Good morning everyone,

Proverbs 11:2- When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

I believe in order to fully appreciate what Jesus did for us on the cross, you really have to re-wire how you see your issues that bring us such guilt and shame. Natural logic just tells us to accept the fact we make mistakes and then shove it away somewhere, and "make up for it by doing something good". However what we may not recognize in dealing with such sin is that it doesn’t go away, but gets stronger and more repetitive. So much so, that you either have to live in prideful denial that you have sin, or humbly face it and believe that there is victory in Christ.

So in order not to feel useless before God because of shame, or become hypocritical by living in total denial that I have issues that are creating problems in my soul, I must deal with them in a way that frees me from it’s power. This dilemma is everday, in some way or another we will sin today (1 John 1 vs. 8)! But because our mentality is so self-dependent (prideful) we don’t want to think about failing, we struggle to accept being so "weak" (humble).

Accepting that you cannot redeem yourself, nor resist sin in your own power, really is the key to understanding the need for Jesus everyday! But if we don’t "renew our mind" to remember the gospel of Christ, we soon run from God because we keep failing. Instead of doing what the Word says, to humble ourselves to God and run to Him to receive mercy and forgiveness (Hebrews 4 vs. 16). This is what we want our kids to do when they fail, amazing how we as God’s children struggle to do so when we fail. Think about how young children humbly run to merciful parents for affirmation and forgiveness. This is why Jesus commended people who are "like" little children who humbly know they need their merciful Father (Mark 10 vs 15).

In His Love, Ld

On Tue, Oct 30, 2012 at 10:12 AM, eldoret gentry <eldorets> wrote:

Good morning everyone,

Acts 27:23-25-For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.

The apostle Paul was sailing through a storm that he knew could take the life of the whole ship, yet he knew that the purpose of his life wasn’t going to end in a disaster on a ship, because he took God at His Word, knowing his purpose went beyond the present storm. He easily could’ve panicked and doubted whether God’s Word was true for him and allowed his fear to discourage him.

However in the midst of the storm he didn’t allow fear to dictate his purpose for God. Instead he encouraged everyone on the ship that since his purpose is to get to Rome than this ship will not be destroyed! Imagine the confidence in His God to look like a fool as the waves tossed the ship back and forth?

But in order to be an encourager in "storms" rather than fearful and isolated, you must believe in the purpose God has for your life. Without purpose you will not be encouraged in and through the storms of your life, but discouraged, believing every "storm" you go through is coming to destroy you. Instead take God at His Word, in doing so you might be saving someone else’s life as well as your own.

In His Love, Ld

On Oct 25, 2012 10:38 AM, "eldoret gentry" <eldorets> wrote: