Sharing Life and Christ

I read these verses from Titus today. How gifted Paul was at stringing ideas together. And how confusing at times! Titus 3:4-7 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. What an amazing thought that God justifies us by His grace! I have grown a lot in Christ in recent months, and amazingly God's loving kindness becomes more awesome instead of less when I deepen my understanding of my Lord and Savior. What a thought that God showed mercy to all of us and poured out His Holy Spirit so that we might hope in eternal life!

For the last 8 months, the Lord's work in my life has been nothing short of incredible. I've been equipped with courage, strength, perseverance, and a passion for the Word that still amazes me. To be honest, these are things that I have desired for a long time, but it hasn't been until recently that they have begun to be lived out in my life. I'd like to explore some of the changes that I have made that I feel have been vitally important in fanning these flames of passion for Jesus Christ. Not that I have achieved any of this by my own doing, but choosing obedience allows the floodgates to open (if you will) and let God work through us more completely. Hebrews 12:1-2 says "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set bef...

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of Truth." 2 Timothy 2:15 I attended the gospel praise Bible study last night with Russ and this was their memory verse. I found that interesting since I've been studying 2 Timothy for the past week or so and this is one of the verses that strikes me as life altering when I consider what it says. When I think of doing my best, a lot of different things come to mind. Hard work in preparation for various music auditions, the auditions themselves, a disc golf tournament I played in, a fitness test for the Navy, etc. I look back on 25+ years and consider how many times I've done my best verses the number of times I've come up short of my potential. For most of my life, God has put it on my heart to do my best and be successful, but I was blind to the success that God most desired for me. God didn't desire musical success to be at the t...

This is in response to a discussion I had with a couple of friends a day or two ago. I pray that it is helpful and thought provoking. I looked up "glory" in the concordance and the same word is used 168 times. Within it's definition are 7 possible uses of the word. I'll list the ones that are applicable to what we are considering. Doxa is the Greek word for glory. It is said to "primarily signify an opinion, estimate, and hence, the honor resulting from a good opinion." In 2 Corinthians 3:18 and 4:6 , the word is used as being "of the character and ways of God as exhibited through Christ to and through believers." Doxazo is the Greek word for glorify which is defined as "to render glorious." It is found 62 times with 54 of those times used to mean glorifying God. It is used in Romans 8:30 , 2 Corinthians 3:10 and 1 Peter 1:8 to mean "to do honor to, to make glorious." Romans 8:30 is one of special significance since ...

Holy God, I pray that we would live in light of what Your Word tells us is the Truth. May we acknowledge ourselves as men and women who were dead. May we hold fast to the truth that Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2:26 that we are alive in Christ because God granted us repentance and we have "come to our senses." Thank you Lord that I am Yours and that You know me. I ask the question from Psalm 8:4: what am I that you are mindful of me, that you care for me? Your love for me is beyond my comprehension, Lord, yet it is undeniable. May my life be an offering of thanks and praise for the love that You have poured out to me! In Jesus Christ, Amen

I am excited to write about 2 Timothy soon. There is so much great stuff in the little bit I have read so far. For the next good while, I will be considering what it looks like to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ (chapter 2). Join me in considering this idea!

2 Corinthians 5:21 reads "For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. I pray that we may grow in understanding of just how amazing God is because of what He has done for us, is doing for us, and will do for us. I don't think I could ever stop asking myself this question. If I truly believe what this verse says, how will my life reflect that? More thoughts to come...