The Defeated Bushes

As I was finishing digging the raspberry bushes out of my yard and lamenting over my laziness in letting them take over my yard, I was still thinking about how similar to sin those raspberry bushes were. However, my thoughts were now moving in a different direction. I have heard people say, “Well, everyone has a sin that so easily entangles them. This is mine.” I have to confess it makes me sad and as I was digging and cutting down the raspberries, I realized why it makes me sad. I had the power over the bushes. I didn’t have to let them stay in the yard, I chose to let them stay in the yard. Then I started getting excited because I realized that I have the same power over sin that I had over the bushes. Sin is already defeated!! We no longer have to let it say in our life. Praise God! We can say no to sin and yes to “God-likeness." In fact, we are commanded to “throw off the sin that so easily entangles." There is no need to live defeated and in fear of sin. Staying in my house and refusing to come out would not have kept the thorns and thickets from invading the only way to keep them from occupying the yard is to take steps to make them leave. Sin may from time to time enter our life, but we don’t have to be afraid if sin or wallow in it. In Christ, sin is already defeated, we have only to make the choice to stand in the power of what Christ has already done! God's plan is for you and I to live a life victorious over sin. Now that's worth getting excited about. Who does wants to live defeated and beaten if we can live confident and victorious? I want to live confident that sin has no hold on me. I cam master sin, but it can not master me!!

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Live Fearlessly

As I was driving home today, I passed a person walking on the side of the road. Since it was cold, and snowy, I thought I should stop and offer the person a ride. As I drove on by, I was irritated with myself for not stopping. I could have and should have but I didn't. Why? I was scared! Maybe that wouldn't bother you, but I'm willing to bet there are things that make you afraid. It may be snakes or spiders that send the ticker into overdrive. Or maybe it's your job and finances that keep you up at night when you should be resting. Then again perhaps it's relationships that consume your thoughts and energy. As followers of God, we know that we are told not to be afraid. Yet we often are afraid despite everything we know. As I was driving away from a missed opportunity, I began thinking about what it is that makes us afraid. I honestly am not sure what it is that causes us to be afraid when we should be bold, but I

Tragedy: A Christian Response

I want to start by telling you a story. We were new parents. When Our oldest, a son, was about eighteen to twenty months we had another baby, a girl with brown hair and huge eyes. One day as I went to feed her, my son who may have been two at the time wandered off to another part of the house. The next thing I heard was a thud. I grabbed my baby girl and ran to see what happened. There was my son with a table on top of him. He had pulled it over on himself and more blood than I had ever seen was running all over. We put him in the car and dashed for the ER. It was not a fun trip. He had a skull fracture and many stitches. Fast forward about fourteen or fifteen years, I’m at a stop light and watch my youngest daughter about ten start across a street on a bike start across a street just as a truck comes around a corner into the path of the bike. She hit the side of the truck and bounced onto the road. I grabbed her up and checked her over there were no injuries, but

Just A Word of Praise!!

On Sunday, after church, we went to a town about thirty minutes away. On the way we drove through an area where they were working on the road. It was no big deal. We had lunch, bought some food for the week, and drove back home. Later, as we were on our way to church for the evening service, I heard the ominous flapping sound that a tire makes when it’s flat. Yikes! I pulled over and while I was debating how I was going to change a tire. A car coming in the opposite direction drove by and stopped. As the driver appeared from the vehicle, I recognized him as a neighbor and fellow believer. He approached the car, and asked if I had an air compressor to inflate the tire. My answer, “Yes, but I’m not sure how good it is. I’ve never actually managed to inflate a tire using it. I may not be using it properly.” I produced it from the trunk of the car and handed it to him. Within a few minutes, he had it hooked up and running. As it turned out, I was using it properly,

Inspirations

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