DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Peace With God

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Peace With God
Romans 8:6-7
 
"For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal [margin: fleshly] mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be."
 
There is no peace when I have given in to the flesh, because I am fighting with God. The Holy Spirit pricks my conscience. It's like a rock in my shoe – it just keeps bugging me until I get rid of it. Paul experience that. Before he received Christ, he was fighting with God, and he was a troubled man, "kicking against the goads" (Acts 9:5). The carnal mind can never have peace with God. I also know the unrest in my soul when I have obeyed the flesh. The Holy Spirit gives my conscience no rest until I repent and I am forgiven. Only then is there peace.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Life and peace can only come by being spiritually minded.
 
Have a peace day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Living The Spirit-life

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Living The Spirit-life
Romans 8:3-4
 
"For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin; He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit [spirit]. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit [spirit], the things of the Spirit [spirit]."
 
So how can I tell if I am living according to the flesh (the baser level of my being) or according to the spirit (the higher level of my being)? By asking this simple question: Does my thought or action satisfy my own fleshly desires or does it satisfy God's desire? For examples, Is this to make me feel good or does it please God? Is it for personal revenge or to fulfill God's righteous justice? Is it for personal gain or does it build God's kingdom? It is to inflate my own ego and reputation or bring glory to God? My spirit is willing to walk in God's way but my flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). I desperately need God's help and the power of His indwelling Spirit to live on the spirit-level instead of the flesh-level.
 
Have a spirit-life today. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Walking According To The Spirit

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Walking According To The Spirit
Romans 7:25b-8:1-2
 
"So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit [spirit]. For the law of the Spirit [spirit] of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death."
 
Remember the move, "The Three Faces of Eve" (1957). A woman had multiple personalities that exhibited themselves from time to time. She had no control of which personality would manifest. I do not have a split personality with one ego serving sin and the alter ego serving God. I do have control whether I will walk according to the flesh or the spirit. Some people claim, "I just couldn't help myself." Humbug!! I have been saved as a complete entity – body, soul, and spirit. "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Thessalonians 5:23). Even though I sometimes walk in the flesh, I am not under bondage to it because of the Lord Jesus. Praise God, in Christ I can live a holy life without condemnation.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Christ gives freedom and power to live according to the spirit [Spirit].
 
Have a "singular" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The War Between Flesh and Spirit

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The War Between Flesh and Spirit
Romans 7:14-23
 
"For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members."
 
This is a lengthy reading which sometimes seems to talk in circles. Some teachers regard this passage as reflecting Paul's struggle before he was born again. He wanted to do right, but the carnal part of his being was so strong. I tend to think that this struggle between flesh and spirit is a continuing war for the Christian, both because Paul wrote this all in the present tense, and also because it is a reflection of personal experience. I, like the Psalmist, want to do God's will. "I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold! Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way" (Psalm 119:127-128). I strive to obey God's commandments but sometimes I fail, and I cry out with Paul, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (vs. 24). His answer: "Jesus Christ our Lord!" (vs. 25). There is victory in Jesus, who conquered sin and gives us the power to live victorious.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: The struggle between the desires of the flesh and the spirit can only be won
through Jesus Christ.
 
Have a victorious day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The Great Comparison

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The Great Comparison
Romans 7:13
 
"Has what is good [God's Law] become death to me? Certainly not! (Me genoito; see Dad's Ramblings 8/13/13 for Romans 6:2.) But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment may become exceeding sinful."
 
Perfection highlights imperfection. When I look at some of my paintings, I think, "Not too bad," until I compare it to the work of a master artist. Then my production looks like the work of a second-grader. The master's painting shows how much I need to improve. Sometimes I think I am living a pretty good life until I place it alongside of God's holy law. The I see how far short I fall of God's best. I see how "exceeding sinful" I really am. God's law is not the problem. It is my sinful nature that needs correction.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Comparing myself to God's law shows how far short I fall of God's best.
 
