This morning I sat down at my computer to play catch up. Been walking through some things with my family that have been very consuming. So after a few minutes I realized I was about 4 days behind according to my daily desk calendar. I speed read, a lot. It's a great habit I was taught in middle school, however I've found as an adult I am constantly teaching myself to slow down and read...really read...and digest what is before me. So, as I realized I was 'living in the past' on my calendar there was a sentence that jumped out at me before I flipped the page to catch up.
"He does not call us to unfinished tasks or halfhearted ventures."
Well, once I read that I knew I had to read the entire days' devotion. You see, I can honestly look at my life and say...I am the queen of unfinished tasks. I am extremely disciplined and yet somehow it seems my intentions often far exceed my accomplishments.
I have no idea why that is one of my biggest struggles....in fact it was a huge deterrent for me when deciding to homeschool. I think as I go through life just being a mom part of life is actually unfinished tasks. I generally always have a load of laundry to fold or some other chore that may not get done. That's not what I'm talking about. So I stopped, slowed my mind down and read the entire devotion this morning, and I want to share it because it is encouraging to me:
"The LORD will perfect that which concerns me." Psalm 138:8
"God desires for us to become all that He created us to be. He expects us to develop and then to use all of the talents, abilities, and gifts that He has placed within us...God's plan is for us to accomplish all of the work that He sets before us. He does not call us to unfinished tasks or halfhearted ventures. When God places a challenge, opportunity, or goal in front of us, He expects us to pursue it with our whole heart, mind, and soul to experience a measure of success in accomplishing what He has called us to."
Now you may need to read that a few times to capture what the author (Charles Stanley) is suggesting. He is not suggesting unparalleled success, or propagating a prosperity or poverty gospel. He is simply encouraging us in what the word says in Psalm 138, that God has called each of us to certain ventures in our lives that He has uniquely gifted us to accomplish and that the success we experience when we accomplish what He has set before us, is refining, freeing, challenging and a blessing all at the same time. "Perfect" means to complete. He will complete it.
It's the call to serve wholeheartedly in a church plant when you are perfectly comfortable at your well established church where you thoroughly enjoy the preaching and your kids enjoy the established children's ministry and they have friends. It's the persistent call from the Lord to homeschool when you just think it's the absolute last thing you would ever sign up for, let alone do and do well. It's the reminder that, as God calls you to be a teacher, He will lead you into a deep student/teacher relationship with Himself. He will speak powerfully to your heart daily, hourly if need be, but He will accomplish His purpose. It's the living reality of Proverbs 19:21, "Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails."
I believe the unfinished tasks and halfhearted ventures aren't the daily to-dos that don't get checked off, but rather those specific callings that the Lord Himself has called us each to individually. Be it homeschool, be a working mother, serve in church, be an intentional grandparent, be a writer, teach kids, work in a secular job. Whatever the specific calling that the Lord has placed before you, two things are certain: He will sustain you in what He has called you to do (1 Thessalonians 5:24) and His purpose will prevail (Proverbs 19:21).
It takes a great deal of discernment to know when to calls it quits and when to pursue something. I honestly believe if you are seriously seeking God for that discernment He will make it abundantly clear which direction you are to take. Often times, I've found...the hardest part about changing our lives' course is the fear of man. What will others think if we don't go into full time ministry when we were so sure that was what God had for us? So do we live in the shadow of condemnation if the Lord leads us out of paid ministry into a regular lay lifestyle? Absolutely not. Remember there is now therefore no condemnation in Christ Jesus. Own your weaknesses, own your strengths. God created you with both and remember it is in what you would quickly label a weakness that God's word says in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." In all of it look for God....He is there. In every situation, unfulfilled dream or unrealized expectation...you will find the Lord. He does not leave His children, He does not forsake them.
It's possible unmet expectations mean your expectations just weren't really in line with what the Lord has for you. And, that's okay. Confess those expectations to Him, and leave it there. He will heal, restore and revive. He does it all because of who He is.
So let's boldly seek the Lord asking Him to take our unfinished tasks, and turn them into finished tasks....let's cross that 'un' right out...and rely on Him to complete it.
Showing posts with label confidence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label confidence. Show all posts
6.04.2013
2.03.2013
Boldness
I've been reading through Exodus lately and as always The Lord is cultivating something fresh and new in my heart. I am so blessed, His word is so beautiful, powerful and transforming. I wonder...why do we as Christians expect anything less? This is the God of the universe! Of course His word is powerful!
