Romans 6:12-14; 16-18
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
This part of Romans talks about whom we make ourselves slaves to. In other words - who do we make our lord. If we have trusted in Jesus Christ and believe that He died for our sins and rose again, then we are free from any dominion sin has over us. We do not have to have any lifestyle of sin. We have the choice to be slaves of righteousness. If we reflect righteousness with our lives, then we show who our true Lord is.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Friday, June 6, 2008
The Best Defense
Psalm 109:1-5
1 Be not silent, O God of my praise!
2 For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues.
3 They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause.
4 In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer.
5 So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
I have read this psalm many times and for the first time a phrase stood out. In the midst of David pouring his heart out to God and before asking the Lord to take these people and fix their wagons, he says one thing: "but I give myself to prayer."
Why is this so important? Ask any man what he would do if he was in the same situation as David. The first response would more and likely not be prayer. Some it would be violence others would fight using the same methods that they were attacked with. Personally, I try to cut them off in any way I can to eliminate the attacks.
The important part here is that David devoted himself to prayer in this situation. And though he wanted some brutal vengeance - he asked for it by the Lord's hand, not his own.
Who is in control? Who is all powerful? Who is all knowing? Who do you belong to? Who should you go to in the midst of being attacked? The Lord God. And how do you approach Him? In prayer.
1 Be not silent, O God of my praise!
2 For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues.
3 They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause.
4 In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer.
5 So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
I have read this psalm many times and for the first time a phrase stood out. In the midst of David pouring his heart out to God and before asking the Lord to take these people and fix their wagons, he says one thing: "but I give myself to prayer."
Why is this so important? Ask any man what he would do if he was in the same situation as David. The first response would more and likely not be prayer. Some it would be violence others would fight using the same methods that they were attacked with. Personally, I try to cut them off in any way I can to eliminate the attacks.
The important part here is that David devoted himself to prayer in this situation. And though he wanted some brutal vengeance - he asked for it by the Lord's hand, not his own.
Who is in control? Who is all powerful? Who is all knowing? Who do you belong to? Who should you go to in the midst of being attacked? The Lord God. And how do you approach Him? In prayer.
Love to Suffer
Romans 5:3-5
3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Alright, "Love to Suffer" wasn't the best title but it did get your attention. This portion of scripture does however give us exactly what it is talking about: HOPE.
First of all, the key to make it through all these stages is relying on the Lord's strength. You will break during sufferings if you are not relying on Him. Your endurance will only last through Him. And any character you possess is only because of the Lord. So it finally ends up, that the HOPE you receive is the HOPE you have in the Lord.
3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Alright, "Love to Suffer" wasn't the best title but it did get your attention. This portion of scripture does however give us exactly what it is talking about: HOPE.
First of all, the key to make it through all these stages is relying on the Lord's strength. You will break during sufferings if you are not relying on Him. Your endurance will only last through Him. And any character you possess is only because of the Lord. So it finally ends up, that the HOPE you receive is the HOPE you have in the Lord.
God's Amazing Love
Romans 5:8
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The title here says it all. While we were wallowing in putrid sewage, God still loved us so much to put Christ in our place; to pluck us out and clean us up; and to share in Christ's victory over the filthiness of this present age.
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The title here says it all. While we were wallowing in putrid sewage, God still loved us so much to put Christ in our place; to pluck us out and clean us up; and to share in Christ's victory over the filthiness of this present age.
Adam & Christ
Romans 5:19
For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.
This scripture plainly puts the difference between Adam and Jesus - disobedience and obedience. So which man do you follow? Your actions show it. Do you obey or do you rebel?
For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.
This scripture plainly puts the difference between Adam and Jesus - disobedience and obedience. So which man do you follow? Your actions show it. Do you obey or do you rebel?
Thursday, June 5, 2008
The Joy of Loyalty
Psalm 108:1-4
1 My heart is steadfast, O God! I will sing and make melody with all my being! 2 Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn! 3 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. 4 For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
I would like to break down this passage like I did with the Psalm yesterday.
Verse 1 in itself has much to consider, especially as we come to the word "steadfast." This word can usually be seen as "unmovable." I don't know about you, but my heart wavers. It's not always unmovable. But, if we consider steadfast to represent "loyal," that is something I can relate to. Though my loyalty wavers every time I sin, that loyalty is restored when I confess it to my Lord. And whenever my heart is in that state - shouldn't I be able to praise the Lord with my whole being? (On a personal note, I saw this happen last night during worship practice - it was an incredible time with the Lord).
