Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many parts in one body and all the body’s parts do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually parts of one another. However, since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to use them properly: if prophecy, in proportion to one’s faith; if service, in the act of serving; or the one who teaches, in the act of teaching; or the one who exhorts, in the work of exhortation; the one who gives, with generosity; the one who is in leadership, with diligence; the one who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
Love must be free of hypocrisy. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor, not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never repay evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all people. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12 NASB
We often either intentionally or unintentionally get too close to the flame of sin.
We don't consider the consequences and truth be told, don't look for any consequences to be had. Things just don't look like they would ever go bad. Looks have been deceiving since an apple on a tree a few thousand years ago.
We get involved with the wrong crowd at a young age because of wanting to belong, to fit in. We pick up bad habits and after a period of time when the guilt wears off, just don't do anything about it.
We can also be extremists, going the opposite direction and withdrawing from things that have caused us to go astray from God’s Word. But in such a way that we have no clue how much danger still remains. That our thinking on dealing with those things is wrong. Developing wrong attitudes and unbiblical thinking.
"For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith."
Was at that point in Matthew this morning of the few days before Judas was to betray Jesus. When you really look at it from a different perspective you see greed starting things off for him. He was ticked off about wasted spending because he could have done some things with what he saw as opportunity. Judas was in charge of the money for the group and was helping himself to it. Sin was already entrenched. He thought that a little more was always better. That's the truth about greed.
Satan had a foothold. He had more than that because this was nothing sudden. Satan had been working on him for a long time. Wouldn't be surprised that it began with him right after Jesus called him to be a Disciple and he was chosen to look after their money. Satan is indeed a Liar and the Father of Lies. He indeed is a Murderer. He is also incredibly patient. He's in no hurry as long as God’s not taken someone from this world and he still has permission with Believers, he will still do what he does.
Judas, quite possibly, had been thinking more highly of himself than he ought.
We can do that too. We can allow thinking of this world to gain a foothold in our lives and not realize until its too late or maybe not realize it at all.
We do things, think things, that we want. We ask God for what we want.
We often beg God for what we want.
We sometimes don't bother asking God and still push to get what we want. Even of He's clearly said no.
We, even as Christians, can twist God’s Word to say what we want it to say, in order to justify our wrong relationships in this world and justify our practiced sin.
As our Pastor preached weeks ago, Christians these days have been calling sin 'mistakes'. Thus removing the guilt of it.
We often are in situations that are by no means mistakes. They are sinful situations.
Inevitably we want to do something but the ability doesn't seem possible.
Or it's possible, deep down, we really disagree with God on His decision for us.
We look for loopholes in God's Word. Look for angles to play to satisfy our conscience. To be able to live with ourselves rather than remove such behavior or things from our lives.
Often we get used to the "but I didn't mean to!" stage. Either it's thought or said.
We can still come back to God’s way of thinking. We can return. We can let go of what's really trapped us.
I struggle with many things in my life and it's an uphill fight. It's like scaling El Capitan with no ropes or security devices. For those who aren't aware, that particular mountain has a flat granite face. It's exceptionally dangerous to climb.
I have often found myself in danger only after not thinking about the consequences.
There's been many times when I have disagreed with God, but He is God and I am not. It's not up to me to keep pushing the subject with Him to get Him to change His mind. It's to be His Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven and its not my will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
The Father’s plan for mankind must be played out. History is going to go the way that the Scriptures say it will. This is much bigger than my wants and desires. Pushing my wants and desires on God can put me in opposition to His plan and purpose for me. It can put me in disobedience. I could be found fighting God.
We are either going to live life working towards the goals and plans of God or we aren't. We will either be helping God through obedience or we won't.
We will inevitably give an account of our lives to Jesus. We will possibly be shown that indeed things were that bad. We may be shown what our selfish choices did and what might have been. It's possible.
We are called to live transformed lives. Satan wants conformed lives.
11 Disciples were being transformed. 1 was conformed. We never will know what happened to the lives of the other 60 plus followers mentioned in the Gospels who fell away at Jesus's teaching.
I pray, now, each morning that I am a better man of God today than I was yesterday. I do not want to be a better me for my own sake. That way has ego written all over it. I pray for family to walk closer with Jesus today than they did yesterday.
I pray for the Pastors that I know and their Wives. I pray for my Wife. Praying for others helps in taking more of my prayers away from me and my wants and puts it on others.
Beware of sin crouching at the door. It's ready to attack at any opportunity. Curiosity will always get you and I into deep waters crying out to God to save us.
Beware of being angry with God. Yes your life's choices may have been bad, and it may not be your fault. But you need to recognize God is God and you are not. Your desire might be for some position in the Church, but know that other part of Romans 12. We are placed as HE had desired in the body of Christ. Your desire might not be His.
Beware of the temptation to flirt with the things of this world. To steal a movie line: It's a trap!
Beware of thinking something isn't that bad. If it takes you away from being a true worshipper. If it consumes your time, energy and money but it's no benefit to the cause of Christ, think twice before allowing it in your life. Realize the importance. The Disciples, even by their own admission, stated that they gave up everything to follow Christ. Everything meant everything. Their lives, all aspects, were brought into submission to God’s Will. It's much bigger than just listening to Jesus for 3 and a half years.
Satan is waiting at the door of your heart. He's a snake oil salesman with always a perfect line to say to get you to open the door. Indeed, every time, yes it will be that bad.
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