Romans 8 (Part 2/3)

What is the difference between lukewarm people and fully devoted followers of Christ? It's a mindset. When you submit to Christ, you are no longer controlled by the sinful nature but by the Spirit. You can't have both. Paul says that sinful nature equals death, while the Spirit equals life and peace.


I grew up in a church that preached grace more than truth. We learned that God saved us by sending Jesus, we accept Him in our hearts, and we are forgiven so that one day we can go to Heaven. Well that's good stuff and all, but (in my opinion) grace is not a one-way street.


By accepting God's grace, that should lead us to changes in our old behavior. Verse 12 says that we have an obligation to live according to the Spirit. But unfortunately, there are many who believe they can receive grace yet continue living according to their own selfish desires. Paul says that those who are led by the Spirit are sons and daughters of God. It's says led. Are you allowing the Spirit to lead you? To guide and direct your path? Have you truly surrendered your life over to Christ or are you holding some back? The Spirit works like a GPS system. It was a gift from Jesus when He left the earth. But you have to activate it, keep it charged, and plug in a destination in order for it to work. Sadly, many are driving through life with their GPS thrown in the glovebox. It's there as a comfort, but they are not utilizing the device at all.

There's a song by Kenny Chesney that irritates me. It says, "Everybody want to go to heaven, but nobody want to go now." However, the whole creation has been groaning. What does that mean? The Bible compares it to a woman in labor. Creation is waiting to be redeemed. As true believers and followers, we should be eagerly awaiting the day when we receive new bodies. The day when Christ, the hope of glory, returns to make us co-heirs with Him.

But if you're living like the rest of the world, maybe you're not ready to go. My hope for you is that you're not ready to go yet, because you realize there is so much more work left to do.

"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." ~Jesus

Romans 8 (Part 1/3)

This chapter brings back so many memories. I'll be blogging on Romans 8 for a few days since there's too much to share in one run-on blog. This chapter is the main reason I decided to look into my lukewarm-ness. Or aka Practical Atheism (btw Craig Groeschel's new book is coming out soon!).

Everyone (from OK at least) remembers the April 19, 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. It was a sad tragic day that took the lives of 168 people. One of those people was Victoria Texter.

My family knew Victoria pretty well. She was in my parents' Sunday school class. She had "bought" me in an auction to clean her windows. Her son went to school with my brother. We had even seen Vicky the night before at a junior high awards assembly. It was my dad's birthday, and (like most days) I was ready to go eat. They were talking with Vicky and her husband. Impatiently, I hurried them along to the car. They said their goodbyes, not knowing it would be the last time.

Fast forward to the next day. I was on a school bus when the bombing happened. It wasn't until later that day I found out Vicky worked at the Murrah building. And she was missing. That night, I got down on my knees in my bedroom, and prayed with everything I had in me. I fully believed God would save her. Several days went by and her body was one of the last to be found.

My heart sank. Why hadn't God answered my prayer?? I was a good Christian girl. I went to church, memorized scripture, and tried not to cuss. What more could He ask of me? Then I came across Romans 8:5-11. The words on the page pierced my heart, and I had to ask myself this tough question. Do I really belong to Christ? Yes I had made a decision at the age of 7, but did I really belong to Christ? If I examined my life, I wasn't controlled by the Spirit, but by my sinful nature. Therefore, I could not please God. In fact I wasn't even sure if God lived in me.

It was the first time I had ever questioned my relationship with God. I began digging through scriptures, and found myself very lacking. I put on a good Christian front, but was really living by the world's standards rather than God's.

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? ~2 Corinthians 13:5

Too often I don't think anyone can tell the difference between nonbeliever and believers. Collectively, we've become a society of cultural Christians. We go to church and do our thing, but we don't wanna be considered "radical." Preaching and leading others to Christ is left to the pastors. After all, they're getting paid for it. Meanwhile, I picture God shaking His head, knowing He has created us for so much more than this.

Romans Ch.7

In this chapter, Paul continues to talk about the struggle with sin. But didn't we just cover that in the previous chapter? Why does he feel the need to address it again? Because so many of us Christians can easily identify with his words. We have a desire to do good but can't carry it out. Or we try to stay away from sin but get hooked by it repeatedly.

When you gave your life to Christ, your former self died. But some of us are still carrying around our old, lifeless selves. Whenever I am tempted by my former sins, I imagine myself being handcuffed to a dead body. Forced to drag it around. Carry it to work and to church. It serves as a morbid, but sobering reminder of what sin is. It's simply dead weight that God wants us to leave behind.

