Excuses… I hear a lot of them… I live in the south in the area known as the “Bible belt”… Around here we know how to wield our scripture like a large hammer…. As a result we are always thinking of ways to justify our actions…. Both the wielded upon and the wielders have to make excuses…. The wielded upon, because they don’t want to get whacked with that hammer and the wielder because they like whacking so much…. Everybody makes a bunch of excuses…. Everyone is trying to cover up their own personal sin…. Of course in reality, that is not just here in the “Bible Belt”…. It is everywhere on the planet…. They just wield different hammers…..

The excuses and the human judgment used by the hammer wielders are the result of the human problem of sin….. People sin because we are sinners…. We are born with this rebellion of God built in…. We inherited it from the original sinners…. One thing that we have to remember is that we probably, no…we would have defiantly started this cycle of sin if we were the first… We are born God haters because we want to be in charge of us…. The problem with the excuse makers and the hammer wielders is that we are so good at it that we think we don’t need God sticking His nose in our business… That is one of the reasons that it is so hard to tell folks about Jesus…. The excuse makers think that the hammer wielders are a picture of God…. The sad truth is that the hammer wielders don’t come close to either the wrath of God’s holiness or the love of God’s holy Son….

The wrath of God’s holiness demands death…. When God created mankind He made humans in the perfect image of Himself…. He did that knowing that we would rebel against Him… However, He set the standard of perfection as the way for humans to live their lives…. After all we were created perfect… This penalty, death means the absence of life… One way to look at it is at the end of our physical life, there is death, or no more life….. However, when our physical body dies, who we are or our soul lives forever…. The true penalty or wrath of God means that the part of us that goes on forever will do so without the presence of the Life giver, God Himself…. We call that place Hell…. It is a place of eternal torment…. So you see that for us to make someone feel a little guilty just isn’t enough….. Even if someone stops doing whatever sin that they are committing, it won’t keep them going to hell…. As a matter of a fact, there is nothing any of us can do to stop the wrath of God….

In reality on the other end of the spectrum we don’t have enough love in us, by ourselves, to show how much God loves us…. We are too much into self-preservation to portray the love of Jesus…. Our sin nature calls us to protect our own stuff before we take care of someone else…… On my own, I love me a lot more than I love you… Without the love of Jesus in me, I just love what I can get from you…. As a matter of fact, I just love God for what I can get from Him… I hope what I am going to say don’t hurt you too much, but without Jesus, you are the same way… You can’t stop someone from experiencing the wrath of God without the love of Jesus in you…. Only God’s kind of love will convince someone to turn to Him so that they will not have to go to hell…..

God’s plan, from the beginning was to provide a way for us to have eternal life…. As I said before, God created humans perfectly in His image… He also gave the humans the ability to reject that perfection and His love…. The desire to be the perfect me without God is what drives my rebellion against God….. God’s word calls it “pride”…

Since God’s desire is to have someone love Him with the same kind of love that He has for the world of human beings He had to do it that way….

The only way for His perfect Holiness to be satisfied is for perfection to suffer the penalty of His perfect wrath… God’s perfect love caused God Himself to step into a human body and die the perfect physical and spiritual death…. Being God, Jesus did not have to stay in that state of death forever…. Those of us who accept God’s free gift of life have the penalty of God’s Holy wrath removed from our life… Because of our sin we could die a million deaths and not remove our first sin…..

However, because of Jesus’ death on the cross, His subsequent burial, and His resurrection…. We can have eternal life…. The only thing we can do to have the eternal life with the life giver is accept Jesus’ sacrifice as a free gift…

The only way we can get folks to accept that free gift of eternal life that Jesus offers is to surrender our lives over to God the Holy Spirit…. Jesus will reveal Himself and His love in and through us to a lost and dying world of people….

I have to get me out of the way or I’ll just beat folks over the head with my hammer that is so small that I will drive them away from our really big God….

