Take It Home https://www.tlc4u.org Tue, 19 Mar 2024 06:03:03 -0500 http://churchplantmedia.com/ Take It Home Notice https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/take-it-home-notice https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/take-it-home-notice#comments Tue, 08 May 2018 04:00:00 -0500 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/take-it-home-notice Thank you for your interest in our Take It Home publication. It has been our prayer that this tool would encourage you to be regular in your contact with God's Word, become fluent in prayer, and drawn to apply God's Word to an active life grounded in faith - learning to look, live, and love like Jesus. We trust the Holy Spirit has made it so.

You may have been wondering about a missing email Monday. We will not be publishing a Take it Home during the Romans series. You are encouraged to read each week's section of Romans; meditate and reflect on it as an individual and carry your thoughts into conversation with God and with another person and your small group. This week's section is Romans 1:1-17. Let this message about the good news of Jesus sink deep roots and grow in your life.

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Thank you for your interest in our Take It Home publication. It has been our prayer that this tool would encourage you to be regular in your contact with God's Word, become fluent in prayer, and drawn to apply God's Word to an active life grounded in faith - learning to look, live, and love like Jesus. We trust the Holy Spirit has made it so.

You may have been wondering about a missing email Monday. We will not be publishing a Take it Home during the Romans series. You are encouraged to read each week's section of Romans; meditate and reflect on it as an individual and carry your thoughts into conversation with God and with another person and your small group. This week's section is Romans 1:1-17. Let this message about the good news of Jesus sink deep roots and grow in your life.

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Foolish Things Christians Believe: My Life is Not Futile Day 5 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-my-life-is-not-futile https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-my-life-is-not-futile#comments Fri, 04 May 2018 04:00:00 -0500 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-my-life-is-not-futile The Story of Your Life


I’m not ashamed of the Good News. It is God’s power to save everyone who believes.
Romans 1:16 GW


Have you rearranged your life around God’s plan and truth? Have you picked up on your purpose in that plan? I guarantee that when you do, people will notice. They may even consider those arrangements to be foolish.

Perhaps the most powerful way to point your friends to God’s plan is not to talk about it, but to live it. Especially when we face hardship and difficulty. Knowing God is planning all things to come to sense in Jesus doesn’t mean we always see it, yet they will notice the trust that keeps you grounded.


Reflect on where you found hope in hard times. Identify the trust you displayed and how that played out. Practice telling the story.
When have you personally leaned on Jesus and found him more than capable of providing both hope and meaning? Who needs to hear that story?
How would you describe true joy to a friend who knows nothing of this?

 

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The Story of Your Life


I’m not ashamed of the Good News. It is God’s power to save everyone who believes.
Romans 1:16 GW


Have you rearranged your life around God’s plan and truth? Have you picked up on your purpose in that plan? I guarantee that when you do, people will notice. They may even consider those arrangements to be foolish.

Perhaps the most powerful way to point your friends to God’s plan is not to talk about it, but to live it. Especially when we face hardship and difficulty. Knowing God is planning all things to come to sense in Jesus doesn’t mean we always see it, yet they will notice the trust that keeps you grounded.


Reflect on where you found hope in hard times. Identify the trust you displayed and how that played out. Practice telling the story.
When have you personally leaned on Jesus and found him more than capable of providing both hope and meaning? Who needs to hear that story?
How would you describe true joy to a friend who knows nothing of this?

 

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Foolish Things Christians Believe: My Life Is Not Futile Day 4 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-_8 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-_8#comments Thu, 03 May 2018 04:00:00 -0500 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-_8 This Doesn’t Work!


Have you ever been puzzled by what you see in your friends or coworkers? Do you see people busy seeking happiness in all the wrong places? They spunge up knowledge without seeking God’s wisdom. They consume any kind of pleasure without acknowledging the Creator. They accumulate power over others without bowing to God’s power over them. Then they bump into the greatest problem of all, death.

People may simply refuse to address the mess of life, or you may hear them rail against the bleakness of life, “This is not right! This is not the way it is supposed to be!” That’s your cue to respond, “That is true. There is something more. There is Someone more”

C. S. Lewis once wrote, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” When you hear these cries against what is broken and meaningless in this world, point them to the world’s Savior and his plan to redeem us all.

Study the details in this passage to find words or phrases you could use to explain the world under God’s plan. Find words of hope. Listen for the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

Through the blood of his Son, we are set free from our sins. God forgives our failures because of his overflowing kindness. He poured out his kindness by giving us every kind of wisdom and insight when he revealed the mystery of his plan to us. He had decided to do this through Christ. He planned to bring all of history to its goal in Christ. Then Christ would be the head of everything in heaven and on earth. God also decided ahead of time to choose us through Christ according to his plan, which makes everything work the way he intends. He planned all of this so that we who had already focused our hope on Christ would praise him and give him glory. Ephesians 1:7–12 GW

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This Doesn’t Work!


