Mind-Body Struggle

~~~ Romans 7:18-25A ~~~ Psalm 119 ~~~ Luke 12:54-59 ~~~

Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?

Jesus notices that the people were able to tell about the weather
 by observing the clouds and wind direction.
But when it came to more personal things
they were greatly deficient.

The letter to the Romans gives us a possible explanation.

I know that good does not dwell in me, 
that is, in my flesh.
The willing is ready at hand, 
but doing the good is not.

Paul notes that even when he intends to do good
he fails miserably.
He cannot make his mind and his body cooperate.
Instead it seems to Paul that his mind and his body
 are at odds with one another.

Have you ever found yourself in the midst
of something you did not want to do?

God designed your body to respond to pleasure.
You have your incredible five senses.
Your senses are truly a gift from God.

Your sense of sight allows you to enjoy
the beauty of all of creation.

But your sight may also be a source of sin.
How do you preserve what you see for good?
Do you seek to view that which may lead you to sin?

Your sense of taste allows you to enjoy the many flavors
of herbs, spices, and sugar to name a few.

But your sense of taste may also be a source of sin.
Have you ever eaten too much?
Do you crave sweets?
Do you use food for comfort?

I see in my members another principle
at war with the law of my mind,
taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

Your sense of touch allows you to feel
with every part of your body.

But your sense of touch can also be a source of sin.
Either pleasure or pain, hot or cold,
even this can be a source of sin.
Are you too concerned about your body?

Paul presents with this dilemma that we all face with hope.

Miserable one that I am!
Who will deliver me from this mortal body?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Are there times when you feel like crying out to the Lord?
Are you feeling miserable too?
Does you body frustrate your good intentions?

Paul knows that it is only the Lord
that can come to our assistance.
He is the one who understands
this constant struggle that we have between
our mind and our bodies.

The gift of your body and its senses
can bring about goodness at times while at other
times be a source of distress.

Blessed to have a mind and body
wonderfully made by God.
~~~Peace~~~

Sin-Slavery-Obedience

~~~ Romans 6:12-18 ~~~ Psalm 124 ~~~ Luke 12:39-48 ~~~

Sin...Slave...Obedience...Grace

But thanks be to God that, 
although you were once slaves of sin,
you have become obedient from the heart...

Is it not the attitude of the heart
where you discover if you are a slave or obedient?
Sin makes you a slave to things your heart does not want to do.
Slaves have no control over their physical surroundings.
Slaves cannot voice their opinion.

A slave cannot dwell on things of the heart for too long;
for it is very painful for them.

Sin makes you a slave, caged by your own
 weakness and desires.

God, in his infinite wisdom saw how slavery to sin
would keep his chosen people from ever
reuniting with him in heaven.

God sent Jesus to free you from the chains of sin.
God did not want us to remain slaves.
God wants you to come to him in love and obedience.
God wants you to freely chose to come to him.

It is the out pouring of his grace into your heart;
this is why you can become obedient from the heart.

Slavery cannot control your heart unless
you give up and allow it.

If you are to be a slave then there is only one master
to whom you should answer...Jesus.
If you are to be obedient it is from the heart
 that you must take action.

If you become a slave to the Lord;
you must also be humble and docile.

If you chose obedience from the heart
then being a slave of God's is the visible sign.

Our help is in the name of the Lord.

Jesus came to serve and not to be served;
yet we desire to be obedient to his commands.

Without love and grace
radiating from the heart your
commitment to the Lord is nothing
 more than glorified slavery.

The bonds of sin have been broken
 so that you can chose humble obedience to the Lord.

The Lord our God protects and cares for you
not as a slave but as his beloved daughter and son.

Blessed to humbly
chose obedience to the word of God.