As I've been watching the conversations that Moses had with my God as the Israelites were wondering I have honestly felt like I am there. His word is alive!!!
Moses amazes me. He was a very bold man. Which is funny because in Exodus chapter four he basically tells God that he can't speak. He's just not that eloquent and needs help (ex 4:10). Fast forward towards the end of the book of Exodus and it's very obvious we see a man who has grown quite a bit in his relationship with The Lord.
This morning I could not stop reading and researching this verse....for many reasons...but first read the verse:
"Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people." Ex 33:13
Okay, can you imagine the boldness before The Lord? Just boldly...show me your ways that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.
Moses is cool. Yup. I said it. I'm amazed. He starts off "if I have found favor.....teach me...show me...lead me....that I may find more favor!"
Moses knows God. He knows that The Lord has so much more to pour out on his people...sometimes we just aren't prepared to receive it. So Moses asks The Lord....show me your ways...he wants to really KNOW The Lord! Know means " to know by experience."
How many of us would just love to experience God? Yet so many things hold us back? Many things can hold
Us back but I believe it mostly comes down to fear and various sins in our lives....at least for me.
Moses was unashamedly asking The Lord....I want to be shown your ways that I may know you by experience!
Oh that my prayers would be that bold! That I would confidently approach The Lord because of the blood of Christ and ask Him to show me His ways..in every situation! Oh how I need to pause more in the midst and pray! I need The Lord to guide my moves, my decisions...oh how I need to be in prayer much more fervently than I am now!
We need to boldly come before The Lord asking that He would pour out His favor upon us and show us His ways....that we would know Him. Think about how easy it is to talk about your kids to someone...it's because you know them. But talking about The Lord to others is sometimes hard. We need to know him so well that when opportunity arises to talk about him to others it literally spills out of our hearts and mouths!!
As I've been watching the conversations that Moses had with my God as the Israelites were wondering I have honestly felt like I am there. His word is alive!!!
Moses amazes me. He was a very bold man. Which is funny because in Exodus chapter four he basically tells God that he can't speak. He's just not that eloquent and needs help (ex 4:10). Fast forward towards the end of the book of Exodus and it's very obvious we see a man who has grown quite a bit in his relationship with The Lord.
This morning I could not stop reading and researching this verse....for many reasons...but first read the verse:
"Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people." Ex 33:13
Okay, can you imagine the boldness before The Lord? Just boldly...show me your ways that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.
Moses is cool. Yup. I said it. I'm amazed. He starts off "if I have found favor.....teach me...show me...lead me....that I may find more favor!"
Moses knows God. He knows that The Lord has so much more to pour out on his people...sometimes we just aren't prepared to receive it. So Moses asks The Lord....show me your ways...he wants to really KNOW The Lord! Know means " to know by experience."
How many of us would just love to experience God? Yet so many things hold us back? Many things can hold
Us back but I believe it mostly comes down to fear and various sins in our lives....at least for me.
Moses was unashamedly asking The Lord....I want to be shown your ways that I may know you by experience!
Oh that my prayers would be that bold! That I would confidently approach The Lord because of the blood of Christ and ask Him to show me His ways..in every situation! Oh how I need to pause more in the midst and pray! I need The Lord to guide my moves, my decisions...oh how I need to be in prayer much more fervently than I am now!
We need to boldly come before The Lord asking that He would pour out His favor upon us and show us His ways....that we would know Him. Think about how easy it is to talk about your kids to someone...it's because you know them. But talking about The Lord to others is sometimes hard. We need to know him so well that when opportunity arises to talk about him to others it literally spills out of our hearts and mouths!!
10.31.2011
"old fashioned" hope....
I read a lot lately...more now than ever before, books, theories, philosophies on parenting. It seems that parenting is one of the most popular topics (at least in the Christian subculture, in America). I've been judged for how my children behave, I've been judged for my responses to them. Let's be honest, we all have.
Let's be honest again, parenting is H A R D! It's not all blissful and wonderful filled with hugs, kisses and laughter. It's hard. It requires more than any person can actually give. That's why I often wonder how people parent without Jesus. But as hard as parenting is, it is rewarding, refining and challenging. Countless times I am blessed by the still quiet voice of God speaking to my heart as I teach my children each day. Sometimes it's refining, sometimes it's a blessing. However it is that the Lord is using my children in my life, I pray that He uses me that much more in their lives.
