Abundant

When I look over the previous 2 posts, it looks like I’ve been pursuing a theme. Hopefully, this 3rd installment brings the whole thing full circle. Realizing the link and progression of suffering, obedience and how it’s beneficial in the pursuit of building faith, along with using that proper alignment to subdue our flesh that relentlessly seeks after its own understanding, desires, comforts, etc. Of course, we could boil the REASONING down to ‘virtue is its own reward’, but let’s not do that. Let’s not deny that there’s more.

Here’s The Word:

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

This is where we need to take note of the subtle craftiness of ‘the thief’. When Satan was in the garden with our parents, Adam and Eve, He was about stealing, killing and destroying. How did he do it? By giving. He convinced them of a desire that should be fulfilled and offered the fulfilment. If they’d thought about obedience and building their faith, they would’ve known to suffer without giving into the enemy’s temptation. If they’d realized and understood the selfishness of that influence, their spirit could’ve won over their flesh. However, Satan knew what they didn’t, and therefore was able to make them forfeit the abundant life they’d already been enjoying. Jesus has come to restore and give life.

Often times we look at prophecy in the context of the eternal state, when all wrongs are righted and all tears are wiped away. But what about now? Does the long view cause us to miss something more near and currently available. I think so. I agree that ultimately, the abundant life IS indeed the life eternal. I also think there’s a richness that can be gleaned from the benefits of suffering, understanding the strength of fleshly pursuits and fighting them with spiritual strengthening that work together to bring glimpses of the future abundant life to the here and now.

I submit to you that if there was ever one word to describe the abundant life, that word is perfect. Right? But doesn’t the bible already encourage us to pursue perfection? It does. And of course, it won’t all be truly perfect until we’re free from the forces that necessitate our struggle, we can still get to a place more abundant than most of us experience due to our choices.

Adam and Eve slipped up when they allowed themselves to be convinced that they didn’t have something worth having. They’re contentment was discontented. This should be the root of our pursuits – contentment in Christ; working to BE what He’s called and empowered us to be and nothing more or less. This is the root of perfection and the abundant life. I think of the apostle Paul, who went through more than most of us can even imagine, being imprisoned until his eventual execution. How could he write of being content? As much as Paul was ready to die having fought the good fight, I can’t help but believe that God helped Paul embrace that perfect, contented, Abundant life.

Here’s The Word:

1 Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

James 1:4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Take a look at the picture above. Somehow, the enemy convinced Adam and Eve that being sheep lacked something worthwhile. He’s still at it today. When we think of our relationship to Christ, we’d like to imagine it as a few other things than sheep and Shepherd. Maybe Adam and Eve thought that they would have something to offer God. Maybe they thought they could be of more help to Him. If we're being REALLY honest, we often feel that way. We want God to notice and appreciate our individuality and what we offer to His work. I don't think they, or any of us ever attempt to get on God's bad side. The temptation to desire apart from God's provision; that’s the beginnings of a slippery slope, or an enticing bite…..don’t bite. Only He alone has the abundant life and it’s not a negotiation, its sheep and Shepherd.


In Him,
Cros

Spirit_VS_Flesh

I need to thank my pastor, Kyle for giving me the intro to this week’s post.
I don’t know exactly how to phrase it but when I was younger, certain passages in Scripture confused me. But not how you think: They actually made sense in a way and I was happy enough thinking to myself, “I understand” but now that I’m older, I now give more value to things that I can understand AND ALSO apply rather than just getting a correct intellectual or theological viewpoint.
This is what I mean. In a reflective way, I didn’t realize that there was more sense to be made of so many things - Only now can I admit to a disconnect that I didn’t even realize was there before. So keep reading The Bible and keep praying for wisdom. The verses will have a way of pulling you higher as you mature.

Here’s The Word;

Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

It’s one thing to come to grips with our duality – spirit and flesh. But then what?
In the verses prior to Matthew 26:41, we see Our LORD in heavy sorrow about his impending crucifixion. He asks Peter, John and James to watch and pray with him but they all fall asleep. I imagine His heaviness mixed with gracious pity as He asks “You couldn’t even give me an hour?” – Then He says, “Be careful for yourselves; the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” (Paraphrased)

How much time, attention and discernment do we give to our opposing natures?
This is a piggyback of last week’s “Suffering” where we allow, or rather permit or engage ourselves in the strengthening of our spirit by denying what we usually give in to.

