Clothed by Christ

Last night, I read Romans 13 and was struck by the last part of the last verse. I had not been really thinking about what I was reading, but when I got to that part, I had to stop. "And do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." Wow! "Gratify the desires." There are so many sins in my life--some of which are extremely real and unrelenting to me--that I just want to go back to again and again; to "gratify." The Lord just really showed that to me, that when I realize a thing is wrong, I stop doing it, but sometimes, when I like doing it so much, I "think about how to gratify" my sinful desires. But when God says stop, He means it!
But the rest of the verse is great! "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ." I love that idea! He is our protection. He is there to keep us safe. I want to live my life with Jesus covering me, helping me to look away from my sinful desires.

Shalom

"Trust in the Lord..." Why is it so hard?

Sometimes, I feel like giving up. I feel like giving up on my life, my way of living, my friends and family... I just feel like it doesn't work anymore! Like if I tried to do anything harder than breathing, I'd just fail. I say one thing, and it comes out like poisonous, cruel words, when all I wanted to do was talk. Something might go wrong around the house or with the car, and all I want to do is worry and worry about it. Or things just generally seem to by ganging up against my. All I want to do is be messed up and worried about them. All I want to do is be mad.
One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 3:5-6:

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will make your paths straight."

My parents just got me a beautiful bookmark that has that verse on it. I didn't realize it till then, but that really is one of my favorite verses. But it is one that I find incredibly hard to follow! Those times when I just say the wrong thing; that is when I trust in my own understanding. And the times when things break or go wrong around me; that is when I don't trust in Him. And the times where the whole day seems to be going wrong, from start to finish; that is when I don't acknowledge and trust in Him. All of these times, I almost enjoy doing what hurts me more. Today, there was a minor problem with the car, and I immediately started to worry. And then He nudged me, reminding me that I need to trust in Him, and be ok with the situation. I was so happy after I put the situation in His hands. It really does feel amazingly great! But what about the rest of those times? Those little times when all I can do in a situation is either worry or put my trust in Him, I find it incredibly easy to do. But what about when I say something that I didn't mean to? I don't ever, at those times, want to lean on His understanding! But how great would that be if I could just say the good things He gives me to say. And what about those times when I just want to have a pity-party? I don't acknowledge Him! But how peaceful it would be to know that He was always taking care of me, even when things are going wrong. To acknowledge that He is all powerful, all seeing, all knowing and loving all!
It's wonderful that God finishes off those two verses with, "and He will make your paths straight." He does give something in return for trusting in Him! I pray that I keep my trust and my understanding and my thoughts set on Him!

Shalom

"Save Us from Ourselves"

Recently, I've been reading through some of the Pauline epistles, and last night I read the first chapter of Romans. My pastor has mentioned many times before that this chapter could be very well applied to the modern times, and having read it, I would have to agree! It is incredibly sad to see that no point that he made in the chapter could be dismissed. I have been thinking a lot about that last part, "they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." That one is a big problem for me. There was this one time, a little while ago, where this guy who had gone to Egypt was saying how he'd like to talk about his sojourn there, and I was talking to someone else, say how much I'd like to go there and other places like Israel. But I was again reminded of the danger involved in a journey to places in the Middle East and I said as much, in a laughing way that encouraged sympathy--in fact, I asked them to join in my cowardice. So many people are like that nowadays! They feel cowardly about something, and want everyone else to feel exactly the same. Or there's the opposite way of thinking, which is just as sinful, and of which I have just as much tendency; to lean on my own understanding, to lean on my own strength. I saw on a sign just today, "Inside of you is a hero" or something like that. Almost every time I see that word,  hero, I have to think of the song by Jars of Clay. It is one of my favorite songs! But I just love that part where it says, "we need a Hero"... I know that that Hero is my Savior, Jesus Christ! We can never be our own hero. We need someone else to be that for us. A Hero to save us from ourselves!

Shalom

First Post

Well, this is my first post. I'd love for it to be the best that I'll ever do, but I know that that just wont happen so easily.
My friend and I planned on making our blog at the same time and  posting our first entry together, but we couldn't get it to work! But today, around a week later, I got the blog thing to work. I think a big reason was due to it's being very late when I was trying to make the blog last time, and also because I was always losing my temper. My anger has been and I think will always be a big stumbling block for me in my life.
That and my pride! It seems as though I'll never come to the end of my pride! For instance, when someone might ask me to help with something, I'll probably want to help because the Lord has been more and more laying it on my heart to help with things, to serve more. But since I haven't done it that much--or that willingly--in my life before, I'll probably want to shirk helping out now. I pray that God may help me to drop that very bad habit!
I don't think I want to make this a long entry--I'm still getting used to it! But I can't wait to share my thoughts on so many things! The Lord has blessed me with so many things, and I feel like if I stayed quiet about them, I would not be doing justice to the one who blessed me!

Shalom