John 3:16–21 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

¹⁸ “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. ²⁰ All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. ²¹ But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”

John 14:12–14 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. ¹³ You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴ Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

Romans 12:1–2 (NLT) And so, dear brothers and sisters,* I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.* ² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Christmas time brings up a million memories… I think now that I am getting a little older they flood in from many different directions…. I’ll watch a movie and it will make me think of some good memories… I will think of someone who is not here with us anymore and have fond memories of them….

I have to be honest, sometimes very unpleasant memories come up and it is something that I have to ask Jesus to help me deal with….. He helps me categorize, compartmentalize and sometimes bury the ones that cannot help me to become more like Him…. It is a strange thing, but I have to do the same thing with the memories that make me feel good…

Memories are our history…. It is a good thing to share our history with people who are influenced by us…. As with all history it is important to be accurate as possible… I have heard people talk about their memories and try to make everything sound perfect…. It is kind of funny when someone describes an event that you were involved in and it doesn’t seem like the same event…. I truly believe that it is important to be as honest as you can without being intentionally hurtful……

Some folks might say it is better to not know all of the facts…. The problem is there people like me who won’t be prepared for the real world if their history has been skewed…. I don’t believe that you have to always tell everything that has happened… However, if you see someone getting ready to repeat a real screw up then you should at least tell them about the time it happened to you….

So, I really want to tell you some ways to make as many good memories as you can…. Just remember this… You can’t always do something about other people’s actions, but you can avoid letting that person influence your family, if you know that they will create bad memories for you and your family… It sounds like I am being judgmental doesn’t it…. No I am just saying that if a person has a history of hurting folks then protect your family from them….

The next thing is let God and His word be the starting point for new memories…. Circumstances will always dominate if they are not filtered through God’s word…. For more than half of my life, so far, I was a lost man with no real recollection of the influence of Christian believers…. If you are a believer, start making memories for other folks….. People need to see and remember that you are a follower of Jesus Christ… It should not be just the way you act that creates memories…..Your life has been changed to the point that the difference is remembered by other folks…..

Here is how that happens….. First, you have to have a trusting belief or Faith that Jesus can change you from the inside out…. That happened when Jesus died on the cross for your sin…. Do you really believe that?……. If your answer is yes, the change inside of you can start….. If you are not sure or you don’t really believe that Jesus has removed your sin, then it is impossible for you to begin the process of change….. God will reveal Himself to you if you ask him to….. God reveals Himself through His word the Bible…. He will speak directly to your heart as God the Holy Spirit applies His word to your life…

The change inside of you is the result of a two part process…. As you surrender the parts of your life that does not look like Jesus, God the Holy Spirit starts to reveal Jesus in and through you….. That is when the good memories start…. Those new good memories will overpower the old memories to the point that they don’t matter anymore…

The change in you is that you are conformed to the image of Christ Jesus… You can get some understanding of what Jesus looked like by studying the gospels and seeing how He lived His life while he was here on earth…. But the true change comes when you understand His sacrificial death and live your life like that…..

Romans 12:1–2 (NLT)

A Living Sacrifice to God

And so, dear brothers and sisters,* I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.* ² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Philippians 2:1–15 (NLT)

Have the Attitude of Christ

Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? ² Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

³ Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. ⁴ Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

⁵ You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

⁶ Though he was God,*

he did not think of equality with God

as something to cling to.

⁷ Instead, he gave up his divine privileges*;

he took the humble position of a slave*

and was born as a human being.

When he appeared in human form,*

⁸ he humbled himself in obedience to God

and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

⁹ Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor

and gave him the name above all other names,

¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

Shine Brightly for Christ

¹² Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. ¹³ For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

¹⁴ Do everything without complaining and arguing, ¹⁵ so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.

John 1:1–14 (NLT)

Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word

¹ In the beginning the Word already existed.

The Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

² He existed in the beginning with God.

³ God created everything through him,

and nothing was created except through him.

⁴ The Word gave life to everything that was created,*

and his life brought light to everyone.