Here’s the benefit of that hindsight viewpoint: The Matthew verse says that the flesh is weak, and of course that’s true. However, in a different sense, it’s not that the flesh is weak, it’s that it’s SUPER STRONG in valuing its comfort and seeking after things that provide quick satisfaction. The disciples fell asleep because they were SO tired. Has the strength of your tiredness ever won over your responsibility to do something you needed to do?
Our only answer is to start living different: Give favor and precedent to one and to starve the other. Well, maybe not starve but to be fully aware of the “temptation” that lures our flesh to fall.

The flesh and the spirit are of two different minds and it’s a daily fight to suppress flesh and promote spirit. And thanks be to God because I would not have you misled, it’s not easy, but it gets easier if that makes any sense. You simply have to recognize the ways that flesh falls and fails us when it comes to strengthening our spirit.

Here’s The Word;

1 Peter 4 1:2 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

2 Peter 2 18–19 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

Here’s a few differences between the flesh and spirit – I’m sure after reading this list, you’ll see a few more from your own lives:

The flesh looks to be affirmed, where the spirit looks to be consecrated. The flesh makes shady deals, where the spirit stands in integrity. The flesh’s strength is in its desires, the spirit’s strength is in faith. The flesh is anxious, where the spirit is patient. The flesh is wanton, where the spirit is satisfied. The flesh is boastful, where the spirit is humble. The flesh speaks spitefully, where the spirit speaks considerately. The flesh looks to be pitied, where the spirit is sober. The flesh complains about being shamed, the spirit rejoices in being corrected. The flesh worries about lack, where the spirit is generous. The flesh is scared, where the spirit casts cares. The flesh knows guilt, where the spirit knows pardon. The flesh embraces envy, where the spirit embraces contentment. The flesh is tired, where the flesh is inspired. The flesh looks to conceal, where the spirit is free through confession. The flesh is reckless, where the spirit is wise. The flesh is subject to anger, where the spirit promotes peace. The flesh wallows in despair, where the spirit shines in hope. The flesh rejects subjection, the spirit follows The Shepherd. The flesh will end up as a victim where the spirit leads to victory!

The strength of the spirit is The Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; According to this, you have to give effort to keeping your spirit filled by the Spirit

Galatians 5:16-17 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

In Him,
Cros

Suffer

Here’s a situation where I think the mis-interpretation of Scripture has had a lasting skewing effect of what life is really supposed to be.

Here’s The Word;

Psalm 23:1 – 6 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

If you’ve grown up in or around church, these are six verses that you become very familiar with, very early on. The regrettable part is that it’s SO captivating and desirable in its rhythm and flow that we immediately anchor ourselves to the idea that “This is what life is supposed to be like”.
I believe that this is one of the main verses that birthed the “Prosperity Gospel”, promoting the belief that we should have everything we want, never experiencing fear or lack, seeking to shock our enemies with how God blesses us, and everything will be all good for me, ‘as it is in Heaven.’

But to that I say, – Do yourself a favor and go read the chapter before that, Psalm 22. When you come back…let’s talk.

Thing is, when we isolate Scripture, we lose context. This leads to confusion in regards to our life experiences. We don’t know how to make sense of suffering. We tend toward one extreme or the other: We think that God is either actively punishing us, or we’ve made Him SO mad that He’s no longer listening. We fail to embrace that there’s a good side to suffering.

Here’s The Word;

Hebrews 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

Define suffering.

What’s the last situation in which you suffered? Are you suffering now?
Trust me, I don’t mean to be condescending, some people are indeed suffering right this very minute:
Relationships that have gone sour presenting immediate as well as lasting consequences.
Employment situations that push us mentally to the brink of depression.
Worrisome financial matters that don’t seem to have an end in sight.
Physical ailments. The list goes on. This world offers more than a few relatable situation where “suffering” is the appropriate description.

God’s word speaks to our suffering – we can suffer adversity and persecution. We can suffer as a consequence of our faults, as well as corporate or individual tribulations. We usually lump our sufferings all together and label them ‘trials and tribulations’. Even still, we play up the tribulations and downplay the trials. I think if we learned to embrace the trials aspect, we’d have better opportunity to consider the good of our suffering. Seeing them as the necessary thing to prove and build our faith, rather than just trying to not “give up” until they’ve run their course.

Attaining to a higher view of our circumstances will widen our understanding of “suffering for righteousness”.

Again, here’s another one of those ideas that we pigeon hole to meaning one thing; “suffering for righteousness” means being mocked or ridiculed with hostility as we try and let our witness shine.
This is a short-sighted view.
The Bible uses the word suffer in a few different ways – in its context it may mean tolerate, allow, or endure.
Think of those words with the idea of God growing your faith as you remain obedient during the trials of life. If we're honest, we're ALL used to taking control, but God, in our sanctification, allows situations where we’re not in control, the suffering for our increased righteousness involves us “enduring” through it, meaning – growing in patience and trusting that God WILL work it out in HIS way and in HIS time to a resolution that may look worlds different than anything we had in mind. That’s suffering for righteousness sake. Suffering is not just being harassed by an outward situation, it’s also the inward resisting of handling things your own way and letting God have His way in resolving your outside as well as your inside.