The second verse shows that excitement in the Lord - wanting to start the day with praise. Think of being a child on Christmas eve and wanting the next day to be there.
When we find that joy in loyalty to God, we can't keep it to ourselves so we share it with all around us in an excited way. (Verse 3)
Verse 4 is incredible because it starts with the word "for." Huh?
"For" is a short way of saying, "this has all been made possible because..."
Because why? Because of God's steadfast love. It has to be there first so that our hearts can be steadfast towards Him. And God's steadfast love, His unmovable love, His loyal love is so great that it is beyond our greatest imaginations.
Praise be to the Lord, who gives us the ability to be loyal to Him and find joy in that with our entire being.
1 My heart is steadfast, O God! I will sing and make melody with all my being! 2 Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn! 3 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. 4 For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
I would like to break down this passage like I did with the Psalm yesterday.
Verse 1 in itself has much to consider, especially as we come to the word "steadfast." This word can usually be seen as "unmovable." I don't know about you, but my heart wavers. It's not always unmovable. But, if we consider steadfast to represent "loyal," that is something I can relate to. Though my loyalty wavers every time I sin, that loyalty is restored when I confess it to my Lord. And whenever my heart is in that state - shouldn't I be able to praise the Lord with my whole being? (On a personal note, I saw this happen last night during worship practice - it was an incredible time with the Lord).
The second verse shows that excitement in the Lord - wanting to start the day with praise. Think of being a child on Christmas eve and wanting the next day to be there.
When we find that joy in loyalty to God, we can't keep it to ourselves so we share it with all around us in an excited way. (Verse 3)
Verse 4 is incredible because it starts with the word "for." Huh?
"For" is a short way of saying, "this has all been made possible because..."
Because why? Because of God's steadfast love. It has to be there first so that our hearts can be steadfast towards Him. And God's steadfast love, His unmovable love, His loyal love is so great that it is beyond our greatest imaginations.
Praise be to the Lord, who gives us the ability to be loyal to Him and find joy in that with our entire being.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
The Key to Worship
Psalm 105:1-6
(verse by verse observations)
A quick definition of Worship is "declaring the worthiness of God." With that in mind, let's look at the following verses.
1 Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
Three things here: thankfulness to God, relying on Him, and sharing what He has done with others.
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
Sing love songs to your Lord: of how wonderful He is and how wonderful His actions are.
3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
"Glory in his holy name" is similar to taking a prideful joy in God's name, but more so. And still we are directed to rejoice even more than that. Let your heart well up with the joy the Lord has given you.
4 Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually!
This verse seems to be key to this passage: Seek the Lord, Seek His Strength, and Seek His Presence. This can only be done through prayer and searching His Word - making both an integral part of your day.
5 Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
Once again we asked to remember what He has done: both the times where He provided in an impossible situation and also the times where He has rebuked and corrected us - because in both situations we see His extraordinary love.
6 O offspring of Abraham, his servant,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones!
And just another reason to worship Him is because He chose us. He chose to bless all nations through Abraham. He chose to love all of mankind and offer them redemption through His Son, Jesus Christ. He chose us - it's incredible.
(Romans 3:21-26
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.)
(verse by verse observations)
A quick definition of Worship is "declaring the worthiness of God." With that in mind, let's look at the following verses.
1 Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
Three things here: thankfulness to God, relying on Him, and sharing what He has done with others.
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
Sing love songs to your Lord: of how wonderful He is and how wonderful His actions are.
3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
"Glory in his holy name" is similar to taking a prideful joy in God's name, but more so. And still we are directed to rejoice even more than that. Let your heart well up with the joy the Lord has given you.
4 Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually!
This verse seems to be key to this passage: Seek the Lord, Seek His Strength, and Seek His Presence. This can only be done through prayer and searching His Word - making both an integral part of your day.
5 Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
Once again we asked to remember what He has done: both the times where He provided in an impossible situation and also the times where He has rebuked and corrected us - because in both situations we see His extraordinary love.
6 O offspring of Abraham, his servant,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones!
And just another reason to worship Him is because He chose us. He chose to bless all nations through Abraham. He chose to love all of mankind and offer them redemption through His Son, Jesus Christ. He chose us - it's incredible.
(Romans 3:21-26
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.)
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