Dear God,
Lord, help me find joy and contentment in You, no matter my circumstances. I am free to live a selfless life. I am free from guilt trips. I am free from the law! Live by the Spirit, crucify your sinful nature every day. Help me love more and more. Help me see what's really going on on the Real level. To live is Christ, to die is gain. I am a citizen of heaven. Help me act like it.
Help me learn how to suffer for you.
Love,
Me
Galatians 5-Philippians 1
Christ has set us FREEE. Free from the law, not free to do what we want, but we don't have to do all these rules and stuff. Don't get tied up again in the law. Good plan!
You were running so awesomely, but now you're not because you feel you need to follow the law. Wow that sums up a lot of my life lately! It's okay to mess up. You have freedom to mess up and not feel like you're eternally condemned because you broke the law. That is thinking like you're dead! That's not the way to go.
Verse 12 BURN!
I have been CALLED to live in freedom. yessss
I need to use my freedom to serve others in love. Yesssss
Live by the Spirit. It's way awesomer than living by the sinful nature.... Oh ye-ah
What passions and desires from the sinful nature have I nailed to Jesus' cross?
God's people live in community. We share burdens we cannot lift on our own, but if we can lift them ourselves, we do so, without trying to foist it off on someone else.
I need to focus on what I'm doing, and how I'm doing. I don't need to compare myself to others or judge where other people are. I do what I can do for God, and that's all I really need to worry about. That doesn't mean I'm independent, that I never correct and never get corrected. It means when God brings something, I do it then and not before.
Skipping Eph, I just did that...
Philippians 1
Note to self: Philippians is Paul's joy letter.
Philippians 1:6 -- My classic favorite verse. It's my promise from God.
"I pray that your love will overflow more and more" Yes lord please, for me and for everybody who believes in you!
Paul doesn't see his circumstances even though he's in prison and all of that. He sees what is going on underneath: The gospel is spreading, people are believing Christ! That completely trumps every hardship Paul was enduring at that time. Lord, let me see what is going on under the surface! Let me see Your work! .
Paul has it right. He knows that to live is Christ, to die is gain. He had a real chance of dying for Christ -- and later he did-- but he knew he had things to do first.
I don't have to deal with life/death situations. But still, to live is Christ, to die is gain. How can I live that out?
Live as citizens of heaven. Same question.
We are not worthy of the Good news of Christ. We have this privilege of trusting Christ. And just as we have this privilege of trusting Christ, we have the privilege of suffering for Him too.
Am I willing to suffer for Christ?