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I heard an incredible sermon this morning, that was part 3 of a series titled "Free." The pastor spoke from Romans about Paul's battle with the flesh and living according to the law versus living by the Spirit.
Some take-away points include: "Christianity was never intended to be normal religion." Religion tells you "what you ought to do, what not to do, and then you are toast." "The law is really good at showing us how screwed up we are." And finally, "If you walk by the Spirit, you can't focus on 'just not sinning'." Trying to keep a list of do's and don'ts is the attempt of "If only I don't sin." Whereby, walking by the Spirit begins to produce fruit that does not worry about breaking the law. I think this is particularly difficult for pastors...at least it has the danger of being difficult. The pressure. The finances. The staff. The congregation or lack thereof. The maturity of the congregation or lack thereof. Comparison to other pastors and churches. Comparison to the success of those in the seats. The struggle for those who don't show up to church consistently, but want God to do the miraculous in the life consistently. (another message today, that God has gone miles for us, but we don't give an inch for Him.....post on that later!) If it is hard for the congregation to stay focused on walking by the Spirit, then how much harder for a frustrated Pastor and leadership team! That is the plan of the enemy. It is a dual-strategy approach. Get the people frustrated so nobody shows up to church, thereby frustrating the leadership. Get the leadership frustrated so that they'll abandon the people and they'll disperse. So, to the pastor and the pew....guard against the control of the law and the failure that ensues, as none of us are perfect. Walk by the Spirit, where the worry of breaking the law doesn't not control you; and watch the fruit of the Spirit take over your life and be the story that points back to Christ, as our lives were and are intended to accomplish.
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"Sometimes you are in a cave, and no human action is able to get you out. There is something you can't fix, can't heal, or can't escape, and all you can do is trust God. Finding ultimate refuge in God means you become so immersed in His presence, so convinced of His goodness, so devoted to His Lordship that you find even the cave is a perfectly safe place to be because He is there with you." -John Ortberg, If You Want To Walk On Water, You've Got To Get Out Of The Boat I know what's been said and I understand what you heard...but in the end, it's important to live by His Word. Mine are nothing; not even worth noting; the past is not worth toting nor even quoting....we live for today for it is what we make it...we live for tomorrow, so we're still standing and do not quit.
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AuthorJust a man, attempting to fulfill God's plan. Husband, Dad, Dreamer. Blogger. Archives
June 2015
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