Daily Word 27^th December 2007

I can anticipate the response that is coming: "I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience?" Yes. I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.

But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?

The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

Romans 7:14-25

If Paul found it so difficult to do the right thing, then why do we think that we should be walking a ‘mistake free’ life, and why do we feel that we should be able to ‘do it alone’, as if we have to ‘prove to God’ that we can be ‘perfect Christians’.

As we come to the end of another year maybe our focus for the New Year should be to 'try less' and to 'yield more'. Sometimes I think we try so hard to be Godly that we miss experiencing what God wants to do in our lives --- we are so busy trying to figure out what path we should be taking that we get lost along the way.

What we need is Jesus --- each and every day of our lives. Jesus is ‘The Way, The Truth and The Life’ that we need to be walking in, to experience a life of peace and joy no matter what our circumstances may be.

I know that I need to ‘LET GO AND LET GOD’ --- Do you?

Stay fervently focused

Much love

Chrissy