“A new year for a new you.” We will probably hear all kinds of gimmicky statements for the next couple of weeks. And they are all geared to helping you improve on the things you just haven’t finished doing in life. I would imagine that most of us like the idea of being flawless and complete, but this side of heaven we must come to grip with the reality that – I’m NOT perfect!
Sometimes the reality of our faults and failures can zap all our energy to try to improve. After all, won’t this be just another failure in my list of failures? What’s it take to break free from that kind of thinking? For the most part – success! “Success breeds success” as the cliché goes. But this is where the vicious cycle begins…or does it?
For most of us, having a personal trainer would make all the difference between failure or success. It’s the one-on-one direction that makes the difference. The drawback is that the personal trainer probably doesn’t live in your house, or goes to work with you, or spends every waking hour reminding you of your goals. But what if you could have one that did just that? How would that change your story?
This is what God has in mind for us, and its been His plan from the beginning. For the Israelites, they were failing miserably at trying to turn over a new leaf. Around every corner was pagan idol worship, or even worse pride and greed. They got discouraged just like we can. And discouragement often leads to abandoning the plan because it's filled with hatred (towards our self perhaps), depression, frustration, worry, bitterness, etc.
But if we’ll listen to God’s “personal trainer” that He offers to live not just with us, but He invites him to live IN us, then we’ll begin to see success in a whole new way. God’s plan is designed to bring love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and even self-control! This is a life being lived under a new director; the Holy Spirit!
We receive the gift of the Holy Spirit the moment we begin to trust Jesus by following what He did, beginning with faith in who He is and obedient to His first action step by being baptized (Acts 2:38). The real challenge is trusting our new “coach,” advocate (John 14:16), helper (John 15:26), your
guide (John 16:13). Because as Paul says in Romans 6:4, “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.”
All the great coaching in the world does no good if we don’t listen to it. Listening = trusting His plan to a new life; a life that He deemed “good” as He did with everything He created. It’s good because it works, therefore we can have confidence in His guidance. 2 Corinthians 3:4-6, “Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as [ministers/ promoters] of a new plan – not [a plan of the words and rules] but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
It takes trusting in God to the point that we don’t abandon our “temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16) but get in there and begin listening to His instructions that truly bring satisfaction to our lives. John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Sunday, December 30, 2018
Friday, December 21, 2018
Christmas Kindness
Years ago, some people would tie a string around their finger to serve as a reminder to do something. Nowadays, people add reminders on
their phone for things they need to do. Reminders are helpful, and we all need them occasionally. In fact, that’s basically what the Epistles served as for the congregations scattered around Asia Minor and Europe – reminders on how to live and conduct themselves.
In my house we have a sign that serves as a reminder; it says: Live fully, Create happiness, Speak kindly, Hug daily, Smile often, Laugh freely, Seek truth, Inspire change, Love deeply. All of these are both helpful and necessary for good relationships to continue to thrive.
Similarly, Santa Clause serves as a kind of mascot for generosity. Although there may be a lot of mystery or myth associated with Saint Nicholas, or Kris Kringle, or any of his other aliases, there is still something that he represents that is a helpful reminder to us. At the root of Godly generosity is kindness. It’s giving something to someone because you genuinely want to help out or express your love and care for them – not out of obligation or bragging about it.
Kindness is a huge theme throughout the Scriptures. From King David, who wanted to show kindness to Saul’s family, so he sought out Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson (2 Samuel 9), or to Tabitha, who was always doing good and helping the poor. (Acts 9:36-39). Kindness also is one of the identifying marks of living by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) that we should strive to model.
In Ephesians 2:6-7 Paul writes, “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
God wants to show His kindness towards those who will trust in Him. Therefore, it's healthy for us to show that same kindness towards others, just as He said in John 13:34-35, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”
This is a great time of year to reflect on the many reminders of generosity and kindness. And perhaps this can be a goal for all of us to carry the Christmas “spirit” into every day that we have left on his planet.