⁵ The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness can never extinguish it.*

⁶ God sent a man, John the Baptist,* ⁷ to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. ⁸ John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. ⁹ The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

¹⁰ He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. ¹¹ He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. ¹² But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. ¹³ They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

¹⁴ So the Word became human* and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.* And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

This is a repost of my blog about Christmas…

I have always loved the Christmas holidays… I remember the fun times my family had when I was very young…. It was a time of celebrations and everybody getting together and eating and giving and getting presents…. The early teenage years were not so much fun because of my parent’s divorce….. Even then, there was an excitement that was all around me….. Christmas was fun with some sadness attached to it…

I understood that Jesus was born on Christmas but I did not know what the significance of the event was…. I was a little confusing to say the least… There were all of the festivities and Santa Clause and this other part that I did not really understand about Jesus…. The strange thing was I remember a friend inviting me to a church and both of them were there… I remember a Christmas play with Mary Joseph and a doll that was supposed to be Jesus… There were Shepherds, angels, wise men ….and Santa Clause… It was really fun…… But confusing…….

My favorite memory of Christmas was the first one after I became a believer…I was saved in early 1991… I was 34 years old and I heard those Christmas Carols that I had sung since I was little for the first time as a Christian…. The songs about our savior blew me away… I loved to sing the songs and could sing most of them from memory…. But this time it was different… God had revealed Himself to me in a powerful way and the songs were completely different… He separated the Spiritual understanding of the meaning of Christmas and the frivolities of the rest of the things that were taking place….

I have to admit, that at first I was a little angry that these two very different celebrations were taking place at the same time…. The words “Merry Christmas” meant something to me now… I remember doing a lot of research to try to understand how it happened… It did not help the problem that I was angry… My wife started to call me “scrooge”…. And to tell the truth of it I was slipping into place where it was easier to be upset than to celebrate Christmas…. I would get upset when I would see someone write XMAS or someone would say “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings” to me…

I just felt that it should be all about the birth of Jesus….. As well it should because as a believer it reminds us that God stepped out of Heaven to die for our sin…. However, the anger and the I am holier that you attitude was completely inappropriate from someone that Jesus died for… And, it didn’t show Christ like love….

As I think about what was missing from Christmas for the first 33 years of my life, I have come to the conclusion that it was something really important….. I don’t remember anyone showing me Christ for who he really was…. Oh I have heard all of the excuses that people give for that… They say, things like, giving gifts reminds us of the gift that God gave us…. There are many others but you get the point…. Let me tell you that I did not get it before….. It is easy to replace being Christ-like with just about anything else if you think about it….

All of that presented me with a real dilemma…. How could I celebrate the birth of our savior and enjoy the holidays with the rest of the world? As I studied and prayed through God’s word looking for answers, it dawned on me… (Aren’t you glad that nothing ever dawns on God)?… He revealed that there were a lot of folks who are just as confused as I was….. And that is not up to me to change anyone’s mind about Christmas…..

Here is what God wants from me….. He wants me to reveal who Jesus is by loving people the way He loves people…. Jesus only gave two commands…. Those commands were to love one another, to love everyone else the way that He loves them…. We do that teaching them about His love for all of us….. I know what you are probably thinking…. What about the command to love God?…. You don’t need a command to love God… When you see how much Jesus loves you and accept His love for you, you can’t help but loving Him…When you love Him, you will want to love the folks that He loves…. Do you see how His love for mankind builds on love when we love the way He loved us?……

I don’t have to change society’s mind about the real meaning of Christmas…. I just have to use the celebration as an opportunity to share the love of Jesus with a lost and dying world…. Our very big God can use someone who is surrendered to His love to accomplish His purpose during the holidays…. God the Holy Spirit lives in a Believer’s heart, soul and body…. He wants to reveal Jesus in and through me and you….

