Posts Tagged ‘ Die daily ’
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
1 Peter 5:6, ESV
As the saying goes, He is God, and you are not.
But, amazingly, God lowered Himself to our level to become a man, to bring about our forgiveness and reconciliation, that we may be made like Him.
Submit to His will and His way, and He will lift us up.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
1 Peter 3:12, ESV
What you do matters.
What you think matters.
If you are consistently thinking impure and evil thoughts, if you are doing what you know God does not approve of, do not expect Him to answer your prayers nor rescue you from challenges.
Odds are, you created those challenges.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:5, ESV
We can try doing all sorts of things for God, but if we are not first found in Christ it will all be useless.
For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Romans 8:6-8, ESV
How easily we get caught up in our worries, wants, and walking. (Being indifferent. Alliteration is fun.)
These times are active rebellion against God. We should pay for the Father to give us the strength and wisdom to overcome in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
“For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
John 3:20-21, ESV
Many avoid accountability with others, because, honestly, they love doing their sinful acts, even while hating that it is true.
To grow in Christ requires allowing His light to shine on all parts of our lives, revealing the embarrassing, sinful things we do, say, and think.
And we need each other in this, as well.
For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12:11 ESV
“Discipline” has gained a negative reputation in recent decades, intoning punishment. However, when we think of it in terms of sports or finances we tend to realize its important good qualities.
May we see the need for discipline in every aspect of our lives, realizing that circumstances are not God punishing us but teaching us godliness and self-control.
Long for the wisdom of God, and begin feeding that longing at Proverbial Thought!
Continuing on with prayers from the Saints in history, I turn us now to Ignatius of Antioch.
It seems clear that Ignatius based this prayer on the words of Jesus from John 12:23-26 (ESV):
And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
May we become those who do not consider our lives of any worth apart from the Lord, indeed, that our lives are entirely in the hands of our God and Savior!
I am the wheat of God,
and am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts,
that I may be found the pure bread of God.
I long after the Lord,
the Son of the true God and Father, Jesus Christ.
Him I seek, who died for us and rose again.
I am eager to die for the sake of Christ.
My love has been crucified,
and there is no fire in me that loves anything.
But there is living water springing up in me,
and it says to me inwardly:
“Come to the Father.”Ignatius of Antioch, ~35-110
Find the peace of wisdom and avoid the torment of foolishness, and get started with Proverbial Thought!
You might also think of this passage after reading the poem today:
What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! 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. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 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. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Romans 7:7-25, ESV
It can be tormenting to live with such a dichotomy inside!
Yet, we know there is help!
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4: 4-7
Suddenly we find ourselves in this … peaceful torment … which leads to our hope:
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved.
Romans 8:22-24a
Praise His name!
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a peaceful torment
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my flesh and soul are at war within me
i cannot deal with it
although the Blood of Jesus set me free
this my flesh would omit
and though He has restored me completely
my flesh will not commit
yet that pushes me towards the Deity
to trust in the Spirit
and the anguish my spirit feels daily
is a peaceful torment
for with His Spirit working within me
His Peace helps deal with it
Choose wisdom, and find some at Proverbial Thought!
The poem today is based on two passages of Scripture:
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days …
Deuteronomy 30:19-20a, ESV
… and …
And [Jesus] said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Luke 9:23
Like last week’s poem discussed, we must choose every day to love God and love others, and it requires personal sacrifice.
the Choice
the Choice to be made
every single day
is to love people
or decide to hate
a decision to lie
or offer your life
or give everything
over to Jesus Christ
the Choice is in Him
to turn away from sin
and see that in Jesus
true life will begin
your Choice is the same
give up a life of pain
for a life that Jesus
can restore from blame
Find the old wisdom with a new perspective at Proverbial Thought!
One of my favorite Michael W. Smith songs is Missing Person. That song was partly inspiration for this poem.
It occurred to me, though, that with just that song it can be easy to miss the point.
For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
Philippians 3:8b-16, ESV
For a Christian who has grown stale, who feels like the passion and the power of Christ is gone, trying to get back to who we once were as a new believer is not the right focus. Our focus must always be on the One who changes us through His power and resurrection: Jesus Christ. Only then can we find that passion and power we once felt.
finding the old new self
most of us believe in power
then get comfortable and stale
we then begin to look for
that faith that now looks so pale
we start looking for that person
whom we were when we were younger
perhaps there is a reason
we are unable to get there
we are trying so hard to
get back to who we used to be
that we neglect the full truth
and our focus is on “me”
we had that power at first
because we gave up our lives
realized that it took rebirth
and giving control to Christ
let us stop trying to find ourselves
and return to what can save us
through faith a grace from God above
manifested in His Son Jesus
a simple man of God 