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.
I haven't commented on your blog in awhile for some reason, whoops! I agree with you, us Christian's need to question ourselves a lot so we make sure we are on the right track!
ReplyDeleteBlessings! ♥
Finally sat down and read both of these posts on Romans. I think you did a good job in "God is Stronger". It's a reminder to us when we start feeling like holiness is impossible. (“With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thanks for sharing these verses, Heather.
Here's some verses from Romans 12 that I was reading over yesterday:
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
Verse 1 tells me to offer myself as a living sacrifice (which would include dying to myself)--and then as I read verse 2 I was thinking about that last part of the verse. J. showed it to me in the New Living Translation (NLT) and it says, "Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." So we have a command not to be like the world, but we have to renew our mind, casting out the lies and wrong thinking, so that we will be able to discern God's will. It's just another reminder to me that if I'm not following Christ in the everyday--how will I know His will for the future? I know there's more that can be drawn from these verses but I can let you do that. :)
Keep being faithful,
Your auntie