Around 2000 years ago Jesus was born for the purpose dying for me and you… He was conceived by the Holy Spirit… He was born to a virgin and her husband… Jesus lived a sinless life because He was God in the flesh…. He died at the hands of the people who he came to die for… He did that because He loves all of us…. When Jesus died on the cross He paid the penalty for our sin…. Our sin was rebellion and hatred toward God… Jesus was buried and stayed in the ground until the third day… Then He proved He was able to save us by coming back to life…Now He lives in eternity for us so that we can live for Him… When He went to heaven He sent the Holy Spirit to live with those of us who have trusted in Him…. He wants to reveal Himself in and through us to the rest of the world….. Now that is something to celebrate!!!!!!

John 1:1–16 (NLT)

In the beginning the Word already existed.

The Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

² He existed in the beginning with God.

³ God created everything through him,

and nothing was created except through him.

⁴ The Word gave life to everything that was created,*

and his life brought light to everyone.

⁵ The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness can never extinguish it.*

⁶ God sent a man, John the Baptist,* ⁷ to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. ⁸ John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. ⁹ The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

¹⁰ He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. ¹¹ He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. ¹² But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. ¹³ They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

¹⁴ So the Word became human* and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.* And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

¹⁵ John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’ “

¹⁶ From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.*

Matthew 1:20–23 (NLT)

²⁰ As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. ²¹ And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,* for he will save his people from their sins.”

²² All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

²³ “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!

She will give birth to a son,

and they will call him Immanuel,*

which means ‘God is with us.’ “

John 3:16 (NLT)

¹⁶ “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 5:8 (NLT)

⁸ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

1 John 2:2 (NLT)

² He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

I have to stop to look at God’s blessings, and smell, the roses whenever I can… There are enough things in this world that can get you down…. If I spend too much time dwelling on the not so good things, I will start to just see them…. When things get real bad, the good things here on earth don’t seem to make me feel any better…. I have to look deep down in my soul to really see the true blessings of God…..

You see, the joy that I have down there can’t always be seen with the naked eye….. My joy has been revealed to me by Jesus Himself…. It is just as real as my physical body…. And, my body reminds me of its existence daily…. I don’t have to be reminded about my pain or other difficulties that I go through all of the time…. It is the same with the joy that I have in Jesus Christ…. He has made His marked on my heart….. As a matter of a fact, He lives there in my heart….. I hate to think of what it would be like if He didn’t live there….. I don’t believe that I would be able to take the bad times….

If I had to go through the bad times, when my pain level is at its worse, without Jesus, I would not be able to stand living here…… If one of my family members or someone close to me were having a bad time, it would be too hard to take, without Jesus…. If I had to endure the pain of losing a loved one without Jesus it would be too hard to take……

There is a supernatural reality of Jesus living in us…. I think that many folks don’t really think of that as a reality… To them it is more of a state of the mind and not reality… They miss out on God’s best for them…. If you are a born again believer God the Holy Spirit lives in you…

God rejects sin… He will not live where there is sin…. That is why Jesus died on the cross to remove sin… You could not go to heaven and He would not live in you until your sin is removed… The Holy Spirit living in us is there to draw us and the people around us into a deeper relationship with Jesus…. He always points you to Jesus… When we rebel and start to think we don’t need Jesus, The Holy Spirit reminds us that we belong to Jesus… He reminds the people around us that they are not right with God… He allows us to love unlovely people….

The Holy Spirit of God changes us from the inside out when we surrender to Jesus… Surrender means that we start to obey Jesus’ commands…. We give up living for ourselves… We can have the ability to love people the way Jesus loves them…. Our understanding of security or Joy comes from knowing that He is in control of everything into eternity…. God in us helps us to understand that we don’t have to live our lives in conflict…. Our timing will match up with God’s timing… Our lives will be marked with kindheartedness… Everything we do will be for the good of Jesus’ glory…. When God changes us we will trust Jesus with all aspects of our lives… The rough harsh edges will be removed from our speech and the way we treat people….. We will be controlled by us following God’s plan for our lives….

