Profiles In Legalism —– The Tattered Suit

The following are excellent illustrations and highlights to summarize “law and grace.”  You will find them very helpful.

  The Tattered Suit

 There were two men who were neighbors – Joseph was Jewish, Greg was an atheist.  Joseph is required to obey the law of Moses.  Greg is not because the law of Moses was only given to the nation of Israel.

Both men go about their normal lives.  Joseph faithfully observes the commandments of the law.  He observes the Sabbath and is faithful in his tithes and keeping many of the specific parts of the law.  Greg, on the other hand, goes about his daily business completely oblivious to the requirements of the law.  Basically, Greg could care less about the law.

Greg frequently observes Joseph, his Jewish neighbor, trying his best to keep the law.  Joseph leads his family in prayer and leads them to the synagogue faithfully every Sabbath.  Greg notices, however, that lately Joseph looks worn down and physically ill.  So Greg decides to talk to his friend to ensure he is fine.

Joseph explains that he is burnt out and run down with life.  He explains that he has done his best to keep all parts of the law, but has realized he just cannot.  He explains how he redoubles his efforts every week to ensure keeping the law, but he always winds up failing.  He frequently becomes ill as a result.  He promises Yahweh God that he will always do better, but he can never seem to keep his promises.  Joseph feels enormous guilt and condemnation for failing.  He believes that Yahweh God is not pleased with him.  Yahweh must be very disappointed with him.  Therefore, the only practical result is that Joseph feels guilt and condemnation everyday for his consistent failures.

Greg thinks the Jewish faith is much too stringent – since he sees his neighbor Joseph frequently worn down and uptight.  Greg thinks to himself: “I sure am glad I am not Jewish.  Who would want to serve a god who requires such hard laws to be kept?”

About a month later, a Christian evangelist happened to be preaching in a nearby church.  Both Greg and Joseph went separately to hear him preach.  The preaching was a very moving and penetrating message about God’s personal love.  At the end of the service, the evangelist invited, to come forward, anyone interested to ask Jesus in his or her heart and become a born-again Christian.  Quite a few people went forward; among them were both Greg and Joseph.  The evangelist led everyone in prayer – to ask God forgiveness of all their sins and inviting Jesus to come live in their hearts.

After the prayer concluded, both Greg and Joseph sensed a very deep peace and joy they had never experienced before.  Then they noticed one another in the crowd that came forward.  They ran towards each other and embraced – for there was the deep joy of Jesus flowing from their hearts.  They realized they had become one – brothers in Jesus Christ.

I use this illustration to highlight the major differences between “law and grace” and to show how one easily slides back into legalism to keep God’s laws through self-effort.

For Joseph, the Jew, and Greg, the atheist, became Christians by faith.  They are now one in Christ.  However, they each had a different way that God used to draw them.  Being Jewish, Joseph was required to keep the law; Greg was not.

Look at it from the view of putting on brand new, clean clothes (Christ).  Ephesians 4:24 “And that ye put on the new man (Christ), which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”  Joseph and Greg have both put on Christ.  However, remember our distinction between “law and grace.”  Galatians 3:24-25 “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”  The law is given only to the Jew to follow.  The law shows the Jew that he cannot keep it – as we see in our example of Joseph trying his best to keep it and failing.  Joseph is left feeling miserable, burnt out, and feeling guilty.  The law’s purpose is to convict and condemn so the Jew can turn to Christ.  If the law convicts and condemns, then it has done its job.  In our example, we see the law has precisely done to Joseph what it was supposed to do.  Joseph feels like a total failure.  All he can do is cry out to God for help and grace and he sees God’s answer in Jesus Christ.  He accepts Jesus’ sacrifice and becomes born again.

Therefore, Joseph realizes that Jesus did fulfill the law – the law he always failed to keep.  So Joseph now puts aside the law (trying to keep it) and puts on Christ.  Joseph has died to the law and has accepted God’s grace.  Joseph now lives under the grace of God, no longer “under the law.”  It’s like he is wearing a “tattered, worn out” suit.  The “tattered, worn out” suit represents the law.  Now Jesus comes with grace to put a new suit on Joseph.  But, first, Joseph must take off the old suit and then put on the new one.  So he takes off his old “tattered, worn out” suit (the law) and lays it on the backyard fence separating his house from Greg’s.  Then Joseph takes the new suit (grace) and puts it on.  So the Jew must take off the old (law) and put on the new (grace).

