MESSIAH BRINGS PEACE

 Wherever we look in the world there seems to be violence and unrest, wars and rumors of war, and maiming and killing. Things are not well in the world.  Many people are calling for peace, working for peace, and negotiating for peace, but peace remains elusive and far away.

None of this is new to the world, mind you.  It's been the history of our species dating as far back as Cain and Abel.  The only difference these days seems to be with how quickly communication is let loose and how massively destructive are the current weapons of warfare.

So it is that when God spoke His life into human history He became the "prince of peace" (Isaiah 9:6).  His Church became the people of peace, and His kingdom spread throughout the planet as the reign of peace.  When God's people are reflecting their God and the will of God is being realized, there is peace.

The prophet Isaiah described a coming time when "the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together (Is. 11:6).  This is a description of peace, and it seems so foreign to reality that it is almost unimaginable.  Yet, in a people where the Prince of peace is Lord this unimaginable peace becomes the modus operandi.

We don't see it worldwide just yet, and there is much work yet to do, but the true Church of Jesus should already be modeling the peace of God which passes understanding. In His Church race, color, socio-economic status, educational level, background or roots fall away, and swords and spears are melted down and restructured to be tools of community instead of weapons of war.

In Jesus we are already beginning to see the truth of God, "They will not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea" (Is. 11:9).  We're not there yet, but there is a place and there is a people where the dream is beginning to be realized.

"The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood" (John 1:14, Msg).

GOD COMES TO US

Off in the distance, maybe closer than we think, we hear a voice calling, "Clear the way for the Lord" (Malachi 3:1).  Immediately we know God is up to something, something big--big enough to clear the desert for the building of a highway, big enough to lift up valleys and to make rough ground plain, and to turn rugged terrain into a broad valley.  This is big BIG.

           

This is so big that God Himself is going to show up.  He "will come with might, with His arm ruling for Him" (Isaiah 40:10).  He is going to show up in power and authority.  This isn't big.  This is huge.

           

And when He gets here He will be "Like a shepherd," [and] He will tend to His flock.  Did we read that correctly?  That doesn't sound so huge.  That sounds simple and ordinary.  Where are the power and authority and dynamite and flash and fireworks?  There aren't any.

           

At least it looks like there aren't any.  This "Lord" and "Shepherd" doesn't need fireworks to make His point.  He simply comes among the folks and manifests His life.  "The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood" (John 1:14 Msg).  Are you kidding me?  That's it?  Yes, that is it.

           

And, it is a big IT.  It is God the Maker of heaven and earth entering into His creation and doing so in the power and authority and gentleness of the God who loves and cares and embraces. 

           

This is huge.  This is eternity huge.  God comes to us, not to write us off but to include us in.  He comes to reveal His glory--to us.  Who would have thought it?  Only God Himself.

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH

 Jesus called His followers to go into the world and to do two things:  Serve and make disciples. 

           

He called His people to serve: to feed the hungry, to give water to the thirsty, to be hospitable to the stranger, to clothe the naked, to visit the sick and the prisoner.  In other words, Jesus' people are servants who touch the lives of people as though in doing so they are actually touching the life of Jesus Himself.

           

Followers of Jesus live in light of who their Savior is.  Jesus said, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matt. 20:28).  In Matthew 10:8 Jesus said, "Freely you received, freely give."  As He served, so we serve.  As He gave His life a ransom for many, so we live out the implications of being ransomed by Him. 

           

Jesus called His people to make disciples, too (Matthew 28:18-20). The apostle Peter preached that God wanted no one "to perish but for all to come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9).  So, the church, in her serving the peoples of the world, also shares the redemptive heart of God to draw near and to bring His life into the life of every person. 

           

Every person matters to God in every way: physically, spiritually, socially, and emotionally, mentally.  No part of our lives goes unnoticed by God.  As an old song says, "It matters to Him about you."  It does, you know. 

We believe Jesus is God's response to the deepest needs of our lives; so it is we live the way we live and do the things we do.  Freely we have received and freely we seek to give.

