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Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 1 Corinthians 15:33
It isn’t good for us to be alone. Even at creation God saw that all was good except for the fact that man was alone. He needed a companion that he could share the good and the bad with. So God created woman to stand at his side as his equal partner in life.
Today the one thing each of us still craves is relationship. We want to belong to something, to someone. We seek a cause that we can believe in and pursue because it makes us feel important. Our self worth gives us identity. It could be through a church, a relationship, a job anything that makes us feel worthy.
Jesus tells us we are to be the salt of the earth. For salt to be useful it must be in contact with the item to be salted. It intermingles, adds flavor and preserves. But salt is always salt. It doesn’t take on the quality of the item salted but enhances the positive aspects of the item salted.
Jesus also warns that salt can lose its ‘saltiness’ and become useless. It breaks down and loses its identity. Rather than maintaining its saltiness it takes on the attributes of the substance surrounding it. The salt no longer enhances the flavor or preserves as it once did.
As Christ-followers we need to be careful when we are in the world. It is too easy to get drawn into the negative attitudes about other people or those who are different than us. In an effort to reach out to those struggling with sin it seems right to downplay the sin in an effort to win the sinner.
Paul tells us in Galatians 6:1 that when we catch someone in sin we are to restore them gently, but the second part of that verse is a warning. We ourselves are in danger of sinning when we put ourselves in situations where temptations to judge, have a critical spirit or allowing pride to overtake us.
When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church he warned them that constant affiliation with those who were negative, judgmental or lax in their spiritual drive could pull us down. Are we to avoid such people? NO! We need to temper the negative with a strong drive to draw close to Jesus through our personal Bible Study and Prayer and by building a wall of positive influence around us made up of small group and corporate worship and prayer.
When we allow negative thoughts and negative attitudes to influence the way we act or think it robs us of our self esteem, our self identity and the dreams we have. Jesus’ ways are built on love and compassion not on critical spirits and verbal and emotional attacks. As a Christ-follower we are called to built up not tear down, to encourage not berate, to seek the positive in every situation and not dwell on the negative.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus. I get so frustrated by seeing the way in which people abuse each other and seem to take advantage of your love and Forgiveness. To make matters worse I have found my own attitude has become negative and angry with people I disagree with. As a result I am guilty of the very thing that I detest. Forgive me for my judgmental attitude, my critical spirit and my hatred. Empower me with your Spirit to love unconditionally and forgive freely. Help to continue to build a close relationship with you and other believers so that I can live in the freedom you have given me and accomplish all you have in store for my life. Amen.
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31
All the farm animals were sitting around one day deciding how they could honor the farmer who took such good care of them. The Cow gladly offered some milk. The chicken jumped in to offer the eggs. All eyes turned to the pig sitting quietly in the corner. “You know, said the cow, some ham would go mighty nice with those eggs and milk.” The pig thought a moment and then said, “Yes, but you don’t realize that each of your gifts are but a part of you. For me to give, I would have to give my entire life.”
The old story reminds us that we are more likely to take an interest in things when they cost us. It’s easy to say we believe in God and Jesus when we are in a safe crowd. It’s easy to look godly on Sunday morning and angelic when we sing praise and worship songs.
It’s difficult to make the right choices when the pressure is on to have to sacrifice everything to go along with the crowd. It’s almost impossible to be willing to risk your own life or the life of your children for someone else or a cause.
The Bible is the story of God’s desire to show love to mankind. His desire is and always has been to give life to His most cherished creation. That’s why He gave all He could possibly give to provide you with a relationship of love with Him now and a promise of eternal life after we leave this world.
Because He loves you so much, He watched His innocent son die among thieves for the sin of guilty criminals. Because He loves you so much, He allows you to refer to Him as ‘Daddy’ He welcomes you into His arms as though you (a mere mortal) were His very own son. Because He loves you so much He is honored to accept you into His very presence, into the throne room of Heaven. Because He loves you so much, He is willing to give you His own power through His Holy Spirit.
Is it any wonder then, that we can rest in His protection. If we draw near to Him and trust us with our lives we don’t need to worry about the enemies that surround us. Nothing can separate us from Him. Nothing can attack us without His permission. Even when we rebel against Him, He beckons us to come to Him for healing.
If God is for me, then no seen or unseen enemy will win over me! I am His and He is mine. Forever.