On the other hand, Greg is not required to keep the law of Moses.  Being an atheist, he is not wearing a “tattered, worn out” suit.  Greg is not even aware of sin in his life because there is no law to show him.  So when he does become convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit (Romans 2:6-11), all he must do is put on the new suit (grace) that Jesus gives him.

So now we have two new Christians in new clean suits with the love and light of Christ coming from them.  Imagine the two in their backyards talking over the fence about their new life in Christ.  Off to the side, still hanging on the fence, is Joseph’s “tattered, worn out” suit.  Joseph shares that it is now such a joy to not wear that burden any longer.  Greg agrees.  They share emphatically this new life in Christ – a life of grace and love with Jesus living in them.  They experience a deep love between each other as brothers in Christ.  They begin to meet everyday to fellowship, pray, read the Bible, and worship God.  You can say that God truly exists between them.  They both passionately love Jesus first and grow in His grace and love.  This goes on for almost an entire year.  God is growing in them individually and together.

So far in my illustration, this is exactly how the Christian life is supposed to be lived.  I am sure you can easily see that.  Only the pureness of God’s intimate love is to motivate them.  They experience a life “under grace.”

After growing in grace for about a year, one day, Greg, the former atheist, happens to go out into his backyard.  Joseph is not there.  Greg notices Joseph’s old “tattered, worn out” suit still hanging on the fence.  Immediately he thinks: “Joseph couldn’t keep the law because Jesus was not living in him.  However, since Jesus did fulfill the law and since Jesus does live in me, then I know that I can and will be able to keep the law.”  Greg quotes: “After all, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  So he takes Joseph’s old “tattered, worn out” suit (the law) and puts it on over his new suit (grace).  “Not bad!  Not a bad fit,” he exclaims.  “Watch out world!”  At that moment, Joseph steps out of his house into the backyard.  There before his eyes in amazement, he sees Greg wearing his old, tattered suit.  Joseph thinks Greg looks “stupid” and tells him so.  Greg replies that all is well; he has only tried on the “tattered, worn out” suit to see how it fits over the new suit Christ gave him.  Greg believes it fits perfectly; Joseph knows otherwise from experience. But Greg insists to keep it on, while Joseph chooses to keep his new suit (Christ) showing.  And unknowing, Greg has stepped into legalism.

Need I say more?  Just imagine seeing a man with a new, beautiful suit on.  Imagine seeing him then put on an old, dirty, torn suit over the new one.  Then he goes about his business living.  That is legalism – attempting to live the Christian life wearing the law.  That is what occurred to Greg.  Don’t fall into its trap.  That is why it is invaluable and necessary for you to know and understand the difference between “law and grace.”  Legalism is a very serious threat to the grace of God.  So only let grace live through you.  Only let the love of Jesus motivate your every part of life.  Just know the purpose of the law and drop it, so that only grace is left.  Praise His Marvelous Name!

Beware of the subtle, legalistic mindset in Christianity that emphasizes what you have to do for God, instead of what God wants to do through you.  Legalism stresses works done for Jesus more than the works Jesus does through you.  These works could be anything from Bible reading, Bible memorization, prayer, witnessing, spiritual gifts, spiritual warfare, tithing, etc.  Whatever takes you away from your intimate walk with Jesus will draw you into legalism.  2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”  Yes, keep your walk with Jesus simple and pure.  Read the letter to the Galatians frequently so the Holy Spirit can teach you the dangers of legalism.  Don’t wind up like Greg and cover Christ with the law.  Then the world will only see you living the Christian life by keeping the law.  They certainly will not see Christ and His love living through you.  They will see your old “tattered, worn out” suit.

Wearing an old, torn suit over the shining one is how law covers grace.  That is what one looks like when he gets back “under the law.”  That is what legalism does to the Christian – it hides Christ so His love and light cannot flow out from the Christian.  Instead, all you see is the Christian puffed up in his ego flesh – all puffed up about his works done for Jesus.  And he will begin boasting about it thinking it is God’s will.  But, it’s not.

