REACHING BUT NEVER GRASPING

For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.  Romans 7:19

Body, soul, and spirit are so connected.  My spirit is often willing, even eager, to walk as Jesus walked but that is difficult when issues of body and soul enter the picture.  I remember walking around a lake near my house one morning with our dog, Freska.  It was a beautiful Spring day, the kind I love.  No humidity.  Seventy degrees.  A faint breeze.  I was rested and relaxed.  I remember saying to the Lord, out loud, “I feel like I could take on anything for the kingdom today.” Immediately I heard in my spirit, “Be careful, Christine!  Your sense of balance is precarious.”

What He meant by that is this ~ What I want to do in my spirit becomes a challenge when my body is ill, or fatigued. Continue reading “Reaching But Never Grasping” →

WHAT IS CHRISTIAN MATURITY?

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.  Romans 7:18

When a parent raises their child from infancy to adulthood, the goal is to set him free at age 21 to soar on his own.  Along the way, a family looks on and notes the child’s progress.  The dependency of a toddler morphs into growing self-sufficiency as he learns to do things on his own.  Hand-holding lessens with age.

As a human, I am prone to take earthly contexts and impose them on scriptural principles.  When I think about being mature in Christ, I believe I should no longer be dependent and needy.  I should be mature and learn to manage myself.  I should practice restraint when needed and boldness when called for.  Others should say of me, “She’s so mature in Christ.”

But this is all backwards!  Continue reading “What Is Christian Maturity?” →

WHY SIN WINS

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.  Romans 7:15

If someone asked me the question, “Would you like to be like Jesus today?” I would say yes.  That is the deepest desire of my heart.  So what happens when my desire is overridden by my next sin?  Was my intent just not strong enough?   Continue reading “Why Sin Wins” →

FALLS LIKE A SWORD, THEN SAVES

It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.  Roman 7:13

Scriptures, without application, do nothing for me.  It was the Word, falling like a sword, that opened my heart to the awareness that I was a sinner.  The Word exposed my heart, made me take a look in God’s mirror, and showed me the way home to His heart.

“People perish for lack of knowledge,” Hosea said.  My journey into the Word, who is Christ, had only just begun when I became a Christian.  Continue reading “Falls Like A Sword, Then Saves” →

LIVING AT ARMS LENGTH

But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.  Romans 7:6

“Your mother died.” When I heard those words spoken by my father, my whole world rocked.  The life drained out of me at the implication.  My next questions were, “How?” and “When?” And yet the words, “Jesus died!” can have so little meaning.  Jesus, the One I say I love more than anyone else.

Two days ago, here in Athens, Georgia where I live, a group of men stole a car and put the driver of the car in the trunk, who was able to escape out of it while the car stopped at a red light.  Continue reading “Living At Arms Length” →

AFTER ALL IS SAID AND DONE – IT’S BEAUTIFUL!

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.  Romans 7:4

Let’s not miss the forest for the trees!  After all the delicate study of law, works, grace, abundant life, sanctification and justification, it boils down to this ~ I belong to someone else now and the effect of that is changing my life everyday, forever.

Ever feel like an orphan?  You wonder where you belong.  Who will fully embrace you?  Continue reading “After All Is Said And Done, It’s Beautiful!” →

WHAT HAPPENED TO PASSION?

For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.  Romans 7:5

Passion can be evil.  It can also be good.  It is a neutral thing.  When I became aware of the law (the moral code of what is good and bad), my passion was ignited to break the rules.  Tell a child not to do something and rebellion is ignited.  Passionately, I wanted to do what was not good for me.  Satan knew how to prepare sin’s party so that it looked inviting; looked like it was tailor-made for me. Continue reading “What Happened To Passion?” →

DEATH TO THE LAW

Or do you not know, brothers ~ for I am speaking to those who know the law ~ that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives?  You have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.  Romans 7:1,4

Each person has been born under the burden of moral law.  I have a conscience.  I know when I’ve sinned.  Embarrassed, I hide my sins and failures.  I know that I’m deeply flawed, evidenced by my early discomfort around God.  This moral code is binding.  The bar is set so high that there is no way I can possibly live up to it.  Nevertheless, I tried.  I hid my sins and flaunted self-righteous attempts to look good to others and God.  It didn’t work. Continue reading “Death To The Law” →

THE OTHER SIDE OF REGRET

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.  Romans 6:22

Yesterday’s devotional prompted a lot of you to write to me.  Regret was a powerful topic and most of you expressed why you struggle with it.  You are not having trouble moving on for your own sake, but for the sake of those you hurt.  The consequences of past choices are ever in front of you in the lives of family and friends who are still paying for your bad choices. Continue reading “The Other Side of Regret” →

IF ONLY I COULD GO BACK

But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed?  For the end of those things is death.  Romans 6:20

What are the things you regret?  Regret is a powerful emotion and if I choose to live in it without having placed all my hopes in a God who redeems, I will become depressed and withdrawn.  There were words spoken that I can’t take back.  There were a series of selfish acts that seemed so small at the time but yielded great pain for those around me.  That is the cruelty of sin; what looked like no big deal led me to do it a second time, then a third, and it wasn’t long before guilt became my ever constant companion.  I have thought many times, “If only I could go back and do it right!” Continue reading “If Only I Could Go Back” →