" Love The Lord Your God With ALL Your Heart." Deuteronomy 6:5 NIV
Modern life is custom made for role playing. We live in a neighborhood all our lives yet we hardly know the family next door. We commute to a church miles away, walking in and out, never getting known, never getting involved or serving. We work with one crowd and play with another. The opportunities for undercover activity are almost limitless. Since no one knows us in any other context, we can reinvent ourselves in each one. Someone has said that our life is like a chest of drawers: a separate one for each interest, values and a different language. With each new situation we add another drawer to ensure complete appropriateness and safety. Rather than having a oneness and integrity of character, we role play.
But God doesn't see us as a chest of drawers or a collection of separate performances, He sees us as a whole person. Who we are when no one is looking, is just the same to Him as who we are when we're standing in plain view. God asks for integrity in our live. That's because life doesn't work any other way! God made us with one will, one mind, one heart, and one spirit. Its Satan's lie that we can " have it both ways, " which leaves us mentally and emotionally fragmented, and worse distant from God! "What is the answer?" you ask. The Bible says: " Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul." In other words, refuse to role play!
Devotional taken from "The Word For You Today"
www.englewoodbaptist.com
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
That's grace!
Ephesians 3:8 NIV
The word "grace," is so important that Paul mentions it three times more than any other writer. Remembering the violent life he lived, he writes, " Although I am less than least of all God's people, this grace was given to me: to preach... the unsearchable riches of Christ." The word grace comes from the Greek word charis, meaning "pure joy." Although you didn't deserve it, God considered saving you a "pure joy." How about that?
In John, chapter 8, a woman is caught in the act of adultery. The law is unmistakable about her punishment. The Pharisees are ready to stone her. She knows that Jesus, being righteous, must agree. She has no lawyer to defend her, not even a character witness! Suddenly Jesus stoops and begins to write in the sand. Some scholars have suggested that perhaps He wrote down their sins, times, places, etc. Ouch! When He looks up, her accusers are gone. He says "Neither do I condemn you... Go now and leave your life of sin" (Jn 8:11 NIV) Jesus lifted her from a position of undeniable guilt to one of unconditional pardon. She didn't deserve it, and didn't know it was possible. And that's your story too, isn't it?
One day Abraham Lincoln watched a plantation owner bidding for a slave girl. Figuring he was going to buy her and abuse her, Lincoln paid the price to set her free. "Does this mean I can say whatever I want to say?" she asked. Lincoln replied, "Yes." Again she asked, "Does this mean I can go wherever I want to go? "Again Lincoln responded, "Yes, You're free!" with tears streaming down her face she replied, "Then, sir, I will go with you." That's grace!
Devotional taken from "The Word For You Today"
www.englewoodbaptist.com
The word "grace," is so important that Paul mentions it three times more than any other writer. Remembering the violent life he lived, he writes, " Although I am less than least of all God's people, this grace was given to me: to preach... the unsearchable riches of Christ." The word grace comes from the Greek word charis, meaning "pure joy." Although you didn't deserve it, God considered saving you a "pure joy." How about that?
In John, chapter 8, a woman is caught in the act of adultery. The law is unmistakable about her punishment. The Pharisees are ready to stone her. She knows that Jesus, being righteous, must agree. She has no lawyer to defend her, not even a character witness! Suddenly Jesus stoops and begins to write in the sand. Some scholars have suggested that perhaps He wrote down their sins, times, places, etc. Ouch! When He looks up, her accusers are gone. He says "Neither do I condemn you... Go now and leave your life of sin" (Jn 8:11 NIV) Jesus lifted her from a position of undeniable guilt to one of unconditional pardon. She didn't deserve it, and didn't know it was possible. And that's your story too, isn't it?
One day Abraham Lincoln watched a plantation owner bidding for a slave girl. Figuring he was going to buy her and abuse her, Lincoln paid the price to set her free. "Does this mean I can say whatever I want to say?" she asked. Lincoln replied, "Yes." Again she asked, "Does this mean I can go wherever I want to go? "Again Lincoln responded, "Yes, You're free!" with tears streaming down her face she replied, "Then, sir, I will go with you." That's grace!
Devotional taken from "The Word For You Today"
www.englewoodbaptist.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
