Tag Archives: christian life

Three Ps in a Pod, part 2

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You are pardoned. You are forgiven. And that is the first P! You already knew that though, if you read last week’s post, Three Ps in a Pod, part 1.

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Even as I type, this biblical truth baffles me. It does not seem like it should be. Why can you or I be pardoned? My feelings tell me that I don’t deserve it. My actions certainly don’t warrant it either. I am not worthy. At all.

But am I going to let my feelings dictate my actions?

Am I going to let my circumstances guide my behavior?

Am I going to let the devil’s lies provoke me?

In short, am I giving permission to believe anything other than God’s holy, unwavering, encouraging, inspired, and truthful Word?

If we go back to 2 Corinthians 5, specifically verse 14, we can see why we can answer “No” to the previous question.

Here is the second part of verse 14, “…because we are convinced that one died for all,” 

Convinced…are you convinced? Or do you just have an opinion? Is what you believe just that or is it a deep conviction that motivates you to act accordingly? More on this later…

The first P in the Pod is Pardon. You and I can have a full pardon from sin. WHY?

Because ‘one died for all’.

Listen, this is the bottom line. You want the meaning of life? Jesus died for you. Why are we put on this earth? Jesus died so we can live.

There are so many scriptures that point us to the cross on which Jesus died. The Easter season is coming up soon. People will go to church for the first and perhaps, the only time this year. The point is that life (and everything else we seek answers for) is found in the cross.

I don’t fully understand how God loved me enough to let His son die for me. But I will accept the pardon. Anyone can.

I was originally planning on explaining some of the Old Testament sacrifices that God required. All the blood! Then, in Hebrews, Jesus is described as better than those sacrifices. He used His own blood! Maybe a series on the Blood?

Know that His death and shed blood obliterated sin. The penalty of sin is gone. Remember two posts back? A new creation? Yes, that is you and I. We have been forgiven.

Pardon (noun)-that action of forgiving or being forgiven for an error or offense.

Our sin was an offense to God. We were cut off from Him. He wanted to love us and wrap His arms as a father hugs his child. But the bars of sin prevented such expression.

prison-bars

 

Hey, no problem. Here is the key to open those bars:

God’s son will be born as a baby.

Jesus will live as a human.

He will be sentenced, beaten, broken, and finally crucified.

He will die on that cross.

They will bury his body in a borrowed tomb.

But then he will rise. He will ascend to heaven.

And then he will sit down because his work of salvation is complete.

Now we are free to be hugged by God because the bars of sin are no longer between us.

We have been pardoned.

Let God hug you right now. He is waiting.

 

Three Ps in a Pod. part 1

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2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: The old has gone, the new is here!” NIV

Doesn’t that just sound great reading that verse? I am filled with hope just knowing that I am a new creation! But there is still more so for the next two minutes, let’s see what we can discover!

Therefore…how many times do we see that word in Scripture? In 2 Corinthians 5:11-21, the NIV has it listed 3 times. So what is it there for?

Our verse, verse 17, starts with “Therefore…”. So we need to ask the question,
What is it there for?

 

Paul is writing to a church that is having some issues. Many of these issues are similar to ours today. I think that the Corinthians were having an identity issue. Christ had done a redeeming work but the people were not translating that to their daily lives very well.

Chapter 5 starts with Paul describing how our bodies are temporary. We will be clothed with glory when we die. Verse 10 talks of the judgement seat of Christ. All will stand before Christ someday. This should galvanize us to live all the more for Christ!

There is a transition, then, into verse 11. The author is trying to explain why he preaches and lives the way he does. Jumping to verse 14, it reads, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all,…”

I love the strong language…compels. Who is compelled these days? Wow!

And more strong words…

“one died for all…”

Because my two minutes is almost up, I will get right to it.

You have been pardoned for your sin. I have also been pardoned.

The sin is gone.

I will jump into this blissful pool of sin-eradication next week.

Until then, enjoy your Pardon. =-)

Something familiar yet strange again.

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So I was thinking…pondering something today. A certain verse came to my mind this morning and it has been bouncing around all day.

But I don’t really understand it. It boggles my mind. I made scrambled eggs for my kids this morning. It feels like my mind is just like those eggs, all scrambled.

This verse is one that I have known for as long as I can remember. But today, I felt like it was a new verse, one I had never heard before. It seemed to be so full of promise and hope.

All I need is for God to open my eyes (Psalm 119) to the depth and richness of His words. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will guide me into all truth (John 16).

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

Words so engrained yet they barely register. If I am ‘in’ Christ, I am new. I didn’t feel old. Maybe not old but dead.

Yes, that’s it. Dead. No purpose. No sense or reason to live. Sin had it’s way with me. I was dead but now I alive, new!

All because of Christ. Everything is a result of what He has done. Everything. He is the vine and I am a branch.

I can’t do anything without Him.

I don’t own anything without Him.

I am nothing. Old.

