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President John F Kennedy is credited with saying “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”. In essence he borrowed heavily from a principle taken from the Holy Bible. The apostle Paul has that same principle in mind when writing to the church located in Corinth. That principle can be stated in many ways but in its simplest terms, what we get out of something is directly proportionate to what we put into it. When we stop contributing to the emotional and physical needs of personal relationships, we stop feeling fulfilled by them; when we stop putting forth our best effort at the workplace, our jobs become mundane and redundant; when we develop a consumer mentality in our churches, we “no longer feel fed/get anything out of it.” It carries over in our spiritual lives as well. When we fail to plant the seeds of prayer, scripture and corporate fellowship, we stop growing spiritually. Then we wither under the weeds of this worlds concerns and wonder where God is. A neglected field offers no crops regardless of the weather. We can’t expect God to provide fruit when we haven’t cultivated the seed. Here’s the good news. He doesn’t expect perfection, he only seeks progress. Step out. Step up. Watch him work!
Quite often, if not always, when we are brutally honest with ourselves, we lose hope when we focus on the finite rather than the infinite. I get discouraged when things don’t go my way. I get sad when life deals me a bad hand whether it be as a consequence for my own behavior or attacks from others. When I set my mind on God (sometimes forcefully?) and remember my only hope comes from him through his Son Jesus, then I can praise him. Praise is like a light in darkness. No amount of darkness can defeat the smallest amount of light.
When we think of meeting God do we do so in fear over what we have done and how we have failed him, ourselves and others? This should not be! Yes, as the psalmist says, we should examine ourselves to be sure there is no unconfessed sin, but meeting God as a believer in Jesus Christ should be a time of celebration for all he has done for us and what we have in store for us in the future! Your sin is washed in the blood! He has thrown them as far as the east is from the west! There. Is. No. Condemnation. NOTHING can separate you from his love. Rejoice in his presence. You are a new creation. The joy of the Lord is your strength!
The Israelites were well aware of what a sacrifice was. It was a dead animal! For example, they would take a lamb and slaughter it. Then they would lay it on the fire and roast it before God. It was dead! Other than the food value, dead animals are worthless. God calls us to be a living sacrifice. That means, that like the lamb, we are sacrificed before him.The obvious difference, is we are not dead. The bad news to that? Living sacrifices have a tendency to crawl off the altar when the heat gets to be too much. We are called to be sacrifices to give our lives to God and to be dead to the heat of the worlds temptations.
Daily give your allegiance to Christ. Don’t be a crawling sacrifice!
It was the battle cry William Wallace Used to spur his makeshift warriors into action against the oppressive rule of England over Scotland. Freedom, in fact, has been the battle cry since the beginning of time. It’s the search for freedom that has driven nations to war. The search for freedom has been the reasons millions of men and women have given their lives. It’s the desire for freedom that has been the motivation for young people to get their driver’s license and a car!
There are three major things to know about freedom (in my mind at least, maybe you can think of more). First of all, freedom is hard to come by, as is evidenced by the many who have fought bravely to acquire it. Some have given their entire lives to gain the goal of freedom and have never seen it happen.
Secondly, freedom is hard, if not impossible, to hold on to. Holding on to freedom has been a problem since the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, lived in the perfect environment God created for them. We don’t know for sure where the Garden of Eden was, or how large it was, we ascertain from Scripture that is was a perfect environment that was perhaps global in its size. Vast as it was, the perfect couple had complete freedom to enjoy its beauty and a perfect, face-to-face relationship with the creator. There was only one rule, don’t eat from one particular tree. They had one job to do, but the desire for ‘freedom’ caused them to eat of the forbidden tree. Ironically, their quest for freedom (the fruit of the tree) became the one thing that would keep mankind in bondage for the rest of time!
It’s the quest for freedom that keeps the addict tied to their addiction. It’s the quest for freedom that keeps people bound to debt. It’s the quest for freedom that drives people from one relationship to another. It’s the quest for freedom that keeps people from finding peace. It’s the quest for freedom that is manifested in hate and anger.
Why is that? Why is freedom so hard to find and so hard to hold on to? The third thing about freedom is that freedom begins with the heart, not with things. It works from the inside out, not the outside in. That’s why some who are bound by what we consider poverty can have joy. That’s why some who struggle with many things in life have a great disposition. They don’t let the outside control the peace of the inside.
As we’ve seen through human history, this is impossible to do without divine intervention. That’s the beauty of faith in Jesus Christ. That’s why the Apostle Paul can write in Galatians, “So Christ has truly set us free (It’s a heart thing). Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law”. (the external things)
Once your heart with right with Jesus, you’ll find it much easier (not easy, easier) to work towards freedom. Let him change you through the power of his Holy Spirit. You might want to begin by visiting a house of worship where Jesus is lord.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 