The real problem with the law is not the law itself.  The real problem is you and I.  We can never keep the law because of indwelling sin.  No matter how hard we try, we will always fail.  The law requires total perfection and sin actually gets its power from the law.  Therefore, we are in a no-win situation when we try to keep the law.  We simply cannot and, as a result, easily fall into sin’s power.  So why don’t we stop trying to keep it?

Our only way out to escape the law and sin is THE CROSS.  The road of Calvary is a narrow road “of death.”  So our escape is through death.  After all, that is what the cross represents – death.  It is not a physical death – but a death “in our spirit” to sin and the law.  It is a death to the things that have power over us.  It is a death to those things in life that keep us from God.  At the cross, we cry out to Jesus and give ourselves in total surrender.  Magnificent!

Jesus is the door/way for our escape.  And the road He leads us through is the road to death.  It is our daily death of Calvary.  Yes, we must die (in our minds) to what keeps us in bondage.  In other words, Jesus wants to “desensitize” us to the temptations of sin that Satan throws our way.  Jesus also wants us to focus on Him and His grace when the law arises to challenge us.  This is why there is His life in the resurrection to experience after we die daily to sin and the law.

No wonder so many Christians remain in bondage to sin and the law.  Who wants to experience death – especially daily?  So no matter how much a Christian tries to free himself from the bondage of sin and the law, he simply cannot.  (This is not a complicated Scriptural principle to understand.)  He struggles and will continue to try as hard as he can, but he just cannot free himself.  This is because he is trying to keep the law in his self-effort.  He may appear to succeed in some areas, but we know he will fall flat on his face just like Joseph.  That is why he needs grace, not the law.  Once he realizes he cannot keep the law, he should turn to Jesus who did keep/fulfill the law.  This is his (and our) escape – through the cross (death to sin and the law) and into the resurrection (alive in Christ and His grace).  Romans 7:24-25 “O wretched man that I am!  Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”

This is God’s simple plan for our salvation in Christ.  The law condemns us, shows us as failures.  God provides our escape through Christ – His cross and His resurrection.  “Under the law,” we attempt to live the Christian life and miserably fail.  “Under grace,” Jesus lives the Christian life through us and always succeeds as long as we let Him live His life through us.

This is why the Christian life is only Jesus Christ.  Everything begins and ends with Jesus.  Jesus is why the Christian life is such a joy.  If you struggle in your Christian walk trying to keep the law, you will be missing the joy and intimacy of Jesus living through you.  You will miss the daily experience of His grace and love for you.  This is because you are trying to keep the law when you simply cannot.  You struggle and burn out.  You redouble your efforts to try your best and you still fail – just like Joseph.  Then Satan pounds you with feelings of guilt, condemnation, and frustration.  But remember that is the law’s one and only purpose.  You must see this if you want to be free and enjoy your life with Christ.

Christ is knocking at the door of your heart.  Let the Holy Spirit show and convince you that this is the only purpose of the law – to convict, to condemn, and to convince you that you cannot keep it.  Once you are convinced, then, I guarantee all you will see is Jesus.  You will be so grateful.  You run to Him, rest in His love, and realize only He can do what you never could.  So cease striving and rest in His love.  Then, the joy of experiencing Jesus daily begins to return.  You have now experienced the true meaning of living “under law” and living “under grace.”  So, choose daily to live “under grace” – only resting in His love.

The main issue and struggle many Christians face is their failure to understand the difference between “law and grace.”  What many do instead is mix the two together.  It comes out in this type of mindset: “Because Jesus has saved me by His grace, I now have the ability to keep the law.”  (This is exactly what Greg did by putting on Joseph’s tattered suit (the law) over his new clean suit (grace).)  And before they know it, they innocently and ignorantly try to keep the law.  Failure is inevitable.  As we have extensively studied in this book, “law and grace” can never be mixed.