LESS CAN BE MORE

 In Zechariah 4:10 the Lord God asks, "Who has despised the day of small things?"  He certainly didn't, and He is God.  Perhaps we do well to pay attention.

           

In Matthew 17:20 Jesus speaks of faith that moves mountains and says of it that it only has to be the size of a mustard seed -- very, very small.  Perhaps we do well to pay attention.

           

The ways of the world constantly remind us that bigger is better, that more is better.  God says, NO, to this.  When God is in it size doesn't seem to matter.  Zero plus God equals God.  When God is on your side, the odds are always in your favor. 

           

The key for us in this is to make sure that our lives are open to God and faithful to what God is about in the world.  And, isn't what God wants the very thing we want?  In pursuit of God's good and acceptable and perfect will we live so that God may work His works.

           

An old chorus says, "Little is much when God is in it."  Mustard seed size faith is all we need.  Don't despise the day of small things, because small things in God's sovereign hand become means of grace, mercy, truth justice, love, acceptance, and forgiveness. 

           

Never underestimate the power of God in a human life.  Never underestimate the power of God in anything.  Don't ever believe that you are too small or too limited to serve God.  Little is much when God is in it.  Even your weaknesses can't stop the wonder working power of God.  The apostle Paul reminds us that God's strength is perfected in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). 

           

Never let the bigness of things undermine the possibilities of God.  All throughout the Bible we are called to remember that nothing is impossible with God.  In that light, trust the presence of God, and live faithfully.

INSIGHT

 In the Church we speak of being totally committed to Jesus.  We talk about taking up our cross and following Him, and about jettisoning anything in our lives that stands in the way of Jesus being Lord in us.  It is a very serious issue for us, and we take it to heart, seeking to live in light of the grace and mercy of God that have come to us. 

           

I have been thinking about what all this means in the day-in and day-out matters of living our lives.  Where is it exactly the rubber meets the road, so to speak? Its got to be more than simply words and spiritual duty.  This is a life matter.  It should consume all it means for followers of Jesus to be followers of Jesus. 

           

In my thinking and praying and seeking I developed what I call an "Insight." INSIGHT is an acrostic standing for, I Now Surrender Into God's Hand."  When I got to the T, I drew a blank not knowing what word to choose.  I got to thinking about words that begin with the letter T.  Tomorrow.  Today. Things.  Thoughts.  Temptations. Time.  Talents.  Treasure. Tests.  Trials. Troubles. Tribulations.  Living in Southern California I couldn't resist listing Traffic. 

           

What is it you might need to surrender into God's hand now?  What's on your list?  Colossians 3:24 reminds us, "It is the Lord Christ whom you serve." What might Jesus want you to put on your list?  Give it to Him, and let Him work liberation into your soul and joy to your heart.

THERE WAS THIS ONE PRIEST

 Death is no respecter of persons.  It comes to everyone regardless of race, creed, or color.  It comes to theists, atheists, Christians, Jews, Muslims, and every other religion in the world.  Death speaks to the poor, the middle class, and the wealthy.

           

The writer of the New Testament letter of Hebrews tells us that death inflected even the priesthood of Judaism.  Good men came into the priesthood, offered powerful ministries for God but, in time, death spoke and these men passed away, ending their service.

           

There was one priest, however, who stunned the world by dying but then was raised from the dead.  Because He lives His priesthood lives forever.  In fact, He "has a permanent priesthood" and because of it, "He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them" (Heb. 7:24-25, NIV).

           

This priest, Jesus, is "holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens (Heb. 7:26, NIV).  This Jesus "sacrificed for sins once for all when He offered Himself" (Heb. 7:27, NIV).  He didn't present a sacrifice for sins; He became the very sacrifice.  He is the Son of God who went the distance for sin and came out on the other side of death, revealing to the world that His ministry is forever, of God, and applicable to all people everywhere.

           

What a mighty God we serve.

