Category: Romans

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Don’t Be Ashamed

These are the words that were going through my mind when I woke up this morning. “I am not ashamed”.

Many times over the past sixty-seven years I have been ashamed. Ashamed of my actions, ashamed of something I have said that was unkind, cruel or untrue. Ashamed when I compared myself to others – not pretty enough, not athletic, not popular, not stylish, not “whatever”.

The worst…there were times when I wanted to be a “secret agent” for Jesus. In high school, it seems everyone knew I was a Christian. Some of my friends and I met together each morning in the library and at lunch time outside Snyder Hall to pray. We prayed about tests, problems with classmates and with family issues. But that meant we were excluded from some of the activities of the more popular kids. Sometimes, I selfishly wished I had not been so vocal.

My faith in Christ is the bedrock of who I am. I want His love to shine through me. I stand on God’s Word. I believe it is 100% true. There is no room for compromise on His principles. Standing strong on His word is the only ground that does not give way in the face of life’s storms. That is a lesson I have learned.

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.” Matthew 7:24-25 NLT

2020 has been a year of rains, floodwaters and winds…but a house built on the bedrock of God’s Word won’t collapse! I believe that with all my heart.

I found quite a few verses that talk about not being ashamed. I think the last two may surprise you.

“They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.” Psalm 22:5 NKJV

“I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. 5 They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed.” Psalm 34:4-5 NKJV

“I am not ashamed of the Good News. It is the power of God. It is the way He saves men from the punishment of their sins if they put their trust in Him. It is for the Jew first and for all other people also. 17 The Good News tells us we are made right with God by faith in Him. Then, by faith we live that new life through Him. The Holy Writings say, “A man right with God lives by faith.” Romans 1:16-17 NLV

“I have been chosen to be a missionary and a preacher and a teacher of this Good News. 12 For this reason, I am suffering. But I am not ashamed. I know the One in Whom I have put my trust. I am sure He is able to keep safe that which I have trusted to Him until the day He comes again.” II Timothy 1:11-12 NLV

“Jesus makes men holy. He takes away their sins. Both Jesus and the ones being made holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them His brothers.” Hebrews 2:11 NLV

“But they were waiting for a better country—a heavenly country. So God is not ashamed to be called their God. And he has prepared a city for them.” Hebrews 11:16 ERV

If God, the Father, and Jesus are unashamed of us then why should we be ashamed of them? Christ died for us when we were our most unlovable. He followed the plan that God, the Father, had in mind – the plan of reconciliation. Neither of them are ashamed of us!

Let’s live the rest of our lives shameless – unashamed in our stand for Christ.

“Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.” II Timothy 2:15 NLT

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How Much Do You Owe?

For years, Dave and I have worked hard to be out-of-debt. Let me tell you it has been a real challenge. So a few days ago, while I was reading through the last chapters of Romans, these words lit up the page like a search light.

“Let love be your only debt.” Romans 13:8 CEV

Now you may think that Paul was talking about the debt of love we owe to God but he wasn’t. That would be completely understandable. God’s love for us is unconditional – it doesn’t vary because of our goodness or lack thereof. God’s love never fails and is always the same.

Paul was writing about our love for others.

“Don’t run up debts, except for the huge debt of love you owe each other. When you love others, you complete what the law has been after all along. The law code—don’t sleep with another person’s spouse, don’t take someone’s life, don’t take what isn’t yours, don’t always be wanting what you don’t have, and any other “don’t” you can think of—finally adds up to this: Love other people as well as you do yourself. You can’t go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love.” Romans 13:8-10 MSG

Did you notice that the things Paul said we wouldn’t do if we loved others were taken directly from the ten commandments that Moses delivered to the children of Israel hundreds of years before? If we love others we won’t lie, steal, or bring them any harm.

Paul says this in his letter to the Christians living in Corinth:

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. 5 Love is not rude, it is not selfish, and it cannot be made angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it. 6 Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth. 7 Love never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits. 8 Love will never end.” I Corinthians 13:4-8 ERV

That’s a big debt! We can’t fulfill it by ourselves but we can with God’s help.