God wants us to be confident in the grace of His Son.  We are God’s children and must only focus on Jesus.  This guarantees a life “under grace” – for Jesus is the grace of God.  We can then be confident that the life Jesus lives through us will be God’s life.  This is why it is grace – a life free from fear, guilt, condemnation, and frustration.  It is a life only in love with Jesus.

This is why it is critical for you to have a clear understanding between “law and grace.”  Otherwise, only confusion will occur.  “Under the law,” guilt, fear, and condemnation arise.  Also arising will be doubt that God loves you.  If you fail to keep the law, God must be disappointed in you.  “Under grace,” the joy of the Christian life bursts forth and becomes the most exciting experience to ever encounter – the joy of experiencing the intimate love of Jesus daily.  (See Philippians 3:7-11.)  And then Jesus gives you a passion to share His love with others.

Therefore, the Holy Spirit has a question for you that you need to answer.  After reading this book and understanding the difference between “law and grace,” the Holy Spirit asks you the following: “How prepared are you to put aside the law and be totally dependent on Jesus and His grace?”  Only you can faithfully answer.  And you must answer.  So give yourself a thorough self-examination before you answer.  There are only three possible answers.

1.  NO!  “I choose to live ‘under law’ – to obey God’s laws through my self-effort.  In that way, God will accept me.  I can make it on my own.”
2. YES!  “I choose to live ‘under grace.’  I accept Jesus’ sacrifice as fulfilling the law.  Therefore, I choose to be totally dependent on Him to live His life through me.  I know that God accepts me as I am because I accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on my behalf.”
3. BOTH!  “I choose to live a mixture ‘under law’ and ‘under grace.’  By being saved by God’s grace, His grace now makes it possible for me to keep the law.”  Under this choice, one feels that he must always do something to make himself acceptable to God.  He has mixed “law and grace” and will become double-minded and unstable in all his ways (James 1:8).

The choice you make will chart the entire course of your Christian life.  For “law and grace” is at the source of the Christian life.  Remember: God already knows we can never keep the law.  He only expects failure on our part.  That is why He sent Jesus to fulfill the law.  Therefore, the law becomes fulfilled in us when we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of our life.  Jesus comes to live in us forever, for He will never die.  We do die because of sin and the law, but Jesus never will.

I now realize when I begin to feel condemned, guilty, or frustrated over something in some area of my life, I have not died to the law in that area of my life.  Satan will use the law to torment me into believing that God is upset with me and, therefore, does not accept me.  Satan whispers to me that God does not love me.  Baloney!  I now realize that to be totally free, I must do what Paul writes, “Through the law, I died to the law.”  Therefore, God does accept me just as I am.  God accepts me as His child.  He loves me unconditionally.  He also does the same for you.  You are under God’s grace.  You have put on Christ – and choose not to put the law on over Christ – to not mix “law and grace.”  So don’t put on “tattered, worn out” clothes and hide Christ in you.

- excerpt from ARE YOU UNDER LAW OR UNDER GRACE

- author Bob Bennett -  www.LifeUnderGrace.com

A Daily, Critical Decision Each Person Must Make

There is a very critical decision you must make daily.  I have shared an abundance of life-changing and life-transforming information.  This information is definitely the key to your victorious living in Christ.  After all, there is only one key – Jesus Christ.

There is ONLY ONE KEY – JESUS CHRIST.

The decision you must now make is: “How will you live the remainder of your earthly life in Christ?” You will live your Christian life either as:

1. Spiritually alive in Christ with the fruit of His love as evidence that He is truly alive as God in you or

2. Spiritually alive in Christ, but still living as though you are spiritually dead.  (Your Christian life may appear fruitful on the outside.  However, within yourself, you know you feel like “death.”  You feel lifeless, dried up, and out of gas.  You are a wilderness Christian.)

Reflect in prayer what your choice will be.  You will basically either “get busy living” or “get busy dying.” Yes, life does go on – even your Christian life.  Therefore, how will you choose to live your life in Christ?  Will you permit Jesus to live through you so you will truly be alive?  Or will you permit your flesh and the devil to influence your life and actions?  The latter choice truly reflects death as your lifestyle.  You must make this choice – now and everyday.

