dealing with our troubles

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

How do you deal with your troubles, your wrong choices or your issues? By believing what God says about us after He saved us, we will think and act differently. But it is a choice to apply what God says to our lives. To act forgiven, we have to think and believe we are forgiven. To live full of love, we have to believe that God loves us and that His loves matters.

Choosing to crucify your issues and live by the spirit is not an easy task. The verse above reminds us that to live forgiven and as children of God we will make a conscious effort to nail our sin to the cross. That is to put our shortcomings in the past.

To crucify is to kill. To put something to the side is to nail it to something where it will stay put. Our flesh has endless passions and desires that go totally against God’s best for us. That is why we have to set them aside.

I’d like to ask us if we really want to live in the freedom that God provides, or would we rather stay tied up and bound to our issues? By choosing to live by the Spirit of God, we will do what God leads us to do. We will make wrong choices at times, but we will strive to take a higher road, to do things right and to set sin, pride and troubles aside.

God will help us win those battles as we deal honestly with our sin. It is not easy to crucify our passions and desires, but it is always right. To follow the Spirit is to find peace and strength and help to get through the battles of life.

I heard a quote the other day that has stuck in my mind:

Better to aim high and fall a bit short than to aim very low and hit it.

We aim high by being honest and dealing with our sin. To aim low is to sweep things under the proverbial rug and just live on like none of our sin matters. But they do. We can win. It is time to aim higher and see how God gives us victory in life.

Galatians 5:16 (NLT)

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

Catalyst ticket arrived

My ticket to the Catalyst Conference, in Atlanta Oct 8-10, just arrived. I'm excited!

wash feet, sharing hope

John 13:4-5,14 NLT So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him… 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. Jesus set the example we follow. He served. He valued and gave value to others. That is why we choose to serve. For 18 years our church has shared an outreach called back2school, and for 16 of those years we have chosen to give students brand new shoes and socks as well as washing their feet. It is one of the most important parts of this event. Washing feet is a humbling experience where both the give and the receiver learn how to share some moments that might change their lives. Jesus said we should do this. See the verse above. Follow His example, do what He did, and give far more than you will ever know....

Have you heard of EDITH BURNS?

Edith Burns was a wonderful Christian who lived in San Antonio, Texas . She was the patient of a doctor by the name of Will Phillips. Dr. Phillips was a gentle doctor who saw patients as people. His favorite patient was Edith Burns. One morning he went to his office with a heavy heart and it was because of Edith Burns. When he walked into that waiting room, there sat Edith with her big black Bible in her lap earnestly talking to a young mother sitting beside her. Edith Burns had a habit of introducing herself in this way: "Hello, my name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Then she would explain the meaning of Easter, and many times people would be saved. Dr. Phillips walked into that office and there he saw the head nurse, Beverly. Beverly had first met Edith when she was taking her blood pressure. Edith began by saying,"My name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Beverly said, "Why yes I do." Edith said, "Well, what do you ...

Michael Harrison's e-devotion

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