CHAPTER EIGHT – More Than Conquerors

Have you ever done something wrong and you wish you could go back and change things?  Probably just about everybody has.  And since we haven’t yet figured out the whole time travel thing, we have to figure out some other way to deal with those situations.  So what do you do with those kinds of problems?

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CHAPTER SEVEN – Sin Trap

Why do you think some people break the law?  Murderers and robbers and corrupt politicians obviously have some sort of motivation for what they do.  Do you think it’s because they don’t think there will be any repercussions for their actions?  Or maybe they think the payoffs will outweigh the damage done.  Or maybe they’re ultimately just not that smart.

Another good question to ask might be, why do some people obey the law?  Why would somebody live a peaceful moral life?  These days it seems like the law keepers take more of a beating from society than the law breakers.  Do you ever wonder why that is?

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CHAPTER SIX – Dead and Buried

Did you ever wonder why it’s so hard for some people to quit doing things they know are bad for them?  It’s usually because they’ve been doing it for a long time.

If a person smokes one cigarette or drinks one beer and realizes that it’s gross and unhealthy, it’s easy for them to never drink or smoke again.  It’s even easier for people who have never even tried such things.  If they have watched other people’s lives destroyed by things like drugs or alcohol, it’s extremely easy for them to choose never to touch those things.  But for the person who has made it a habit and become addicted after months (or even years) of use it can be an extremely difficult struggle to break free of those bonds they have created.

It’s the same way with sin.  People choose to turn their backs on God, and break his commands.  And the deeper they go and farther they run from God the more they become enslaved by their own evil.  They become so used to living in sin and their minds are so darkened that they can’t even imagine what life could be like if they weren’t slaves to wickedness.

That’s why the fact that Jesus is willing to cleanse us from all sin is such Good News.  Not only does he save our lives from eternal damnation, he purifies our lives from the stain of sin and empowers us with the Holy Spirit to be able to live the way he commands us to live.  When we choose to repent and to turn away from sin and toward God, in his wonderful grace, God sets us free from that slavery to sin and death, and we are free indeed to live for Jesus and have a brand new life in relationship to him.

I don’t know about you…but I think that’s awesome!

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CHAPTER FIVE – Do You Want The Good News or The Bad News First?

Have you ever notice how things can completely change depending on your perspective?  For example, imagine that you’re asleep–a nice comfortable sleep filled with sweet dreams and somebody slaps you in the face so that you wake up to a very sore cheek.  How do you feel about that person?

Ok, now say the same scenario happens, but once you’re awake the person who hit you explains that the building you’re in is on fire, and you need to get out before you’re trapped inside.  Now how do you feel about that person?

The Bible can bring about different reactions from different people.  For example.  If you don’t love God, and your life demonstrates a disregard for how he has told us to live, much of the Bible is going to sound pretty harsh–and even frightening.  But if you’ve been saved by God, and your life shows it through living the way he tells us to, then you’re going to read the same Bible with a lot of thanks and joyfulness.

So what do you get out of it–good news or bad news?

PS. I don’t know what happened, but this one has terrible sound quality too.  The others are better.

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CHAPTER THREE – Really Bad Breath

Let’s say you are at home, in your front yard, and you look across the street and notice black smoke and flames coming from the roof of your neighbors house.  Then you notice that your neighbor is just getting home from work and hasn’t noticed that his house is on fire and he’s on the porch fumbling for his keys.

What do you do?  Do you let him go into a burning house without saying a word.  Or do you yell at the top of your lungs, “DON’T GO IN THERE!  YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE!”

Now picture all the people who are dooming themselves to eternal fire through their own sin.  What do you do?  Do you do whatever it takes to get their attention and convince them to stop?  Or do you let them walk into that burning house?

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Do you think you’d get a better report on the Civil War from a modern historian or by spending some time with Abraham Lincoln?  Do you think you could get a better picture of what the Apollo 11 moon landing was like by checking out the NASA website or by sitting down with Neil Armstrong and having him tell you the story about when he took that small step/giant leap?

Obviously, if it were possible to talk to the people who had been a part of events in the past, you’d get some amazing stories about those events.  You could get a feeling for what it was like by talking to the people who were there when it happened.

