| Daily
Thought – April 21, 2004 |
|
| LIVING THE SOLUTION WITH DAILY INSPIRATION |
Christ has
set us free to live a free life. So take your stand!
Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on
you. I am emphatic about this. The moment any one of
you submits to circumcision or any other rule-keeping
system, at that same moment Christ's hard-won gift
of freedom is squandered. I repeat my warning: The
person who accepts the ways of circumcision (rule and
regulations) trades all the advantages of the free
life in Christ for the obligations of the slave life
of the law. I suspect you would never intend this,
but this is what happens. When you attempt to live
by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut
off from Christ, you fall out of grace. Meanwhile we
expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with
the Spirit. For in Christ, neither our most conscientious
religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything.
What matters is something far more interior: faith
expressed in love.
(Galatians 5:1-6, the Message)
Do you feel free? Are you trying
to live up to some preconceived set of standards of
what a “Christian” should be? Are you still
longing for a satisfying relationship with God thinking
that by living “right” you will win God’s
heart?
The truth about grace, the Christian life, and an intimate
personal relationship with God is it comes not from
following rules - a list of dos and don’ts - but
from living and loving from our heart. Love is the key
to everything that God is about...and about God.
How many times have you found yourself angry with God
because something bad happens to you and you feel like, “Why,
I follow your rules, I go to church, I don’t smoke,
I don’t chew, I don’t drink or swear, I
give to the poor, in short I live the model “Christian” life
and with all of that God, how can you let this happen?” But
as Paul said, “When you attempt to live by your
own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from
Christ, you fall out of grace” and then you wonder
why things don’t go your way.
Do you want to have a satisfying relationship with Jesus,
God and the Holy Spirit? Then forget about your own
religious plans and projects and live from your heart;
become passionately in love with God. When you do you
won’t have to worry about the rules because when
you live by love you will, because of your love, follow
the rules - not for rules' sake but for love's.
The last line sums it up beautifully: “What matters
is something far more interior: faith expressed in love”.
Live it Fierce
Pete Reinbold
|
| You
can see past Daily Thoughts - visit
the archive. |
 |
Scripture
taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright
© 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All
rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission
of International Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered
trademarks of International Bible Society. Use of either
trademark for the offering of goods or services requires
the prior written consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy
Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used
by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton,
IL 60189, USA. All rights reserved. |
|
 |
|
|
|
| |
You'll also receive Practical
Biblical Solutions for life's challenges with our free
e-zine |
| |
 |
|
