Galatians 5:1 9/26/2017*23*

"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."

Does your faith make you feel free? 

In this verse Paul is talking to some new believers who have been delivered by the cross.  Yet people are telling them they must adopt more and more religious practices if they want redemption.

Has that happened to us?  Is there a vanity in us that makes us think we can earn salvation?  Paul calls that a “yoke of slavery”.   It is an arrogant drudgery that will bleed your spiritual life dry, and it is based on selfcenterdness.  

Many people see the church as a restrictive cage where members sit in bondage Sunday morning, and discuss all the things they cannot do. Is that you? Is your faith a burden? Do you go to church to pick up your shackles for the coming week?  If so, then you have been lied to.

Like a bird from a cage, we should celebrate Sunday morning.  We should sing because we cannot hold it in.  We should share the good news with others not because we are supposed to, but because we can’t help it.   

Don’t buy the lie… Never allow the chains of dead religion to be placed on you again. They were broken at an enormous price, and you have been set free.

Escape the burden today. Love God. Walk humbly with Him.  You have been made perfect in His sight and all He desires is to fellowship with you.  Salvation is not for sale, and you couldn’t afford it if it was… His great gift to you is freedom, you are not a slave, you are a son!

"Either sin is with you, lying on your shoulders, or it is lying on Christ, the Lamb of God. Now if it is lying on your back, you are lost; but if it is resting on Christ, you are free, and you will be saved. Now choose what you want."

- Martin Luther

John 8:10-11 9/19/2017*16*

Then Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you”, Jesus declared. “Now go and sin no more”.

“Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone” is one of the most quoted verses in the bible…far more than the following verses where Jesus addresses the women caught in adultery. 

Christ did not condone her actions.  He did not minimize her sin or excuse it.  His words to her were direct and to the point…. “stop sinning.”

Christ lovingly removed her condemnation, but did not defend her actions. 

He didn’t name it something else and try to make it acceptable, or place the blame on others... He simply said go and change.  

That is the rub, isn’t it?  When you meet God, He demands transformation.

His Spirit alters your heart, redeems your soul, and gives you the ability to change your actions.  He doesn’t excuse sin, He doesn’t release you from responsibility, and He doesn’t lower the bar.

Never mistake forgiveness for the minimization of sin.  Never misinterpret His love for overlooking.  The fact that sin cannot be overlooked, is the reason for the cross, and that should make it all the more revolting to us.

Sin is not a side note in the story of Salvation, it made it necessary.  Not dealing with what scripture defines as sin, guts the gospel of its purpose and power.

Run from sin… not in order to be saved, but because you are.

 “If I had a brother who had been murdered, what would you think of me
 if I... daily consorted with the assassin who drove the dagger into my brother's heart?…Sin murdered Christ; will you be a friend to it? Sin pierced the heart of the Incarnate God; can you love it? "
- Charles Spurgeon

Matthew 24:38-39 9/12/2017*9*

"For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. And they were oblivious, until the flood came and swept them all away. So will be the coming of the Son of Man."

For many of us, this verse is more ominous than it was just a few weeks ago. 

Though we were cautioned about the hurricane, and believed the warnings, the magnitude of the storm caught us off guard and exposed the futility of our preparations.

Mentally our day to day lives had been too important to let weather interfere… but when it arrived, the massiveness of the flood overwhelmed us, and we were powerless to stop the destruction caused by the storm.

Suddenly our meetings, social agenda, and “things to do” list became embarrassingly insignificant, as survival and rescue took their place.

Jesus says His arrival will impact many in the same way.

He has advised us of His impending return, yet we have other things on our mind.  Sunday morning, we give God a nod, and then deal with, what we see as crucial issues, the rest of the week. 

HE. IS. COMING.

 

And when He does the things of this world will be swept away and the insignificance of our fleshly pursuits will be undeniable. Like many in the flood, we will too late recognize what is important, and what is not. Don’t let that happen to you.

The cross is your life raft, and your only refuge from the power of the coming storm.  Don’t dull your senses with worldly pursuits. Stay focused on what matters so when the waters come you will be ready.

Christ used a flood to illustrate the effects of His coming.  As this storm has made us aware of the unyielding power associated with flooding.  I pray we also will be aware of the imminent and unrelenting power of His return.

 

Nothing will stop it…and it will change everything.

“Christians live in anticipation of the return of Jesus Christ and that is such an important segment of truth that the devil has always been geared up to fight it and ridicule it.”  - A.W. Tozer

Proverbs 18:2 9/5/2017*2*

"Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions."

When is the last time you tried to understand someone else’s opinion?
When is the last time you enjoyed airing your own?

If you are like me, the answers to those two questions are embarrassing.

There is an arrogance in us that can’t wait for someone to stop speaking so we can enlighten them.  We use the time our opponent is talking to compose our rebuttal.  Not listening to understand, only listening to prepare a counter attack.

Why are we like that?  What is the root cause?  It is not our ears that have a problem, it is our hearts.

If you don’t value someone why would you care what they believe?  If you don’t think of others as more important than yourself, why would you listen to them?  You cannot love God, and yet find His children unworthy of your consideration. 

We must stop wearing our contentiousness as a badge.  It is not your intelligence that makes you argumentative, it is your self-centeredness.  

Unless we want to be fools, we must learn to listen.  And if we disagree, we must learn to do it without being combative.

Start intentionally placing value on others.  You might find that a caring heart can open your ears.  If you get into a disagreement, really listen.  Change your goal from winning, to understanding. 

You might prove you are right by talking, but it won’t matter if you don’t prove you care by listening.

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."
- Winston Churchill