As I was reading through the Psalms this morning, I came across this verse and it was so fresh for me.
See, as crazy as this may sound to some. I don't have a parenting philosophy. All I do have is HOPE, and for me it's found in Christ. I'm believing Him and His word with everything that is within me. Especially when it comes to my children.
"I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope." Psalm 130:5
So seven years into parenting, I wait. My waiting, however is NOT passive. It is aggressive. I am relentlessly pursuing the throne of grace on their behalf. I'm praying for their souls...I'm praying for their hearts to crave His word...I'm asking God to refine them according to His word. I'm asking Him for the wisdom to parent according to His word. I'm asking Him for the strength to obey His word in what He calls me to do as a mother. I'm clinging to my Jesus and resting in Him for the outcome.
Then what? I'm waiting. I'm trusting. Because I know that my God is greater than this world, greater than a bad attitude and any sinful heart. How do I know that? Not only does His word tell me so, but I look in the mirror and I see....the greatest sinner...saved. Because of Christ. I know my God and His word does NOT return void. I know that speaking the word into their lives daily will bring about a harvest.
My hope in Him is steadfast. It has to be. We have to keep our hope in God...without hope in God...what is there? This weekend my husband and I had a wonderful conversation about these boys. They aren't ours. They belong to Him first. He just chose us to parent them. HUGE responsibility. I do not want to fail them.....and yet I know I can not do it on my own.
"The grass withers, the flowers fades, but the word of our God will stand forever." Isaiah 40:8
Let's be honest again, parenting is H A R D! It's not all blissful and wonderful filled with hugs, kisses and laughter. It's hard. It requires more than any person can actually give. That's why I often wonder how people parent without Jesus. But as hard as parenting is, it is rewarding, refining and challenging. Countless times I am blessed by the still quiet voice of God speaking to my heart as I teach my children each day. Sometimes it's refining, sometimes it's a blessing. However it is that the Lord is using my children in my life, I pray that He uses me that much more in their lives.
As I was reading through the Psalms this morning, I came across this verse and it was so fresh for me.
See, as crazy as this may sound to some. I don't have a parenting philosophy. All I do have is HOPE, and for me it's found in Christ. I'm believing Him and His word with everything that is within me. Especially when it comes to my children.
"I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope." Psalm 130:5
So seven years into parenting, I wait. My waiting, however is NOT passive. It is aggressive. I am relentlessly pursuing the throne of grace on their behalf. I'm praying for their souls...I'm praying for their hearts to crave His word...I'm asking God to refine them according to His word. I'm asking Him for the wisdom to parent according to His word. I'm asking Him for the strength to obey His word in what He calls me to do as a mother. I'm clinging to my Jesus and resting in Him for the outcome.
Then what? I'm waiting. I'm trusting. Because I know that my God is greater than this world, greater than a bad attitude and any sinful heart. How do I know that? Not only does His word tell me so, but I look in the mirror and I see....the greatest sinner...saved. Because of Christ. I know my God and His word does NOT return void. I know that speaking the word into their lives daily will bring about a harvest.
My hope in Him is steadfast. It has to be. We have to keep our hope in God...without hope in God...what is there? This weekend my husband and I had a wonderful conversation about these boys. They aren't ours. They belong to Him first. He just chose us to parent them. HUGE responsibility. I do not want to fail them.....and yet I know I can not do it on my own.
"The grass withers, the flowers fades, but the word of our God will stand forever." Isaiah 40:8
10.22.2009
Fearless Confidence
"Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised." Hebrews 10:35-36
God is so good! I am reading through Hebrews right now and just digesting every bite, His word is all encompassing, it is new every morning, it is amazing!! In the midst of what is going on in my life, the Lord kindly led me to this passage this morning and in studying the original text, it's just so refreshingly challenging to me all the more that I must keep my thoughts captive to Christ. The writer of Hebrews has just finished an absolutely amazing description of what Christ really accomplished for His own. Hebrews is so rich, it was hard for me to just grab onto these two verses, but the Lord just showed me as I debate in my mind..what is possibly the next course in our lives, I am not to forsake my confidence, which means (in the Greek): free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness or assurance.
