1 John 3:14 (CEV)
Our love for each other proves that we have gone from death to life.
Do you ever doubt your salvation? Do others make you cringe when they approach you? No? WOW! What’s your secret? What is it that makes us run and hide from others on a daily basis? It surely isn’t the life of Christ! Oh yeah, I’m bipolar, I have an excuse for wanting to tear your face off if you look at me cross-eyed!
What? You don’t have excuses for not being happy? There’s no excuse! There is none good! So how can any of us be happy?
Romans 3:10 (KJV)
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one
Psalms 53:1-3 (KJV – See: Psalms 14:1-3)
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. 2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. 3 Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Jer 17:9 (KJV)
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
What can we do?
Rom 7:15 (AMP)
For I do not understand my own actions [I am baffled, bewildered]. I do not practice or accomplish what I wish, but I do the very thing that I loathe [which my moral instinct condemns].
1 Corinthians 4:4 (NIV)
My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.
Paul says that his conscience is clear, so is mine! But it still bugs me. What am I to do?
1 Corinthians 4:4 (NIV)
My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.
It’s not me that makes me innocent and happy. PTL! If it was up to me I’d be frying in hell right now! It’s what Jesus has done in and for me, not what I have tried on my own to be good.
Outside of Christ I don’t have love in me! I don’t have joy in me! I don’t have peace in me! It’s Christ in me the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27) [the hope of Christ and His glory – His presence in me] It’s the love of Jesus in me that makes me love others.
I am a new critter in Christ – old ways of doing things has stopped, all new ways of being – of behavior based on a new nature have begun. (2 Cor 5:17) We’re not wearing church masks, hiding our flaws from others.
No! I still mess-up; but what is new is that every time I slip I can get right back up because the new heart I have can be fixed. The old critter I was had to die – he couldn’t be fixed, he had to die – he couldn’t be fixed.
Once you throw a brick thru a plate glass window it’s busted! It’s broken; but it’s the same as if you shoot a bee-bee thru the window – it’s still broken, maybe not as bad as the brick but it’s busted just the same.
So it was with that old sinful, wicked heart, it was broke the moment we took our first breath. Now we have a new birth, a new heart. We’re creatures from another planet. Our earth suits might look the same as everybody else’s earth suit but we are different. We do things different. We don’t hide our flaws!
2 Corinthians 4:1-2 (MSG)
Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we're not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don't maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don't twist God's Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.
Don’t let anybody pull the wool over you – it’s pretty hard to live on open display, right out in front of the world, like in a fish bowl. Everybody sees your poop floating around! We need someone to scoop the poop! So instead of poop we now have proof that we have passed from death unto life! Thank You Jesus for scooping my poop! Now I can love others thru Your love, thru Your joy, and thru Your peace!
Reference:
Translations retrieved from http://www.biblegateway.com/ BibleGateway.com © Copyright 1995-2010 Gospel Communications International
Amplified Bible (AMP)—Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Contemporary English Version (CEV)—Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society
King James Version (KJV)—Public Domain/ 1604, King James I of England
The Message Bible (MSG)—Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV)—Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
Jim Hughes (JPH) — Copyright © 2011 The Joyful Heart
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