4:3 - This is a really interesting verse to me. There are people that try to make the gospel seem really hard and difficult to understand, but it is fairly simple. Our sin separates us from God...Jesus died to pay the price for that sin - to pay our debt...because of his death we are able to connect to God...because of God's awesome mercy and love, we live to serve Him - it's what we were made for and a natural reaction to coming into contact with Him. Really pretty simple. It is only hard to understand if you choose to live fully in this world...if you refuse to see that the only path the world offers is a path of death. The gospel is only confusing to those who refuse to see anything above themselves...those who refuse to walk the dangerous path of Christ.
4:17 - Love that! This slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory - whoa! C.S. Lewis described our lives as a bad nights stay in a cheap hotel compared to the glory of eternity with God. As hard and as crazy as this life gets...eventually it will be only a blip on the radar screen of forever living in community with God!
2 comments:
Love this in the Message – 5 - Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we're proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you.
There are other words describing us as servants to the Master. Most people don’t like to have the adjective of servant associated with them – sometimes I don’t. But I have always found that when I serve others, I am free. Not being concerned about me causes me to think of others first – exactly what Jesus want us to do.
And in can you did not know it – Christians are Transformers – (17) These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye.
That is just way too cool! Can’t wait for my lovely wife to roll her eyes at this one. :)
The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever. (Msg-18)
Peace,
j
Father, thank you so much for who you are and for allowing me to wake up another day! Thank you for my life, my opportunities, my wife, my relationships. Thank you for health and the consistent meeting of my needs. I come before you with a humble heart, asking you to forgive me for the times I've been disrespectful to my wife; for the times I have fallen short of your desires for me; for the times I have let temptation sink in. I love you and am so greatful that you are good! And because you are good, you are unable to coexist with evil, and because of that truth and your love for me, you have found a way to yank me from evil, that I might coexist with you. I love you...
Post a Comment