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Monday, June 29, 2015
Faith
body with the same mind, and so it will take work to break old habits. by Debbie Wallis It will take work to put into place the new godly habits that demonstrate a change of nature. The only way to do that is to read you Bible and be a doer of the Word. While the non-Christian can mimic some of these virtues in particular situations, only those who are chosen by God, holy and beloved, have any hope of carrying all of them out with all people. Only by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you and the Lord Jesus Christ manifesting His life through you can any human have these attitudes and behave in the manner described with all people including enemies. Jesus pointed out in the Matthew 5:43-48 that we are to love our enemies and even pray for those that persecute us. It’s not hard to “But you are not controlled by love those who love you but the your sinful nature. You are believer is to press on to be perfect controlled by the Spirit if you have as a reflection of God, “Therefore the Spirit of God living in you,” you are to be perfect, as your Romans 8:9. heavenly Father is perfect.” You can’t do that on your own. It must You are not your own and you’ve be God working in you such as Paul been bought by a high price, The explains in Philippians 1:6, “For I Perfect Son of God died for your am confident of this very thing, that sins. Christians have been He who began a good work in you redeemed by the Lord, the old will perfect it until the day of Christ patterns of life and ways of Jesus.” It is ultimately God’s work, thinking are to be changed. As but at the same time you must do Paul states in Colossians 3:5-11, your part in not dragging around the “Don’t be controlled by your body. corpse of the old man by continuing Don’t be immoral or indecent or in old habits, attitudes and ways of have evil thoughts. Don’t be thinking. You are to put those greedy, which is the same as things to death and lay them aside. worshipping idols. God is angry You are responsible to put on the with those who disobey Him by new man and step forward in the doing these things. That’s exactly obedience of faith in following what you did when you lived Christ. among people who behaved in this way. But now you stop doing such “God loves you and has chosen you things. You must quit being angry as His own special people. So be and hateful because it’s evil. You gentle, kind, humble, meek, and must no longer say insulting or patient. Put up with each other and cruel things about others. Stop forgive anyone who does you lying to each other. You gave up wrong, just as Christ has forgiven your old way of life and your old you. Love is more important than habits when you chose Jesus. anything else. It is what ties Each of you is now a new person. everything completely together,” You are becoming more and more Colossians 3:12-14. God does His like your Creator and you will part. Jesus does His part. The Holy understand Him better,” Spirit does His part. You need to do The old man may be dead, but the new man has to live in the same
your part because Satan does his part! Don’t be an ineffective Christian. “You died with Christ.
Now the forces of the universe don’t have any power over you,” Colossians 2:20. “You have been raised to life with Christ. Now set your heart on what is in Heaven, where Christ rules as God’s right side,” Colossians 3:1. “Whatever you say or do should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks to God the Father because of Him,” Colossians 3;17. This verse destroys this contrast between secular and sacred. For the Christian, there is not to be any such division in life. Everything you do is to be done with glorifying God in mind. Tragically, that is definitely not how the vast majority of professing Christians live. The result is it becomes much harder to witness for Christ because of the hypocrisy the non-Christian sees in this self-professed Christian. You are not your own. It’s not about your mood. It’s not about your comfort, or your free time. It’s not about what you want. It’s not about the left overs but the first fruit. It’s not about you; it’s about representing Christ and reaching others so they don’t stay lost. People need Jesus and that cannot be seen through you living for yourself. “But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you,” Romans 8:9. If you don’t have a Bible please contact me at sfadebbie@yahoo.com and I will provide you one.
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Choose your battles well by Steve Casey "Choose your battles well."These words of wisdom have been around for a long time. But, as is so often the case, when it comes to wisdom, many people don’t get it. There are too many battles available to try to fight them all. Some battles are worth fighting and some are not. Choose carefully where you are going to invest your time and energy in engaging in life’s battles. We are once again seeing a poorly chosen battle that seems to appear every decade or so. That is the battle of the Confederate flag. In the past, this battle has had two results--more confederate flags sell than before and racial tensions increase. The only groups who benefit from the battle are those who sell flags and those who make their living by keeping racial tensions alive. For the rest of us, it would have been better if this battle had never started. Yes, there are battles raging that are worth our time and energy. Many who are engaged in these more important battles, such as government control vs. individual freedom, are glad to see the flag battle raging. They can divert our attention to the flag battle and use it as a decoy while they continue their devious power grabs unnoticed. My heart goes out to those involved in the recent tragedy in Charleston, SC. My heart is warmed by the way that the people of Charleston and around the nation have come together to try to bring healing in the face of such pain. But, my disdain goes to those who have used this event to spout their political agenda on gun control or to once again raise up the battle over a flag. We see on the one hand good people coming together and on the other hand we see radicals trying to divide so as to conquer. Jesus once spoke of those who strain at gnats while swallowing camels. These are those who major on the minors of life while missing that which is truly important. You only have one life. Make it count for good – for people and causes worthy of your efforts. Select your priorities wisely. In other words, "choose your battles well."