Don't Just Settle

 C.S. Lewis says this in his book, Mere Christianity, “Christ says, ‘Give me All.  I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You.  I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it.  No half-measures are any good.  I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down.  I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out.  Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked.  I will give you a new self instead.  In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.’”[1]

The writer of Hebrews tells us that as followers of Jesus we must eat what he calls, "solid food."  This food is "for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil" (Heb. 5:14). We must not settle for anything less than all that God has for us.  Therefore we are called to "press on to maturity" (Heb. 6:1). 

What Lewis speaks about in the above paragraph reflects the words in Hebrews, indicating that following Jesus is for those who are serious about Him, about faith, about the kingdom of God.   The love of God is so real and powerful Issac Watts said, back in 1707, it "demands my soul, my life, my all!"[2]

Now is the time, it seems to me, (maybe way past time), that the people of God step up and radically give themselves do whatever it takes to have their senses trained to discern good and evil.  It is time for "solid food."  It is time to "press on to maturity."  Some are well on their way. 

Let's make it unanimous. 

---

[1] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, (New York : Collier Books, 1960) , p. 167.

[2] "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, " by  Issac Watts, 1707

THE WORD THAT LIVES

 We hold a Bible in our hands and say about it, "This is the Word of God."  It is, but there is so much more involved than black words on white paper.  "The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword" (Heb. 4:12).

           

God's Word is eternal and all-powerful.  It holds authority for all of us.  Even to one who is illiterate and can't read black words on white paper, the Word of God is so powerful it is capable of "piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow."  It is so powerful and authoritative that it is "able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).

           

God's Word calls us to life.  It sees everything for what it truly is.  "All things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do" (Heb. 4:13).  At first glance this might shake the foundation of our lives because, as difficult as it might be to accept, God sees the real us at all times.  We can't hide anything from Him, and we know our lives can't stand up under the scrutiny of that kind of insight and knowledge.

           

Yet, God in His amazing grace does not use His knowledge of us against us, just the opposite.  He knows us through and through; nothing is hidden from Him, and still He brings Jesus into our lives.  "We have a great high priest" (Heb. 4:14).  When He could have written us off because of what He knows about us, He, instead, called us to Himself where we are invited to "receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16).

           

What an awesome God we serve!

TOGETHER IN CHRIST

 It is an awesome privilege to be a part of Jesus' Church.  In Him we are a holy community, the very house of God (Heb. 3:1,6).  Think of it.  In Christ, His followers become the very dwelling of God.  There are no lone ranger Christians.  We are in this thing together.  We are Jesus' brothers and sisters, as it were, a community comprised of people of whom Jesus "is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Heb. 2:11).

           

In Christ, followers of Jesus are "partakers of a heavenly calling" (Heb. 3:1).  This is no ordinary thing of which we are a part, not man made or rooted in man's wisdom or imagination.  This community is born of God, called into existence by His grace and brought to life by the blood of Christ that shapes and forms the community.

           

Jesus is the center of our life together.  He is in charge of His house, and all it means for us to be who we are comes because of who He is.  He is God's Son who was faithful to the Father fully and totally.  Now in Him we are brought into that faithfulness.  We live faithfully to the confidence and hope we have in Him.

           

Together in Christ we encourage one another.  We watch out for each other so that none of us will be drawn away.  With Jesus as our Lord and each other as brothers and sisters we journey together.  We are the family of God.  What a great life we share together.

God, Up-close and Personal

 When we look around us and seek to observe the current situation of the world it is a challenge.  Some times it looks like the world is running out of control and that even God can't keep up with the unfolding mess.  It is an illusion, however, because in Jesus God has irrevocably involved Himself in the human situation.

Because we are flesh and blood human beings, Jesus took upon Himself "flesh and blood" (Heb. 2:14), and experienced the reality of being human all the way to death.  We don't have a savior who sends salvation from a distance.  We have a Savior who strategically places Himself into our story, suffers what we suffer, is tempted the way we are tempted, bleeds the way we bleed, and who dies just like we die.