Have you ever been puzzled by what you see in your friends or coworkers? Do you see people busy seeking happiness in all the wrong places? They spunge up knowledge without seeking God’s wisdom. They consume any kind of pleasure without acknowledging the Creator. They accumulate power over others without bowing to God’s power over them. Then they bump into the greatest problem of all, death.

People may simply refuse to address the mess of life, or you may hear them rail against the bleakness of life, “This is not right! This is not the way it is supposed to be!” That’s your cue to respond, “That is true. There is something more. There is Someone more”

C. S. Lewis once wrote, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” When you hear these cries against what is broken and meaningless in this world, point them to the world’s Savior and his plan to redeem us all.

Study the details in this passage to find words or phrases you could use to explain the world under God’s plan. Find words of hope. Listen for the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

Through the blood of his Son, we are set free from our sins. God forgives our failures because of his overflowing kindness. He poured out his kindness by giving us every kind of wisdom and insight when he revealed the mystery of his plan to us. He had decided to do this through Christ. He planned to bring all of history to its goal in Christ. Then Christ would be the head of everything in heaven and on earth. God also decided ahead of time to choose us through Christ according to his plan, which makes everything work the way he intends. He planned all of this so that we who had already focused our hope on Christ would praise him and give him glory. Ephesians 1:7–12 GW

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Foolish Things Christians Believe: My Life Is Not Futile Day 3 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-_7 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-_7#comments Wed, 02 May 2018 04:00:00 -0500 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-_7 Motivation to Rise and Shine

God has made us what we are. He has created us in Christ Jesus to live lives filled with good works that he has prepared for us to do. Ephesians 2:10 GW

Christians can confidently claim that life does have a purpose. The experiences in our life, the swirl of events in the world may look like a meaningless spinning wheel, but that is not the way it’s supposed to be. It’s the condition of a sin broken creation. What we also believe is that Jesus gives us the hope of resurrection and a new creation; a sure future toward which we are all being directed. It is a promise given to us in Jesus Christ, For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen. Romans 11:36 NLT


Ephesians tells us that God not only invites us to join him in this recreating work, he specifically crafted us for it. Your personal package of gifts and abilities was shaped by God to perfectly fill the bill in your corner of humanity. (Ephesians 4:16) Have you felt the Holy Spirit stirring up the passion to dive in and bring God’s change to the world? (Philippians 2:13) Be confident that God will give you the power to proceed. Trust him for the perfect plan.

Have a conversation with Jesus. Tell him all the unanswered questions you have and lay them at his feet. Tell him you can trust his plan. Tell him you know the Holy Spirit will guide you through your Kingdom assignments.

 

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Motivation to Rise and Shine

God has made us what we are. He has created us in Christ Jesus to live lives filled with good works that he has prepared for us to do. Ephesians 2:10 GW

Christians can confidently claim that life does have a purpose. The experiences in our life, the swirl of events in the world may look like a meaningless spinning wheel, but that is not the way it’s supposed to be. It’s the condition of a sin broken creation. What we also believe is that Jesus gives us the hope of resurrection and a new creation; a sure future toward which we are all being directed. It is a promise given to us in Jesus Christ, For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen. Romans 11:36 NLT


Ephesians tells us that God not only invites us to join him in this recreating work, he specifically crafted us for it. Your personal package of gifts and abilities was shaped by God to perfectly fill the bill in your corner of humanity. (Ephesians 4:16) Have you felt the Holy Spirit stirring up the passion to dive in and bring God’s change to the world? (Philippians 2:13) Be confident that God will give you the power to proceed. Trust him for the perfect plan.

Have a conversation with Jesus. Tell him all the unanswered questions you have and lay them at his feet. Tell him you can trust his plan. Tell him you know the Holy Spirit will guide you through your Kingdom assignments.

 

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Foolish Things Christians Believe: My Life Is Not Futile Day 2 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-belileve-my-life-is-not-futile https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-belileve-my-life-is-not-futile#comments Tue, 01 May 2018 04:00:00 -0500 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-belileve-my-life-is-not-futile Futile

Whatever has happened before will happen ⌊again⌋. Whatever has been done before will be done ⌊again⌋. There is nothing new under the sun. Can you say that anything is new? It has already been here long before us. Nothing from the past is remembered. Even in the future, nothing will be remembered by those who come after us.
Ecclesiastes 1:9–11 GW

In the show True Detective a jaded detective struggles to solve a horrific string of murders. After visiting one particularly gruesome crime scene, he asks his partner what he believes.

