrier -- without it, they tremble at the sight of open spaces. They're so accustomed to limitations that true freedom can be intimidating.
In the same way, our minds wrestle with the freedom we've been given in Christ. We're so accustomed to having to earn things, to be worthy or deserving of things, that the absolute freedom we have in Christ is hard for us to fathom. Because of what Christ has done, and not because of what we have done, we are able to stand before the throne of grace and be accepted. We struggle to wrap our minds around that truth, and so we spend our lives trying to earn God's love and fearful of God's wrath. Our minds get focused on little things, all the while eternity stretches out before us, calling us forward in love and truth.
Friend, you are covered in mercy. Fix your mind on what Christ has done, and know that you are accepted as you are because of the transforming love of God. All of those anxieties and fears can fall away -- receive the peace of the Spirit and walk in the light of unconditional love.
Monday, October 15, 2018
Thursday, October 11, 2018
Psalm 103:1-5
Psalm 103:1-5
English Standard Version (ESV)
These first two verses are the middle verses of the Bible, and they are a fantastic reminder for us to remember all that God has done. In today's what-have-you-done-for-me-lately culture, we get disappointed in a number of people and things because they don't always do what we want. We get frustrated at a car that doesn't start, forgetting the 5 years in a row when it started every time. We yell at sports teams for losing big games, even if they won the pennant the year before. We get frustrated at friends who don't answer our messages, forgetting all the times they did, even in the middle of the night.
And we get upset at God sometimes because we don't get a prayer answered, forgetting all that God has done for us. The Psalmist here is reminding us all the great things God has done for us -- forgiving all of our sins, redeeming our life from the pit, crowning us with love and mercy, and being the ultimate satisfier of our soul. When we find ourselves frustrated at unanswered prayers or unwanted trials, remember the big picture -- that God loves you unconditionally and has paid the ultimate price to buy you back from sin and death, and that life eternal in the Kingdom of God awaits each of us who bow the knee before the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
English Standard Version (ESV)
These first two verses are the middle verses of the Bible, and they are a fantastic reminder for us to remember all that God has done. In today's what-have-you-done-for-me-lately culture, we get disappointed in a number of people and things because they don't always do what we want. We get frustrated at a car that doesn't start, forgetting the 5 years in a row when it started every time. We yell at sports teams for losing big games, even if they won the pennant the year before. We get frustrated at friends who don't answer our messages, forgetting all the times they did, even in the middle of the night.
And we get upset at God sometimes because we don't get a prayer answered, forgetting all that God has done for us. The Psalmist here is reminding us all the great things God has done for us -- forgiving all of our sins, redeeming our life from the pit, crowning us with love and mercy, and being the ultimate satisfier of our soul. When we find ourselves frustrated at unanswered prayers or unwanted trials, remember the big picture -- that God loves you unconditionally and has paid the ultimate price to buy you back from sin and death, and that life eternal in the Kingdom of God awaits each of us who bow the knee before the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Psalm 1
Psalm 1
English Standard Version (ESV)
It's easy for me to tell my kids that they can choose their attitude every day, that they're not locked into a certain path.
It's much harder for me to remember that the same is true for myself. Every day is a choice about how I want to serve God -- will I choose the harder work of faithfulness, or will I put off discipleship until tomorrow? The Psalmist uses the metaphor of a tree, helping us think about how a tree nourished by a stream will grow quickly and abundantly, much more so than one planted far from the stream. This is meant to encourage us to think about how we are drawing life from the Word of God.
But it's also easy to think of ourselves as inflexible, focusing on how we are like a tree, with roots planted deep and hard to move. We get accustomed to our daily rhythms and patterns, no matter if some of them are not very helpful, and we can get stuck. It's hard work to uproot and move closer to the stream -- but that's where abundance is.
English Standard Version (ESV)
It's easy for me to tell my kids that they can choose their attitude every day, that they're not locked into a certain path.
It's much harder for me to remember that the same is true for myself. Every day is a choice about how I want to serve God -- will I choose the harder work of faithfulness, or will I put off discipleship until tomorrow? The Psalmist uses the metaphor of a tree, helping us think about how a tree nourished by a stream will grow quickly and abundantly, much more so than one planted far from the stream. This is meant to encourage us to think about how we are drawing life from the Word of God.
But it's also easy to think of ourselves as inflexible, focusing on how we are like a tree, with roots planted deep and hard to move. We get accustomed to our daily rhythms and patterns, no matter if some of them are not very helpful, and we can get stuck. It's hard work to uproot and move closer to the stream -- but that's where abundance is.
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Isaiah 40:27-31
Isaiah 40:27-31
English Standard Version (ESV)
There is a man who can run 26.2 miles in less than 123 minutes. To do so, he averages around thirteen miles an hour, running 26 consecutive sub-five minute miles. That's quick.
There are some people who aren't content with running 26 miles. They run 50 and 100 mile events. Proving that some people will stop at nothing to test the limits of the human body, there is a 135-mile race across Death Valley that people run.
But all these people will, eventually, go so far so fast that they will tire. They will tire out like a college student around finals and a new parent whose baby keeps crying at night. We all wear out in some way -- we have so much fun we exhaust ourselves at times, and at other times we are so worried and stressed that we need a break.
We who depend upon the Lord find ourselves with a Savior who offers us a rest for our weary souls. We find a Savior who pours the Spirit into us, and promises us an eternity without worry and fear, without bodies that wear out, without minds burdened by stress. We who wait upon the Lord will find that God is enough for our weaknesses, and that while we often tire, the Lord never does, and there is always enough in Christ.
English Standard Version (ESV)
There is a man who can run 26.2 miles in less than 123 minutes. To do so, he averages around thirteen miles an hour, running 26 consecutive sub-five minute miles. That's quick.
There are some people who aren't content with running 26 miles. They run 50 and 100 mile events. Proving that some people will stop at nothing to test the limits of the human body, there is a 135-mile race across Death Valley that people run.
But all these people will, eventually, go so far so fast that they will tire. They will tire out like a college student around finals and a new parent whose baby keeps crying at night. We all wear out in some way -- we have so much fun we exhaust ourselves at times, and at other times we are so worried and stressed that we need a break.
We who depend upon the Lord find ourselves with a Savior who offers us a rest for our weary souls. We find a Savior who pours the Spirit into us, and promises us an eternity without worry and fear, without bodies that wear out, without minds burdened by stress. We who wait upon the Lord will find that God is enough for our weaknesses, and that while we often tire, the Lord never does, and there is always enough in Christ.
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