Here I am just concerned about the possibilities and the Lord is simply saying, "rest in my word child." I think the older I get and the more I learn about who I am, I just see I am such a planner, and it is huge for me to put something at the Lord's feet and leave it there, without mentally entertaining the possibilities of different plans. I have to continue to rest in the confidence the Lord has given me. IN the context of this passage ultimately the word is talking about our confidence in Christ and what He has done for us on the cross,and our eternal security as followers of Christ. So as I studied this passage and these particular verses I just felt the Lord overwhelming me with victory. It is my confidence (which He has given me) in Him that keeps me...and even though by "default" I am a planner, and want to know certainties, it is in the uncertainties that I have seen the most amazing display of God Himself in my life and in the lives of those around me.
Isn't just endearing how in all the endless possibilities of life God is there, CONSTANT. He tells us He is the same yesterday, today and yes forever! (Heb 13:8) He is unchangeable, and He IS LOVE! I am humbled by this, because I know me and I honestly would be so sick of me..so sick of teaching the same lessons over and over again, and yet continually in His word the Lord affirms what He teaches me and does so through different scriptures and just at the times I need it. I love how in James, His word promises that "He gives a greater grace. 'Therefore it is said, "God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble." Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." James 4:6-7 It's so simple, as I am a planner and love to hash out in my mind the possibilities of the future, I must simply humble myself before the Lord, resting in His hand and just wait on Him, refusing to give the devil a foothold into my mind. I remember a few years ago I read this, "The primary battlefield is the mind" by Beth Moore. I loved it then, and still do because that has given me so much freedom to put things into the proper biblical perspective. My battles are mostly in the mind, and God graciously promises that if I resist the devil he will flee from me. So I am learning about myself that my planning is responsible and beneficial to a point, and that point is where all the thoughts rolling around in my head turn to worry, and then distrust of the Lord...which is obvious sin, then I must repent and ask God to help me keep my thoughts captive....but I must humble myself before Him.
I have this fearles confidence in Christ, in the words of the Psalmist, "The LORD is for me; I wil not fear, what can man do to me?" Pslam 118:6 and "In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?: Psalm 56:11
So this gift, of fearless confidence we have in Christ, must be guarded because I need to be on my toes against my enemies, my flesh and the devil. I need not give these two a foothold. I must instead undergird my mind and my heart with the living and active (Heb 4:12) word of God. "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God." Col. 3:16
I just feel like the Lord is captivating and cultivating my heart so much lately and I am so grateful for His continued work in my life. I am so thankful He has not forsaken me and left me to myself...what a mess! Instead I can say "victory in Jesus, my Savior forever!" How sweet are the words of Praise to the One and Only, the "Lamb of God!"
God is so good! I am reading through Hebrews right now and just digesting every bite, His word is all encompassing, it is new every morning, it is amazing!! In the midst of what is going on in my life, the Lord kindly led me to this passage this morning and in studying the original text, it's just so refreshingly challenging to me all the more that I must keep my thoughts captive to Christ. The writer of Hebrews has just finished an absolutely amazing description of what Christ really accomplished for His own. Hebrews is so rich, it was hard for me to just grab onto these two verses, but the Lord just showed me as I debate in my mind..what is possibly the next course in our lives, I am not to forsake my confidence, which means (in the Greek): free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness or assurance.
Here I am just concerned about the possibilities and the Lord is simply saying, "rest in my word child." I think the older I get and the more I learn about who I am, I just see I am such a planner, and it is huge for me to put something at the Lord's feet and leave it there, without mentally entertaining the possibilities of different plans. I have to continue to rest in the confidence the Lord has given me. IN the context of this passage ultimately the word is talking about our confidence in Christ and what He has done for us on the cross,and our eternal security as followers of Christ. So as I studied this passage and these particular verses I just felt the Lord overwhelming me with victory. It is my confidence (which He has given me) in Him that keeps me...and even though by "default" I am a planner, and want to know certainties, it is in the uncertainties that I have seen the most amazing display of God Himself in my life and in the lives of those around me.
Isn't just endearing how in all the endless possibilities of life God is there, CONSTANT. He tells us He is the same yesterday, today and yes forever! (Heb 13:8) He is unchangeable, and He IS LOVE! I am humbled by this, because I know me and I honestly would be so sick of me..so sick of teaching the same lessons over and over again, and yet continually in His word the Lord affirms what He teaches me and does so through different scriptures and just at the times I need it. I love how in James, His word promises that "He gives a greater grace. 'Therefore it is said, "God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble." Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." James 4:6-7 It's so simple, as I am a planner and love to hash out in my mind the possibilities of the future, I must simply humble myself before the Lord, resting in His hand and just wait on Him, refusing to give the devil a foothold into my mind. I remember a few years ago I read this, "The primary battlefield is the mind" by Beth Moore. I loved it then, and still do because that has given me so much freedom to put things into the proper biblical perspective. My battles are mostly in the mind, and God graciously promises that if I resist the devil he will flee from me. So I am learning about myself that my planning is responsible and beneficial to a point, and that point is where all the thoughts rolling around in my head turn to worry, and then distrust of the Lord...which is obvious sin, then I must repent and ask God to help me keep my thoughts captive....but I must humble myself before Him.