Here's The Word:

1 Corinthians 6:7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?

Philippians 4:12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

There’s a link between suffering, obedience and the strengthening of faith that results. – This connection is usually lost because of how we define suffering. The more we examine ourselves, the more we see the need to build up or faith. Build up our trust in God by the suffering that comes from denying ourselves. Denying giving in to old desires, old ways of thinking, old ways of just leaning to our own understanding. The strength that allows us to grow in our commitment to continue in well doing in areas that would’ve usually caused us to enter into contention and conflict, rather than realize a growing Christ-likeness.

1 Peter 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

I try not to beat these dead horses for too long. I also don't like walking away from things feeling like I may have caused more confusion than clarity. Pray for me.
At the end of it all. If we belong to Christ, and we're growing in Him, our sufferings can be a beautiful thing. Trust me, I know how contrary that sounds but if we focus on what He's making instead of how it feels....it's life changing.
In closing, make sure that Psalm 23, as beautiful as it is, hasn't given you rose colored glasses. There's always Psalm 22 and others to help us see rightly.
If the picture at the top is confusing, I used it because of this following verse from Acts 5. It's where certain apostles were arrested and beaten for proclaiming the name of Jesus. I believe this can be seen two ways - first that they were just excited to suffer for Jesus. Secondly, they saw what they were becoming; men transformed, no longer afraid. Stronger faith. Having more joy in obedience than fear of suffering.
Acts 5:41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

Romans 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

....and that's reason to rejoice!

In Him,
Cros

Communicate

What is love?

Big question right? Don’t worry, we’re not about to tackle such a large idea, just yet. Thing is, depending on who you ask and the “time” of life they’re in, you’re likely to get widely varying answers. We talk a lot. We talk about a lot of things, but how often do we talk about how we talk? Communication as a concept may seem easy, but we know how untrue that can be.
Being (or becoming) a better communicator all boils down to knowing who you are as an individual and how you weigh things.

Gary Chapman is a name you may recognize. He wrote the book, The 5 Love Languages. This was followed up by another book, The 5 languages of Apology. And again, another book, The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace. What gives here? Looks like Gary’s on to something. People differ and they not only differ on things like love, apology and appreciation, these difference point to something deeper: how we communicate in general. People who don't love or apologize the way you do aren't wrong, they're just different. The same goes with communicating, even though we have preferences, we shouldn't be quick to qualify (or quantify) the efforts of others.

Why do I write this blog? Am I trying to get you to DO something?
Maybe, sometimes.
How I write and speak gives obvious insight into the kind of communicator I am. I also contend, and probably even more so that I reveal the type of communicator I am with all of my nonverbal cues as well…as does everyone else.

I remember this question being brought up that fits in well here –
'Do you listen to hear, or do you listen to respond?'
Hopefully, this question causes you to reflect on what kind of communicator you are? What’s most valuable to you when it comes to giving and receiving various types of information? The confusing thing in all of this is that most of us use words like “understanding”, not realizing that our understanding is not one fixed thing. It varies based on what we’re looking to understand.
Do you more look for (and give) direction? Is it empathetic connection (to console or be consoled)? To traject feelings of blame or conviction? Is it to establish order? Or maybe you’re looking to be received and appreciated…known.
It’s not my intention to list all the possible goals that direct how people communicate. Heck, I’m sure I couldn’t even if I wanted to.
It is an important thing to consider. Why? We crosstalk with each other all the time, and we know the feeling of frustration that arises when it seems that someone isn’t “hearing” us. We can end up taking it personally when what’s really happening is the recipient is hearing and communicating in their language, not ours.
Which leads to the next thing – how do you react or respond (verbally or otherwise) during a disconnect: When the message isn’t being received or conveyed as intended? Do you blow up, shut down, deflect, turn in, condescend, plead, appease, ignore or just resort to doing what you know even though that may not have been your intention, or that of the other communicator.

We’re all “IN” relationship with one another, and it’s sad how a relationship can start off so alive and vibrant with an abundance of happy feelings and hope, only to deteriorate and crash against the rocks because of the effects of mis-communication. I believe that most of this can be either avoided or at least lessened by being honest and adapting how we approach communication and what we expect from it.

Here’s The Word;

Proverbs 17:27 He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.

