A Thought for Thursday - No Condemnation!

Do you ever get to a time in your life when you feel like you need to turn over a new forest, let alone a new leaf?

Then you decide that tomorrow is the day. You're fired up, motivated and ready to rumble. But when tomorrow gently wakes you, you turn over and hit the snooze button. Know that feeling?

Paul felt the same. He talks about it in the book that he wrote when God's Holy Spirit inspired him.

Read what he says:

^21-23It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

²⁴I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?

²⁵The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. ^1-2With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.

^3-4God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn't deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.

The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn't deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.

^5-8Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn't pleased at being ignored. (Romans 7:21-8:8, The Message)

Another translation puts it like this:

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

Do you feel condemned? Does something keep telling you that you'll never be good enough? That you'll always hit the snooze button and never get those leaves turned over? I have news for you. If you belong to Jesus Christ:

Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. !

Nuff said.

A Thought for Thursday: 'I don't want your money, honey. I want your love.'

We have three verses to think about this Thursday morning:

"...a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God." ~ Jesus (Luke 12:21)
"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need." ~ Jesus (Luke 12:31)

"Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." ~ Jesus (Luke 12:34)

I think these verses speak for themselves. It's always good to check the context of the passages. You can read the full passage online here.

What do you think? How rich is your relationship with God - on a scale of 1 to 10 - one being dire poverty and 10 being extravagantly, gloriously wealthy?

A Thought for Thursday: Truth

Satan has another name. The Father of Lies.

When negative thoughts fog your mind and drag you relentlessly down, it's wise to carefully consider where those thoughts might start.

...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ~ Paul in his letter to the Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

Garbage in. Garbage out. If you let the lies, negativity and ugliness to come into your head and heart, you're likely to end up with a whole load of garbage.

Amy Grant sings:

Are you living in an old man's rubble?
Are you listening to the Father of Lies?
If you are then you're headed for trouble.
If you listen too long
You'll eventually die

...we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ ~ Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians (2 Cor 10:5) (NIV)

The next time you feel overwhelmed with negativity, check some of those thoughts against Scripture. Against the words of Jesus. And ask yourself if they're the truth. Because the truth will set you free.

A Thought for Thursday: It's not inside it's on top?

At small group last night, I was reminded again that God's thoughts are not the same as mine. We were reading about God choosing David as king. David's family and even the man who was going to anoint him would have picked someone else. Maybe even David himself would have chosen someone else.

But God said:

"The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” ~ 1 Samuel 16:7

You can read the story here.

I was challenged again by how I evaluate people. Today's thought passes this challenge on to you. How do you judge people? How do you decide who people are?

Ask God to show you which people you have seen from the outside. Ask Him to show you their heart - the way that He sees them.

A Thought for Thursday: God is.

The thought for today is...What if God is who He says He is? How would it impact your life if you really believed it deep in your heart?

Moses has an awesome experience with God in Exodus chapter 34. God tells Moses who He is:

...He passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness... ~ Exodus 34:6 - NIV (emphasis mine)

Do you believe this? How would this understanding of God affect the way you life your life? The way that you speak to Him? The way that you talk about Him?

Read the verse a couple of times. Mull it over. Let it sink deep into your heart. God is who He says He is.

A Thought for Thursday - Shadows, Light and Salt

Our small group read an unusual passage last night. I don't think I've ever heard a sermon about it.

The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade. But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them. Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women. As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by. Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed. ~ Acts 5:12-16

We talked about this amazing thing - that God used even Peter's shadow to heal people. I thought about this some more. I wondered about my own life. Why don't I see that in my life? Is God using me to touch people for Himself? For His Kingdom? Is every part of my life available for Him to use to touch others?

It wasn't Peter, but the Holy Spirit inside Peter that healed the sick people. It made me think about a particular passage:

“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. ~ Matthew 5:13-16

If I stay close to God - don't lose my 'saltiness' - and don't hide my light away, then I am salt and light to the world. God can use me to touch others for Himself. For His Kingdom.

There's nothing boring about that! Whoooo hoooo!

What do you think?

A Thought for Thursday - Revenge is...

Today's passage doesn't need any commenting. Jesus said it. Nuff said.

“You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’

But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow.

You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.

If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much.

If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. "

~ Jesus (Matthew 5:38-48)

Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it." Romans 12:17-19 (MSG)

A Thought for Thursday - Those cheers!

Being at the Nelson Mandela stadium for the England v Slovenia game yesterday was such a blessing! It reminded me of Hebrews 12.1-2:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

As I heard all those fans cheering for their teams, I thought about what Paul was saying in these verses. The roar of encouragement, excitement and anticipation was just a tiny taste of the kind of cheering going on for us every day! This is not just any cheering team - these are the great heroes of the faith from the Hebrews 11 hall of faith-giants.

When the ball was coming towards us for our team to score, I couldn't remain seated...I had to stand and coax them to victory. And I remembered what happened with Stephen in Acts 7:54-56:

The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!”

Jesus was standing! Not seated at the right hand of God but standing.

Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

Run to win. Just listen to those crowds!