“‘If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.’ And he said to them, ‘Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you’” (Mark 4:23-24).

I have ears; I need to hear. This is great. Jesus didn’t say if I was just one of a specially chosen few I could get it. He didn’t say I could try and try and try and maybe someday He might bestow a gift of understanding on me. Rather, He said if I pay attention and give diligence to what He has to say, more will be added to me. What a relief. I’m not spinning my wheels spending time in His word. If I pay attention to what He says, Jesus will bless me. If I blow it off and only take a dip in it every now and then, I probably don’t need to expect much. But what confidence I can have that if I focus on Jesus’ word, I will be blessed by Him and more and more will be heaped on to me.

I’m glad I’m spending time in His word, paying attention to what He says today.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

“And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous but sinners” (Mark 2:16-17).

At times, I can hardly fathom that Jesus would want anything to do with me. I keep thinking that I need to work more righteousness in order to attract Jesus to me. But exactly the opposite is true. If I were righteous on my own, then Jesus would go spend His time somewhere He was needed. Instead, He came into the world and continues to work in the world to be with people just like me: sinners.

As He spends time with me, I will become righteous. But I do not have to become righteous to get Jesus to spend time with me. My sins are why He came to earth in the first place.

I think today, I’ll spend some time with Jesus. I know He’ll want to.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him…Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:17, 23).

Whatever I do. That doesn’t mean half of what I do, some of what I do, what I do on Sundays, what I do when people are watching. It means whatever I do. I know that second statement was written specifically to slaves, but I can’t help but see the connection between the two verses. Further, I can’t help but think the second statement doesn’t only apply to those ancient slaves.

Whatever I do, I must do it in the Lord’s name. I must do it by His authority. I must do it by His power and empowerment. I must be confident that I can look at Jesus and claim, “Lord, I’m doing this because you have granted that I can and should. I know you are happy that I’m doing this.”

Whatever I do, I must do it heartily, as for God and not men. I’m walking through life. I do things for family, friends, neighbors, brethren, employers, the government. Who am I really working for? Who am I really serving as I live. I’m serving God. I can’t help but think of Daniel who did his work well, without any neglect. Why? Because he knew he was working for God.

Whatever I do, I’m serving God.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

“In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. Tis he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:11-14).

Thank you, God, for putting me to death. Thank you, God, for bringing me to life. But the greatness of this is seen in the verses to come. Because of God’s powerful working through my baptism, I know longer have to submit to the judgments of others who would weigh me down with shoulds and oughts. I simply live for God. I can let Him direct my paths without concern for what others think about how I live. I don’t have to belittle and berate myself. I don’t have to ascetically deprive myself. I don’t have to listen to every Tom, Dick, and Harry who claim to have some kind of spiritual insight or vision. I have been set free from the burdens others would place on me. I only have to live to God.

Boy, that makes today so much easier. Thank you, God.

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

PPS. Here is something that is a little fun. Thanks to Jason Hardin for bringing this to my attention.

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own” (Philippians 3:12).

I’m in good company. I’m not perfect, which means I’m a lot like Paul. This passage provides me some of the most comfort I’ve had in a long, long time. This apostle who claims imperfection is the very same apostle who in Philippians 1:21-23 claimed that death would be better for him because it meant going to be with Jesus. He was going to be resurrected and spend eternity in the presence of His Savior.

WOW! He wasn’t perfect yet. That is, he still sinned. But, he was perfected by Jesus Christ (cf. Hebrews 10:14). But if he died that day, he was convinced he was saved. I’m so glad to hear that. I’m not perfect yet, but I have been perfected by the sacrifice of Jesus. If I die today, I don’t have to fear. I will be saved.

No, this doesn’t mean sitting on my backside. Because Paul knew this, he continued to press on. So will I. But it is sure a comfort to know that my imperfection doesn’t have to scare me anymore. I am free to keep pressing on because my mess ups don’t destroy my salvation.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

“…for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

I can relax today. I don’t have to give myself ulcers worrying about how I’m ever going to be pleasing to God. I don’t have to fret that I’m just not ever going to be good enough for Him. He’s working on that. He is working in me both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Part of me wants to rebel against that. Part of me wants to say, “NO! I will do this.” But a very real part of me has come face to face with exactly how badly it goes when I am trying to do this. I have failed again and again and again. Today, instead of failing, I can just give up. That’s right. I can quit. I can surrender. I can admit I am powerless and only botch things myself, so I’ll just have to surrender my life to God and let Him be in control, simply doing what He says.

No, this doesn’t mean I sit on my backside and wait for the cosmic puppet master to pull my strings. It means I can have confidence to work out my salvation with fear and trembling. Why? Because God is working in me. It means all I have to do is learn God’s will and surrender to that. My job is simply to do the next right thing. God is working in me. I can trust that He will get me where I need to go if I simply surrender to Him today.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27).