The world is a mess, experiencing what a world experiences when it rejects her Creator and turns instead to her own ways and means.  Sin is a dangerous game and it produces devastation of a thousand kinds.  But the world isn't alone.  The Creator has come among us in Jesus, and ushers in His grace within the story.  Because He is one of us and suffered just like we do, "he is able to help those who are being tempted" (Heb. 2:18).  He is up-close and personal. 

Jesus is "a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God" (Heb. 2:17), and, the Bible says, He is not ashamed to refer to us as His brothers and sisters (see Heb. 2:11).  Isn't that amazing?  Jesus is honored to call you and me His family.  Who would have thought it? 

BEING THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD

 In Ephesians 2:19-22 the church is told, "[Y]ou are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit."

           

The Church is "God's household," on a mission for God in the world. Jesus is the corner stone and the whole building is being fitted together around Him.  The mission is not static but very active, "growing into a holy temple in the Lord."  This temple, this living temple, is the dwelling of God in the Spirit.  As God dwells in His household His Word and works are spread throughout the world.

           

Red, yellow, black, brown, or white, it makes no difference.  We are all precious in the sight of God.  Whoever will turn to Christ will be received by Him.  He will not force Himself on anybody but there is room for all kinds of folks at the table of Jesus.

           

The Good News the Church brings into the world is, "We believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 15:11).  God's grace is greater than race, creed or color.  All the ground is level at the foot of the cross and the atoning sacrifice of Jesus is for everyone.

           

May the Church ever remember the counsel of the apostle Paul, "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them" (Eph. 2:10).  "Walk in them."  Walk in the ways and means of God.  Living and moving and having our being in Jesus, that's how to touch a community for Christ.

Shaped and Formed By Messiah

 Faith in Jesus calls for honesty and truthfulness.  It calls for authenticity and purity and mercy.  Jealousy and selfish ambition have no place in the life of one who is being shaped and formed by the Messiah who emptied Himself of all but love and bled for Adam's helpless race.

                       

The letter of James tells us "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James. 4:6).  Humility doesn't go over very well with many people.  Humility, to them, is for the weak.  To Jesus, however, humility brings a smile to the face of God.  It brings grace into the human situation and spreads love to folks who really do need to know they are loved. 

                       

The Christian presence in the cultures of the world is extremely important.  We followers of Jesus are compelled to show by our good behavior the deeds of our lives, carried out with the dignity and clarity of Christ-centered wisdom (See James 3:13).  How we live matters.  We are witnesses of the Good News that is Jesus, and it is important that we live in the spirit of a wisdom that is "from above," a wisdom that is pure and peaceable and gentle and reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy (James 3:17).  In short, it is a way of being that is centered in Jesus and reveals that it is in Him we live and move and have our being.

                       

Many people have written Jesus off, saying that He is anything but a Savior.  We Christians humbly disagree.  We believe Jesus is God's response to the deepest needs of the human heart.  Never will we write Him off.  Always we will bow our lives before Him and seek to live so that His will might be done on earth as it is in heaven.

                       

We believe Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world, the Holy One of God who loves us with an everlasting love.

ONE PEOPLE UNDER GOD

 One of the founders of the Church of the Nazarene was Dr. Phineas F. Bresee.  He was committed to his church being a people committed to a Christ-centered, Christ-driven, Christ-exalting presence in the world.  Bresee understood this to mean that the Church would minister to whoever came across her path.  He said, ”Let the Church of the Nazarene be true to its commission; not great and elegant buildings; but to feed the hungry and clothe the naked and wipe away the tears of sorrowing, and gather jewels for His diadem.”

           

The New Testament letter of James tells us that we are not to be respecter of persons.  The wealthy are not honored above the poor, and the poor have as much right to the table of grace as everyone else.  In fact there is no "everyone else" in the kingdom of God.  All the ground is level at the foot of the cross.  Each of us stands in need of God's Amazing Grace, and each of us is called to live out our lives together in the Mind and Spirit of Jesus.