In my house we have a sign that serves as a reminder; it says: Live fully, Create happiness, Speak kindly, Hug daily, Smile often, Laugh freely, Seek truth, Inspire change, Love deeply. All of these are both helpful and necessary for good relationships to continue to thrive.
Similarly, Santa Clause serves as a kind of mascot for generosity. Although there may be a lot of mystery or myth associated with Saint Nicholas, or Kris Kringle, or any of his other aliases, there is still something that he represents that is a helpful reminder to us. At the root of Godly generosity is kindness. It’s giving something to someone because you genuinely want to help out or express your love and care for them – not out of obligation or bragging about it.
Kindness is a huge theme throughout the Scriptures. From King David, who wanted to show kindness to Saul’s family, so he sought out Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson (2 Samuel 9), or to Tabitha, who was always doing good and helping the poor. (Acts 9:36-39). Kindness also is one of the identifying marks of living by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) that we should strive to model.
In Ephesians 2:6-7 Paul writes, “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
God wants to show His kindness towards those who will trust in Him. Therefore, it's healthy for us to show that same kindness towards others, just as He said in John 13:34-35, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”
This is a great time of year to reflect on the many reminders of generosity and kindness. And perhaps this can be a goal for all of us to carry the Christmas “spirit” into every day that we have left on his planet.
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Prosateurs 2018 Christmas Gift Catalog!
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Friday, December 14, 2018
Overcoming Evil
They say, “knowledge is power.” But sometimes it’s not good to have too much power. The 18th century historian, John Dalberg is best known for his quote, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely…” We read in Genesis 3 where Adam and Eve discovered how self-destructive the knowledge of evil can be.
When God created the earth, He built an infrastructure that could support human life. Everything from oxygen, to water, food sources, and even human relationships. But God had given a command that they should not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It’s hard to imagine what life would be like without any knowledge of good or evil.
They had seen God’s good creation, but perhaps they had never participated in doing “good” for one another. Jesus is quoted in Acts 20:35 that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Almost as if to say, there is something wonderful about doing good.
But the other side of that is that there is something awful about doing evil. Why is sin so attractive if it’s so awful? Time will answer that question best of all. In the meantime, most of us experience a lot of regrets and pain associated with poor decisions – things that God would categorize as “evil.”
God’s word helps us know how to deal with those feelings of disappointment within ourselves, as well as the feelings of guilt, depression, and grief that tend to accompany the choices of sin. This time of year, many people deal with all kinds of emotions; some good, but some bad. Although, not every bad, sad, or lonely feeling is the consequence of a sinful decision, they often have a similar solution.
It’s God’s intention that we would discover the beauty of turning to Him and His word for encouragement and support during the lowest times in our lives. Therefore, knowledge of Him actually serves as a powerful tool against the power of sin and death, as Paul states in the following passage:
Romans 6:1-11, “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of His wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined Him in His death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with Him in His death, we will also be raised to life as He was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ, we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with Him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and He will never die again. Death no longer has any power over Him. When He died, He died once to break the power of sin. But now that He lives, He lives for the glory of God. So, you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.” (NLT)
Just recognizing what hope Jesus brought to earth when he came to live, die, and overcome death. Who he is, and the love and grace he revealed to us is a powerful tool to help us overcome the woes of this world – during anytime of the year!
When God created the earth, He built an infrastructure that could support human life. Everything from oxygen, to water, food sources, and even human relationships. But God had given a command that they should not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It’s hard to imagine what life would be like without any knowledge of good or evil.
They had seen God’s good creation, but perhaps they had never participated in doing “good” for one another. Jesus is quoted in Acts 20:35 that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Almost as if to say, there is something wonderful about doing good.
But the other side of that is that there is something awful about doing evil. Why is sin so attractive if it’s so awful? Time will answer that question best of all. In the meantime, most of us experience a lot of regrets and pain associated with poor decisions – things that God would categorize as “evil.”