BUT WITH HIM…I can do anything.

I have anything and everything I need. He is my all and everything.

 

Wow…”The old has gone, the new is here!”

How far to Wall Drug from here?

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Have you ever seen this a billboard or bumper sticker like this?

wall drug

In my road trip out west, we encountered numerous Wall Drug signs. See my previous posts of my Yellowstone trip for some background info.

Wall Drug is a small town in western South Dakota. It’s near Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands. But you probably would not drive there just to see Wall Drug. It makes a great pit stop when seeing many other attractions. And for us, it was the last stop before heading east, back home.

As far as a tourist trap, this one sets out a fantastic bait. There are signs for miles and miles in every direction telling that Wall Drug is getting closer. They advertise anything and everything. If curiosity killed the cat then I am glad I am not a cat. I don’t recall when I first heard about Wall Drug but I feel like I have know about all my life. Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands, the Grand Canyon, and similar places are places you just know about. Wall Drug is like that. You just always know that it is a real place. They have really good marketing! Like this picture I found online.

Wall_Drug_Sign-afghanistan

When you are at Wall Drug, there are, of course, the shops. But I found that the real treasure was in all of the pictures they have hanging on any available wall. Pictures of all things Wall Drug. Like the one of the marine. There were hundreds of people from all over the world with signs saying how far Wall Drug was from their location. It was bizarre and fascinating!

Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus says that the disciples would be empowered to be witnesses. Not lawyers, judges, or even jury members but simply witnesses. They were supposed to tell what they have seen and heard.

Isn’t that what these Wall Drug signs that are scattered all over the earth are doing? They, in a very clear manner, state that Wall Drug is X miles away. They might have pictures or sayings on them as well. But they are not Wall Drug. The signs are just that, signs. They tell of something else.

When people see your life, what message are they getting? John the Baptist was a sign. He was very clear that he was not the Christ. Read the full story here.

I close with these thoughts:

  • I am a sign and so are you.
  • God has filled His followers with His Spirit.
  • He can help us to display the right message.
  • What are people reading in your life?

 

By the way, Google maps tell me that I am 775 miles from Wall Drug.

What do you get when you remove 450,000 tons of rock?

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Welcome back. Thank you for taking two minutes out of your day. With that said, you might need more than two minutes to read this post.

Mt. Rushmore. Perhaps once of the most recognizable landmarks in our nation. And, given the effort it took to create it, it only stands to reason that Mt. Rushmore deserves such recognition.

mount rushmore

As we were driving around the curvy road towards Mt. Rushmore, I was giddy inside. I was about to see something that I had known about my whole life. From very early memories, Mt. Rushmore has always been on my “list”. It was finally happening. And I was not disappointed. There is, of course, the monument but there are many things to see and do while at the park. The end of the day culminates with a program that is informative and inspirational. There is no way that I can, within a few sentences, describe the beauty and majesty of Mt. Rushmore. So I won’t even try. You need to see it for yourself.

What I am going to try to do is to draw a parallel. Yep, you guessed it. There is a connection between Mt. Rushmore and God’s Word. So first, here is a brief explanation on how they measured the mountain before blasting or carving.

The sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, created a model of the four presidents. It was basically a scaled-down version of the mountain that fit into a building. This would be the starting point for the sculpture. One inch on the model was equal to one foot on the mountain. On top of the model was a disk that had 360 degrees on it. A pole would hang out over the face from which a plumb line hung. The plumb line would hang at a certain length and the pole would be at a certain degree. Measurements would be taken. Using the scale (1 inch = 1 foot), the sculptors could transfer the measurements directly to the mountain. In theory, if the measurements were accurate and precise, the mountain will look exactly like the model. This process was repeated hundreds of time to get the faces just right.

You and I are like Mt. Rushmore. No, we don’t look like Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, or Lincoln but we are being “carved out”. Within the context of sculpting, listen to this passage of scripture: “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Emphasis mine. Phil. 1:3-6

I see it like this. We are ever being made into the image of Jesus. Christ-followers. Jesus is the perfect model of what our lives could look like.

IF, we let God do the sculpting. The Bible is the standard for measurement. God measures us and our lives against His word.

God wants to chisel away our imperfections. He desires to hammer out the rough patches. Those sinful tendencies? Dynamite can take care of those.  Addictions and bad habits? God has a spiritual jack-hammer all primed and ready to go. All we need to do is to surrender to Him.

 

 

Mt. Rushmore took 14 years to create. How long will it take God to make you perfect? Not really sure if there is a solid answer for that question but at least we know that God will never give up. The Word says that “…he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion…”

Are you filled with hope by that verse? I am. There have been countless times that the scripture has pointed out my flaws. And, if I am honest, I have not always done anything about it. I shut out God. Read My Haiti Experience: Chosen…part 1 for some background.

But not today. I welcome Him. God is doing a great work in me and if you let Him, He will work on you too. I leave you with this:

 

READ His Word.

LET Him Work.