~Heart issues

                       I can't wait for good weather because I am running very low on pictures to use!

I decided to continue what I was thinking about in Romans 6. My last post I went over verses 14 and 15 so I'll start at 16 and continue through 18.
  "Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey," So in other words, what you serve is your master, and what you spend the most time doing  and thinking about the most is your god.
  "Whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness." (the penalty of sin is death and the reward for obedience is righteousness) This next part is another one I really like "But God be thanked, that ye were (used to, have been but are no longer) the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart, that form of doctrine which was delivered you." Can that be said of you? That you were the servant of sin, but now you have obeyed from the heart? Obeying from the heart-that got me to thinking. How many ways are there to obey? Offhand I could only think of two. From the heart and from the mind. What's the difference? Well I would say obeying from the heart is submission. It is giving up your will to someone in authority. Obeying from the mind is just compliance. Doing it just because you have to or maybe because it'll look bad if you don't. It is saying 'I reserve the right to fulfill my own will.' That is not submission. Its is not godly, so it is sin.      "Being then made free from sin, ye become the servants of righteousness."
Are you free? Just recently we began watching a series of sessions by John Regier about the 12 locked hearts. If you have never heard of him I would encourage you to look him up. Anyway because of watching those sessions that part about being free really stuck out to me.
  Back to are you free. Is your heart filled with joy and peace that God has saved you and allows only good things to happen in your life? Do you accept yourself physically how God has made you and praise Him for it. Do you continually look for and rebuke the lies that Satan and Self bring to you? If so, are you striving to help others to the same freedom Christ has given you?

 I know, I ask a lot of questions, but as Christians we should. We need to be continually evaluating where we are spiritually and striving to move on to a higher understanding of Him.

~God is stronger

  I was reading through some of Romans yesterday and I came upon something that really jumped out at me in chapter 6. (Verses 14-19 I think?)
   "For sin shall not have dominion over you for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 
   What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
   Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteous?
   But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
   Being then made free from sin, ye have become the servants of righteousness." 

 The first part of verse 14 is what really caught my attention. "For sin shall NOT have dominion over you." Sometimes it feels like you just can't get it right. You do something wrong, get convicted, repent,...but then it happens all over again. What went wrong? It says right there sin shall not have dominion over you. 
 One aspect of the problem right there is, who are you relying on to not sin? If you, yourself are doing it, you will continually fail. We do not have the strength to overcome sin and Satan. Satan is much more powerful than us, but he is no match for God! When we determine to rely on Jesus and His power, we can and will conquer sin. God is all-powerful and all-knowing, and He wants us to conquer. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 
 Another thing is, did you genuinely repent? If you can repent and go on doing the same thing over again, then I would question whether you do.
  Repentance is being convicted of sin you have committed and being grieved because you hurt God in doing so. But it doesn't stop there. Repentance is an action, so there needs to be an outward showing of it-confessing it, asking for forgiveness, and then turning away from it. Others will be able to see if you have truly done it because it will show in your life. You will also despise that sin because you know that it hurts God and separates you from Him. (Because God can not look on sin.)

 I actually meant to go over more of that, but I think I'll stop here. I hope this has challenged you to look closely into your life and ask God what He thinks needs changed in you.