Don'e Let Sin Distract You

Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

1 John 3:7-10 (NIV)

Am I more concerned with the devil's work or Christ's work? Is my attention on sin or what Christ is doing in my life? 

One day, when my oldest son was in high school, he came home and said he wanted to wrestle me because he learned a move from a friend at school. I was a wrestler in high school so I asked him if he was sure and he said he was. Well, we circled around a few times and I got tired of waiting so tapped him on the forehead (which of course made him blink) and shot for his legs and took him down. The old tap on the forehead just as you're shooting for a take down distracts inexperienced opponents and gives you that split second to go for the legs. 

In a way that is like sin. It taps us on the head and distracts us from the grace of God and the work of Christ in our lives. The devil, our enemy wants us to focus on our sin because that keeps us from seeing Christ and his work in our lives. I think that is why I John 1:8-2:2 is such an important section of scripture. Sin happens. That is not a rationalization, it's a realization. One of my teachers used to say that the reason he slept well was because he took advantage of the cross (in the way intended). He confessed his sin, trusted Christ to forgive him and went to sleep.

The point is that we are to focus on Christ and living righteously. And it is NOT about works. It is about faith, trusting Christ to use us and to live righteously through us. 

Father, help us to focus on Christ's work in our lives and to live by faith in your grace. Praise be to you in us today!

How To Be Mature in Christ

I am writing to you, dear children,
   because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
I am writing to you, fathers,
   because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
   because you have overcome the evil one. 
I write to you, dear children,
   because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
   because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
   because you are strong,
   and the word of God lives in you,
   and you have overcome the evil one.
1 John 2:12-14 (NIV)

Where are you at in your relationship with God? John reminds us that knowing that our sins are forgiven is the basis of our relationship and the purpose is to know God, him who is from the beginning. There will be battles along the way and we will need the word of God to live in us and to be strong in the Lord and overcome the evil one. 

Where are you at in your relationship with God? Are you a little child just learning that your sins are forgiven? Are you a young man/ woman learning to be strong in the word of God and, by faith, overcoming the evil one? Are you a father/ mother who knows him who is from the beginning? 

What I get from this is that the basis of my relationship with God is the forgiveness of my sins by Christ's death on the cross. I progress in my relationship with Christ through the study of the word of God and the applications of its' truths applied by faith in the daily battles where I need to overcome the evil one. I mature and rest in my faith as I learn that knowing God and making him known is my true purpose in life. 

Father, help us to press on toward maturity. Reveal you forgiveness to us. Give us strength to overcome the evil one. And help us to know you, the Eternal Sovereign Lord. Praise be to you in us today!

WHAT'S YOUR COUNTRY?

"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own." Hebrews 11:13-14

What are you looking for?  Do you have a home country? 

Sometimes, perspective is everything. I'm a Dodger fan. It was a good year, better than the last, but, not a great year. If you're a Red Sox fan, it was a great year. I am still looking forward to a year when my Dodgers put it all together again. 

As a person of faith, I can have good years and bad years, but, I am still looking forward to "that day". My hope is on Christ and the paradise he has prepared for us. I am longing for the time he comes to take us all home with him in heaven. I am hoping to not go alone. 

My hope is in Christ, not myself, not anyone else. 

Father, thank you for giving us hope. Help us to welcome the hope from this distance of the present. Praise be to you in us today!

CAST AND SUSTAIN

"Cast your cares on the LORD
     and he will sustain you;
     he will never let the righteous fall.
 But you, O God, will bring down the wicked 
     into the pit of corruption;
 bloodthirsty and deceitful me
     will not live out half their days.
But as for me, I trust in you."
Psalm 55:22-23

This world is full of corruption. To most people, truth is optional and the value of a human is not much more than any other animal. Trusting in man is useless. 

Trusting in God is trust that does not let you down. God does what he says. The bloodthirsty deceit and corruption of the world swirls around us, but, God is not moved nor is his faithfulness compromised. Cast your cares on the Lord. Tell him what is concerning you. Share with him what worries you. He will sustain you. 

I know because he has. He has sustained me through self-inflicted trials and trials that I did my best to avoid. 

Take a moment and remember how God has sustained you...do you remember? 

"I GOT THIS" (DAVID'S COURAGE AND FAITH)

"David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."" I Samuel 17:32

You've got to love it! Simple courage and flat out faith. Saul and the whole army of Israel, including David's older brothers, were paralyzed with fear, unable to fight the giant of a man Goliath. David comes to the battle lines to deliver supplies to his older brothers and their commander. He sees everyone reacting in great fear to Goliath. He ends up in the king's tent and basically says, "Don't worry guys, I got this." 

How could David have such faith and such courage while everyone else was running away at the very sight of the enemy? David told Saul, "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine" (I Samuel 17:37).  David knew, by faith, from experience that the battle is the Lord's and he was ready and willing to step out in faith and fight Goliath. 

So, the lesson for us is that we need to fight the battles of our lives by faith in Christ. Faith that the power that raised Jesus from the dead can work in our lives today! 

Father, help us to fight the daily battles of our lives by faith in you. Thank you for you faithfulness! Praise be to you in us today!

GO TELL WHO?

Have you ever felt led to tell someone about Christ yet you just knew that they were going to be hostile? Imagine how "a disciple named Ananias" (see Acts chapter 9) from Damascus felt when the Lord told him to go to lay his hands on Saul from Tarsus to heal him? Ananias knew Saul was arresting Christians. Yet, God was sending him to Saul. 

Sometimes courage is obeying God even in the face of danger. Ananias had to have the faith to be courageous enough to face the person who was wrecking havoc on the early church. Saul represented the whole of the cultural and religious ruling class of the day. Obviously the early believers lived in fear and when they heard that Saul was in town and he was the last person they wanted to run into!

Ananias obeyed God and "went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord - Jesus who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here - has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength" (Acts 9:17-19). 

Ananias, overcame his fear by obeying the Lord. That is courage. That is faith. 

Father, help us to overcome our fear and act in faith, to be courageous in Christ! Praise be to you in us today!