As we fall in love with Jesus we will obey His commands….. That is called surrender or humility because of our understanding Jesus’ love for us……… The commands that Jesus left us with are pretty simple… Those commands are, love each other and love everybody else that He loves….. Jesus wants to reveal Himself to the world through us…

John 14:15–23 (NLT) “If you love me, obey* my commandments. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,* who will never leave you. ¹⁷ He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.* ¹⁸ No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. ¹⁹ Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. ²⁰ When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

²² Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?”

²³ Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.

Galatians 5:22–23 (NLT) But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Ephesians 3:14–19 (NLT) When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,* ¹⁵ the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.* ¹⁶ I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. ¹⁷ Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. ¹⁸ And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. ¹⁹ May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

The United States of America is a great place to live… There are laws protecting our rights and liberties… There are laws that are in place to protect us from harm both physical and mental…. We have the right to worship our god as long as we don’t infringe on someone else’s rights…. I love living here…. The way that the laws protect us from harm is a system put in place to punish violators of those laws…. The system is not perfect but it generally protects us from crimes against us… Our system is probably the best in the world….. Many other places in the world do not have those protections in place and some are completely lawless….

Here is a question…. As a born-again, Holy Spirit filled believer in Jesus Christ do you really need those laws to keep you from doing harm to someone else or breaking most of those laws?…. I would say that along with the privilege of living in the USA we should follow the laws of the land when it does not cause us to violate God’s standard of living…There are a myriad of rules and laws that are in place…. . However, we have God’s standard of living with us at all times if we are truly a child of God…

It is kind of strange to say but we have had all of these rules to follow for so long it is seems easier to follow the rules than it is to follow God’s standard…… The problem with that is, the laws and rules don’t make for a very good God like standard of living.….. Let’s look at our society…. We have a pretty good legal system… However look at the crime statistics.. There is a lot of crime and our jails and prisons are full…. You may be a victim of a crime or maybe you have committed a crime yourself….. The system failed you it did not stop the crime….

As believers in Jesus Christ we cannot rely on outside influences to govern us….. Rules made up by man can help us keep society at bay some of the time…. But, our society will never see God through the systems that government or, even well-meaning churches for that matter, put into place…. I thank God for the rules and laws put into place by man because they protect us and allow us to share the gospel freely…. The Old Testament law was put into place by God for two reasons first to protect His people and to show them that they could not keep them good enough to satisfy them…..

Jesus Christ satisfied the Law by dying on the cross for sin. He proved that He was capable of that by rising from the grave on the third day….. He paid the penalty of death for us because our death would not satisfy the wrath of the penalty of the law….. Death being the penalty that we deserved… This death really means separation from Holy God for eternity….

Since Jesus satisfied that penalty for us we have been made completely clean…. Being completely clean means that God Himself can come and live in us…. Since God lives in those of us who have been made clean, we don’t have to rely on anything else to govern us…. If we don’t allow Jesus, Who lives in us, to govern us, the world’s systems will…..

If you are a born again believer in Jesus Christ, God lives in you….. He wants to reveal a new law to you…. It is the Law of the love and grace of God….. If you love Jesus, His love will flow through you to the rest of the people who He loves…. The only way you will realize that love is if you surrender all of yourself to Him and His love…. As you spend time with God in His word you will grow in you love for Jesus…. As you grow in your love for Jesus other people who need Jesus’ love will see His love,,,,, As the see this love, Jesus will be revealed… People will see Jesus for who He really is….. People will receive or reject Jesus based on Who He really is and not on our efforts.