James 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath

2 Timothy 2:7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

1 Corinthians 14:20 Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.

Luke 24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

There are SO many verses in Scripture that expose communication and reveal God’s heart on providing understanding and knowledge. Even God Himself has a direction and a purpose for His communication. In the commandments and laws we see Him communicating “Do” or “Do not”. In the Proverbs we see Him communicating connection and order (wisdom). In other places like Job and Jeremiah 9 we see Him communicating to be received and appreciated.

There are many different types, forms and goals in communication, but at the end of it all, we, like God Himself, communicate with one overarching goal in mind. Unity. We communicate that we may see one thing together, it could be as simple as getting a thing done or drawing closer to each other for a deeper enjoyable experience. To do this, we need to know what kind of communicator we our as well as the kind of communicator we’re communicating with. This includes our verbals as well as our non-verbals. If I didn't mention "your" particulars earlier, it doesn't mean that you're off the hook. It just means that you'll have to be more diligent in identifying things for yourself....and be honest.

In the Spiritual Gifting department, I’m a teacher. So most of the time, I communicate that way: Sometimes it's do or don't do. Sometimes its hear and understand. In this blog, my desire is to have us look at ourselves and how the Word of God speaks to unifying His purpose with His people. That we would seek clarity to unclutter the way to give ourselves to His intentions. This has become my most of the time.
Away from the blog, I engage and I try to listen more. Admittedly, I listen more to be sympathetic, but ready to capitalize on how to direct things toward uplifting Christ. God is a patient and relentless communicator. He listens and He's consistent about speaking Himself to our understanding and even supernaturally opens our eyes to see it. My prayer is that we would become such; To not just talk about how we think, but to think about how we talk (verbal or non-verbal) - committed to communication for unity sake as God has reconciled us and is actively unifying us in Christ as Christ is in Him.


In Him,
Cros

Dirt

Here’s The Word:

Luke 8:5-8 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

I absolutely love this. Why? Because of the initial assessment that we’re ALL some form of dirt(or ground). We have no reason in ourselves to glory in anything other than the grace of God that changes rocky hearts to the kind of soft, nutrient-rich dirt that produces an abundance of fruit. This is one of the wonderful times in Scripture where a parable is given and its clear interpretation immediately follows. I find it interesting because it seems that we've created some sort of mental connection between clarity and ease, but I don’t think that’s the case. The truth behind God being distinctly clear only tells me that He really wants us to understand and pursue being the right kind of dirt. Not easy, but worth it.

So, this parable talks about God Himself as the sower. A sower with good seed. And as the sower, He doesn’t just want to throw seed out; He wants what seed produces. Fruit. However, there’s an equation involved – seed plus (what) equals fruit?
The big question in this may be –Why doesn’t He just throw the seed to the good soil? Because that’s not the point of the parable. This parable is given to us, for our benefit. This is for us to examine ourselves and be honest about how receptive (rich soil) we are to receive and reproduce. In our self-assessment, we have to admit to being one of four types of ground and this is where we should take serious inventory. Here's the four aforementioned "dirts".

Wayside – the first ground is “the wayside”. Here’s where I need to clarify something: often times we read The Bible and immediately we put on our “Bible minds”. We become overly theological and in so doing, remove the practicality of how this really touches our everyday lives. SO I’m going to try something – I’m going to relate these “grounds” to Facebook people. People you may or may not know….or even people that may be you.
Wayside people don’t have to be cold, heartless, God haters. They may be pleasant people in many ways but the seed, the fruit-producing Word of God has ZERO place in their lives. They may be healthy and fit, cordial and kind and peaceful and pleasant but it’s got nothing to do with Jesus. They may just have a moral responsibility about themselves to be the best “them” they can be. They don’t attack people for their beliefs, they just don’t have room for that kind of stuff in their lives. They’re not oblivious to the idea of Jesus and “all that”, just no receptivity to The Gospel and therefore no personal use which produces zero fruit for The Sower.

Now Rocks are better than wayside, but it’s by no means a done deal. Here we get a good idea of the persistence of the ‘good seed’. It actually does an initial “take”, even in rocks. This signifies a person who may look the part on the surface. They may post things that give “shout outs” to God, Jesus and things like that. They may “Like” and say “Amen” to the popular stuff on Facebook. Yet there is no real depth in their lives to sustain a real fruit-producing relationship.
They’re Facebook page is all over the place. They’re likely to have lots of friends and may very well be highly intellectual and knowledgeable about many things. See, it’s hard to recognize what lies beneath the surface. This parable only implies that the “wayside” are unsaved. Rocks may be saved just not consistently Christian in a way that produces lasting fruit.