Church. To some that word carries amazing baggage. Boring. Irrelevant. Useless. When they hear the word, they think of buildings or ritualistic services. But that is not what Paul is talking about. How could I want to be anywhere but in Christ’s church. The church is the group of people that Jesus died for. The church is the group of people Jesus purchased with His blood. The church is the group of people that He will present to Himself cleansed, washed, holy, without spot, wrinkle, or blemish.

When I understand that is what the church is how can I ever think of it as boring or irrelevant or useless. Christ’s church is awesome and today I’m glad to be part of it.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

PPS. If you’d like to hear more about Christ’s awesome church, come to a special assembly at the Brownsburg Church of Christ in Brownsburg, Indiana on Sunday, August 29, 2010 at 10:30 am. I’ll be sharing the 4 reasons Christ’s church is awesome.

“Be angry and do not sin; do not let he sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26-27).

Many of us learned the #1 rule of dysfunction as we grew up.

RULE #1: Don’t Feel

Few of our parents meant to teach us this rule, but it gets passed on pretty often. Perhaps we gathered that the only legitimate feelings were our parents’ feelings. If we didn’t feel as they did about things we were punished, scorned, belittled, lectured, yelled at. We learned quickly to get rid of those feelings. Even in churches this rule gets passed on. Almost without thinking the rule is taught that Christians are supposed to always feel great. “How are you doing?” we ask someone. “Great!” the other says. “Couldn’t be better,” another says. “God’s blessing my socks off,” says a third. We wonder what is wrong with us for feeling lousy, angry, sad, hurt. But we refuse to let them see our supposedly unChristlike feelings.

But wait. Look again at what Paul says. He doesn’t say, “Don’t be angry, it is a sin.” He says, “Be angry and do not sin.” Anger is not a sin. It is simply an emotion. Anger happens. So does sadness. So does hurt. So does fear. So does regret. So does guilt. So does shame. These feelings are not sins. We don’t have to hide them. Certainly, none of these feelings is a justification for sin. Just because I’m afraid, hurt, sad, or angry doesn’t mean I get to yell at my wife and kids, calling them names, beating them. That would be sin. But the feelings themselves are okay.

But I must not let the sun go down on these emotions. I don’t think that means I have to eradicate these emotions before I go to sleep. I’m not always sure that is possible. Rather, I think I need to express these emotions in a proper and healthy way as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the stuffed emotions will come out in sinful explosions or in sinful escapes later.

It’s okay to feel. But be honest with your emotions. Define them to yourself and share them with those closest to you so you can work through them without sinning.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

What a thought! I am not my workmanship. I am God’s workmanship. Obviously, I’m making choices in my daily life. This doesn’t mean I’m nothing more than a puppet with God literally pulling the strings. But it does mean I’m not alone. It means I don’t have to direct the way for me to be all that God wants me to be, all that I want me to be.

God has created me in Christ Jesus to walk in His good works. But is His workmanship merely a moment in time switcheroo? Does Paul simply mean when I was baptized into Christ, God did some work but now He is sitting back hoping the switch took? I don’t think so. This verse means God is still working in me. He is providing me with progressive victory over sin and progressive victory in righteousness.

This doesn’t mean I sit on my backside and wait for God to pull the strings. But it does mean I can take comfort today that God is working in me. I am His workmanship and He is the Master Craftsman. He may not always work on my timetable, but He is working.

I think today, I’ll just surrender to God’s way. I’m pretty sure it works. And I’m pretty sure it will work on me.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

PPS. For those who haven’t seen it elsewhere, here is a great video from the Skit Guys about God working on us. Even if you have seen it, you may want to watch it again. Enjoy.

God’s Chisel by the Skit Guys

Here is the link for my e-mail subscribers: http://giveattentiontoreading.com/?p=1620

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

I want to quit sinning. I want to quit gratifying the lusts of my flesh. I want to overcome those temptations. I’m tired of the strife and turmoil sin causes. I’m tired of how sin wreaks havoc in my relationship with my family, friends, neighbors, etc. I’m tired of how sin destroys my faith in and fellowship with God. I want to get over all this. But I keep coming up short.

Paul explains the key in Galatians 5:16. I need simply to walk by the Spirit. I need to let the Spirit guide me. Instead of trying to be justified by law, which will only cause me to be severed from Christ (Galatians 5:4), I need to seek justification by the grace of God’s Spirit. I need to be led by the Spirit, not law (Galatians 5:18). That means I need to crucify my flesh, with its passions and desires. I need to put it to death and quit letting it lead me. It twists the law and leads me back into sin (Romans 7:8-11). I need to put away my conceit, my reliance upon me and the competition it produces with others. Instead, I need simply to surrender my life to the Spirit today and what He says I should do. Why? Because God’s way works.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

PPS. How do you think we walk by the Spirit?