“For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” Romans 5:5b NLT

May I encourage you to go into debt, deeply in debt. Make it your goal to be indebted to love!

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Celebrate Life!

There is a word used in Jewish toasts – L’Chaim! Lifting a glass of wine to celebrate an engagement or marriage, the birth of a child and everyone says L’Chaim. To Life!

Each day we should be doing the same. We should be toasting the life that God has given us. Celebrating life and His goodness. A life of thankfulness and faith.

L’Chaim!

The just shall live by faith. Faith isn’t just something we have when we can’t handle things on our own, it’s a way of life.

Faith is what pleases God and God is the one who has given us the faith that we need to please Him – pretty good right? God doesn’t leave us unprepared or without the proper equipment. He tells us what it takes to please Him and then he supplies us – gotta love that.

“I realize how kind God has been to me, and so I tell each of you not to think you are better than you really are. Use good sense and measure yourself by the amount of faith that God has given you.” Romans 12:3 CEV

“But without faith no one can please God. We must believe that God is real and that he rewards everyone who searches for him.” Hebrews 11:6 CEV

I understand where people get the idea that God is sitting up in heaven just waiting for us to fail or mess up; I lived that way for years. However, Moses told the nation of Israel that God set before them life and death, blessing and cursing. Then he told them “Choose life”. That was Jesus’ purpose – to provide the way of blessing – choose life.

“Today I am giving you a choice of two ways. And I ask heaven and earth to be witnesses of your choice. You can choose life or death. The first choice will bring a blessing. The other choice will bring a curse. So choose life! Then you and your children will live. 20 You must love the Lord your God and obey him. Never leave him, because he is your life. And he will give you a long life in the land that he, the Lord, promised to give to your ancestors—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Deuteronomy 30:19-20 ERV

Jesus said: “The robber comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I came so they might have life, a great full life.” John 10:10 NLV

L’Chaim!

Choosing to live by faith brings reward. God is the one who promised it, our part is to seek Him and not give up.  Faith is believing that God will be faithful to His word; that what He has said WILL come to pass. And why shouldn’t we believe Him – He hasn’t lied yet!

The greatest miracle in the Bible was the result of a young woman’s faith. The angel came to Mary and told her that she would have a child. Mary asked how this could happen since she was a virgin and hadn’t been intimate with any man. (You all know the story). I love what the angel, Gabriel, said in response.

“Nothing is impossible for God!” 38 Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant! Let it happen as you have said.” And the angel left her.” Luke 1:37-38

I want my response to God to be the same “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it happen as He said”.

What are you facing today? NOTHING is IMPOSSIBLE when we put our faith in GOD.

Lift your glass and celebrate life. L’Chaim!

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Broke is Broke

When we first moved into our house we noticed that one of the bedroom windows had a rock chip in it. Yes, the bedroom window. We figured it must have been someone working with a weed eater and a small rock was pitched up and hit the window. The window was shattered so we didn’t think too much about it at the time.

However, broke is broke! We should have asked for it to be replaced. You see we have dual pain windows and that chip released the seal between the panes, the gas escaped and now the view through the window is cloudy.

Broke is broke and sin is sin!

With God there is no big or little sin, it’s sin. Look at the two brothers in the story of the prodigal son. The younger son in the story was guilty of some pretty “big” things while the older son looked respectable but he was obviously holding bitterness in his heart toward his younger brother and his father. Which do you think was worse?

Neither! Sin is sin. Kind of like my broken window; if a brick had shattered it or the little chip cracked it and broke the seal the result was the same. The window was broken.

“One law rules over all other laws. This royal law is found in the Scriptures: ‘Love your neighbor the same as you love yourself.’ If you obey this law, you are doing right. 9 But if you are treating one person as more important than another, you are sinning. You are guilty of breaking God’s law. 10 You might follow all of God’s law. But if you fail to obey only one command, you are guilty of breaking all the commands in that law.” James 2:8-10 ERV

The Old Testament teaches us that God hates gossip and murder yet we find one more socially acceptable than the other. Sin is sin and we are all guilty.  The penalty for sin is not based on a sliding scale.

