Istanbul Greater Grace Church: October 2009

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Being dead to sin, but alive to God is our daily choice.
It’s overwhelming when you think about all the future
choices you are responsible for.
I think that Jesus prepared the disciples for this by
encouraging them not to worry about tomorrow.
Every day has it’s own worries.
“Sufficient for the day is it‘s own trouble” could as well
read , “Sufficient for the day is it’s own choices.”
Matthew 6:34
These choices are processed in our heart.
Our feet don’t walk without our heart’s permission.
In Romans 7 Paul points out the constant dilemma between
our old and new man.
The new man needs to be trained and encouraged
to choose well.
Otherwise it will stay on the level of a newborn baby
in decision making.
Some of the life preserving principles become easily
just “clanging cymbals” in our Christian life.
They sound right, but meaningless.
Statements like “I’m crucified with Christ” should actually
not have a full stop in the end, but a colon.
Even though it’s the end of something, it’s even more so a
beginning of something more incredible.
If our Christian life ends with a dot, we’ll have no expectation,
no faith. “He was crucified for me” is beautiful, but it becomes
even greater when I understand that “I was crucified with him”.
Galatians 2:20
Our life after the colon is full of choices.
All those choices are actually new opportunities to know him more.
“It has not yet been revealed what we shall be,
but we know that when he is revealed,
we shall be like Him,
for we shall see Him as He is.” I John 3:2