I have this fearles confidence in Christ, in the words of the Psalmist, "The LORD is for me; I wil not fear, what can man do to me?" Pslam 118:6 and "In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?: Psalm 56:11
So this gift, of fearless confidence we have in Christ, must be guarded because I need to be on my toes against my enemies, my flesh and the devil. I need not give these two a foothold. I must instead undergird my mind and my heart with the living and active (Heb 4:12) word of God. "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God." Col. 3:16
I just feel like the Lord is captivating and cultivating my heart so much lately and I am so grateful for His continued work in my life. I am so thankful He has not forsaken me and left me to myself...what a mess! Instead I can say "victory in Jesus, my Savior forever!" How sweet are the words of Praise to the One and Only, the "Lamb of God!"
4.12.2009
the power of the resurrection
Easter Sunday. Today is THE day. I mean if you are a believer today is why we live. I don't know what I was expecting when I walked through the doors this morning at church, really this Sunday is a celebration that holds substantial significance for me as a believer in Christ. My family and I are so incredibly blessed to belong to a church body that is not only Bible believing and Bible-living, but one that engages its' people and seeks to disciple the congregation and see them grow into maturity. So on a weekly basis our Pastor sends a note out about what his sermon will be about. I use that as a tool to begin praying that the Lord would open my eyes and speak to my heart specifically through His word and transform me into the likeness of His Son. This week, being Easter...I wasn't sure what scripture to expect, and when I got the email with the reference to Philippians 3:10 I was surprised and SO excited to see how the Lord was going to speak to my heart through a Pauline Epistle that was related to Easter. Wow...was I just completely awestruck by the Lord this morning!!
I just want to share a little of what the Lord was speaking to my heart this morning as it was so amazing. Here we go, "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death" Phil. 3:10 Have you ever really stopped to think about what it means to be conformed to the death of Christ? I mean, I have...but not like today. The death of Christ, was just that, His death. The One and Only, Perfect and Holy Savior of the world had to die for us, because God requires a sacrifice for sin, and as sinful humans we can NEVER ever sacrifice enough or do enough to earn the forgiveness of a Perfect and Holy God. But see, what's so spectacular about Christ's death, was that Christ Himself in His power raised Himself from the dead, and therefore has complete and total victory over it. Meaning death can do nothing to Christ. Death can not hold back our Lord! Ever!
"For the wages of sin is death." Romans 6:23 and "for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23. If the wages of sin is death and I am by nature sinful then I am destined to die, yet as I accepted Christ as my Savior that I may know Him and being conformed to His death which ultimately was victorious over sin, because He no longer is dead but is risen and is alive....he defeated death. I too, as a sinner, saved by the marvelous grace of God, am victorious over sin. I can choose to say "no" to sin. As the sinful flesh is one of our enemies we face on earth, we can choose to say no to sin and rest in the victory of the resurrection of our Savior. "Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life." Romans 6:4
Ladies we are FREE to walk in newness of life. We are free to walk away from the opportunity to gossip. We are free in Christ to stop ourselves mid-sentence no matter what we may look like, and politely say, "you know I need to stop myself and not say what I was about to." We are free to love our spouses with reckless abandon when a healthy and happy marriage are not the "norm" of society today. We are free to love on the clerk at the grocery store no matter what others around us think. We are FREE to live our lives in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ (Phil 1:27) without excuse. Our lives will look radically different, and we may lose a few 'friends.' We may not be the most popular...we may not be the one everyone loves to be around...but we are free in Christ to love and obey Him and say no to sin. We are free in Him to radically pursue Him in His word without thought to being legalistic...it's not about a set of rules, it's about desiring God from the heart and passionately pursuing His transformation in our lives that we may KNOW HIM and the power of the resurrection...and in turn..live out Christ in our lives passionately.