Romans 5:8 (NLT) But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Galatians 5:1 (NLT) So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

Ephesians 3:17–20 (NLT)

¹⁷ Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. ¹⁸ And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. ¹⁹ May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

²⁰ Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Ephesians 4:21–5:2 (NLT)

²¹ Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, ²² throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. ²³ Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. ²⁴ Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

²⁵ So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. ²⁶ And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.”* Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷ for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

²⁸ If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. ²⁹ Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

³⁰ And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own,* guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. ³² Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

Chapter 5 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. ² Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us* and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

Ephesians 6:10–18 (NLT)

¹⁰ A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. ¹² For we* are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

¹³ Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. ¹⁴ Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. ¹⁵ For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.* ¹⁶ In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.* ¹⁷ Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.*

The United States of America is a great place to live… There are laws protecting our rights and liberties… There are laws that are in place to protect us from harm both physical and mental…. We have the right to worship our god as long as we don’t infringe on someone else’s rights…. I love living here…. The way that the laws protect us from harm is a system put in place to punish violators of those laws…. The system is not perfect but it generally protects us from crimes against us… Our system is probably the best in the world….. Many other places in the world do not have those protections in place and some are completely lawless….

Here is a question…. As a born-again, Holy Spirit filled believer in Jesus Christ do you really need those laws to keep you from doing harm to someone else or breaking most of those laws?…. I would say that along with the privilege of living in the USA we should follow the laws of the land when it does not cause us to violate God’s standard of living…There are a myriad of rules and laws that are in place…. . However, we have God’s standard of living with us at all times if we are truly a child of God…

It is kind of strange to say but we have had all of these rules to follow for so long it is seems easier to follow the rules than it is to follow God’s standard…… The problem with that is, the laws and rules don’t make for a very good God like standard of living.….. Let’s look at our society…. We have a pretty good legal system… However look at the crime statistics.. There is a lot of crime and our jails and prisons are full…. You may be a victim of a crime or maybe you have committed a crime yourself….. The system failed you it did not stop the crime….

As believers in Jesus Christ we cannot rely on outside influences to govern us….. Rules made up by man can help us keep society at bay some of the time…. But, our society will never see God through the systems that government or, even well-meaning churches for that matter, put into place…. I thank God for the rules and laws put into place by man because they protect us and allow us to share the gospel freely…. The Old Testament law was put into place by God for two reasons first to protect His people and to show them that they could not keep them good enough to satisfy them…..

Jesus Christ satisfied the Law by dying on the cross for sin. He proved that He was capable of that by rising from the grave on the third day….. He paid the penalty of death for us because our death would not satisfy the wrath of the penalty of the law….. Death being the penalty that we deserved… This death really means separation from Holy God for eternity….

Since Jesus satisfied that penalty for us we have been made completely clean…. Being completely clean means that God Himself can come and live in us…. Since God lives in those of us who have been made clean, we don’t have to rely on anything else to govern us…. If we don’t allow Jesus, Who lives in us, to govern us, the world’s systems will…..

If you are a born again believer in Jesus Christ, God lives in you….. He wants to reveal a new law to you…. It is the Law of the love and grace of God….. If you love Jesus, His love will flow through you to the rest of the people who He loves…. The only way you will realize that love is if you surrender all of yourself to Him and His love…. As you spend time with God in His word you will grow in you love for Jesus…. As you grow in your love for Jesus other people who need Jesus’ love will see His love,,,,, As the see this love, Jesus will be revealed… People will see Jesus for who He really is….. People will receive or reject Jesus based on Who He really is and not on our efforts.

Romans 5:8 (NLT) But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Galatians 5:1 (NLT) So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

Ephesians 3:17–20 (NLT)

¹⁷ Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. ¹⁸ And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. ¹⁹ May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

²⁰ Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Ephesians 4:21–5:2 (NLT)

²¹ Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, ²² throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. ²³ Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. ²⁴ Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

²⁵ So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. ²⁶ And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.”* Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷ for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

²⁸ If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. ²⁹ Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

³⁰ And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own,* guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. ³² Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

Chapter 5 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. ² Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us* and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

Ephesians 6:10–18 (NLT)

¹⁰ A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. ¹² For we* are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

¹³ Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. ¹⁴ Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. ¹⁵ For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.* ¹⁶ In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.* ¹⁷ Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.*

Reblog for the weekend…..