Have a "comparison" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Inhumane Humanism

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Inhumane Humanism
Romans 7:7, 12
 
"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have know sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, 'You shall not covet.' .... Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good."
 
It is a dark and horrible place to live where there is no standard of right and wrong. There would be nothing noble, no morality, and no justice – no concept of what is holy and just and good. The law give us a standard to live by that elevates humanity above the rest of the animal kingdom. Humanism would do away with the absolute standards of what is right and wrong, but that only degrades humanity. Despite its claims to the contrary, humanism only leads people to be inhumane. The farther our society is removed from God's standards, the more evil and inhumane we become, as evidenced by the increase of school shootings, cheating, fraud, theft, computer hacking, rape and all the rest of what is abhorrent. But more than that, the law shows clearly how far short we fall of God's righteousness, and how much we need a Savior. "The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ" (Galatians 3:24).
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God's law is a standard of what is holy, just, and good.
 
Have a godly day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The Happy Marriage

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The Happy Marriage

Romans 7:1, 6

"Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? .... But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter."

Paul used a metaphor of marriage to illustrate the new life in Christ. Before being married to Christ, we were married to the law and were under its dominion. But the law died and we were free to marry Christ (vss. 2-4). Marriage to the law is hard because the law is a difficult taskmaster, demanding things of me that I can never fulfill. I can never satisfy the law because I cannot keep it, and I am continually beat up because of my failures, so it is an unhappy marriage. But there is no condemnation in my marriage to Christ (Romans 8:1), because I live in His forgiveness. What peace and joy in being in union with Christ. It is truly a happy marriage.

TODAY'S THOUGHT: Marriage to the law brings sorrow, but marriage to Christ brings joy and peace.

Have a "happily married" day. Love you.

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Earned Wages

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Earned Wages
Romans 6:23
 
"For the wages of sin is death, but the (free) gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord."
 
Wages are earned. It implies that there is payment for labor. If a person makes a career of sin, there will be payday at the end of the day – eternal death. Why would anyone work for such wages when one can receive heaven is a free gift? Eternal life cannot be earned. It is given as a gift by God to His children through Jesus.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Heaven cannot be earned, but the eternal death is the payment earned by the labor of sin.
 
Have a "free gift" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The Fruit of Righteousness

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The Fruit of Righteousness
Romans 6:20-22
 
"For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now, having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life."
 
As a child, I was raised in a church that preached holiness (where did holiness preaching go?).
If I lived by rules (don't do this, don't do that), I would be holy. Paul takes a different slant. Holiness is a product of righteousness. Just as there is fruit that comes from serving sin, there will be the fruit of holiness through my service and obedience to Christ without striving to be holy.  To use the picture that Jesus gave in John 15, we bear fruit because we are attached to the vine, not in order to be in the vine. If I abide in the vine, there will be fruit that naturally grows. If I am a slave to God and His righteousness, I will bear the fruit of holiness. And the end of holiness is eternal life, for without holiness no one shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Serving God and His righteousness will result in the fruit of holiness.
 
Have a fruitful day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Free Slaves

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Free Slaves
Romans 6:16-18
 
"Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slave to whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness. But God be thanked that though you were slaves to sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered (margin: entrusted). And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness."
 
We are all slaves to something or someone. Anyone who thinks he or she is totally free is deluded. Even though I have freedom to make the choice, my choice itself leads me to be under dominion. It's like the child who want to be free from his parents' rules, so he joins the army. Duh!!! He just exchanges one master for another. The difference is that the army does not give the option to say "no" or to leave. People who choose the freedom of sin only find themselves in more bondage which leads to death. True freedom comes from submitting myself to and becoming a slave to God's righteous "doctrine" which leads to life.  "The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it"  (Proverbs 10:22).
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Being a slave to sin leads to bondage and death; being a slave to God's righteousness leads to real freedom and life.
 
Have a "free slave" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Instruments

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Instruments
Romans 6:12-14
 
"Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace."
 
