Tag: righteousness

Posted on

Triumph Over Trifling

My dearest sister,

There are not too many things these days that people would consider evil. Abortion is a widely accepted practice and homosexuality has even become acceptable in some branches of Christianity. Not terribly long ago, these issues were tangled up in shame and guilt. Our culture is ever progressing toward a “do whatever feels right” and “tolerate everyone” mentality. Add to this the increasing influence of the secular media, in movies and music particularly, and it’s no wonder that our society is on a steep moral decline.

So let’s face it. We’re Christians living in a post-Christian world. As such, it is easy to become discouraged in our Christian walk. Trying to please God in a world that doesn’t care about God is no easy feat. So how do we deal with the evil that we are so often bombarded with in our day-to-day lives?

Ephesians 6:16 says, “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.” God has given us our faith (Ephesians 2:8) as a defense. The author of Hebrews describes faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Our faith is what allows us to believe that God is who He says He is and that He will do what He promises to do.

This faith is sure; this faith is steadfast; this faith is strong. With it we can “extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.” Because of it we can now run from the evil we were once enslaved to and turn to Christ (Romans 6:18) who will be faithful to preserve us. Satan simply doesn’t stand a chance. No matter how evil this world becomes Satan has only the appearance of victory. The Lord will return and on that day He will judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31) and because His holiness demands it He will crush the wicked (Psalm 145:20).

So, dear sister, if you are feeling discouraged by the weight of this evil world, stop and remember that YOUR God is the God who made the universe and rules over it. Take comfort that God’s omnipotence is not threatened by Satan’s trifling pursuits and have faith in the word of the Lord. For His faithfulness endures forever. (Psalm 117:2)

Under His wing,
Kayla

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you where you go.–Joshua 1:9

Posted on

Radical Freedom

Sister,

“Choose Freedom!”  I said to my fifteen-month-old daughter Annabelle as she once again reached out to play with the computer cords.  I had already begun training her not to grab the cords in the house, as they can be dangerous if pulled and yanked.  She looked back at me slyly as her chubby fingers barely grazed the cords.  “No Annabelle,” I said to her quietly.  She continued to stare me down while carefully caressing the cords.  I could see her little mind wrestling between her perceived freedom of touching and grabbing everything she desired, and the real freedom of obeying her mom.

Aren’t we all like this?  We truly think that freedom is doing whatever we want when we want.  But in fact, that is anarchy and chaos.  If everyone does what is right in their own eyes, societal orders collapse and individual freedoms soon follow.

So, how can we choose freedom?  Freedom implies that we are a slave to something.  One thing all of humanity has in common is that we are a slave to sin.  No matter what country you are from, no matter who your parents are, no matter what age or maturity level you have obtained, you are a slave to sin.  The Bible teaches that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 6:23a).  Annabelle knew she was not allowed to touch the cords, yet she was compelled to touch them because she is a sinner.  Me too!  I know I should be patient with her and my husband but how quickly I choose impatience and anger.  The Bible also says that the wages, or cost of this sin (disobedience to God), is death.  DEATH.  Death is no joking matter.  Scripture describes death as a real place, hell.  Hell is where God pours his wrath down on sinners.  There is fire, gnashing of teeth, and separation from all that is good and right, God.  We are a slave to THIS!  THIS sin that God will punish in eternal hell.  Stop and sit on this fact for a bit.  The longer you think about how completely hopeless, painful, and abhorrent God’s wrath in hell is, the sweeter the freedom of Christ will be to you.

The rest of Romans 6:23 says, “But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”  He died for us when we were still sinners (Rom 5:8).  When believer’s eyes are opened to the utter slavery of their sin and the freedom that came through faith in Christ, our joy abounds!  We have been set free from the ultimate penalty of sin and have the ultimate freedom of heaven!  I can hear you now, “but I still sin!”  “I still want to touch the cords!”  “I am still impatient!”  Yes, we still have our moments of desiring perceived freedom, but real freedom is walking in the righteousness that Christ has already given us.

So sweet sister, no matter where you are in life, there is freedom for you.  If you have not yet put your trust in Jesus, you can have the freedom from the ultimate penalty of sin.  Trust that He paid the price for your sin by dying on the cross and rising again!  He took on your filthy sin and put His righteousness on you instead!  What an amazing gift of freedom!  And fellow sister in Christ, you are free to walk in His righteousness!  Your righteousness is not based on what you do or don’t do.  Your freedom does not rely on your good or bad works, it relies on Christ alone!  So be radically free!  This gospel is for you!  There is freedom in obeying Christ!

~Colleen

Posted on

Grace or Merit?

My Dear Sister,

It’s been a long day.  Annabelle, my 14-month-old daughter woke up cranky and continued to be so throughout the day.  She would not eat the food I prepared for her and she even gave me angry eyes as she forcefully pushed it away.   She wouldn’t play in the grass and she complained when I took her for a walk.  No treats for her tonight!  I don’t want her to think she can get away with how she behaved today.  As a parent I should correct consistently so she won’t build bad habits, right?  Finally, bedtime came complete with cries and leg kicking.  I shut the door to let her cry it out.

Giving her grace was nowhere in play this day.  And what is grace? Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.  Grace involves two parties where one party has wronged the other in some way, yet the one who was wronged gifts the wrong-doer not according to what he or she deserves, but rather out of a heart of unconditional generosity.  Wow, that’s a lot of words.  There is a difference between merited favor and grace.  Often we treat people with merit thinking its grace…if Annabelle is normally a well behaved child, then I will gladly give her a treat or overlook an act of disobedience because she is normally well-behaved. That is merit, not grace.  What if a badly behaved child does the same disobedience?  Would I give them the same treat or overlook the same offense?  If I was honest, I probably would not because I give treats based on past or overall behavior.  That is not grace.  Grace is given freely without regards to good or bad behavior.

The gospel is our example of grace.  Jesus lived a perfect life with no sin and was crucified a horrible death to take the entire penalty of sin.  He then arose three days later thus conquering the penalty of death.  This is called the “great exchange”…where Jesus took on ALL the sin of His children and then put His perfect righteousness on them so that God now looks them as righteous, as His adopted and chosen sons complete with the full inheritance of heaven!  Nowhere in the gospel are believers chosen for what they have done or not done…for how they behaved or did not behave.  They are gifted salvation by God’s unconditional generosity.

This day with Annabelle could have been so different.  If I had only remembered what God has gifted me in Christ (forgiveness of my sins, eternal life, righteousness, adoption, and the riches of heaven) and that He gave me this not because I deserved it, earned it, or merited it, then maybe I could have looked at Annabelle in the same manner.  I should have loved her in grace, had patience with her in grace, and not gotten flustered or frustrated with her lack of obedience or her foolishness.  Christ loved me before I believed; he gave me grace in my bad behavior…how much more should I give grace to my daughter (or husband, family, and friends)?  How would Annabelle act if I treated her with grace instead of merit?  Sure, there is a place for discipline, structure, and obedience, but it should be under the umbrella of the gospel of grace.  To give her a treat when she doesn’t deserve it and tell her that is what Jesus did for me!  He gave me life when I deserved death!  To play with her, when she “deserves” a time-out, to show her that the Father never turns His back on His children.  These actions and training can only come when her mom remembers the unmerited grace that was given her.  Annabelle might not have acted any different in this day, but her mom would have.

~Colleen