~~~Peace~~~

The Pothole

~~~ 2 Samuel 11:1-4a, 5-10a, 13-17 ~~~ Psalm 51 ~~~ Mark 4:26-34 ~~~

Of its own accord the land yields fruit,
first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once,
for the harvest has come.

Young David came from tending his father's sheep
 to being anointed as the King.
Perhaps it was too much too fast.
He had so much success that he let it get the best of him.
He let his emotions cloud his better judgement.
He let his greed and pride rule over his moral code.

He knew it was wrong to take the wife of Uriah,
but he was ready for the harvest.
David began to believe that there was nothing he could not do
and nothing he could not have for his own.

David was a human being and he fell into a giant pothole on his journey.
We all have those times in our life when the temptation
 to sin seems far more attractive than not.

David danced around the edge of the pothole...
he began by looking on the beauty of Uriah's wife.
Before he knew it he was all the way down into the pothole.
Once down in the dirt of his sin he tries to hide his guilt
 by planning to commit a sin more grave...
murder.

Lies, lies, and more lies.
Truth begets truth, but lies can only beget future lies.

God values the truth.
Sooner or later a person who lies
 is caught in a dilemma they have set up for themselves.

David does come to his senses eventually and he does repent,
but it did not have to happen to begin with.
David let his powerful position lead him into sin.

Blessings in holding the truth in high esteem.
Peace.

Flashing Warning Lights

~~~ Romans 7:18-25a ~~~ Psalm 119 ~~~ Luke 12:54-59 ~~~ 

 

It is so frustrating to find yourself doing something
that you clearly do not want to do...such as letting your biases
dictate how your response in certain situations.

Paul has a way of writing from such a human perspective.
He is easy to relate to because he writes about things
that are relevant for us now.
Some may think the Bible is full of old customs and beliefs,
but the truth is along with them is this wonderful
living word...full of meaning no matter when it is read.

I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh.
The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not.
For I do not do the good I want,
but I do the evil I do not want.

When it comes to our bodies there are many
weaknesses and temptations.
God made our bodies to experience pain and pleasure.
We try to avoid pain when possible and experience
the pleasure when possible.
We struggle inside with these two opposite feelings.

It is too bad that we do not have internal flashing yellow lights
 when we are approaching danger.

Not only would it give us a warning sign,
but it would also alert those around us that we needed their assistance.
 

Almost every time I am driving on the highway I see the large signs
letting the public know of a missing elderly or child.
I get notices on my phone of accidents that would impact my route.
We get emergency messages along the bottom of our
television screens for severe weather.
 

 

 

 

Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? 

 

Apparently we are too physically weak to judge
between good and evil by ourselves. 

It is easy to understand Paul because we all
have the same internal challenges.
Paul gives us the best failsafe we could ever have....

Who will deliver me from this mortal body?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
 

 We can always turn to Jesus for his help to avoid sin,
but sometimes we are too afraid or too ashamed.

Whether we are acting in grace or in sin God is present there too.
When we are arguing inside with ourselves God is present.
When we overcome our daily temptations
no matter how great or small
God is present.
When we fail and succumb to that which
we do not want to do....sin;
God is present inviting us to return to him.

Hide me Lord in the shelter of your wings.
Blessings come in admitting to ourselves
that we need God
every day in every situation.
I am on the lookout for the
'flashing yellow lights'.