Instruments are tools to be used, whether it is a surgical instrument, an instrument in an airplane cockpit, or a musical instrument. Each part of my body – my hands, my tongue, etc., – are instruments that can be used either for righteousness or unrighteousness. How they are used is my choice. Even though I reckon or consider myself to be dead to sin (vs. 11), these instruments will only operate through my will. "Lord, make me an instrument, an instrument of worship."
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: The members of the body are instruments to be used in righteousness to God.
 
Have an "instrumental" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Death To Sin

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Death To Sin
Romans 6:6-8, 11
 
"Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.....Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
 
Does being dead to sin mean I will never be tempted to sin? I don't think so. Chapter seven shows the struggle I still have with the flesh. Even though when I died with Christ and the old man died, the sin nature inherited from Adam has not been eradicated. So there is still the conflict between the new man in Christ and the old sinful nature. The difference is that I am no longer a slave to sin; it is not my master. Since I have been risen with Christ to new life and He dwells within me, I can be victorious over sin. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Identification with Christ in His death and Resurrection conquers sin.
 
Have a free day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- A Matter of Death and Life

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – A Matter Of Death And Life
Romans 6:3-5
 
"Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism unto death, that just as Christ was raised from he dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection."
 
Death is the necessary precursor to life. Jesus said, speaking of His own impending death, that a grain of wheat planted in the ground dies and then produces much more grain (John 12:24). Jesus had to die to be resurrected. Paul echoed this when he wrote, "What you sow is not made alive unless it dies" (I Corinthians 15:34). Even in childbirth a part of the mother dies (the placenta) when the new life is born. Life comes out of death. Only after my body dies and is put into the ground will I experience the life of Heaven. So also, it is necessary in this life to die to my flesh in order to experience true life in Jesus. Death is not easy, but the life after death makes it worth the struggle.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: In order to have new life, the old must die.
 
Have a "new life" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Presuming On Grace

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Presuming On Grace
Romans 6:1-2
 
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?"
 
Me ginoito – certainly not! – is the strongest negative expression in the Greek language. To think that I can continually sin because God is gracious is to be presumptive. I know how it feels when someone takes advantage of my generosity. Just because God is forgiving does not give me permission to take advantage of His grace. The Apostle John wrote that Jesus died to take away our sins and whoever abides in Him does not practice sin. Whoever is born of God – and has His life – does not sin. In fact, one way to tell the true child of God is his godly living (I John 3:5-10). It is an oxymoron to claim to be a Christian and then to deliberately and continually violate God's law. As the King James phrases it: "My it never be!"
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God's grace does not give permission to live in sin.
 
Have a righteous day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Abounding Grace

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Abounding Grace
Romans 5:20-21
 
"Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
 
There is no limit to God's grace. He never says, "You've been too bad, and I just ran out of grace." There is always more grace than is needed to cover my sin when I seek His forgiveness. The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus was more than sufficient to provide righteousness to all who repent of their sin. I may be limited in the grace I can give, but God always has more than enough because God has no limitations.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: The supply of God's grace is always greater than the need.
 
Have an abounding day. Love you.
 

First man - Second Man

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – First man - Second Man
Romans 5:12, 17-19
 
"Therefore just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all have sinned – ( ... For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous."
 
The parallel is clear: sin, death, and condemnation came into the human race through one man's (Adam's) disobedience; but righteousness, life, and justification came through One Man's (Jesus') obedience, to all who would receive the gift of grace. First Adam - Second Adam. "For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (I Corinthians 15:21-22). God did not leave us under the plight of the First Adam's condition, but made a way to life in the Second Adam. Praise God.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God does not leave us under the condemnation of death through the First Adam, but offers life through the obedience of the Second Adam.
 
Have a joyful day. Love you.
 