PRAYER: Father, I confess to you that most times the struggles I endure and the fears I face are consequences of my own poor decisions and my stubborn rebellion to follow your ways. Thank you for giving up so much of yourself for me when you knew I would fail you and others around me. Forgive me for my rebellious spirit. Help me to learn to walk with you through the struggles of life whether they are my own creation or the work of the enemy. Empower me now to live with the resolve to follow your ways and be guided by Your Holy Spirit. Give me courage to do what is right regardless of the fall out. Amen.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 2 Corinthians 2:14
The Fall season is by far my favorite time of year. While I love the beauty of the colorful leaves, the best part is the smells of the fall season. The musty-ness of the leaves, the crispness of the air around me and the aroma of a distant campfire. Nothing is better!
There are several places in the Bible where we, as Christ-followers, are referred to as a fragrant aroma to our Heavenly Father. I think of that often as I sit by a campfire and smell the sweet aroma of burning wood, or when I smell the air after a spring rain. Fresh. Alive. Soothing. And to think that God feels that way about me!
Because of Jesus, God looks upon us a trophy. Like a victorious warrior He holds us high as a prized possession. We are His and victory smells sweet! Ever notice how the aroma flowers permeates the whole house? The Apostle Paul alludes to that idea in 2 Corinthians 2:14. The aroma of our lives spreads out to those around us.
Don’t allow the things you are going through keep you from remembering how God sees you. He looks at you and smiles. He takes a deep breath and savors the aroma of your life. He watches you with admiration. He longs to draw you closer to Him. The closer we walk with God the stronger we will become and the more others will see the love of Jesus in us. We not only become a fragrant aroma to God, we become a fragrant aroma to those around us as well.
PRAYER: Father God. I’m in awe as I think that I am a fragrant aroma to you. I thank you for the victory I can have through Jesus. Help me to see myself as you see me. Empower me to turn over the areas of my life that keep me from being a fragrant aroma to those around me. May the aroma of Jesus’ love permeate me and spread out to those around me. Amen.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
Bad habits. It only takes a few days to learn them and sometimes a lifetime to break them. They hound us day and night. They lurk in the shadows waiting for a moment of weakness on our part so they can pounce on us and cause us to fall…once again.
Sometimes the habits are relatively harmless, like chewing your fingernails or leaving the toilet seat up! Sometimes those habits are life crippling addictions that destroy our reputation, steal our character or obliterate our relationships with people we love dearly.
In order to learn to cope with bad habits we label them and categorize them according to our opinion of their severity. Pornography, anger and drug addiction are bad habits. They hurt people, even kill people. Gossip? Worry? Sarcastic, hurtful comments? Now those aren’t so bad. In fact those can even be funny (we think). In reality, in God’s eyes, they are all the same. They are all sin.
The Apostle Paul was struggling with something. We don’t know what it was. Some think it was a physical ailment, an eye problem left over from the Damascus road perhaps. Others think it could have been something else, a spiritual issue. The Bible doesn’t tell us what it was for good reason.
The problem in Paul’s life wasn’t the issue. The issue was how he handled it. God doesn’t want us to know what Paul’s struggle was. He wants us to realize that all of us struggle. Not only do we all struggle, but the struggle we have isn’t as important as what we do with it!
Every day we need to remind ourselves that failure is inevitable in the human life. God knew that when He first created us. That’s what Grace is all about. Grace reminds us that even though we are weak, in God’s eyes we can be strong. Through Grace God can use our weaknesses for His Glory. Every day He uses ordinary, sinful people for great and mighty things.
You may be ready to give up. You may be tired of falling, getting back up and falling again. You may be thinking “I’ll never be able to conquer this”. That’s good! Once we realize we can’t fight the battle on our own God has us right where He wants us. When we feel our weakest He is ready to jump in and use that weakness as strength.
Once we accept the fact that we are weak the power of Jesus Christ will be able to work through us to tackle life’s struggles and to show others the way to Jesus. Let God’s grace turn your weaknesses into powerful weapons for good!
PRAYER; Heavenly Father, I confess to you that I’m often discouraged by my inability to live the way I want to. Like the Apostle Paul I find myself doing the things I don’t want to do and not doing the things I want to do! I hereby confess my weaknesses to you and ask that You use those weaknesses for Your glory. Work through me to rely on you daily. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 