Freely Choosing Obedience

~~~ Romans 6:12-18 ~~~ Psalm 124 ~~~ Luke 12:39-48 ~~~

 

But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin,
you have become obedient from the heart...
Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.

Historically we know that the practice of keeping slaves

 has been around for centuries.

Slave...a person who is the legal property of someone and is forced to obey.

Slaves were usually held against their will and worked excessively.

 

Recently there have been movies made about

the realities of slavery in our country...

"12 Years a Slave" being the most recent, which you may not

 even know is in theaters. It is to be released in most cities on November 1.

While this is not a blog about such topics it is important to note

 that slavery does still exist in our world today.

 

No matter what you feel about slavery, Paul speaks of it

in his letter to the Romans.

They could understand the concept of slavery

Paul, however, is turning the concept of slavery upside down.

 

Paul says what if...you present yourselves as obedient salves?

If we present ourselves as slaves, obedient to the truth

the reality shifts.

We have two choices...we can either be slaves

 of sin or obedient to God.

When we look back at our lives

where do we find the greatest presence of God?

 

God is most evident in our lives when we choose

to walk in righteousness with him.

We can choose to be a 'slave' to God's holy way.

 

Being in the clutches of sin is much like being owned as a slave.

The longer you stay in sin the more the sin holds on to your soul.

The sin begins to fool you into believing

that you have no choice.

 

We always have the choice to escape from our sinfulness.

Jesus paid the price to set us free...he died for that reason.

Jesus was brutally and publically abused so that we

could be free from the slavery of sin.

 

How can we be anything but grateful?

 

 

Grateful because we have been given the gift of grace to helps us.

We can be obedient to the call of holiness and avoid sin.

We must be vigilant, sin surrounds us on all sides.

Sin often disguises itself as greater freedom,

but it makes you a slave unto itself.

 

We are presented with good and evil every day.

Every day we must once again make our firm

commitment to take the path of the good.

It will be a challenge at times, but the end is so much better.

 

A freed slave is eternally grateful to the owner.

I would freely choose to be a slave for Christ,

but that is not how he wants us

to define our relationship with him.

Our relationship with God is one of loving freedom.

 

Blessings come in freely being obedient to God.

Praying for his protection from sin.

Praying for the grace to resist the temptation of sin.

Delivered by Grace

~~~ Romans 5:12, 15b, 17-19, 20b-21 ~~~ Psalm 40 ~~~ Luke 12:35-38 ~~

 

Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more...

 

Sin was freely flowing across the land.

It cast itself from one generation to the next.

One serious infraction leading to one greater.

Hatred prevailed among the people.

All was chaos.

 

 There was only one person

who could halt the complete ruin of God's people...Jesus.

It was only Jesus who could deliver his saving grace to the people.

We must be forever bowed in humble thanksgiving.

 

God proved his great love for us in sending Christ.

Some recognized Jesus as the savior, but others

even fought against the very idea.

 

 

God's gift of Jesus to us saves all of mankind until the end of time.

The crucifixion is the ultimate pardon from God the Father.

 

Individually we cannot realize the fullness of our salvation

 until the hour of our death.

God's grace...more powerful than sin...that is phenomenal.

God's grace is what fills our hearts with hope.

Hope in the promise of our personal salvation.

Hope that comes to completion when we die.

Hope becomes the reality we are convicted by when
we exhale for the last time. 

Help me, Lord...
 I come to do your will. 

 

 The grace from above Blesses us here below
until the end of time.