Dad's Ramblings -- The Love Of God

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The Love Of God
Romans 5:6-8
 
"For we were without strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone should even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
 
Jesus did not die for good people.  As Jesus said, the well do not need a physician, but those who are sick and weak (Luke 5:31).  A willingness to die for another person depends on the value of that person to me. I think I would be willing to sacrifice my life for my family because they are very valuable to me. But don't ask me to sacrifice my life for a criminal or a bum on skidrow. However, that is exactly what Jesus did, because He valued me above His own comfort and privilege, and even His life – not because of my goodness, but because of His love. I can't comprehend that kind of love. I simply rejoice in it. What a loving Savior!
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Christ died for the sinful human race, not because they are good, but just because His loved us.
 
Have a loved day. Love you.
 

Dad's Ramblings -- Disappointment

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Disappointment
Romans 5:5
 
"Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
 
Life is filled with disappointments. I have hit a lot of dead-ends in my life because my own plans were thwarted, or because people didn't live up to my expectations. Often things don't turn out the way I anticipate. But hope (or faith) in the Lord Jesus has not been a disappointment. When events of life disappoint, the love of Jesus in my heart carries me through because I know that He has a better plan. As the song writer penned: "There's no disappointment in Jesus; He's all that He promised to be."
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: I am often disappointed in myself or other people because of we all fail, but not in Jesus,
who never fails.
 
Have a fulfilled day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The Process

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The Process
Romans 5:3-4
 
"And not only that, but we also glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance character, and character hope."
 
There is a process: trials + perseverance + character = hope (or faith). Too often I don't want to go through the process. I am impatient and want to skip the perseverance (sticking it out) and go right to hope. But when I do, my character does not get developed, and character is what God wants to work into the fabric of my being. That is the reason for trials. So I need to be thankful for trials because when handled correctly by not running away, I will see God working His will in my life. That produces hope and faith for the future.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: The process from trials to faith is important because it is how God works His character into my being.
 
Have a process day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Peace With God

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Peace With God
Romans 5:1
 
"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
 
Peace is that state of being where there is no conflict or turmoil. It is a place of perfect harmony. Good music contains the process of resolving dissonance to the harmony of the tonic chord. Without that resolution, the listener is left hanging in suspension with no rest. Sin causes dissonance because it is out of sync with God's righteousness. But the dissonance is resolved to peace and rest because God imparts His righteousness in response to faith in Christ so that the sinner is brought into harmony with His holiness. Now that is peaceful music to my restless soul. As the hymn writer phrased it, "My soul has found a resting place, not in device or creed. I trust alone the ever living One, His wounds for me shall plead...." Peace, Peace, Wonderful Peace coming down from the Father above.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Rest for the troubled soul can only be found in the grace of the God who imparts His peace.
 
Have a resting day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The Receipt

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The Receipt
Romans 4:23-25
 
"Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification."
 
Jesus was delivered up to suffering and death because of my sin, but His resurrection is the evidence that the transaction is complete. When I make a transfer of money from one account to another at the ATM, I see on the screen that the transfer has happened, but I always want the receipt as physical proof that it is competed. The cross is only half of the process. The empty tomb is the receipt – the proof – that righteousness is available to be added to my account.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: The Resurrection of Jesus is proof that the transaction is complete and
justification is available to be imputed to my account by faith.
 
Have a thankful day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Trusting God's Promises

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Trusting God's Promises
Romans 4:1, 3, 20-22
 
"What then shall we say that Abram our father has found according to the flesh? .... For what does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.' .... For he did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.  And therefore, 'it was accounted to him for righteousness.' "
 
Paul used Abraham and King David as illustrations of men who lived by faith in God's promises. This did not mean they never sinned, but that they trusted God the God who promised. If someone promised to put (impute) $1,000,000 into my bank account, but I didn't trust him or believe him and never used it, it would do me absolutely no good. Faith trusts the God who promised and enjoys the benefits.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: We can trust the God who promised to forgive our sins and remember them
no more (Jeremiah 31:34).
 
Have a believing day. Love you.