Now Means Now

Now Means Now!

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1

Now (adverb): at the present time; at once (Webster)

I've been thinking about the difference between conviction and condemnation. When the Holy Spirit convicts me of something that I have done wrong, the thoughts will be something like this: "I really blew that! I was wrong. I should have thought before I said that. That was certainly not a Christ-like thing to do! I'll go over the first thing tomorrow and make an apology. I am so thankful that He has promised to complete what He started. He still has a lot of work to do on me--that's for sure!" In conviction there is hope--hope for changing fleshly patterns because of the power of Christ in me--hope for righting wrongs--hope for overcoming.

On the other hand, thoughts of condemnation will attack me--myself--not just my performance. For example, "I am such a loser. I do everything wrong. I should not be teaching or witnessing. What a sorry Christian I've turned out to be. I can't do anything right." There's no hope in those accusations--just condemnation. Those words condemn me because of my poor performance and give birth to guilt, depression, disappointment, hopelessness, and a lot of other destructive thoughts.

The Holy Spirit isolates--brings to mind--the sinful act. Satan, however, makes broad, all-inclusive accusations against my person/character/integrity. God will never condemn me. Why? Because He knows me--my new heart, my desire to please Him, my love for Him--and He doesn't expect me to perform perfectly. That's His program--conforming me to the image of His Son. "Conforming" means there's work to be done--changing my performance, the things I do--not my identity. There is, therefore, NOW no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Agape love

       
There are some things that may get stirred up inside of us. Something that we have to remember is that no matter what someone says or does that may rattle our emotions, we cannot respond with bitterness. Christians are beginning to get a bad rap because of things being said or done against our beliefs. This usually causes us to respond with retaliation of bitterness and we justify it because what the other people are doing and saying are not biblical. So does this mean we become a hermit crab and lie silent? Not at all. You and I are suppose to be the reflection of Christ and in this reflect the love of Jesus Christ. We are to turn the other cheek and offer a sacrifice of our own fleshly response with Love. This is a very hard thing to accomplish. I have found that love speaks louder than the desires of the flesh to lash out in defense of our beliefs. This requires a discipline that has to be practiced and lived out on a daily basis. People like to refer to Jesus in the temple in Matthew 21:12 as he turned over tables in anger to drive those who buying and selling in the temple and use this to justify our getting angry. The difference is that Jesus did not become bitter and hold a grudge against the people, he was protecting his fathers house and left it to that.  We cannot become silent in all that is going on in the world, but we cannot be the reason for the world becoming intolerant by being bitter.
The Bible talks about various kinds of love. There's the Greek word "phileo," which means friendship or tender affection. Then there's "eros," which is the passionate love we feel for a lover. But there's a third kind, a higher kind of love.

"Agape" is the kind of love God has toward His Son and the human race. It's a love that sacrifices, the love that we see in John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son..."(NIV).

In saying all this remember why we are to love each other and develop the discipline that is needed to obtain and live out Agape love. Stay in the word, and let Christ become the center of your life of love and live it out and share with everyone you come in contact with.

Prayer starter: Jesus I want to live a life that reflects love to everyone, the agape love that you have shown us is what I need to practice and live out. Help me lord to accomplish this even in the presence of our adversaries.

Enough Plastic

"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven."
                                                          Matthew 6:1

We can look all around us today and find that almost everything we buy has plastic parts in it. It's cheaper to reproduce and manufacture the parts and yet we wonder why things don't last like they use too. I can remember buying a drill a few years ago and within a month it begin to smell like burning plastic and then it just died. A tool designed to build and fix things obviously had it's limitations in the work force. When we become molded as plastic, and practice righteousness before other people but don't live as we should when we aren't around others then our integrity comes into question. Your plastic self will only last so long and will soon be exposed for the weakness it really is. We are called to reflect Christ and follow his ways in every area of our lives, not just when people are watching. When we can't be transparent with the truth of our lives God exposes the truth sooner than later and the plastic will become brittle and eventually broken.

Prayer starter: Jesus help me to reflect you in and out of the presence of other people. To live a life of integrity that reflects you all day every day. I want to grow closer to you in my personal tIme so that it is reflected in the presence of others. Let your light shine and not mine.