Here's another illustration I found while at school. We have a lizard named Larry who lives in the library. (Love the alliteration there!) One day Larry (accepted Christ and) shed his old skin. However, there was a problem. Not all of the skin came off. On the top of Larry's head was the final piece, but it was stuck on his little lizard horns. He did his best to get it off by himself, but eventually the librarian had to come to his rescue. She removed the dead skin, and Larry was a happy lizard again.

In verse 4 Paul talks about dying to the law through Christ so that we might bear fruit to God. It doesn't say we die to the law so that we can do whatever we feel like. But how can we bear fruit if we have something stuck to us? It becomes our focus. And it becomes our discouragement if we can't get rid of it. I said it yesterday. I'll say it today. Find someone who will help you. Larry would still be miserable if the librarian hadn't been there to help him.

Many people have come to this roadblock in their walk with Christ and unfortunately have given up. Please press on. I relate it to playing guitar. When I first started learning guitar, it was so much fun. Then I met the F chord. (And I know why it's called that.) No matter what I did, I could not get the strings to play properly. It was frustrating, but I practiced each day (sometimes only for 10 minutes or so). With each day, my fingers grew stronger. One day I was playing the chord and a glorious sound returned to my ears. I'd finally gotten the result I was looking for.

Your sin struggle is not about winning the war. It's about the little battles you face everyday. Taking captive your thoughts. Avoiding certain places. Opening up to your accountability partner. Spending time in the Word. And eventually you'll be strumming along and this glorious sound of God's freedom will resonate within your heart.

Romans Ch.6

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ
When you accept Christ as the Lord of your life, Paul says that your old self is crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with. Notice it says crucified. It doesn't say vanished, died immediately, or removed quickly. It's very often a painful process when you've been living a certain way and are called to change. Just ask a gossip, a drug addict, an alcoholic, or someone addicted to porn.

In verse 18 Paul states, "You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." So we're set free, only to become slaves again? Some people have a problem with this because they don't want to be ruled by anything. However, this time we have a much better master. A master who loves us deeply. A master who only wants the best for us.

So how do we free ourselves from the sin that has us entangled? In order to break a habit, you have to replace it. When I gave up drinking 6-8 Dr. Peppers every day, I had to replace it. The answer: Diet Coke. Praise be to God for that stuff! I lost 15lbs immediately. Sometimes habits take longer to break though. Imagine a soldier returning from the front lines of enemy combat. He has to retrain himself. When the cat jumps up unexpectedly, his mentality will likely take him back into survival mode. He has to keep reminding himself daily that he's home now, in a place of peace. In order to battle sin, we must do the same. We remind ourselves that we belong to Christ. We do this through reading the Word, prayer, and worship.

Sounds a lot easier than it is though. Often, Christians will struggle but try to work it out on their own. After all, we are supposed to be dead to sin when we accept Christ, right? We don't want anyone to see our boogers. And that's exactly where the enemy wants us. Alone and defenseless. How do we oppose that? Find an accountability partner. Today!! Find someone who knows you have boogers and is willing to bring you the box of tissues.

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. ~Ecclesiastes 4:12

It might be a difficult walk to the cross, but you'll have a friend to help you up if you stumble. Imagine the day when we place our sins at the foot of the cross, and we pick up righteousness.

Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
~2 Timothy 4:8

Romans Ch.5

Chapter 5 speaks of the peace we receive when we enter into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Peace doesn't mean that you will no longer have problems or stress. Rather it is a security in knowing that God is there for you, and an assurance that one day you will spend eternity with Him. Paul says to rejoice in hope and also in suffering. He claims, "...suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." And if anyone had a right to complain about circumstances, it would be Paul. (Well, Job had a rough time too.) Too often we question God when bad things happen. Our suffering should not lead us to doubt, but instead to hope. I love this quote from my study guide on Romans, "Just as a resistance to a muscle strengthens it, so challenges to our hope can strengthen it."

When you accept Christ, you receive the power of the Holy Spirit. That is, God dwelling inside you! He set it up long before you even thought about loving Him. While I might not understand all of His ways, I know that He loves me. That I can get through anything because I have His power to rely on. Many times I've heard people misquote this verse, "God will not give me more than I can handle." Wrong!! Often He gives you more than you can take on, so that you have to lean on Him. His power is made perfect in our weaknesses. Just look at the rag-tag group of disciples Jesus gathered. They were just ordinary people who said yes. And when they received the Holy Spirit (the same one that resides in you and me), then they were able to do extraordinary things.