Where God's Word Meets My Mess
I fully believe that true Christians will bear fruit. And that fruit will be obvious to other people, like faithfulness and joy and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). But I don’t believe we are on the deadline that we give ourselves.
Maybe it’s just me…but I feel anything but free on this Independence Day. Instead of feeling free, we now feel like prisoners. Wearing our masks. Limiting our gatherings to 10 people. Staying six feet apart. Quarantining in our homes. I haven’t felt free since mid-March of this year. But I didn’t lose my freedom when the coronavirus hit. Neither did you.
Starting to wonder if I should have stayed, questioning ev’ry decision I’d made, hoping that, somehow, I’d find a safe place, but doubting that I could survive this escape.
Though we often try to follow the example of “good” Bible characters, such as Joseph, Daniel, and Paul, we must first and foremost follow Christ’s example. Even “good” Bible characters sinned against God...and so do we.
This momentous day can remind us of the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross for our freedom. As Christians, we are no longer bound by sin and the devil.
The words of this poem come from the Gospel accounts of Christ's death. I hope this poem demonstrates that Christ died for us—and for everyone involved in His crucifixion—not because we deserved it but because He loves us with an immeasurable, everlasting love.
There are so many things I need to do that I’m not doing. I need to do more, try harder, be better…but I’m not. If I set New Year’s resolutions for 2019, I’ll set myself up to fail. I can’t and won’t live up to my standards—or even God’s standards. As soon as I look away from my list of resolutions—or maybe even while I’m still writing them—I’ll fail.
Today is such an exciting day because it is the day when Christ was born over 2,000 years ago. God sent Him to the earth to be born, live a sinless life, die on the cross, and rise again to pay for all our sins. When we choose to accept His offer of salvation by trusting in His death, resurrection, and complete payment for our sins, we belong to Him.
Louis saw God as the source of his suffering in the prison camps and wanted nothing to do with Him. When the PTSD became too difficult to handle, he drank alcohol. But it led him to his downfall. He was only able to see his circumstances clearly when he turned to Christ and trusted Him for salvation. He realized that God did not cause his pain but allowed it so that Louis could come to know Him.
It’s the day after Christmas, and everything is the same as it was before Christmas. The Christmas parties, presents, and performances didn’t change anything. The whirlwind of Christmas activities and preparations didn’t make our problems disappear. It didn’t even make them better. It just made us forget our issues for a few weeks while we got lost in Christmas busyness. But wasn't the magic of Christmas supposed to fix everything?
If you feel discouraged about working incredibly hard for someone and not getting what you think you deserve, remember God’s grace toward you. We deserved death. We had earned eternal sorrow and shame. But before we had even sinned, Christ gave us the abundant life—free from sin’s shackles—that He had earned.
It’s easy to crave the praise of others, but we ultimately should be desiring Christ’s praise. And we can do a “good enough” job in our daily work, but diligent and wholehearted work pleases Him. Let’s not do things “good enough” for Christ. Let’s do things to the best of our ability. He deserves our very best.
I wanted to wish you all a Happy 4th of July! Walk in freedom and forgiveness on this momentous day! Enjoy your family, food, and fireworks; and thank God for setting us free from bondage as a nation and as sinners.
Overall, the movie used believable actors and actresses. The story was fairly interesting. Though it wasn't as dramatic as some Christian movies, like Courageous, the general story and theme were compelling; and much of the information Lee Strobel discovered was new to me and may be new to you as well.
I decided to spice up the monotony of blogging and try writing a poem for this special day. By the way, I am not a poet. At all. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy reading my jumbled mess of words and feel encouraged on this blessed day.