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” Romans 3:23 NLT

“When people sin, they earn what sin pays—death. But God gives his people a free gift—eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 ERV

Jesus words were so powerful when he spoke to the Pharisees about the adulterous woman. They felt superior to this obviously sinful woman but they were willing to overlook their own sins of deception and self-righteousness.

“They were saying this to trick Jesus. They wanted to catch him saying something wrong so that they could have a charge against him. But Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with his finger. 7 The Jewish leaders continued to ask him their question. So he stood up and said, “Anyone here who has never sinned should throw the first stone at her.” 8 Then Jesus stooped down again and wrote on the ground.” John 8:6-8 ERV

How many times have we played the role of the Pharisees or the older brother? We condemn “the idiot driver”, the person holding up the line, the unintelligent cashier, the negligent phone representative, the ill-informed newscaster or worst of all, the person with an opposite viewpoint than ours.

What they are doing may certainly be wrong but when we judge our attitude about the situation is equally as wrong. We are to do all that we do from a loving and compassionate heart.

Since God sees all sin the same, He makes the payment for that sin the same.

“So that one sin of Adam brought the punishment of death to all people. But in the same way, Christ did something so good that it makes all people right with God. And that brings them true life.” Romans 5:18 ERV

We have forgiveness, payment for our sin, with the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That sacrifice is available to all – we simply need to receive it!

“12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” John 1:12 KJV

I’m so glad that God doesn’t grade on a curve but He accepts us all. It’s not based on what we’ve done but on what Jesus did!

Now that’s called grace!!!

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Lost & Found

This morning I would like to tell you a story of a little boy named Timmy.

Timmy had saved his allowance money to buy a model boat kit. It wasn’t just any toy boat, it was a sailboat. The day came and his father took him to the toy store, he found the box sitting on the shelf and took it to the register. There he gave his hard earned money to the clerk and he and his father walked out the door.

Timmy worked very hard for the next few weeks on his toy boat. Finally the day came…the last coat of paint was dry, the sail was in place and the boat was finished.

After school the next day Timmy could hardly wait for his dad to come home. They were going to take the boat on its maiden voyage. They walked to the park together, Timmy was talking non-stop with excitement. They got to the bank of the creek, set the little boat in the water and watched it sail on the current. It was thrilling!

One day, he placed his little boat in the creek and as it sailed down stream something terrible happened. The tether that Timmy had tied to the boat came loose. The boat sailed farther and farther down stream. Timmy had no way to retrieve it and now it was lost. Timmy was heartbroken. He loved that little boat, he had worked hard to make it and now it was gone. As he walked home his head was hanging low and tears filled his eyes. It was gone!

Timmy’s dad said they could get another kit and build another boat but that just wouldn’t be the same.

One day Timmy was with his Mom in town. As he walked down the street with her, he glanced up and there in the window of the hardware store was his boat. It had a For Sale sign on it. Timmy was thrilled. His mom took him in the store. The clerk retrieved the boat from the window. The price tag said $12.95. The clerk told them that someone had found the boat outside of town stuck in the creek bank. They didn’t want to boat and sold it to the store owner. That’s how it came to be in the window.

Timmy could have the boat back if he would just pay the store owner what the owner had paid for it. Timmy dug deep into his pockets and pulled out his allowance money. He had just enough. This little boat, Timmy’s boat, had now been owned twice.

It had been redeemed!

This story is one that I heard long, long ago in Sunday School but it can apply to our relationship with the Father. 

God created man to have a relationship with Him but because Adam sinned that relationship was broken. God wasn’t willing to lose man. He established a plan that would reconcile or redeem His relationship with mankind. The word redeem means to regain possession in exchange for payment. Reconcile means to make compatible or friendly again. Christ did both for us.

“You were rescued (redeemed)  from the useless way of life that you learned from your ancestors. But you know that you were not rescued by such things as silver or gold that don’t last forever. 19 You were rescued (redeemed) by the precious blood of Christ, that spotless and innocent lamb.” I Peter 1:18-19 CEV

“But there is more! Now that God has accepted us because Christ sacrificed his life’s blood, we will also be kept safe from God’s anger. 10 Even when we were God’s enemies, he made peace with us (reconciled), because his Son died for us. Yet something even greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, we will be saved by his Son’s life. 11 And in addition to everything else, we are happy because God sent our Lord Jesus Christ to make peace with us.” Romans 5:9-11 CEV

Just like Timmy’s little boat, we were originally made to have relationship with God in a perfect way but man became lost. It took the death of Jesus to pay the price and redeem us for our original owner.

