| Daily
Thought – July 23, 2004 |
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| LIVING THE SOLUTION WITH DAILY INSPIRATION |
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 7:18-25, the Message)
I have recently spoken with someone who, while they have
accepted Jesus as their savior for the forgiveness of
their sins, has given up on trying to live the way God
wants them to live. They have come face-to-face with
this internal dichotomy. They believe in Jesus, they
know what the right thing to do is, but they don’t
feel like doing it. Because of this they have quit trying,
for they feel that to live and do things, even though
they are right, that you don’t feel mean you are
living a lie and being a hypocrite.
What they, and what we, need to understand is before
we accepted Christ as our Savior, our rescuer, we had
no choice when it came to doing right or wrong. We were
bound to live in sin, we were bound to live only for
self, we had no choice but to live with ourselves as
the center of our life. But after Christ we are new
creatures. We now have a choice: follow our natural
self-centered feelings or do what we know to be right.
God gives us the choice, but does not take away the
self-centered feelings and the desire to let self be
in charge. If He did we would not have a choice and
our response to Him would not be from love for Him because
we would have no choice but to do His will.
These self-centered desires will never go away; they
didn’t for Paul and they won’t for us. They
are left there to remind us of how we were and that
we have a choice and that we must constantly choose
who we are going to serve — God or ourselves.
So don’t feel bad that you have this struggle
inside. You are in good company. The Apostle Paul dealt
with this internal struggle his whole life. We all will.
Know that you have a choice daily as to whom you will
serve and that over time it may become easier to choose
God. This internal struggle does not make you a false
or hypocritical person; it makes you alive in Christ
and it means you are no longer bound to living for self
but that you can choose for God instead.
Live it with Passion
Pete Reinbold
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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. |
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