Living in Christ

Many of us, even after coming to Jesus, continue to struggle with sin in our life. We allow the things of this world to have control over us. We give in to temptations too easily. But, the Bible teaches us that a Christian has died to sin. Before we were Christians we were very susceptible to sin. Sin held us in its grip. Did you know that even though temptation can present itself persistently, a corpse will not succumb? The Bible says that when we became Christians, our old self died. That means that sin now has no more control over us than temptation has over a corpse. We have died to sin. We can still sin, but we are no longer in sin's power! SO why is it that so many of us continue to sin? It is because we allow sin to have power over us even though we have been freed from its grasp. When we choose to succumb to temptation, we are rejecting the freedom from sin that Christ gained for you by His death. "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that ...

As elections draw near in our country, we are seeing a constant slue of advertisements asking us to vote for this candidate or that one. One of the things we are seeing over and over is the constant badgering as one declares we should vote for them because they can do the job better than the other. Are we listening to any of those ads? I started thinking about the wisdom of each political ad, and then my own wisdom about things and was lead to a remarkable conclusion: One big hindrance to hearing a word from God--might be our own wisdom! "At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure." Luke 10:21. Wisdom, like success, I believe can delude us to think that we should take the role of teacher rather than student. Our knowledge leads us to believe that we hav...

I want to say that I think that if we count ourselves followers of Christ, we must have elements of humble service in our lives! We must be people of the towel! What does it mean to be people of the towel? The Disciples asked this same question one night as they were having supper with our Lord. Jesus sat down with His Disciples one last night before His crucifixion. During the course of the meal, in one simple act, Jesus taught them, and us, what it is really love and serve. "So He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him." John 13:4-6. Teaching His people to love was one of Jesus' overall purposes in the Upper Room Discourse. He had one question for them: "Do you know what I have done to you?" Jesus was the one that everyone thought was going to restore Israel as a powerful na...

I have been stuck on time for the last couple of days. But, not my time, God's time. I am learning to understand that God's timing is always perfect timing! This is something that we need to wrap ourselves around and understand! When God speaks, the time to respond in obedience is right now! Many of us act as though we have all the time in the world to respond to Him, to obey Him. However, may I say that history has shown that it doesn't wait on our commitments. And, there is no such thing as postponing a decision with our Lord! There are only two choices--either we obey or we disobey. That's it! It's either faith or unbelief, or obedience or disobedience. "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of ...

One of the things that I notice that we as Christians struggle with is not in deciding whether we should obey Jesus, but in obeying Jesus Immediately. Many of us will be quick to acknowledge that we need to follow Jesus and commit ourselves to doing what He has told us, but again we struggle with doing it as soon as He tells us too. Some of us make excuses, some of us fail to trust, and some of us are just afraid. But when God reveals His will to us, we must learn that we need to obey immediately! God's revelation of His will to us is His invitation to respond immediately. "Another disciple said to Him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus told him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead." Matthew 8:21-22. As Jesus was ministering, some that wanted to be His disciples pledged that they were willing to follow Him that day, but they told Him that they were not ready to go yet. In Jesus' day, you were expected to care for ...

One of the things that I find puzzling and troubling today is that so many of us Christians try to live the Christian life in this world today, without reading our Bibles! Many of us will occasionally give it a sporadic look, seeking a pithy thought to help us get through our day. This is sad. The Word of God is not merely a source of helpful suggestions, preventative warnings, or even inspirational thoughts . The Word of God is life itself! But, oh how foolish that many of us are, having the words of life right at our fingertips, and still not bothering to make time to sit down and go through it's pages. "For it is not a futile thing for you, because it is your life, and by this word you shall prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess." Deuteronomy 32:47. God gathered the nation of Israel at the edge of the Promised Land to review their pilgrimage with Him. They had just spent 40 years wandering the desert, on a journey that should have...

I am sure that you have experienced the same thing as me. You are in a store shopping and you pass by someone and say, "Hello," or, "Excuse me," something like that. They respond in like manner, smile and continue on their way. You pay for what you have gotten, go out and get into your car, and meet this same person in their car, only now things are different. You are in their way, you cut them off, you made a strange look at them. Many different things, but instead of the kind persons you both were, you are now each others enemy's and will stop at nothing to get even with the other. " But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him." Luke 10:33-34. There was a man on his way to Jericho that was mugged, beaten and left to die by the side of the road. ...