The Limbo Game

~~~ 1 Kings 21:-17-29 ~~~ Psalm 51 ~~~ Matthew 5: 43-48 ~~~

Raising the bar!

Have you ever played the Limbo game?

I am not very good at it but the idea is to see how low you can go and still get under the bar "stick". In the book of Kings we continue with the story of Ahab who thought he had indeed safely passed under the bar. He and his wife together lowered the bar and resorted to murder to get what they wanted...the neighbor's vineyard.

God on the other hand is about raising the bar. While he does indeed accept Ahab's attempt at repenting, his justice is reserved until the son of Ahab comes into power.

Sometimes it seems to us that God allows evil and does nothing about it, but we cannot know how or when God will restrain evil.

Remember we do have a loving and just God.

Love does not does not automatically erase justice or punishment.

The psalmist has good reason to sing in prayer:

"Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned"

Often your sins are only between you and God. Others may not be aware that you have sinned. We alone will present ourselves before God for our final judgement. Then perhaps God will allow us to see just how our sins affected others.

Jesus raises the bar...

"...love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..."

Whoa! pray for those who express evil towards you.

Jesus is not saying to hang out with these people, but he is calling us to a higher form of prayer. It really is easy to pray for those you love...for those who love you...even for stangers, but enemies is another thing.

Jesus raises the bar, but unlike in the game of Limbo when Jesus raises

the bar it makes the game of life more difficult and challenging.

In Limbo when the bar is high you easily slip right under to the other side.

When God raises the bar it takes courage, determination,

and great love to make it to the other side.

In Limbo if you touch the ground to keep your balance

you may be disqualified.

When Jesus raises the bar you most certainly

will touch the ground,

but he will give you the grace you need

to get up and try once again.

So with each passing day we are presented with opportunities to love

those we would rather not...to even love those who do not love us

...to love those who would do us harm.

We fail and we succeed over and over again

throughout our life such is the struggle.

We keep getting up and trying

because the reward we have been promised is so great.

The Limbo game strategy has reversed. The 'bar' is now getting higher

and more difficult to pass under at the same time.

So...are you in the game or just a spectator on the side?

Change...Come Back...Today

Genesis 17: 3-9 ~~~ Psalm 105 ~~~ John 8: 51-59



Again today we are given readings about God's incredible covenant with his people. A covenant that will sustain us a people for all eternity. I have previously written about covenants on this blog; check out the titles and will find those posts.

If anyone has an encounter with the Lord you always come away a changed person. Abraham, Paul, and Peter had their name changed as a result of their God encounters. Having you name changed by God is special no doubt, but you can be changed in so many other ways.

In many if not all of the miracles Jesus performed  people and things were changed. Changed from what they were into something different; something even more pleasing to God. His changes result in the exemplification of his goodness.

Every year during Lent we are called once again to change. To change our hardened hearts, to turn away from sin, to come back to him, to change our path of destruction. Lent is all about change.

When we return to the Lord and seek forgiveness we are seeking change for our soul. If we only confess our sins and never have the sincere intention to change who are we really fooling? I know that we are weak and we often fall again into the same pattern of sin. It is the intention of the mind, body, and soul that truly makes the difference. 

During Holy Week I urge you to make some kind of promise with yourself. Promise to be more aware of whatever your most difficult sin is; decide to be vigilant with keeping it out of your life. Maybe you need some outside help...recruit a friend or a spouse if you can. Maybe seeing a spiritual director would be of help.

Whatever it takes only you can make the decision to change. If God were to come before you what one thing would you request of him to change in your life.

If you could only change one thing what would that be? Sometimes it only takes changing one small thing to make a huge impact on the rest of your life.

What will it take for you to make the necessary change in your life?

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.



Mounted on a Pole ~ Lifted High

~~~ Numbers 21:4-9 ~~~ Psalm 102 ~~~ John 8: 21- 30 ~~~

It is human nature to get discouraged at the end of a journey. As we get closer to Holy Week we may be struggling to see if anything worthwhile comes from our Lenten sacrifices. We may be tired of doing the same things each day...our routine may be getting boring...our determination waning.

The people who were following Moses were weary from their long journey and their palate was not satisfied. They were longing to taste something more stimulating.

Moses prayed and God decided to spice up their lives with poisonous serpents. The serpent of bronze restored their attention. In order to saved from death those bitten had only to look at up at the snake. This renewed their desire to continue on their journey.

The healing quality of this serpent was later incorporated into the symbol for the field of medicine used even today.

This visual of the healing snake on the staff was a precursor of Jesus hanging upon the cross. The snake was a symbol of God's grace, but the true meaning was soon overlooked. The Israelites became so obsessed with this bronze serpent that it later had to be destroyed as an idol.

If today you have within you poison venom from the bite of sin, you have only to come to the cross of Christ look up and repent. Looking up at the crucifix and holding your gaze upon his tortured body will send his love and mercy into your heart. Remember that clean heart you are longing for? It is here with arms outstretched waiting to receive you in a full embrace.

 

An embrace so totally saturated with love that you know without a doubt that it belongs to what is above. It cannot be of this world. The one who will be raised up on high for all to see and realize with conviction is the I AM. He will always do what is pleasing to the Father. The Father will never abandon him. He will always be with him.

Come to the Foot of the Cross, believe and seek the mercy of God.