Romans 6:11

…Count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

When we accept God into our lives as our Lord and Savior and promise to live for Him, we die.  Not literally, of course.  People don’t drop dead when they accept Christ.  It is figurative that we die and are “born again”, to signify that we are no longer held captive by sin.  Thus, count yourself dead to sin.  It sounds simply, right?  Of course it does.  The hardest things often times sound the simplest.  You may be dead to sin after accepting Christ, but that doesn’t mean sin isn’t going to come around and try to resurrect you.  It will, over and over, and the mistake many people make is that it is a natural process that we give in to sin every once in a while.  God’s always ready to forgive us, so it’s all good, right?  Wrong.  Not that God is always ready to forgive us.  He is.  But that doesn’t mean it’s all good.  Just because you know God will forgive you for sinning doesn’t give you the go ahead to sin.  In fact, if that thought occurs to you, it means you know what you’re doing is a sin and you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place. 

Know that God will not send anything at us that we cannot stand against (1 Corinthians 10:13).  So we can stand against any temptation that comes our way.  If we don’t, if we give into that sin, it’s not God’s fault, it’s not Satan’s fault, it’s our fault.  We failed to stand strong in our faith and thus fell prey to sin. 

None of this is to say that it’s easy.  None of it is to say that if you sin you’re weak and pathetic.  I can’t hold that I don’t sin on a daily basis, because I do.  Big or small, it is a daily presence in my life.  I have to fight every day to even recognize it.  Human nature is sinful, and that makes it very hard to be able to see my sins.  It could just be an angry word, but that is still sin, for God tells us to control our anger.  Anger is one of the parts of my old self.  A part I said I would leave behind when I accepted Christ. Before, I didn’t even realize it was there.  Now I have to fight against it daily, and let me tell you, it ain’t easy.  Not by a long shot.  But through God’s grace, I am improving. 

Never underestimate the power of prayer.  When that temptation hits you, just pray.  About anything.  Give thanks for your life, your family, and your friends.  Pray for those you know are in need.  Pray about anything in your life, and that temptation will fade away, I guarantee, because you can’t maintain sinful thoughts when you’re talking with God.  It has helped me time and time again and it can help you too. 

The end result is, as always, pursue God will everything you have and He will take care of you.  Sin cannot stand against Him, and if you are strong  in Him, it cannot stand against you either.

Die so that you may live.

Dear Lord, I thank You for the many blessings You have given me.  I ask for Your help each and every day as I try to draw nearer to You.  All that is good and beautiful in this life comes from You, and that is all I want.  I thank You for this reader and ask that You enter their life and show them Your will and help them stand strong when sin comes knocking. 

A New Beginning

Hey guys.  Owen Tucker.  And today I’m going to be introducing something new.  For those of you who don’t know, I am a Christian.  Christ is my savior and Lord of my life.  I will follow where He leads me and I believe that he has lead me to use this blog.  So now, instead of blurps from my life, I will be posting verse from the Bible and discussing them.  It will simply be what I think about what the Bible is trying to say to me (and sometimes John).  Something that I hope others might benefit by.  I am not trying to tell anyone how to live their lives, or what they should take away from scripture.  These are simply my observations concerning the Word.  Take from that what you will.

(As a side, all the verses I use will be taken from an NIV Bible)

Romans 5: 3-4

…But we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Glory in suffering.  This is a theme found throughout the Bible over and over.  It is one we as Christians are thoroughly familiar with.  Yet it is one of the hardest to see in our everyday lives.  Who stubs a toe and thinks “Glory to God!”?  Most think of a choice word instead.  But even with something small and insignificant seeming as stubbing a toe, we can and should see glory.  Because in that instance, it is offering the chance to control anger.  For when we take suffering and accept it, in whatever form it may come in, we strengthen our faith.  We build ourselves in God.  We produce perseverance.  And with perseverance comes character.  A character built in faith.  Strong with God.  When we take suffering happily, seeing the glory, no matter how small, we persevere in our faith and come closer to our Lord.  With that strengthened relationship comes the hope. When we are strong with God, when we know He is our Lord, Savior, and Redeemer, how can we not have hope?  That is the very essence of hope.  All we await is His return to fulfill that hope.

How can you apply this to your own life?  I know I can apply it each and every day in my life.  Everything I said in the previous paragraph sounds wonderful, but it’s a different story trying to put it into practice.  Above is what we should do, and why we should do it.  Enter the human element.  Our innate, sinful desires that always push us away from what is best.  The part that tells me to say that choice word when I stub my toe instead of seeing and accepting the chance to persevere.  That is what makes doing the above so difficult.  It is a constant battle each day to be able to hold to the Lord and follow his commands.  A battle I am determined to win.  When the opportunity arises, I will strive to see it in the light of God’s glory and act accordingly.  Will you?

If so, or even if not, you might consider a short prayer right now.  Because we can and should always talk to God.  About everything.

Dear Lord, I ask for Your wisdom to come upon me.  Allow me to see these things as they appear to me, and let me act in a way according to Your Word, so that I may not stumble.  I thank You for those reading this and ask that it might help them in some way.  Amen.

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--Owen Tucker