“This whole place is just one giant gutter in outer space…I consider myself a realist…I think human consciousness is a tragic misstep in evolution…We are things that labor under the illusion of having a self…We are programmed with the assurance that we are each somebody when, in fact, we are each nobody. I think the honorable thing for us to do as a species is to deny our programming and walk, hand-in-hand, into extinction, brothers and sisters opting out of a raw deal.”

Seeing so many lives cut short, erasing all meaning, this depressed view sets in that we have no purpose beyond the illusions we create to comfort ourselves in the long, dark night of living in a vast, unfeeling universe. If we have no control, how can we possibly have a purpose?

That’s exactly the question Ecclesiastes raises… and answers.There is nothing better for people to do than to eat, drink, and find satisfaction in their work. I saw that even this comes from the hand of God. Who can eat or enjoy themselves without God? Ecclesiastes 2:24–25 GW
Do you see the point? The world is God’s. Life in it is a gift. The plan of living is not ours to control, but a purpose to be enjoyed.

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Futile

Whatever has happened before will happen ⌊again⌋. Whatever has been done before will be done ⌊again⌋. There is nothing new under the sun. Can you say that anything is new? It has already been here long before us. Nothing from the past is remembered. Even in the future, nothing will be remembered by those who come after us.
Ecclesiastes 1:9–11 GW

In the show True Detective a jaded detective struggles to solve a horrific string of murders. After visiting one particularly gruesome crime scene, he asks his partner what he believes.

“This whole place is just one giant gutter in outer space…I consider myself a realist…I think human consciousness is a tragic misstep in evolution…We are things that labor under the illusion of having a self…We are programmed with the assurance that we are each somebody when, in fact, we are each nobody. I think the honorable thing for us to do as a species is to deny our programming and walk, hand-in-hand, into extinction, brothers and sisters opting out of a raw deal.”

Seeing so many lives cut short, erasing all meaning, this depressed view sets in that we have no purpose beyond the illusions we create to comfort ourselves in the long, dark night of living in a vast, unfeeling universe. If we have no control, how can we possibly have a purpose?

That’s exactly the question Ecclesiastes raises… and answers.There is nothing better for people to do than to eat, drink, and find satisfaction in their work. I saw that even this comes from the hand of God. Who can eat or enjoy themselves without God? Ecclesiastes 2:24–25 GW
Do you see the point? The world is God’s. Life in it is a gift. The plan of living is not ours to control, but a purpose to be enjoyed.

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Foolish Things Christians Believe: My Life Is Not Futile Day 1 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-my-life-is-not-futile--day-1 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-my-life-is-not-futile--day-1#comments Mon, 30 Apr 2018 04:00:00 -0500 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-my-life-is-not-futile--day-1 The One with the Plan

That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” John 20:19–23 NLT

After Jesus’ death, the disciples had to be feeling the futility of the hopes they’d based their life on for the past few years. Then came news of the resurrection. What could it mean? In this passage, Jesus comes to explain. He brings peace to their questions and fears. He gives them a role to carry on. As he has been demonstrating the life changing power of forgiveness, he now commissions them to keep building his kingdom of grace. The world’s continuing need for the grace of God depends on us. That’s purpose!

The sheer scope of that commission must have raised even more questions and fears in the hearts of the disciples. Then came the day they saw Jesus ascend. This is not just another now you see me now you don’t experience. They are eye witnesses as Jesus takes up his heavenly role at the right hand of the Father designing the plan to complete the healing of creation.

He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. So wherever you go, make disciples of all nations: Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to do everything I have commanded you. Matthew 28:18–20 GW

Our lives have a purpose that is furthering the plan of the King of all plans. As Jesus is working out all things according to God’s will, we have a role to play.

 

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The One with the Plan

That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” John 20:19–23 NLT

After Jesus’ death, the disciples had to be feeling the futility of the hopes they’d based their life on for the past few years. Then came news of the resurrection. What could it mean? In this passage, Jesus comes to explain. He brings peace to their questions and fears. He gives them a role to carry on. As he has been demonstrating the life changing power of forgiveness, he now commissions them to keep building his kingdom of grace. The world’s continuing need for the grace of God depends on us. That’s purpose!

The sheer scope of that commission must have raised even more questions and fears in the hearts of the disciples. Then came the day they saw Jesus ascend. This is not just another now you see me now you don’t experience. They are eye witnesses as Jesus takes up his heavenly role at the right hand of the Father designing the plan to complete the healing of creation.

