Category: Today’s Truth

Something wonderful happens when a person comes to know Christ and His saving grace. All at once, his life is not his own anymore and Jesus is Lord of His life. The Savior transforms the person’s life as he begins to trust in Christ more and more. This new believer is at a critical stage. With accountability, encouragement, and discipleship, he will grow in his relationship with the Lord. WIthout others investing in the new believer; however, he is in danger of falling away from his newfound faith and becoming entangled in the world once again.

Romans 8:10 tells us, “Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God.” As believers, we get our life from Christ. This gives us great hope that even when the body dies, we will continue to live because we have His Spirit living inside of us. He gives us life through His resurrected body. Just as His body was resurrected, so was our lives when we chose Him and His salvation, and will be resurrected once again when the body dies. We have a great hope in Him!

Since we know this truth, we must spur one another on and encourage each other. We must live our lives as though we are transformed. We must disciple other believers (especially new believers) to live an abundant life in the Spirit instead of giving in to the ways of the world. We belong to Him and Him alone, so we must act like it!

If you live by the Spirit and are trying to live according to God’s Word, then you can probably see a battle going on in the world today between good and evil. Everywhere you look you can see friend against friend, brother against brother, and even Christian against Christian. We especially see this in the world today. Politics, difference in opinion, religion, and other hot topics drive a wedge between people, and we as Christians allow it to happen, and it drives what the world thinks about Christianity.

The sinful nature is always hostile to God, so if people don’t know the Father, they won’t live by the Word of God. We cannot hold people to godly standards if they themselves do not live by godly standards. We must understand that they still live in the darkness, by their sin nature. But we are not bound by this sin nature. While we still give into the flesh at times and make mistakes, we are controlled by the Holy Spirit. So we should see things differently than the world sees. We should see them through the eyes of the Lord because we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Every decision, every thought, every action should be a result of the Spirit guiding us.

These two natures are always in conflict with each other. When you are living by the Spirit, you will experience conflict as others are seeing things through their fleshly nature. Remember this when you are having conversations with others. You may be the only Jesus they experience. Be gentle with them and be the good they see.

It can be difficult to live as a Christian today when sin surrounds us. It has even seeped into the churches. We see people only living for themselves, making selfish decisions, and a world that tells you to trust yourself and “follow your heart.” The Bible teaches just the opposite.

Romans 8:5-6 describes the difference between living according to the flesh and living by the Spirit. Those who live according to the flesh set their mind on the things of the flesh, and those who live according to the spirit set their mind on the things of the spirit. Romans says that the way of the flesh leads to death and the way of the spirit leads to life. So what is the biggest difference between these two? The mind. It tells us to set our MINDS on the things of the spirit. That means to think about God, His goodness, His love, and the Spirit!

When you think about the things of God, you will see your mind and heart transform. He will become your priority and He will become your life. This is an everyday choice. When you wake up you must think about His goodness. When you go throughout your day, in the difficult times and even in the joy, you must think about the Lord. When you lay your head down at night, you must praise and thank Him.

Jesus freed us from the power of sin when He went to the cross. The chains were broken and we no longer had to live in our sin. So why do we put those shackles back on and continue to live in sin if we have been freed from it?

Sin is powerful. It can cause addictions and lead to a lifetime of pain and suffering. Man cannot defeat sin on his own which is why a Savior was needed to break its power. We can only overcome sin and its consequences with the help of Jesus Christ. Not only did He defeat sin, but He also continuously gives us the strength to live in the freedom of the cross. Still, we choose sin over the cross and freedom time and time again. The world and its pleasures can be so enticing. Even though we know God’s love is better, we still sometimes choose sin. We do this because of our sin nature. We were born into sin and sometimes still give in to the flesh and its desires.

So the only way to defeat sin and its powers is to look to Christ. He is the only one who defeated sin- He already won the victory. Remember when Jesus called Peter out of the boat to walk on the water? While his eyes were fixed on Christ, he was able to walk on the water, but when he looked down at the raging sea, he immediately fell. So if we live in light of the cross every single day, we will find that freedom again and again and we will be able to walk toward Jesus. It has to be a daily choice.

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus as Romans 8:1 tells us. No condemnation! We find condemnation in our world today everywhere we look. Sometimes it is found in our families and friends. Sometimes at work with our coworkers. Sometimes even in our churches. However, in Christ there is absolutely NO condemnation!

