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Side by Side

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My Grandma Evelyn had a poem, “The Bible & the TV Guide” sitting on her TV stand for most of the ’90s and it has always stayed with me. It is true that “there’s nothing new under the sun”: the temptations are the same as they’ve always been from Adam & on, the forms just change. I struggle constantly trying to figure out how much technology should be a part of my life and I constantly have to repent from getting “caught up” in bad habits of turning to the phone first or most… and every time He convicts me, I must confess and ask for help in turning back, knowing He is so gracious and loving and simply wants what is best for me – Himself! Here’s an updated version for our day….

The Bible & The Phone

They lie on the table
side by side,
The Holy Bible,
with light inside,
And the smartphone,
with its glow so bright,
One shines truth,
the other artificial light.

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The Longing to Belong

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Belonging Gives Rest

“If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” John 15:19 

“And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ” Romans 1:6

At our core, we long for belonging. This longing transcends culture, status, and age; it’s woven into our very being.  Yet Scripture tells us that we do not belong to this world.  And when we seek to belong in the world – through people, subcultures, niches, or worldly pursuits – we will inevitably find them insufficient to fulfill our longings.  Why?  Because first and foremost, we were created to belong to Christ. In Christ. With Christ. 

Once we settle this truth deep in our hearts and minds – that our ultimate place of belonging is in Christ, it changes everything.  We can stop searching for fulfillment, validation, assurance, identity, and affirmation in anything and everything.  We can simply abide in Christ and be His beloved child, wherever we are, whoever we are with.  In Christ, we find all we need.  Our restless souls can finally be at peace, secure in being known, seen, and loved by Him. The search is over.  In Him we find rest.

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GOD is Love

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Thanks to the Olympics opening ceremony, social media this week is full of debates about how to love unbelievers and what to do when we see depravity, perversion, immorality, darkness.

(Note: Many people who call themselves Christians can’t even agree on what IS perversion, darkness, immoral…. but that’s a different post. Let’s pretend that all Christ-followers are on the same page that what was presented at the Olympic opening ceremony was sin-filled, dark, perverted, and against God’s best according to His Word)

The truth is that GOD is LOVE. So if you’re not pointing to God and trying to steer people to God, you aren’t loving.

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A Soul at Rest

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“He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, now you have returned to the Shepherd & Overseer of your souls.” I Peter 2:24-25

“All we like sheep have gone astray” Isaiah 53:6

We all, like sheep without a Shepherd, were going astray. Before Christ saved us and gave us a new heart and new life…. we were wandering, seeking, soul-thirsty, headed for ruin, unprotected, exposed, and lonely.

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Loving Others from A Pure Heart (Part 2)

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Continuing on from previous post …

… for you have been born again not of perishable seed but of imperishable through the living and enduring word of God….. therefore rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. I Peter 1:23, 2:1-3

We must rid ourselves of these types of heart thoughts (malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, slander)! And instead crave spiritual milk: Desire Him and His Spirit. Desire to know Him better through His Word. Desire to be “transformed by the renewing of our minds“. Desire to be pure and true like Him. Desire to give Him the honor He deserves… more than we desire honor for ourselves that we don’t deserve. Desire what HE says is best more than what’s easy or what feels best.

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Loving Others from a Pure Heart

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Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart. I Peter 1:22

Thinking more about how to fight discouragement… I am realizing how easy it is to be discouraged by people and how very quickly we can grow weary in our relationships. We are all flawed, walking through our own trials and fighting our own battles with different personalities, communication skills, and habits. It is only by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in us that we can have success in loving others with a pure heart and genuine love.

So what do we do when we realize we are people-weary? Muttering negative comments about others to ourselves or closest friends, even if we have a loving smile and kind spoken words? Avoiding people? Desiring distance until they’ve made some progress in weak areas? Being resentful of how much we’ve loved others or done for them that has been unreciprocated? Feeling superior because we see what they need to do to have positive changes in their life and they just aren’t doing it? Desiring to speak ill of them to mutual friends?

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Fighting Discouragement

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As we get older and experience more of life, even the most idealistic personalities among us can be tempted to be truly cynical about people, the fight against sin, the world, the state of the American church, and our country. Truly, evil and injustice are rampant, and deception and darkness covers the earth… BUT we must remind ourselves that the Lord warned us about these things and HE is where we rest our hope.

But how do we overcome the heavy-heartedness and burdened mind that can descend upon us when the darkness seems to be overwhelming, when people shock and disappoint us, or when it seems that there’s really no point in even trying to do and be good — because you’re still not as mature as you think you should be, you don’t see the fruit of your faithfulness, people don’t seem to listen to the Spirit of the Lord in you and instead very quickly listen to worldly ungodly voices, and the gap between what IS and what COULD BE in Christ seems to only widen?

Of course, the answer is to “Fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” Hebrews 12:3

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Rest Your Hope

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“Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober-minded, rest your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” I Peter 1:13

Where do I rest my hope?

Recently I’ve been thinking about how easy it is to set my hope on life hacks, routines, and daily habits. Being a good steward of our time, money, bodies, and relationships truly does take order and intention every day… but as we get older we realize we can stop thinking that eventually we are going to figure it all out. “If I could just get all my routines down and follow them… if I could just conquer all the problem areas I have and break them all down into daily steps… then I can be healthy, happy, really start living, and start blessing others”. Wrong. Life is always changing. Schedules are always changing. What worked one month won’t work another. We’re never going to figure it all out. And anybody that looks like they’ve got it all going on? They don’t. There are weak areas and they also need constant correcting and re-balancing too. They’re never satisfied if they’re looking to be satisfied in themselves.

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Remain

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Sometimes it’s very apparent when we have to “gird up the thoughts of our mind”. The thoughts have become so plentiful or negative, that we are tripping all over the place or we are truly “stuck” by them all and we are unable to move forward. We can thank the Holy Spirit for those “wake up call” times and for helping us recognize the danger we are in. We can dramatically “gird up” all the worries and cares and bitterness and negativity we have let fester and can have renewed, sharpened focus on Christ & His Word. But girding up the thoughts isn’t only a re-active action step when we’re already in danger. It is a pro-active one to too.

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“Gird Up”

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Continuing on with this theme of our thought life… in studying I Peter this morning I came across this wonderful verse:

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be sober minded; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. (I Peter 1:13)

Therefore — because of the glorious riches of the inheritance mercifully given to all who have believed the gospel (as just described in the first verses of I Peter) we should have this response:

prepare your minds for action — the original expression is: “gird up the loins of your mind”. What great imagery! Peter is giving us a mental picture of a man gathering or “girding” up his long, loose garments so that he is ready to run, work, or battle whatever is ahead of him.

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