The Devil made me do it

Joei was just sharing with me what she learned today in Sunday School; they apparently are learning about "The fruit of the Spirit." So she told me a story about giving, and how you feel when you do and so on and so forth. Then she said, "You remember when me and Jaden used to be selfish? I'm glad we aren't anymore. I think that was just the devil that made us do that."

So it looks like Joei and Jaden are free from being selfish! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Wow, to be free at 5. My goodness, the world is their oyster.(Sarcasm noted of course!)

If life were that simple eh? If freedom only came that quick...ah but it does. Sometimes. And sometimes it's a process. A long, grueling process. We all have junk. We all have stuff. We all have issues. Some of us have more junk than others. And I don't mean junk in yo trunk. Although I have plenty of that junk. But I digress!

The Bible tells us in Galatians that it was for Freedom that Christ set us free, that we are not to be burdened AGAIN by a yoke of slavery. I find the word "again" so interesting. When we open ourselves up to any kind of sin, it's tough to break free from it. I love how the Bible describes it as "entangling." So true. But at the same time, Christ died so we could have freedom from that. Is the freedom there the moment you receive Christ? Absolutely. But then there is that word "again." There must be a reason for that word being in that particular verse right? I imagine it applies to those that are set free from sin, those that receive that initial freedom when they accept Christ, but then AGAIN, they walk back into that sin, just as quickly as they walked out of it.

Sin is an interesting word. There are loads of definitions of Sin. But I've always heard it to mean "missing the mark." I like that. Anything that draws us away from God, it's sin. Anything that causes us to not be the best version of ourselves that we can be, it's sin. Plain and simple. We don't like to say the word sin much, because it causes people to shut you out, we don't like to hear that word. But I loved something that Joey said today in church, he was talking about it being God's kindness that leads us to repentance. And that's so true. God is so kind. So loving. He wants us to have the best life possible, so He leads us to repentance, He leads us to freedom. Again. And again. And again.

The Lord never gives up on us. The Bible says that He is kind and compassionate; that He is slow to anger and rich in love. He is so rich in Love. The Bible gives us a guide book to live by; standards that are purely for our benefit. The Bible standards are not given so that a particular church, denomination or Pastor can tell us what to do, they are given for us to live our best life possible. It's up to the Lord to show you what to do with your life. It's up to Him to guide and direct you. It's up to Him to speak to us in that still small voice, to show us a certain area in our lives that perhaps is prohibiting us from being the best we can be. It's not up to man to do that. Man can't offer freedom. But Christ can. Christ did. And He will continue to do it. He was human once. He knows how easily the devil tries to trip us up, to make us miss the mark that God has intended for us.

I love the Grace of God. I can't say enough about it. It is so heavy on my heart these days, in a good way of course! Unfortunately, the church in general, has such a stereotype about it. That the church hates sinners and that it's just a bunch of hypocrites and that you have to be x,y,z (you fill in the blank) to fit in. When I hear things like that, it makes me sad. Seriously, seriously sad. Because their are wonderful churches, churches that operate under the banner of Grace. That all are welcome in the house of God, no matter where you are from, no matter what you have done. Perhaps my heart is so drawn to grace since we now Pastor a church and I see people that just need the love of Jesus, not a list of rules. Or perhaps I'm just at a place in life that has me so doggone thankful for His grace. Whatever the reason, I am thankful for God's grace. I'm also thankful for His gentle leading in my life. I'm thankful for His great love, His great mercy. I'm thankful for His provision, for His compassion. But today, I'm thankful for His freedom. The freedom that He gave me 19 years ago when I accepted Him...and the freedom that He has continued to give me. Again. And again. And again.