Jesus said in Matthew 11 that He came to give us rest or we could say peace in our souls. Are you enjoying that kind of peace of mind? Or are you full of anxiety, restlessness, and discontent? If it’s the latter, it turns out that learning to enjoy God’s peace of mind is neither impossible nor mysterious. You can read more in today’s post.
How much do you and I want to know Jesus? The answer reveals a great deal about our hearts. The Apostle Paul who had all the Jewish credentials: education, a great family pedigree, as well as, his own achievements, said he counted it all as garbage, literally “dung,” in comparison to the ability to actually know Jesus. So, how much do you really want to know Him? In today’s post, we’ll talk about the how and why of doing that.
Is holiness just boring legalism?
Sadly, that is the perception of many. But growing in holiness is not becoming a dry, boring, legalistic fuddy-duddy. Rather, growing in holiness is to have the peace and joy that all of us want in our lives. It’s to become more like Christ, to have the wisdom to live a God-honoring life, to make wise decisions, and to avoid painful consequences. It’s to shine the light of a life well-lived in a dark world.
If that’s true, shouldn’t we all want to grow in holiness? If so, how do we do it?
And by contrast, how do some people end up pulled down into so much darkness? How does a habitual liar become one or some other life-dominating sin become a way of life? How does a truly evil person become that way?
God says He’ll complete the work He has begun in us which is the process of transforming us into the likeness of Christ. But do we often suffer unnecessarily in the process because we’re determined that our way is better than His?
Angry children—we see them in the grocery store, in the schoolyard, on the news, and possibly in our own homes. While all of us, including our children, are responsible for our choices, as parents we are warned not to provoke our children to anger. Two ways we do that are by living a hypocritical lifestyle and parental role reversal. We may be guilty of those or other ways without even realizing it.
We’ll, also, look at the armor of God, what it is, and how we put it on. It’s not as mysterious or mystical as it might seem.
After explaining who we are in Christ for three chapters, Paul begins chapter 4 of Ephesians by saying, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.” Because of everything Christ has done for you, I’m begging you to walk worthy of that calling. Or to say it another way, he gives us a snapshot of what a Spirit-controlled life should look like. We’ll take a closer look at some of those characteristics today.
And our reading from the book of Isaiah could be headlines from today’s newspapers! “Our courts oppose the righteous,” “Justice is nowhere to be found,” and “Anyone who renounces evil is attacked” for starters.
“I’ll just sin now and ask for forgiveness later.” Have you ever been tempted with that thought?
The deceitfulness of sin tells us that we can go ahead and sin even though we know it’s wrong, then we can ask God to forgive us and that’s all there is to it! But that’s rebellion against God and you can’t be both rebellious (determined to go your own way) and repentant (turning to go God’s way) at the same time. But there’s an even bigger problem with this kind of thinking. What is it?
Also, in today’s post, read about chocolate-covered dirt, foolish talk, and dirty jokes.
What does Christian maturity look like? Is it the things we do, like going to church or reading our Bibles? Is it the “big sins” we don’t do, like getting drunk or stealing? Or is Christian maturity something else? What did Paul mean when he said, “walk worthy of the calling with which you have been called” (Eph. 4.1)?
The Apostle Paul had a passion to see those he led to the Lord grow and become faithful followers of Christ. And the prayer recorded in today’s reading from Ephesians and others from his letters give us a blueprint for how to pray for those we love. How might his prayers be different from those we often pray?
We will also look at:
One of the most complete Old Testament pictures of the sufferings of Christ and all that would come about as a result. And what Proverbs has to say about sarcasm and mean-spirited joking.
We call it by a lot of different names: peer pressure, people-pleasing, co-dependency. Proverbs tells us it is a trap into which we can easily fall. What is it and how can we be free from its grip?
Just as our sin nature blinds us to the danger of people-pleasing and co-dependency, we can be blinded about the nature of true freedom. Could something that looks like freedom actually bring you into bondage?
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