OCTOBER 10, 2016

“Any person who only sticks with Christianity as long as things are going his or her way, is a stranger to the cross” 
― Timothy J. Keller

ISAIAH 43-44

I have made you, you are my servant;

Israel, I will not forget you.

22I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,

your sins like the morning mist.

Return to me,

for I have redeemed you.” (44:21-22) 

COLOSSIANS 2

9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh^b was put off when you were circumcised by^c Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead

JOURNAL 

There are times when I truly get the gospel and am overcome by God's redemption of my heart. Then there are times when I seem to forget it completely and I am swept away by the concerns of this world. I am overcome by the worries of today rather than the power and grace of God.  I guess the reality is that all men suffer from this flip-flop in thoughts and emotions. That ultimately is part of the faith journey and is why we are commanded to have compassion because all men fail and all men betray. It is the way of the world...yet the spirit of God lives within and God's spirit ultimately conquers all sin and all evil. This is the internal war of the mind and the heart. It is constantly being waged and God promises that his love and power will give us victory over the selfishness and death that battle for our hearts and minds.

12So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13No temptation^c has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted^d beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,^e he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

1 CORINTHIANS 10:12-13