He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. So wherever you go, make disciples of all nations: Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to do everything I have commanded you. Matthew 28:18–20 GW

Our lives have a purpose that is furthering the plan of the King of all plans. As Jesus is working out all things according to God’s will, we have a role to play.

 

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Foolish Things Christians Believe: My Behavior Is Not Fixed Day 5 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe_2 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe_2#comments Fri, 27 Apr 2018 04:00:00 -0500 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe_2 Where the Spirit Leads

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Galatians 5:24,25 NLT

You’ve trusted God to bring the change of a new heart that beats with his love for the world. You’ve heard the Spirit whisper a name and come to a better understanding of the self-imposed failure you’ve witnessed. Now do you trust the Spirit to lead you into that person’s life?

Nurture the relationship you have with grace, or invest yourself in the project of building one. Don’t approach this with a conviction that you’ll produce perfection. Display an honesty about the change you needed and that God is in the process of providing. This may not be a journey of sermons, rather an opportunity to observe. Offer a glimpse of hope.

If questions are asked, tell them about the fruit of the Spirit you would like God to grow in your life and ask them to watch for change. When they feel defeated, offer forgiveness and prayer for God’s power to change.

Never forget that you can only follow this path fueled by the Holy Spirit. Stay close in touch through His Word and prayer. Ask a brother in faith to support you in this journey.

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Where the Spirit Leads

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Galatians 5:24,25 NLT

You’ve trusted God to bring the change of a new heart that beats with his love for the world. You’ve heard the Spirit whisper a name and come to a better understanding of the self-imposed failure you’ve witnessed. Now do you trust the Spirit to lead you into that person’s life?

Nurture the relationship you have with grace, or invest yourself in the project of building one. Don’t approach this with a conviction that you’ll produce perfection. Display an honesty about the change you needed and that God is in the process of providing. This may not be a journey of sermons, rather an opportunity to observe. Offer a glimpse of hope.

If questions are asked, tell them about the fruit of the Spirit you would like God to grow in your life and ask them to watch for change. When they feel defeated, offer forgiveness and prayer for God’s power to change.

Never forget that you can only follow this path fueled by the Holy Spirit. Stay close in touch through His Word and prayer. Ask a brother in faith to support you in this journey.

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Foolish Things Christians Believe: My Behavior Is Not Fixed Day 4 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-my-behavior-is-not-fixed_4 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-my-behavior-is-not-fixed_4#comments Thu, 26 Apr 2018 04:00:00 -0500 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-my-behavior-is-not-fixed_4 On Your Own

It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. Galatians 5:19–21 MSG

What a gruesome listing! But that’s what you’re likely to observe when someone surrenders to Satan’s lie that change is not possible, and probably not desirable anyway. They end up enslaved by a self-centered perspective, the desires of the flesh divorced from God’s guiding Spirit.

Thousands of dollars are spent on counseling and therapy as people come to a place where they can’t hide their failure, all too often with little result because self-reliance, self-improvement will never work.

But you, Newborn Child of God, you are given the gift of maturity and growth. He is preparing you to be all you can be to bring a witness and testimony to God’s grace to people stuck in their own self-designed pit. Read through that listing again and make note of the names the Spirit brings to your mind. Pray for them with the heart of Jesus. Ask the Spirit to show you where your lives intersect so that they can see God made change. Ask the Spirit to tune your ears to hear any hint that they know they are powerless to make any change on their own.

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On Your Own

It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. Galatians 5:19–21 MSG

What a gruesome listing! But that’s what you’re likely to observe when someone surrenders to Satan’s lie that change is not possible, and probably not desirable anyway. They end up enslaved by a self-centered perspective, the desires of the flesh divorced from God’s guiding Spirit.

Thousands of dollars are spent on counseling and therapy as people come to a place where they can’t hide their failure, all too often with little result because self-reliance, self-improvement will never work.

But you, Newborn Child of God, you are given the gift of maturity and growth. He is preparing you to be all you can be to bring a witness and testimony to God’s grace to people stuck in their own self-designed pit. Read through that listing again and make note of the names the Spirit brings to your mind. Pray for them with the heart of Jesus. Ask the Spirit to show you where your lives intersect so that they can see God made change. Ask the Spirit to tune your ears to hear any hint that they know they are powerless to make any change on their own.