From the time sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, man was condemned to hell. Sin is always condemning. The moment we sin, we deserve hell and all of God’s wrath because sin is in direct disobedience with God’s Word. When the law was given to Moses, it condemned man’s sin. There was a need for someone or something to free man from sin. Enter Christ. God sent His only son to the world to live and breathe and walk with man. To develop a relationship with mankind. And then to die on a cross and condemn all sin, and resurrect three days later and free man from its chains.

So we can live in the freedom of the cross because we are not condemned. The world around us and anyone who doesn’t know Christ is condemned. We must bring them the good news so they can find freedom we have instead of the shackles of sin.

There was no way for the law to take away sin. It was simply a list of rules to live by to avoid sinning, but it could not take away sin and its power. Why would God give a list of rules instead of sending Jesus from the very beginning?

Man has struggled with sin since the beginning of time. Over and over again man chooses sin and its pleasures instead of God and His perfection. Perhaps, the law was given to expose the depth of sin and the need for something more. In the Old Testament, the people would bring animals to the temple and to the priest, and then the priest would sacrifice those animals on behalf of the people and their sins. This provided a way for sinful men to stand before a holy God. The law gave man parameters and limits. The law could not take away sins. It could not cleanse man. Even the sacrifices only provided the holiness man needed for a short time.

God did what the law could not do. He took away the sins of man. He gave man a way to stand before a Holy God permanently. He sent the ultimate sacrifice to die on the cross; Jesus was that sacrifice! He gave us a way to live by the Spirit (in accordance with the law). He FULFILLED the law!

When you really get to know God’s love for you, it removes fear from your life. When you see how much God cares about you and wants to take care of you, you begin to realize that you have nothing to fear.

There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love. – 1 John 4:18 (Message)

When you begin to get an understanding of God’s love for you, you realize you have no reason to fear. If you struggle with fear in your life, then spend some time reading your Bible. Begin to focus on God’s love for you, and you’ll realize that you have nothing to fear. God has taken care of everything you need.

If fear is something that you really struggle with, take some time to get open and honest before God. Realize that you can go to Him with your fears. Also, spend time reading your Bible. The more of God’s word you get into your heart, the more you realize there is nothing for you to fear. God has provided everything you need!

If you’ve ever worked out you know that exercise isn’t fun. It’s really hard and it’s a lot of work. However, exercise is something that helps keep you healthy. Sometimes, you’ve got to do things that aren’t fun and don’t feel good to get the results you want in your life. We know this is true when it comes to exercise and eating right. However, part of the reason God tells us to love others is because it’s healthy for us.

God knows that if we harbor a grudge, it has the potential to make us bitter. He knows that if we aren’t kind, we can become ungrateful. He knows that if we envy others we can become discontented with life. God knows us well, He knows the things that are good for us. When He tells us to love, He’s not doing it to make our lives harder. Rather God tells us to love because He knows it helps keep us healthy in our hearts. If we love, we don’t become bitter, we don’t become discontented with what we have. When we love we keep ourselves from becoming ungrateful, hateful and any other habits that are bad for our hearts. God tells us to love because He knows that love is the best way. He knows that it will help us in the long run.

Love is a complex thing, but it’s an area that is worth examining in your life. Are there areas where you’ve let seeds of discontent, anger, envy and other things grow? If so, take the necessary steps to begin the habit of love in your life. Ask God’s help for where to begin and what to do. Begin today to develop the healthy habit of love and see what God can do through you!

If you don’t want to be stressed out all the time, wondering where the money is going to come from to pay for your rent, then it would be good to set up some financial goals. Your goals don’t have to be complicated. Simply determine to save and spend less than you make. An easy way to do this is to take out some money in cash for fun. Once your fun money is spent, then you know you can’t spend any more until your next pay period. This might seem like it’s keeping you from having fun, but in reality the opposite is true.

If you want to really enjoy life, and not be stressed out about money, then choose to spend less than you make so you have money left over in case of an emergency. Goals like these will help you stay on track financially and leave you with some room to have some fun too.

When you get to be old and you’re looking back over your life, what financial decisions will you remember most? The coat that you had to have? Or that backpack that everyone at school was talking about? Or will it be the time you gave money to help missionaries touch lives for Jesus?

If you want to live a life without regrets, one step toward that is to make sound financial decisions. If you set aside money for saving and giving, you’ll find that you’ll be able to do the things that you want to. Choose to set financial goals so that you can live your life with no financial regrets.