           

Isn't it great to be a follower of Jesus?  John Oxenham wrote, "In Christ there is no East or West, In Him no South or North; But one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth."  Richard Gillard wrote, "We are pilgrims on a journey; we are brothers on the road.  We are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load."

           

Jesus said, "In everything treat people the same way you want them to treat you" (Matt. 7:12).  This is the way everyday life in the church ought to be.  To the degree it isn't, we fall short.  To the degree it is, we live as a fragrant aroma of Christ in the World.

           

May God help us to take what has been given us by His Amazing Grace and pass it on.

REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE

I've heard it all my life, even as a child, "Practice what you preach."  Good advice isn't it?  Be what you say.  Do what you say you believe.  Let your life reflect your words.

In the New Testament, James tells the Church, "Prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves" (Jam. 1:22).  His reason?  "For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was" (Jam. 1:23-24).

What's the word here?  Remember who you are!  Integrity might just be the word.  Being is as important as saying, maybe, more so.  Words can be a dime a dozen, as they say; Truth be known we live in a words-are-a-dime-a-dozen age. 

As Christians, being is profoundly important to us.  Words are important, too, and they ought to be spoken with great carefulness, clarity, and truthfulness.  In the end, however, people look at our lives -- how we live, move and have our being.  What they observe when they look at us needs to be the real thing.  Hypocrisy has done more damage to the image of Jesus than any other thing.

When Jesus really is the dominating influence in a person's life, it will be seen.  People may or may not appreciate it, but they will see it.  Our role is to live authentic lives, in both our words and our actions.  We adhere not to a system of belief but to a person, Jesus Christ, who empowers us to live as He lived.  We really out to be Christian in all that it means for us to be who we are.                                                                                                           

Dress Properly

 When I was young I learned that certain sports required certain uniforms. Basketball uniforms wouldn't work on a football player, and visa versa.  Baseball uniforms wouldn't work on a swimmer and visa versa. The given sport had its own requirements for that game specific uniform.

And so it is with those of us who follow Jesus.  We need to be dressed properly for the journey.  In Ephesians 6:10-18, the apostle Paul gives us the proper equipment.  He says there are seven discipleship specific issues required in following Jesus.  They are: Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Faith, Salvation, God's Word, and Prayer.  Enter into the spiritual arena where the battle for your life is fought, without the proper clothing, is to assure yourself of failure.

The battle facing followers of Jesus, says Paul, "is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12).  Don't take this spiritual war seriously and you make a grave mistake.

We are called to "be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might" so that we "will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil" (Eph. 6:10-11).  The way to "stand firm" is to live in Truth and Righteousness and Peace and Faith and Salvation and God's Word and Prayer. 

A good dose of humility wouldn't hurt either.  James says, "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you" (Jam. 4:10).  This is a God-thing in which we are involved and we do well to live in such a way that God is allowed to be God in us.  Jesus has won the victory for us at the cross; now it is up to us to take that victory, cover our lives in it, and stand firm.

When Others Walk Away

 

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Other would be disciples were walking away because of a hard teaching about commitment Jesus had just given them.  Jesus then asked His twelve men if they wanted to go away also.  Peter spoke for them when he said to Jesus, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God" (John 6:68).

           

Peter and the others had a lot of things still to learn, but Peter got it right on this one.  We Christians believe that Jesus is "the Holy One of God."  We believe that He has "words of eternal life."  We don't follow Him because He is nice and charismatic and has a wonderful leadership demeanor about Him.  We follow Him because we truly believe He has words of eternal life and that He is the Holy One of God.  

           

In His redemptive love we have come to have abundant life.  We have come to know the reality of sins forgiven and guilt removed.  We have come to know what it means to be embraced by God's grace and to live with an inner peace that stays with us through the good and bad times, and through the highs and lows.

           

Words of eternal life guide us and lead us and direct us.  The Holy One of God lives in us and makes us adequate to face reality, whatever reality may be in a given moment or situation.  Jesus is with us for the long haul, and He is with us as Savior and Lord. 