Did your parents ever tell you about when you were born?  Did your grandparents ever tell you about what it was like to live through the Great Depression or to watch the Apollo Moon Landing on live TV?  Wasn’t it cool to hear those stories from the people who’d seen it happen?

So along those same lines, would it be better to learn about the history of the world from somebody who was never there but had made a guess about what might have happened as the world started or from Someone who was there, Someone who actually built the Earth, Someone who designed the universe as a star spangled backdrop for His favorite creation to enjoy when the sun went down?

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What could be worse than a virus that destroys your organs and causes you to bleed from your eyes and ears and other openings and eventually killing you in extreme physical agony?

How about something that causes you to be in agony without the possibility of finding relief through physical death?

And how many people will wash their hands multiple times a day to keep from getting sick, but won’t think twice about sinning against God and dooming themselves to an eternity in Hell?

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“Don’t judge me.”

I’ve heard that a lot.  In other words, they’re asking for you to ignore the decision they’ve made.

“Yeah, I decided to do what I know is wrong.  And I know that you know it’s wrong”  But I’m trying to convince myself that I’m not a bad person for doing it.  So please don’t mention that it’s wrong to me.  Don’t use your brain when you think about me.”

Well, you know, I wouldn’t have to “judge” you if you used good judgment yourself when you made the decision to do something wrong.  If you would do good, then you would want me to judge you and notice the good.  It’s only when you do bad that you don’t want people using discernment about your behavior.

And keep in mind that my judgment can’t do much more than cause embarrassment or inconvenience to you.  But we will all be judged by God for all of our thoughts and actions, and his judgment determines our eternity.

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One of the things Americans value (or at least claim to value) is freedom.  We’re so glad for our freedom and the people who defend our freedom and our ability to say what we want and worship how we choose and travel from state to state without restriction, etc.  But how much do people really value freedom?

How many people aren’t involved at all in the election and supervision of our political leaders?  If you don’t care about politics, you don’t care about freedom because you allow those who are elected to make decisions about your life without your consent.

How many people live on welfare for months and even years sometimes?  If you are happy to live as a baby sucking on the breast of government instead of working for a living, you don’t care about freedom because you are trading your own independence to live as a dependent of taxpayers.

Those who value freedom are willing to work to keep it and maintain it.

In the same way, if you want spiritual freedom, you have to live a life that values that freedom and maintains that freedom.  Want to find freedom today?  Turn to the leader who can set you free from your sinful past, and then stop living for self indulgence and start working to be the best you can be.

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I’m sure you’ve heard before the line from the Declaration of Independence that lists 3 of the freedoms that are inseparable from us as human beings because we are created by God with such freedoms being part of who we are…

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

It goes on to say that the purpose of government is to protect such rights.  Did you ever stop to think about what the pursuit of happiness is?  We don’t have a right to happiness.  We only have the right to pursue it.  Interesting…don’t you think?

Some interpret that right of pursuit as “property.”  In other words we own our own body and our own ability to work and to build and to trade our labor for property.  So the money/property we trade our work for is our right–and therefore shouldn’t be taxed (as with the income tax).  So it’s everybody’s God-given right to trade skills and labor for money or goods in order to better our own lives.  Or you could say that “work” is pursuing happiness because it’s your means to improving your life.  Anyway, that’s the political definition.

From a spiritual perspective it’s slightly different.  Happiness comes to a person who obeys God’s law.  When you break that law, you enslave yourself to sin and death.  But real freedom comes from living a moral life.  If you avoid all those things that hurt you and hurt other people (lying, stealing, lusting, etc.) then you never become a slave of sin or death.  So you have the God-given right (and obligation) to pursue happiness by living the way God wants you to live.  And the natural result of living that kind of life is better than happiness–it’s joy, which is a deep seated glad contentedness that comes from having a relationship with Jesus–who, by the way, is the only one who can equip you to live a life of purity and total morality.

And if you have already made yourself a slave to sin and death because of your selfish and evil choices, your one hope for freedom is Jesus.  Wanna know more?  Listen to the podcast…

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