 

The wise choice is definitely the road to Calvary.  It is the road Jesus chose when He lived on earth as a man.  Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

 

Few Christians choose this road because few permit Jesus to truly be Lord over many areas of their life.  Few choose this road because it is a very painful road.  You must always remember that Calvary symbolizes death. This is why it is very painful.  When you choose to follow Jesus, guess where He leads you?  He will not lead you around His cross at Calvary.  Instead, He will take you through it.

The main part of death that Jesus is crucifying through you is your flesh.  It is your daily crucifixion to your old way of thinking.  Jesus is removing the weeds and thorns within you that have shut down His love in you.  Your death to self is a very productive death. You must see it this way.  His resurrected love is about to shine through you.  To be alive in Christ means to die daily to flesh so the resurrected life of Christ becomes real, evident, and deeply rooted into your daily life.

Philippians 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Remember: only His love is to be your primary reason and motive for living.  You must clearly see your flesh as dead so His love truly becomes pure and evident as your new nature.  You can never absorb enough of His love.

To really “get busy living,” you must spend as much intimate time as possible with the Lord.  You must come into His presence in silence.  Train yourself to become quiet within your heart.  This is where your Lord resides.  This is where your Lord speaks to you how deeply He loves you.

Yes, more than anything else the Lord wants to tell you everyday that He loves you.  He desires you to become so convinced that He loves you so much.  Neither how much you mess up nor how much you sin will cause this special love He has for you to change.  You must absorb this love in silence.

 

Think about it.  Can all the things summed up in your entire life even come close to experiencing daily how much Jesus personally loves you?  This is a very significant part of making Jesus’ love overwhelm your life.  This is how Jesus gets you “busy living” in Him.  His life takes over your life because you consistently absorb His love.

Only His personal love becomes deeply absorbed and deeply rooted in you, you will begin to understand the following:

• Jesus Christ died for you then so He could live in you now.
• Jesus desires you to be a visible, living representation of the invisible, living God in you, everyday of your life.
• Jesus only wants everyone you encounter to only see Himself as God in you.  They are to see Jesus as God living through you.

You do not deserve the gift of Jesus Christ.  Neither do I.  You become worthy of it because of the finished work of Jesus on His Calvary cross.  He became a substitute for your death due to sin.  However, He crucified it forever and, then, rose victoriously over sin and death.  Because He is God, death and sin could never kill Him.  Through His resurrection, He has now planted the very life of Himself as the Holy Spirit in you.  This is what becoming born again truly means.  This now is you.  (If you are not born again in Christ, you must make the choice to receive Him.  He is a free gift for you.  You either accept Him or reject Him.  Do you want to make this choice?)

This is how much Jesus loves you.  Never lose sight or focus of this.  It is totally due only to God’s grace.  Focus on His grace often as you reflect on the final and finished work of Christ’s death and resurrection – personally just for you.  Yes, make it very personal.

GRACE is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.  Magnify His grace more in your life.  Pray with your heart to Jesus to:

• know Him more intimately, and
• appreciate His grace for dying on the cross and for rising from the dead – all for you.

What You Truly Stand For – INTEGRITY

The Bible says: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23 NIV

The position you hold in life may cause people to take notice of you, but only your integrity will cause them to respect you and be willing to follow you.

Integrity is only established when it becomes clear to everyone that progress, financial reward, and recognition are not your gods; that you value something more, something you refuse to give up for profit or popularity.

With integrity comes influence.

You can manage people without integrity but you can’t influence them without it.

Talking one way and living another will wound you. Also, depending on time and circumstance, you may not be able to recover from it.

You say, “How I conduct my private life is nobody else’s business.” Wrong!

When people see a difference between what you demand of others and what you demand of yourself, it will erode their respect for you every time. Your position may make you secure, but your influence with others will always remain fragile. At any given time you are only one decision, one word or one action away from destroying what it took years to build.

Why is it important to keep this in mind?  Because the fastest route from where you are today to where you will be tomorrow is not always the most honorable one.

Leading and being the person you want to be don’t come easy and don’t always line up.

It’s in those moments, however, that you discover a great deal about yourself – you find out what you truly stand for!