God’s love reached out to us and brought us back. We have peace with God!

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Look On The Heart

I really like the characters from Winnie the Pooh. For years I have felt that the people I meet could be characterized by one of the beloved animals in those stories. I think Pooh is a good example of a dedicated Christian. How much better it would be if we were a bit more like that. Not that we should be like Pooh, but we should be like Jesus!

Pooh is always helping. When Piglet is scared he helps calm his fears, when Rabbit is working too hard and becomes stressed Pooh helps him see the value of rest. When Eeyore is overcome by depression and loneliness Pooh is always there to cheer him up. When Tiggerr offends others by being too focused on fun and hurts feelings or causes damage Pooh is there to point out his good heart and desire to do what’s right. And when Owl drones on with instruction and philosophy Pooh listens respectfully and appreciates his wisdom.

Jesus looked for the best in everyone; spoke the truth with love, encouraged the broken hearted, corrected the misguided and disobedient and calmed the fears of those who were anxious.

Jesus lived the Scripture. “Man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart”. Since we are in Christ, we should be thinking the same way about the people we encounter.

Lord I want to look on the heart of people today! I want to be there to help when needed and not to judge.

“If our faith is strong, we should be patient with the Lord’s followers whose faith is weak. We should try to please them instead of ourselves. 2 We should think of their good and try to help them by doing what pleases them. 3 Even Christ did not try to please himself. But as the Scriptures say, “The people who insulted you also insulted me.” 4 And the Scriptures were written to teach and encourage us by giving us hope. 5 God is the one who makes us patient and cheerful. I pray that he will help you live at peace with each other, as you follow Christ. 6 Then all of you together will praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7 Honor God by accepting each other, as Christ has accepted you. 8 I tell you that Christ came as a servant of the Jews to show that God has kept the promises he made to their famous ancestors. Christ also came, 9 so that the Gentiles would praise God for being kind to them…13 I pray that God, who gives hope, will bless you with complete happiness and peace because of your faith. And may the power of the Holy Spirit fill you with hope.” Romans 15:1-13 CEV

Letting God live His life through us can be challenging but the rewards are so great!  Encouraging, teaching, being patient, living in peace and hope; these are all things that Father wants for us. He’s also given us the opportunity to provide these for others.

A quote from Winnie the Pooh puts it this way: “Love is taking a few steps backward maybe even more… to give way to the happiness of the person you love.”

Look for opportunities to give unconditional love; you’ll be richly rewarded!

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Right Thinking

Thinking like Jesus is our thought for today.

“Think about what we have in Christ: the encouragement he has brought us, the comfort of his love, our sharing in his Spirit, and the mercy and kindness he has shown us. If you enjoy these blessings, 2 then do what will make my joy complete: Agree with each other, and show your love for each other. Be united in your goals and in the way you think. 3 In whatever you do, don’t let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble, and honor others more than yourselves. 4 Don’t be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too.

5 In your life together, think the way Christ Jesus thought.

6 He was like God in every way, but he did not think that his being equal with God was something to use for his own benefit. 7 Instead, he gave up everything, even his place with God. He accepted the role of a servant, appearing in human form. During his life as a man,
8 he humbled himself by being fully obedient to God, even when that caused his death—death on a cross. 9 So God raised him up to the most important place and gave him the name that is greater than any other name. 10 God did this so that every person will bow down to honor the name of Jesus. Everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth will bow. 11 They will all confess, “Jesus Christ is Lord,” and this will bring glory to God the Father.” Philippians 2:1-11 ERV

A few days ago we saw where God the Father was in Christ to fulfill His plan of reconciliation. And now we receive this admonition from Paul to “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”. We have the mind of Christ when we are born again. We have the Holy Spirit in us creating God-like thoughts and inspiring us to do God-like actions.

