A checklist for living

Romans 12:9-18 (Various translations)

As I read, and re-read, and re-read, and looked at the Greek meanings of some of the words, I kept hearing “I put this stuff here for a reason… read it… learn it… live it.”  So given that, I’m going to take different phrases from different translations to make a “checklist” of sorts on the how we are to live this life with each other.

• Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. (The Message)
• Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. (NKJV)
• Love one another with brotherly affection (ESV)
• Outdo one another in showing honor (ESV) / Practice playing second fiddle (The Message)
• Never be lazy but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically (NLT)
• Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (ESV)
• When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. (NLT)
• Be inventive in hospitality. (The Message)
• Bless those who persecute you [who are cruel in their attitude toward you] (The Amplified Bible)
• no cursing under your breath (The Message)
• Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. (ESV)
• Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody. (The Message)
• Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is honest and proper and noble [aiming to be above reproach] in the sight of everyone. (The Amplified Bible)
• If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (NIV)

What else really needs to be said except I have a REALLY long way to go…  Some of these I’m doing OK in.  Some of these – you would think – I’ve never seen before.  It’s a love/hate thing.  I love when these lists are put in there for us to grow into and I hate seeing how far short I fall.  Thank you Lord that you love me anyway and that I can’t do any of it on my own.  All I can do is surrender and allow Him to live these things through me (Gal 2:20).

A long way to go…

Romans 5:6-8 (NLT)

6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

A simple thought.  It’s would be easy (ok… maybe not easy, but easier) to sacrifice myself for someone we deem or see as significant… a pastor, a family member, a friend.  It would even be mentally justifiable to sacrifice myself for a “regular” person.  But as I read this passage, the Lord gave me a vision of sacrificing myself for what we call the “scum” of society.  Would I sacrifice myself and forever impact the future of my family, for a child molester?  for a doctor who performs abortions? for a genecidal maniac like Saddam Huessien or Osama Bin Laden?

If I’m honest with myself, and honest with God, I could not do it.  Even if God himself stood in front of me and in an audible voice commanded me to… I’m not sure I could do it.

But He needs me to be in that kind of place spiritually.  He needs me to be that broken, obedient and loving.  That’s exactly the place Jesus was at.  That’s exactly the place he was when he crawled onto the cross.  That’s exactly the place Stephen was as they were hurling stones at him.

I am not there.

I have a very long way to go…

Anyone Else Ready to Die?

I was reading an exerpt from Waking the Dead by John Eldredge that references 1 Corinthians 15, to point out Christ’s resurrection. Well I kept reading because the topic interested me and this is what I came to: 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.  If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.“  At first I thought, cool when I die I get to come back super human…sort of, you know what I mean. But then Galations 2:20 came to me. Anybody know that one? “For I have been crucified with Christ…” Now, for me this was especially cool seeing as I was just baptised about a month ago. So you see, I’m already dead….and raised again. I’ve already been resurrected in my imperishable, glorious, powerful and spiritual body. But, that is not an instant freebie when I wake up. I can either choose to die to myself and be resurrected in this new, “super human” body, or I can choose to walk around in my perishable, dishonorable, weak and natural body. Which would you rather have? So I ask you, and myself, are you ready to die?

Am I willing to kill off everything?

2 Chronicles 15 has Asa meeting with Azariah (the Spirit of God had come upon him so he went to speak with Asa).  Azariah tells Asa that as long as he is with the Lord, the Lord will be with him.  In other words, as long as you are walking in obedience and staying the course, you wil be with God.  Judah’s direction would depend upon Asa walking with God.  If Asa seeks God, then God will be found by him.  That is good news.  God isn’t going anywhere.  He is there waiting to be found.  Asa simply needs to run after him.

Well, Asa agrees and he and all of Judah, Benjamin, with a bit of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon all make a covenant to seek the Lord God with all of their heart and with al of their soul.  So, they are running after God with everything that they have.  What does that look like?  For them it looked like “putting to death everyone who did not seek the Lord God; whether man or woman, small or great.”  Now that is commitment.  Makes $50 seem pretty dang insignificant.  Asa even had the Queen Mother (his grandmother) removed because she had built an idol.

So, am I this serious about my relationship with Christ?  Am I putting to death everything that gets in the way?  What about those things that I was called to do?  Do I alow them to become the focus instead of letting God be the focus.  If it isn’t bringing me closer to Papa, then I must re-evaluate it, submit it to Him and ask whether or not it be continued.  I believe that we hold onto things that are dear to us and are unwilling to put the old man completely to death.  Asa new the importance of a covenant.  He was not going to allow anything to get between him and his covenant with God.  I MUST be willing to do the same.

Papa, help me to see those areas in my life that still need to be cut down.  I want to be with you so that you will be with me.  I seek you with my whole heart; I hold nothing back.  Father, remove anything in me that is not pleasing to you.  I covenant today to live for you.  I sacrifice my life to you today.  Take me, everything I am.  When you say go, I will go.  When you say stop, I wil stop.  I am yours 100%.  I love you and give myself to you today; ALL of my heart; ALL of my soul; ALL of my mind; and ALL of my strength.

Which Death?

I read Romans 5:12-18 and Romans 6:1-4 today. Romans 5 was kind of confusing, I mean I get the general idea of the passage that Adam brought death and Christ brings life. It was just difficult for me to really dig into it because of how wordy it was to me. It seems as though Father is taking me back through some of the basic principles of my walk and showing them to me in different ways, which I’m okay with. So here’s what I took away from those two passages: Because of Adam’s sin, death entered the world. James 1:15 says, “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” So right away, as soon as I was born I was doomed to a physical death.  Romans 5:14 says, “Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.” So even if I had been perfect as a child, which trust me I wasn’t, I was still going to die. However, when Christ entered the scene (earth), he died a physical death taking the burden of all sin, past and future. When he rose again, he took the power of death, everyone knows the story. So each day, I can choose to live my life in sin, which leads to death. Or I can kill my flesh, and have eternal life. Romans 6:3-4 says, “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” I don’t know about you guys, but the second death in this story sounds a lot better to me, after that death I get eternal life. Awesome. Let me know what you guys think.