- from a daily meditation

STOP CONDEMNING YOURSELF

“There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 NLT

The word for you today is —— STOP CONDEMNING YOURSELF!

God says, “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins” (Isa 43:25).

When God says He forgets your sin and you insist on remembering it, it’s like saying your standards are higher than His. That’s akin to idolatry!

The Bible says, “God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph 4:32). In the Old Testament when someone sinned they brought a lamb to the priest and he would shed its blood on the altar as payment for their sin. Once that was done the record was expunged and the issue was settled.

You say, “But I don’t feel forgiven.”

Forgiveness comes by faith, not feelings.  As long as you live by feelings Satan has a weapon he can use against you at every turn.

You say, “But what I did was so wrong.”  As long as you have not committed the unpardonable sin, whatever you have done is pardonable.

You say, “But Satan keeps bringing it up.”  That’s because he is called the “accuser” (Rev 12:10).

But notice how you overcome Satan the accuser: “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony” (v. 11).

Next time Satan accuses you, say, “I’m glad you brought that up.” Then tell him what the blood of Jesus has accomplished on your behalf.

If you do that he will flee.

Learn from your failure, grow stronger through it, use it to bless others, move on with your life and stop condemning yourself!

- from a daily devotional

Are You Bearing Fruit?

Jesus said: “Every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (Jn 15:2 NKJV).

Without periodic pruning a vine will only produce a fraction of its potential harvest.

Vineyards have only one purpose: to produce grapes.

Energy spent on anything else is wasted.

The pruner has four (4) things in mind:

1. removing what’s dead or dying,
2. making sure sunlight gets to the fruit-bearing branches,
3. increasing the size and quality of the grapes,
4. encouraging new grapes to develop.

To make room for the kind of abundance Christ redeemed you for, He will cut away the parts of your life that are draining precious time and energy from what’s truly important to Him.

To accomplish this, He will even risk you misunderstanding His methods. His purpose for your life requires the cutting away of bad habits and attitudes, wrong relationships, lesser priorities, and anything that distracts you from your highest calling.

Are you praying for God’s blessing in your life? Are you asking Him to make you more fruitful in His service?  Then get ready for the shears! Pruning is how God answers such prayers. Sometimes we blame the devil or other people for the loss of certain things in our lives.  No, “He prunes.”
Today if God is pruning you:

1. Pay attention, don’t waste this season of preparation.
2. Ask God whether you’re being pruned for greater fruitfulness or disciplined because of sin – there’s a difference. If it’s sin, repent and get back on track as quickly as possible.
3. If your response to the pruning process is right, you’ll begin to move from barrenness to blessing.

- from a daily meditation

Don’t Give Into Bitterness

“Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others.” Eph 4:31 CEV

When it comes to bitterness, here are two things you need to keep in mind:

1. Bitterness is contagious.  You are a part of the body of Christ.  So what happens to you, and in you, affects those you are connected to both positively and negatively.  The Bible says, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it” (1Co 12:26 NIV).
2. A snakebite doesn’t just affect the body part that gets bitten; the venom spreads through the entire system. “Keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time” (Heb 12:15 TM). Don’t get upset and leave the church God has placed you in. You need them and they need you. By overcoming bitterness you spread God’s blessing to others.
3. Bitterness can be overcome.

Here’s how bitterness can be overcome:

1.  Acknowledge and admit it.
2. Don’t rehearse it in your mind or recite it to others.
3. Repent and renounce any attitude that’s not Christ-like.
4. Ask God to give you self-control, then submit to His leadership.
5. Don’t infect others and don’t let them infect you.
6. Without waiting for admissions or apologies, verbalize to yourself, God and a trusted friend, your decision to forgive all wrongs against you. “Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph 4:32 TM). This will set you free to enjoy your relationship with God, yourself, and others.
7. Look for practical ways to “be kind…[and] tenderhearted” toward those who hurt you (v. 32 NKJV).

- from a daily devotional

Are You Being Tempted? – Part 2

“Your life is shaped by your thoughts.” Pr 4:23 GNT

Ever watch a food commercial on television and suddenly feel hungry?  That’s the power of suggestion.