           

That leaves us, doesn't it?  Will we be with Him for the long haul?  On the highest mountaintop or the lowest valley will we stay with Him? When everything that can go wrong is going wrong, will we stay with Him?  When to follow Him is difficult, will we stay with Him?  Do we really believe He is the Holy One of God? 

CATCH THE GLORY

 Jesus has a way of getting right to heart of a matter with an upfront honesty that leaves no doubts as to what is in His mind.  Case in point, John chapter six.  He had fed thousands of people that day in a situation where if He had not worked a miracle they wouldn't have eaten at all.  They were impressed.

           

Then Jesus started speaking about following Him and discipleship and the selfless living of those who might call Him LORD.  He used graphic terms that were very taxing to the brain.  He said, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves" (John 6:53).  Eat His flesh and drinking His blood, what's that about?  He said, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:54).  Then He adds, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him" (John 6:56).  Hard words to take, aren't they? Go ahead; admit it.

           

When the people heard the words that day they "withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore" (John 6:66).  They knew Jesus was talking about total commitment, about a way of life where they emptied themselves of themselves and committed to Jesus everything it meant for them to be who they were. 

           

They loved Him when He worked miracles that fed them good food.  They didn't like it so much when He called them to live in Him so closely, so fully, that He became the very source and nutrition of their lives.  Let the miracles flow and the people were there, but when they ceased flowing the folks were no where to be seen. 

           

Why do we follow Jesus?  Because He works miracles that make us feel good or because He is who He is?  Jesus calls us to follow Him because of who He is.  Miracles may or may not happen.  Everyday, without exception, Jesus is LORD.  May God help us to be so captivated by who Jesus is that if miracles don't happen we still live, caught up in the glory of this One who is LORD.  Catch the glory and LIVE!

Walking The Walk

 We Christians are not super human beings but we are human beings whose lives have been graced by a Sovereign and Almighty God.  God has done a profound thing by transferring us from the dominion of darkness into the dominion of light, something He will do for anybody who will give him opportunity. 

This is where the Church comes in.  Followers of Jesus have been given the awesome privilege of letting people know that God is not removed from their lives but longs to be front and center in them.  How do we share a message like this?  We share it by living it. 

Ephesians 5:1 tells us to "be imitators of God, as beloved children."  As children of our heavenly Father we look like Him, as a child might look like his or her father.  It might be our eyes, our smile, our mouth, an expression of some kind that leads people to say, "Man you look like your dad." (I get this all the time from people who knew my dad). 

As a child of our heavenly Father we are gifted to reflect the image of God by the way we live and move and have our being.  Paul takes it a step further and says that how we live is like being "a fragrant aroma," an aroma of Christ (Eph. 5:2). 

Go out and smell good for the Christ you serve.  Make God look good.  Show by the way you live that His grace and mercy are real and valid and at work in the world.  Be the light and salt of the lavished grace of God.  Be contagious.  May the character of our lives be a problem for those who don't believe in God, a positive problem that God can use to touch others by His Amazing Grace.  

A New Self

 The Bible calls followers of Jesus to "Lay aside the old self" and to "be renewed in the spirit of your mind" (Eph. 4:22-23).  There is a "new self" to which God calls us and it is a new self that is rooted and grounded in the life of Jesus.

God works His very life into our lives and calls us to live in excellence, an excellence we first see in Jesus.  This miracle of redemption is an awesome act of God's grace and mercy, and lifts one out of the junk and stuff of life and up into the righteousness and holiness of God. 

It is a miracle when a person is enabled to no longer give themselves to the stealing, killing and destroying ways of the one Jesus calls, "The thief" (John 10:10).  The apostle Paul said that what God does in the human life is so dramatic that "if anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come" (2 Cor. 5:17).

Isn't it a wonderful reality to know that the past doesn't have to control the present or the future, that the grace and mercy of God can bring into us a new way of being?   I've watched the old ways long enough now to know they are not working out well.  This old world needs a dose of something new.  This something new is Jesus who loves us so much He died upon the cross of Calvary to set us free from the thief and to bring us to life in the glory of God.