Thorns – to me, the thorn ridden ground has a tragic existence; The seed “springs up” offering promise but then there’s something more sinister going on – for them, the seed is in contention with other “growing” things. For these people, life doesn’t reflect a consistent progress in good directions. These are most people. They experience ups and downs where they can shout a hearty Amen one minute and fall into a relentless anxiety the next. They’re trying to navigate being a comfortable balance of “Christian” but not overly religious so they can still embrace unprofitable things they enjoy. They’ll start a post asking for prayer or consignment to a blessing one day and something profane the next. The Bible asks the question as to whether a spring produce fresh and bitter water at the same time (James 3:11) It can’t – This is where God clarifies that the fruit, bears witness of the seed. These people may not be trying to be counterfeit, but because they’re not allowing patience to have its perfect work (James 1:4-8) they are not allowing The Sower to be pleased in His Word not returning to Him void. They may even consider some of their thorns to be blessings – but that’s a different blog for a different time.

Good ground – this is what we should all be striving to be. If we can really receive what this means, we won’t be trying to promote ourselves as “Good”. We still know that we’re dirt. However, we’re dirt with a purpose; providing fruit back to The Sower. If we take this parable to heart, we see that being good dirt is not easy. What’s easy is allowing the thorns to stay because we’re used to them. Or letting the thorns stay because someone else is used to them. Or letting the thorns stay because we have a hard time being honest about what they are and letting The Sower cultivate good ground in us.

God clarifies His parable: Here’s His Word:

Luke 8:11-15 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

At the end of the day, this is not about judging, it's about taking inventory.

Don't just be saved, desire and put effort into being GOOD DIRT!

In Him,
Cros

Die-ette

Okay, I'm going to try something ....a little different.
But before I jump in, I need to make this clear. I don't doubt that you're probably already on to me and my clever word-play introduced in the title but even still, allow me to explain: You know the suffix "ette"? it means "little one" and denotes a lesser thing in relationship to the idea that there's already something more pronounced in play. A kitchenette couldn't be a small kitchen if there was no such thing as a kitchen that we already understood as the bigger thing, right? Sometimes my blog posts can be considered to be sermonettes because they don't (or aren't supposed to ) last nearly as long as sermons. And if you've been on a long flight somewhere, just before landing, the attendants don't hand you a full-size towel....right, you get a moist towelette.

Think about it. If we're honest, we have to admit that we spend a lot of time trying to negotiate the terms of our new life in Christ. At least it feels like it. I'm pretty sure it looks like it as well. We have that old man, the flesh, still influencing things. Still craving things. Still trying to go after all of the things we're used to - notoriety, pleasure, comfort, etc. And we wonder why it seems something is amiss when we're trying to lay aside the weight of besetting sins (

Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

). Yet we know that something about us is supposed to be verifiably different and please hear me, I'm not saying that we don't have a true desire to let Christ shine in us: Somehow at the end of it all, I think our real problem is that we resist the dying.

Dying? ...and this is the part that has me scratching my head. You know that as sinners (born into it) we were dead IN our trespasses and sin (

Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

) we didn't have to die into it. Zero effort. However, now that we've crossed over from death into life (1 John 3:14), we are told to mortify our members, (

Colossians 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry

) . In some very real ways, Scripture is telling us to die - but when you think about it, it's really telling us to die-ette.
How is this? You see Christ DIED once for all Romans 6:10. This means that there is already something more pronounced in play. He not only died, He died OUR deaths! He died the death that we deserved!
You will never experience the death that Christ died; He experienced the full wrath of God poured out on Him in a day that would've taken an eternity if poured out on you. He experienced separation that had never happened before...ever. And when you consider the physical pain, mental torment and spiritual heaviness - those things combined to make His death the single most unimaginable suffering anyone ever experienced. So when we look at our own personal situations, and we think of the struggles we have with overcoming the temptations of sin in our lives, thinking how much of a problem we have with dying....we're really making much of a die-ette (that even though it requires real effort), it pales in comparison to dying.

But glory be to God. As much of an ordeal it was for Christ, in dying, The Spirit that raised Him from THAT death, is alive and at work in you (Romans 8:11) to be WAY MORE capable and effective in experiencing victory in your die-ette. Just like a real diet, the key is to be humble, honest and informed about what's really happening. 1 Corinthians 10:23 says All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient - meaning that discernment, spiritual discernment is the key (1 Corinthians 2:14). We also need to FEED on the Word of God like our new lives depend on it. It does!
In closing, I pray that we would keep the full understanding of what Christ's Die-ing means in light of us being raised with Him and that we would take our die-ette seriously.


In Him,
Cros