Whatever can grab your attention can capture you. Simply repeating, “I must stop drinking, or smoking, or overeating, or lusting,” doesn’t work because it just keeps you thinking about what you don’t want.

Instead of trying to remove those thoughts, replace them.

Once your focus is on something good, evil begins to lose its grip. Only by reprogramming your mind can you keep it centered on the right things.

The Bible says: “Don’t let evil get the upper hand but conquer evil by doing good” (Ro 12:21 TLB).

Satan can’t get and keep your attention when your mind is given to something else. That’s why Paul writes: “Fill your minds with…good” (Php 4:8 GNT).

Fighting a thought is futile; it only strengthens the connection between you and it. By dwelling on it you actually reinforce it.

Hit the remote; change the channel!

Furthermore, you don’t overcome temptation by fighting the feeling of it. The more you fight a feeling, the more it engages and draws you.

Turn your attention to something better!

Your mind is where the battle is won or lost. Start managing your mind and monitoring your media intake. The Bible says, “Your life is shaped by your thoughts.”

The Psalmist prayed, “Keep me from paying attention to what is worthless” (Ps 119:37 GNT). Is this easy to do? No, it takes discipline and practice. But with time, and God’s grace, you can change the way you think and overcome temptation.

- from a daily devotional

Are You Being Tempted? – Part 1

No matter how spiritually mature you become you will never outgrow temptation.

When you conquer temptation on one front, it attacks you on another.  The closer you get to God the more Satan will try to tempt you.

Paul explains it this way: “The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants…These two forces are constantly fighting each other” (Gal 5:17 NLT).

So what’s the answer? Here are two ways you can overcome temptation:

1. Be honest about it.  Ask yourself, “When am I tempted most?”   Usually we are most vulnerable when we are under stress: when we are hurt, angry, worried, alone, bored, tired, or after a big success or spiritual high.  Learn to identify your patterns: “God’s people…protect themselves by watching where they go” (Pr 16:17 CEV).
2. Reach for God’s help. “Call on me in times of trouble. I will rescue you” (Ps 50:15 GWT).

So why don’t we call on God more often?  Because sometimes we just want to do what we want to do, right? Or we are embarrassed because we keep giving in to the same temptations.

Don’t be discouraged; God won’t give up on you.  His Word says, “Let us…come before God’s throne where…we [will] receive…grace to help us when we need it” (Heb 4:16 NCV).

If you have to cry out for God’s help every hour of the day, He will be there for you!

Just as the roots of a tree deepen when storms come, each time you stand up to a temptation you become stronger.

- from a daily devotional

PREJUDICE – God Is No Respecter Of Persons

“God is no respecter of persons.” Acts 10:34

Prejudice is the product of a lazy mind.  It’s contempt, prior to investigation.

Your first impression of someone is incomplete, and often inaccurate. Don’t assume your intuition is always right. Don’t make lasting decisions based on limited insights.

Your success in life will be adversely affected by prejudice, fear, and any form of discrimination you allow to color your thinking.

Jesus never determined a person’s worth based on their race, gender, financial status, or appearance.  Jesus was comfortable in the presence of fishermen and tax collectors.  He was at ease with the rich and the poor.

Jesus knew that every person He met had potential and He never looked down on them because of their past.

Born to a mother who conceived Him as a virgin, Jesus knew what it meant to have a questionable background and be subject to the rumor mill.  But, He rose above it.

Jesus also broke tradition. The Samaritans were considered such a lower class of people that Jews wouldn’t talk to them, yet Jesus did.

In fact, He went out of His way to meet with a five-times-divorced Samaritan woman, discussing the mysteries of worship with her and changing her life.

When Peter, who struggled with prejudice, was called to introduce the gospel to the first group of Gentiles, he had to acknowledge, “I perceive that God is no respecter of persons.“  That day God dealt with some of Peter’s deep-seated biases.

And God will deal with yours too!  If “God so loved the world” but you don’t, how can you claim to be “godly“?

- from a daily devotional

Only A Humble Soul

“Only a humble soul shines with purity and beauty because it has come to know the love of God.”

“Only a humble soul becomes heaven, because Christ is in it.”

- anonymous