Our thoughts are created by what we hold in our heart. Jesus came to earth with the goal of serving man and telling them of God’s love. His heart was filled with love – love for the Father and love for those who accepted and those who rejected Him. His thinking and His actions didn’t change because of what others thought or did to Him. He was single-minded.

The Apostle Paul, who wrote those verses in Philippians, also gave us this instruction in the Book of Romans.

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.  2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2 NLT

These verses above teach us how to develop that thinking. We are to be humble and loving, placing God’s desires over ours. If we copy the pattern that Jesus gave us our thinking will be completely transformed.

So I will say with the Apostle Paul today – Let this mind be in me, I want to think like my Father!

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No Playing Favorites

One verse keeps going over and over in my mind this morning. It has to do with our position in Christ.

“Peter began to speak: ‘I really understand now that God does not consider some people to be better than others:’” Acts 10:34 ERV

This verse should bring a real sense of peace and encouragement to each and every one of us. Perhaps you are someone who grew up battling low self-esteem. You weren’t the prettiest or the smartest or the best athlete or the richest or the most blah, blah, blah…Whatever and whoever, you were just never the best. 

Or maybe you lived on the other end of the spectrum and had always felt that you were one of the elite; the special, the ones that everyone wanted to be like – you were all that and a bag of chips!

But how does God see you? Yesterday I used these verses but they bear repeating.

“You were all baptized into Christ, and so you were all clothed with Christ. This shows that you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 28 Now, in Christ, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or free, male or female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:27-28 ERV

Rich or poor, educated or uneducated, man or woman, free or enslaved, high society or from the wrong side of the tracks, none of this matters; what matters is that you are in Christ!  Don’t be held back in your walk with the Lord thinking that others are better, more spiritual, more acceptable to God or that they are less than you. God’s love is the same to all. Even before we accept Him, He loved us.

“But Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and by this God showed how much he loves us.” Romans 5:8 ERV

Jesus loved the lowly as much as He loved the highly esteemed in society. He came to bring life to the leper and the Pharisee, the harlot and the lawyer. The difference was their opinion of themselves and their willingness to ask for and receive salvation.

Nicodemus, a high ranking religious leader, came to Jesus by night. Coming by day, he might be seen. “What will the neighbors think? What about the guys at the club?”  It was to this man, Nicodemus, that Jesus said you must be born again. You must be born from the Spirit and then Jesus spoke to him of God’s amazing love.

“Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world. He did not send him to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him. 18 People who believe in God’s Son are not judged guilty. But people who do not believe are already judged, because they have not believed in God’s only Son. 19 They are judged by this fact: The light has come into the world. But they did not want light. They wanted darkness, because they were doing evil things. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light. They will not come to the light, because the light will show all the bad things they have done. 21 But anyone who follows the true way comes to the light. Then the light will show that whatever they have done was done through God.” John 3:16-21 ERV

Today, make it a point to let God show His love to you and through you!

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He’s Talking to Me

Today we’re going to continue with the our teaching on In Christ and In Him.

As we read through Paul’s writings, let’s stop each time we come across the phrases in Him or in Christ and say “he’s talking to me”. We will see what God has to say about us, who we really are. It’s our identity in Christ.

We’re not just an old sinner saved by grace; we were an old sinner and it was definitely the grace of God that brought us salvation but our new you is free from guilt – no longer a sinner but a saint.  Do you sin? Yes, but that’s not who we are. As we begin to look at the new creature God has created and chosen us to be, we will become less aware of sin and more confident of the righteousness that we  have in Christ Jesus.

“So now anyone who is in Christ Jesus is not judged guilty. 2 That is because in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit that brings life made you free. It made you free from the law that brings sin and death. 3 The law was without power because it was made weak by our sinful selves. But God did what the law could not do: He sent his own Son to earth with the same human life that everyone else uses for sin. God sent him to be an offering to pay for sin. So God used a human life to destroy sin. 4 He did this so that we could be right just as the law said we must be. Now we don’t live following our sinful selves. We live following the Spirit.” Romans 8:1-4 ERV

This group of verses that I am going to use this morning have both “in Him” and “in Christ” in the text. I use these verses a lot but they are filled with such great meaning that they should be foundational truths in each of our lives.