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Foolish Things Christians Believe: My Behavior Is Not Fixed Day 3 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-my-behavior-is-not-fixed_3 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-my-behavior-is-not-fixed_3#comments Wed, 25 Apr 2018 04:00:00 -0500 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-my-behavior-is-not-fixed_3 God Approved Change

Offer yourselves to God as people who have come back from death and are now alive. Offer all the parts of your body to God. Use them to do everything that God approves of. Certainly, sin shouldn’t have power over you because you’re not controlled by laws, but by God’s favor. Romans 6:13,14 GW

As Christians we not only know change is possible, we expect to see that change in our lives. This confidence isn’t in ourselves. It’s confidence in the power of God’s Spirit at work within us, bringing change from the inside out.

The Spirit comes to us through our baptism and invites us to become what we are, God’s well loved children. We remember this daily with a fresh start!

Jesus comes to us with his own sacrifice of his body and blood given for us, opening the way to new life. Take and eat!

The Spirit speaks to our hearts through God’s Word pointing to a new way. Read it and respond with action!

Here’s how you’ll recognize the newness created by the Spirit. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22-23 NLT

Reflect on that list and praise the Holy Spirit for the evidence of change you see. Do you want to see more evidence? Ask only for knowledge of God’s will for you and his power to carry that out.

 

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God Approved Change

Offer yourselves to God as people who have come back from death and are now alive. Offer all the parts of your body to God. Use them to do everything that God approves of. Certainly, sin shouldn’t have power over you because you’re not controlled by laws, but by God’s favor. Romans 6:13,14 GW

As Christians we not only know change is possible, we expect to see that change in our lives. This confidence isn’t in ourselves. It’s confidence in the power of God’s Spirit at work within us, bringing change from the inside out.

The Spirit comes to us through our baptism and invites us to become what we are, God’s well loved children. We remember this daily with a fresh start!

Jesus comes to us with his own sacrifice of his body and blood given for us, opening the way to new life. Take and eat!

The Spirit speaks to our hearts through God’s Word pointing to a new way. Read it and respond with action!

Here’s how you’ll recognize the newness created by the Spirit. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22-23 NLT

Reflect on that list and praise the Holy Spirit for the evidence of change you see. Do you want to see more evidence? Ask only for knowledge of God’s will for you and his power to carry that out.

 

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Foolish Things Christians Believe: My Behavior Is Not Fixed Day 2 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-my-behavior-is-not-fixed_2 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-my-behavior-is-not-fixed_2#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2018 04:00:00 -0500 https://www.tlc4u.org/take-it-home/post/foolish-things-christians-believe-my-behavior-is-not-fixed_2 Hack This!

Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone. Matthew 15:17–20 ESV

What’s our culture’s perspective on personal change? The self-help category in libraries and bookstores, not to mention the shares that pop up on Facebook, should make you think everyone is convinced changing something about yourself is a good idea and readily available. Set up your goals, stick to the plan and presto chango! Or better yet, find a hack!

Yet what everyone knows is that their latest diet fad ended in a bag of Cheetos. Determination to not yell at the kids, stay faithful to the spouse, drive the speed limit all ends in flames. The unspoken truth is that true change is impossible and in fact suspect if seen in someone’s life.

Jesus would agree. He tells his disciples the path to godliness is not rules to follow, like the diet driven Pharisees. The real problem is the heart, the words and attitudes that spout division and hate and falsified superiority. Sinfulness must be removed, not improved with a coat of fresh effort.

When we follow Jesus we find an awesome truth. God is more powerful than we are. He wants to restore us to the sanity of a new heart. Scroll through your social media or news feeds or blogs or cable stations and observe the empty search for improvement without God. Feel God’s restlessness to change hearts. Ask to be sent as a messenger with Good News.

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Hack This!

Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone. Matthew 15:17–20 ESV

What’s our culture’s perspective on personal change? The self-help category in libraries and bookstores, not to mention the shares that pop up on Facebook, should make you think everyone is convinced changing something about yourself is a good idea and readily available. Set up your goals, stick to the plan and presto chango! Or better yet, find a hack!

Yet what everyone knows is that their latest diet fad ended in a bag of Cheetos. Determination to not yell at the kids, stay faithful to the spouse, drive the speed limit all ends in flames. The unspoken truth is that true change is impossible and in fact suspect if seen in someone’s life.

Jesus would agree. He tells his disciples the path to godliness is not rules to follow, like the diet driven Pharisees. The real problem is the heart, the words and attitudes that spout division and hate and falsified superiority. Sinfulness must be removed, not improved with a coat of fresh effort.

When we follow Jesus we find an awesome truth. God is more powerful than we are. He wants to restore us to the sanity of a new heart. Scroll through your social media or news feeds or blogs or cable stations and observe the empty search for improvement without God. Feel God’s restlessness to change hearts. Ask to be sent as a messenger with Good News.

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