God’s word helps us know how to deal with those feelings of disappointment within ourselves, as well as the feelings of guilt, depression, and grief that tend to accompany the choices of sin. This time of year, many people deal with all kinds of emotions; some good, but some bad. Although, not every bad, sad, or lonely feeling is the consequence of a sinful decision, they often have a similar solution.
It’s God’s intention that we would discover the beauty of turning to Him and His word for encouragement and support during the lowest times in our lives. Therefore, knowledge of Him actually serves as a powerful tool against the power of sin and death, as Paul states in the following passage:
Romans 6:1-11, “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of His wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined Him in His death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with Him in His death, we will also be raised to life as He was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ, we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with Him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and He will never die again. Death no longer has any power over Him. When He died, He died once to break the power of sin. But now that He lives, He lives for the glory of God. So, you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.” (NLT)
Just recognizing what hope Jesus brought to earth when he came to live, die, and overcome death. Who he is, and the love and grace he revealed to us is a powerful tool to help us overcome the woes of this world – during anytime of the year!
Thursday, December 6, 2018
Who is this King of Glory?
An idiom is a statement that says something but using words that really won’t make sense without explanation. “The best of both worlds,” “Once in a blue moon,” “When pigs fly,” or “That costs an arm and a leg.” Most of us wouldn’t guess the meaning of these without some help. The same is true in most languages; in the German language they say, “You have tomatoes on your eyes.” It basically means you’re not seeing what everyone else can see.”
Or in Sweden, they say, “There’s no cow on the ice.” Which means there’s nothing to worry about. But what about scriptures? They are in there too. Things like: “kept in your word” (John 17:12), or “to walk in the Lord” (Col 2:6 - NASB). Some of these needs explaining; others don’t. But when it comes to the prophecies about Jesus… well, sometimes it’s not as obvious as we’d like them to be.
Jesus as a king, for instance. The people wanted Jesus to be their king (John 6:15), and just a week before his time had come to go to Jerusalem to die, we read in John 12:13, “[The people] took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” (which means save us), “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”, “Blessed is the king of Israel!” In spite of their recognizing him as a kind of king they’d want to rule Israel, they weren’t listening to his words. He’d been telling his followers quite often that he had to go to Jerusalem to die (Mark 8:31).
How obvious would it be to us? Consider this Psalm by David in Psalms 24 that talks in detail about this king that was coming to town.
“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob. Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty — he is the King of glory.”
Once Jesus had died, been buried, was resurrected, and had ascended into heaven, things began to make more sense the kind of kingdom he was ushering in. In Acts 2 we discover that the kingdom David spoke about wasn’t his own but a better kingdom, a kingdom of God. Take time to thank God for having a vision, and a plan of his kingdom regardless if we totally get it yet or not.
Or in Sweden, they say, “There’s no cow on the ice.” Which means there’s nothing to worry about. But what about scriptures? They are in there too. Things like: “kept in your word” (John 17:12), or “to walk in the Lord” (Col 2:6 - NASB). Some of these needs explaining; others don’t. But when it comes to the prophecies about Jesus… well, sometimes it’s not as obvious as we’d like them to be.
Jesus as a king, for instance. The people wanted Jesus to be their king (John 6:15), and just a week before his time had come to go to Jerusalem to die, we read in John 12:13, “[The people] took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” (which means save us), “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”, “Blessed is the king of Israel!” In spite of their recognizing him as a kind of king they’d want to rule Israel, they weren’t listening to his words. He’d been telling his followers quite often that he had to go to Jerusalem to die (Mark 8:31).
How obvious would it be to us? Consider this Psalm by David in Psalms 24 that talks in detail about this king that was coming to town.
“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob. Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty — he is the King of glory.”
Once Jesus had died, been buried, was resurrected, and had ascended into heaven, things began to make more sense the kind of kingdom he was ushering in. In Acts 2 we discover that the kingdom David spoke about wasn’t his own but a better kingdom, a kingdom of God. Take time to thank God for having a vision, and a plan of his kingdom regardless if we totally get it yet or not.