“From this time on we don’t think of anyone as the world thinks of people. It is true that in the past we thought of Christ as the world thinks. But we don’t think that way now. 17 When anyone is in Christ, it is a whole new world. The old things are gone; suddenly, everything is new! 18 All this is from God. Through Christ, God made peace between himself and us. And God gave us the work of bringing people into peace with him. 19 I mean that God was in Christ, making peace between the world and himself. In Christ, God did not hold people guilty for their sins. And he gave us this message of peace to tell people. 20 So we have been sent to speak for Christ. It is like God is calling to people through us. We speak for Christ when we beg you to be at peace with God. 21 Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin so that in Christ we could be right with God.”  II Corinthians 5:16-21 ERV

Verse 16 is very telling. Paul says we are not to think of people as the world sees them. He compares this to the way he looked at Christ. Originally Paul set out to destroy the Christians. He thought the message of Christ, being the Son of God, was heresy and he would arrest the Christians and have them imprisoned and killed.  But once he met Christ on the road to Damascus, his life was completely changed!  He knows what he’s talking about when he goes on in verse 17 and says that “IN CHRIST” it’s a whole new world – things are completely changed.

These verses say that God the Father was “in Christ”.  God the Father placed Himself, all His character, all His power, all His love “in Christ” to bring peace to us.  It goes on to say that God isn’t holding us guilty for our sin.  We have been freed from sin and have been given the mandate to share the peace and freedom we have with the world.

The war is over – the war of Satan and sin to keep us separated from God; the guilt and condemnation that once kept man from having peace with God has been atoned for in Christ.  This was the work Jesus was sent to do and His last words on the cross were “It is finished”!  His purpose on earth was complete; the sinless, spotless Son of God died to give us new life!!  I hope you’re shouting by now because this is GOOD NEWS!

And finally the last verse in this passage sums it all up.  ” 21 Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin so that in Christ we could be right with God”.  

The great exchange – our sin for His righteousness.  When God looks at us He doesn’t see our sin, that has been covered over by the blood of Jesus and what He sees is that we are righteous, acceptable and dearly loved.

This is God’s message to us!

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No Need to Hide

Are you crazy or delusional? You can’t be happy all the time! Really?

You’ve got your head stuck in the sand – you just need a good dose of reality!

Ever heard those kind of comments – I have! But what people are really saying is “what gives you the right to be so happy when I am so upset?”.

“Always be filled with joy in the Lord. I will say it again. Be filled with joy.” Philippians 4:4 ERV

There’s a difference between happiness and joy, or at least there is to me. Happiness is our positive reaction to external circumstances. Joy is a character trait that comes from within. Happiness is an emotion that fluctuates; joy is a stabilizing confidence.

I choose to be joyful. I choose to see that God has more in store for me that I can fathom; I see God’s love sustaining me no matter what the circumstances are in my life and so I chose to be filled with joy!

I like me better when I’m joyful. I don’t like being grumpy or aggravated. I just don’t. Those conditions tell me that I’m looking at me. I’d rather look at God the Father and be reminded of His amazing love.

“Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. 3 Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. 4 But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4 AMP

We need to practice being JOY FILLED! I went to bed last night humming a praise song that we sang Sunday morning and the words are still in my heart this morning. It is the reason I choose to be joyful regardless of the circumstances. 

You're my champion 
Giants fall when You stand 
Undefeated Every battle You've won 
I am who You say I am 
You've crowned me with confidence 
I'm seated in the heavenly places 
Undefeated with the one who has conquered it all.
Source: "You are My Champion" Lyrics: Dante Bowe

Fill up your joy reservoir and as you go throughout the day. Share it with others. When asked why you are smiling so much or why you’re so happy, let people know that “God loves me” and that’s more than enough reason to be glad. Joy comes from knowing Jesus is always with us and He has faced any struggle, any trial, any circumstance that would try to destroy us. He is greater than Covid, He is greater than social distancing. He has conquered it all and because of that I am filled with confidence. Confidence of who I am in Christ!

“I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace as you trust in him. Then you will have more and more hope, and it will flow out of you by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 ERV

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