Lately we've had a few days of very cold winter weather,
snow and temperatures barely moving out of the single digits. It's freezing out, but one thing nice thing
about winter is that the packed snow fills in potholes, making driving on
Western New York's beat-up roads a little smoother. That got me thinking , even though the ride
was smoother the underlying condition has not been corrected. As soon as the temperature warms up and the
snow melts I'll be back to bouncing my kidneys in and out of potholes or
slaloming my truck back and forth down the road to avoid them. Welcome to Buffalo, we have two seasons,
winter and construction.
Our lives can be like the snow covered pothole at times.
Things may seem smooth from the outside but below the surface doubts, worry,
confusion, and fear can fester waiting to sap our strength and enthusiasm for
life when a little heat is applied.
We're human, but in Christ we don't have to accept it.
It is for freedom
that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be
burdened again by a yoke of slavery. [1]
So from now on we
regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in
this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All
this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the
ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to
himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed
to us the message of reconciliation. 20 [2]
7 For God did not give us a spirit of
timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. [3]
But we have this
treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and
not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned;
struck down, but not destroyed. [4]
In Christ we are free, a new creation, and we have a spirit
not of timidity but of power, love and self discipline. How encouraging is that! If we, and I am
speaking to myself as much as anyone else, could really get that in our minds
and hearts all the time we'd be unstoppable.
Doubts, fears, worry, confusion, and fear would not have a chance. When we stumble and fall, and we will
stumble, remember these words , speak them into your life and the lives of
those you care about and get back on
with life. Remember we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us.
May the God of hope fill you with all
joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the
power of the Holy Spirit.[5]
[1] The
Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids :
Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ga 5:1
[2] The
Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids :
Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. 2 Co 5:16-20
[3] The
Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids :
Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. 2 Ti 1:6-7
[4] The
Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids :
Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. 2 Co 4:7-9
[5] The
Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids :
Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ro 15:13
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