We Were Born Compromised

We are the only ones who are dumb enough to believe we are smart enough live a life apart from God and still be happy.

We are all born into this body of sin and death.  No escaping it.  We were born to worship God and it’s such a paradox but so true – only when we become slaves to Christ do we taste true freedom.  Our brains and our feelings can lead us down paths of strongholds and fortresses that keep us captured without even knowing it.  Thank God He knows exactly what we need to set us free.  Sometimes it’s a life long pain like Paul had in 2 Cor 12: 8 – 9 that serves to remind us we are compromised and only His grace is sufficient.  Thank God for the thorns in the flesh whether it’s a physical ailment, the loss of someone so dear or broken relationships.  God uses them to break down the walls of our fortresses that have enslaved us for years. 

Some tips via a fellow slave (me):

Submit your feelings to truth.  So many people (we all) don’t do things because they don’t “feel” like it.  That’s a very enslaved way to live.  As a mom, some days I feel like having a break but I still have to get up all night, feed my child and take care of him all day.

Enforced discipline brings genuine obedience.  I learned this from my pastor in Baltimore.  This is what athletes practice and why Paul compares running the Christian race to being an athlete.  It can be applied to reading the Bible, winning souls for Christ, praying, and being diligent in the mundane things in life like working, cleaning the house and taking care of our family. 

Being diligent in the mundane can glorify God as much as being a missionary in a foreign land.  We can praise and worship God by utilizing  His power to push through our feelings to be faithful in the details of life (my continuing education that never ends :).

Thank God His grace is sufficient.  Something I am learning in a deeper way every day like all of the above.