“I Need to Do Better!’

I WAS DRIVING….

I was driving down a major road in my city, having traveled this same road for decades. It was then I noticed the other day a billboard, about three stories up in the air. One of those great big billboards. It simply said, ‘Real Christians-Obey Jesus Teachings.’

That was it. It gave the Luke 6:46 citation for it.

We, as believers, need to be careful how we share the Bible. We especially need to be careful how we share the book in bits and pieces. I can imagine people saying-especially people who are not Christian or have already distanced themselves from it ‘well, I’m not a real Christian since I didn’t follow His teachings yesterday, or the day before, or this afternoon with that thing I was doing.’

     What the sign is not saying,

What the sign is not saying, what it is appearing to avoid is Christians, in our simple belief, are forgiven. It also doesn’t say no one is free from acts of sin. If we are not following Jesus, life becomes a roller coaster of crap shoots. Can we go a day without sinning? Probably. But more so, probably not. By our faith in the historical fact that God came to earth in human form and paid the debt all of us—all of us owed. Died, then rose from the dead. He did that for me—and yes, even you.

Now, what does that mean? It means my debt of sin is paid for-past, present, and the crab I will do tomorrow—and next month. Paid. In those sins, I was not and will not be obeying Jesus’ teaching. I will have, because I am human, screw up—again https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%204&version=ESV.

     He knew….

But He knew that before he came to Earth. Actually, before He built this planet. In order for me to be with Him, I had to be clean first. That was why we had the Law. It started with Moses walking down the Big Ten from Mt. Sinai. Then, over the centuries, Man decided they needed more rules and laws. That bundle swelled up to about 613. You missed one, or ten, you had a faith issue and you had to be ceremonially cleaned.

Back to Luke.

    I messed up….

A little snippet of Bible like this, without the context of it, can suck the motivation right out of people. Oh, crap, I messed up yesterday. I’m no good. I’m who I thought I was.

Stop it!

You, in your simple belief of Jesus, and who and what he is doing every moment of your life in your life is a ‘delightful aroma….’ To God. YOU! Because you are in Christ. The Holy Spirit lives in you. You have been made into a Temple of the Most Holy. Not a bad gig if you ask me.

     Now, go and live….

So, yes, obey Jesus’ teaching. He is guiding you through this muck of a life and giving you a way to live. BUT if or, I should say when you mess up, know the Lord has you. He just smiles and knows you are trying to live the way you want to live and now with you in Christ, you have the power to as well as the forgiveness when you fail. His act on the cross is that strong. So don’t dwell on whether you are holy enough. Our own arrogance thinks there is some sin Jesus couldn’t wipe clean. You have been cleaned once and for all. Now, go and live with that knowledge.

2 Corinthians 4 ESV – The Light of the Gospel – Therefore, – Bible Gateway

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