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WHAT DO DIETS & ELEPHANTS HAVE IN COMMON? PART 2

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Romans 6:14-16a NLB

“Sin need never again be your master, for now you are no longer tied to the law where sin enslaves you, but you are free under God’s favor and mercy. Does this mean that now we can go ahead and sin and not worry about it? (For our salvation does not depend on keeping the law, but on receiving God’s grace!) Of course not! Don’t you realize  you can choose your own master? You can choose sin (with death) or else obedience (with acquittal)

So, as I said yesterday, when tempted to follow our propensities, we need to refocus! Quick! Before our thoughts of ice cream and chocolate fudge syrup get the best of us! You see, what we think about it is what we will do. Paul gave us the secret in verse 14, when he reminds us we are free from sin…from poor choices… after we’ve received God’s forgiveness through Christ Jesus.

But we forget that we are free.

file0001097846332Like the baby elephant named Dufus, a cute and energetic little guy, born into the circus. At birth, the keeper chained Dufus to a stake in the ground. With a desire for freedom, he pulled against the chain and felt the painful resistance.  Having no idea God created him to overcome the resistance, Dufus soon submitted to the insignificant power of the chain. He gave up his freedom and submitted to a lie.

The lie we often submit to is one straight from the pit of hell!  You know, the lie that says we can’t break free from the chains of our past, or the sin that beckons us today.  Unlike the circus elephant, we can know the truth, and that truth will set us free! The truth is this:  Jesus already paid the price for our sin, and the moment we accept Him, He sets us free. Our chains to sin have been broken. The power to overcome is in us, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

“Sin need never again be your master, for now you are no longer tied to the law where sin enslaves you, but you are free under God’s favor and mercy.”

So, let’s you and I not be a Dufus. Let’s recognize that we are free from the power of sin. We are not tied to it anymore. Because once the Son has set us free – we are free indeed!

 Until next time,

Your Traveling Partner,

Brenda

WHAT DO DIETS & ELEPHANTS HAVE IN COMMON? PART 1

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Why is it that when we’re on a diet, high calorie foods we didn’t eat even before the diet, suddenly starts calling our name? And don’t go to a circus! The smell of funnel cake, popcorn, and hot dogs will seriously drive you crazy!  Can I get an amen?

BANANA SPLITAnd what is it about a banana split – which I’ve never even liked – that becomes a powerful craving the day I commit to losing a few pounds? Ah-ha! Paul warned us about that too. He understood when he said, 
“I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.” Romans 7:15 NLT

We were ALL born with a nature to do wrong…with a propensity to sin.  We can’t help it. It’s in our DNA. Just like my brown eyes came from my mama’s side of the family, and my short stubby finger came from my dad’s side, my sin nature came to me the same way – handed down through the ages all the way back to the first humans on earth. I don’t like it. I tried to pretend that sin nature wasn’t there. We all do, at least at first. Even worse, we try to justify it. It’s ok to do whatever we have a hankering for because we were born that way. Like being addicted to sugar, and eating a banana split anyway after I promised not to. You’ll notice the more we think about that wrong thing we want to do, the more likely we are to do it…again!

Or worse still, we still try to justify it. “Banana is a fruit. Nothing wrong with fruit. God specifically said for us to eat it”, I reason! It’s the other ingredients in a banana split, which gets me in trouble. Doing whatever we crave, just because we were born with that propensity, is not ok. So, how do we overcome those specific propensities that tempt us?

We remember. Like Dufus, a circus elephant I’ll tell you about tomorrow, we have to learn to live in the freedom that Christ has already given us.

A freedom from sin…not a freedom to sin. A freedom to do what is right because we have the power to overcome it. Like right now, I’m free from drooling over that bowl full of ice cream, chocolate fudge syrup, cherries, nuts, whipped cream, and even a banana thrown in the somewhere.

Until tomorrow,

Your Traveling Partner,

Brenda