I feel as I walk in the newness of life, the new self, the new creation that Christ has made me, I see more scrutiny from the outside world. I see the judgments of fellow believers, I hear the gossip of those around. I know it's there, and I look to the Lord and I think , Lord that I may know you and the power of the resurrection and the fellowships of His sufferings. It's okay, people can talk about me, I may not be cool, I may not have a ton of friends...but I've got the best friend of all, I've got Jesus. Who willingly laid down His life for me, defeated death for me, and allows me to walk in newness of life. God is doing this in me, "and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him-- {a renewal} in which there is no {distinction between} Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all." Col. 3:10-11.
Ladies if you are a believer God will do it in you too! He longs to transform you, as in the words from Hosea, "Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD Until He comes to rain righteousness on you." Hosea 10:12 Ladies beg the Lord to break up the fallow ground of your heart that you may seek Him, sow seeds with a view towards righteousness, make yourself daily aware of the victory we have over sin BECAUSE of the power of the resurrection. Resolve to walk in newness of life...put off the old self and put on the Lord Christ. Do it, ladies love the Lord your God to His glory and for His fame!! That the name of Christ may be known in and through us.
To God be the glory!!!!
I just want to share a little of what the Lord was speaking to my heart this morning as it was so amazing. Here we go, "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death" Phil. 3:10 Have you ever really stopped to think about what it means to be conformed to the death of Christ? I mean, I have...but not like today. The death of Christ, was just that, His death. The One and Only, Perfect and Holy Savior of the world had to die for us, because God requires a sacrifice for sin, and as sinful humans we can NEVER ever sacrifice enough or do enough to earn the forgiveness of a Perfect and Holy God. But see, what's so spectacular about Christ's death, was that Christ Himself in His power raised Himself from the dead, and therefore has complete and total victory over it. Meaning death can do nothing to Christ. Death can not hold back our Lord! Ever!
"For the wages of sin is death." Romans 6:23 and "for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23. If the wages of sin is death and I am by nature sinful then I am destined to die, yet as I accepted Christ as my Savior that I may know Him and being conformed to His death which ultimately was victorious over sin, because He no longer is dead but is risen and is alive....he defeated death. I too, as a sinner, saved by the marvelous grace of God, am victorious over sin. I can choose to say "no" to sin. As the sinful flesh is one of our enemies we face on earth, we can choose to say no to sin and rest in the victory of the resurrection of our Savior. "Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life." Romans 6:4
Ladies we are FREE to walk in newness of life. We are free to walk away from the opportunity to gossip. We are free in Christ to stop ourselves mid-sentence no matter what we may look like, and politely say, "you know I need to stop myself and not say what I was about to." We are free to love our spouses with reckless abandon when a healthy and happy marriage are not the "norm" of society today. We are free to love on the clerk at the grocery store no matter what others around us think. We are FREE to live our lives in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ (Phil 1:27) without excuse. Our lives will look radically different, and we may lose a few 'friends.' We may not be the most popular...we may not be the one everyone loves to be around...but we are free in Christ to love and obey Him and say no to sin. We are free in Him to radically pursue Him in His word without thought to being legalistic...it's not about a set of rules, it's about desiring God from the heart and passionately pursuing His transformation in our lives that we may KNOW HIM and the power of the resurrection...and in turn..live out Christ in our lives passionately.
I feel as I walk in the newness of life, the new self, the new creation that Christ has made me, I see more scrutiny from the outside world. I see the judgments of fellow believers, I hear the gossip of those around. I know it's there, and I look to the Lord and I think , Lord that I may know you and the power of the resurrection and the fellowships of His sufferings. It's okay, people can talk about me, I may not be cool, I may not have a ton of friends...but I've got the best friend of all, I've got Jesus. Who willingly laid down His life for me, defeated death for me, and allows me to walk in newness of life. God is doing this in me, "and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him-- {a renewal} in which there is no {distinction between} Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all." Col. 3:10-11.
Ladies if you are a believer God will do it in you too! He longs to transform you, as in the words from Hosea, "Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD Until He comes to rain righteousness on you." Hosea 10:12 Ladies beg the Lord to break up the fallow ground of your heart that you may seek Him, sow seeds with a view towards righteousness, make yourself daily aware of the victory we have over sin BECAUSE of the power of the resurrection. Resolve to walk in newness of life...put off the old self and put on the Lord Christ. Do it, ladies love the Lord your God to His glory and for His fame!! That the name of Christ may be known in and through us.
To God be the glory!!!!
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