28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. – Isaiah 40:28-31 (ESV)

So many people I love are hurting right now.  As I mentioned in my last blog post (“Under Pressure”), the source of the anxiety and pain and worry ranges from sickness and injury to family troubles to financial and employment issues to mourning the loss of a loved one.  I wish I had a magic wand that I could wave in the air and make all this sorrow and hurt go away.  I wish I could take away your pain.  I wish I could make your circumstances alright.

Since I have neither a magic wand nor the ability to wipe clean the slate of your life, I want to use what I can to reach out to you and help you.  What I have – what we all have available to us – is the power of God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. 

I want to help you find the strength you need to face life’s trials and difficulties.  And that strength is found through faith in Jesus Christ.  It comes from resting in the Lord and knowing – trusting – that God transcends circumstances. 

At our Men’s Bible Study this morning, we finished John 19 – the account of the crucifixion and death of Jesus.  We discussed how unimaginable His pain must have been, on so many levels: humiliatingly stripped naked, beaten and scourged, huge spikes driven through His hands and feet, raw flesh rubbing against splintered wood beams, crown of thorns shoved into His head, thirsty, exhausted, slowly suffocating, abandoned by all but one of His disciples… I cannot imagine the sheer and utter agony and exhaustion of the experience.

And yet… on the third day following His horrific execution, Jesus Christ arose from the grave!  His physical, mental and emotional strength had been drained.  But Jesus didn’t need physical strength to rise from the tomb.  He shows us that, look, if I can be brutally executed and win victory over death, raising back to life within hours – at just the right time.  Now that is strength!  And it isn’t natural strength, but the power of God.

Look… God knows what you’re dealing with.  He knows your situation.  He knows what has you troubled, or burdened, or mourning.  He know what you are facing because He has faced it. 

Consider this: if Jesus can overcome death, do you suppose He can help you in your present situation?  “But I just don’t see a way through it.”  God does.  He knows.  He cares.  He loves you.  He may not hurry you through your dark times, but He will see you through them.  There is a light at the end of your tunnel.

And, no, it is not an oncoming train.

I want you to know that it’s going to be alright.  If God is for you (and, if you have faith in Him, He is), who can possibly be against you?  Who can stand against the Great I AM?  I am just about willing to bet that none of us have – or ever will – face a situation as terrible, as gruesome, as painful, as unjust, as the one Jesus faced.  And yet, through it all, the Son of God knew Who was His strength, and Who was in control: His Father.

Our Father.

Your Father.

It is why Paul wrote:

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. – 2 Cor 12:9-10 (ESV)

There was purpose in the persecutions and pains that Paul faced.  The Lord didn’t lift him out of all his discomfort and pain.  But, because of the power of Christ, Paul was able to live in lack as well as in wealth.  He was able to sing and praise God while imprisoned in a dark, dank Roman jail.  He was able to carry on despite painful physical afflictions and frequent threats on his well-being.  Paul could never have made the transition from Pharisee / Christian hunter to beloved apostle without the power of God.

Today, I want to encourage you to stop relying on your own strength.  On our own, none of us has a chance.  But, by the grace of Almighty God, you will make it through this crisis, the moment of great loss and sorrow, this pain and sickness.  Seek God first.  Ask for His strength.  Believe – know that you know that you know – that circumstances are never permanent, but the love of Christ never fails and the power of God never ends.

Don’t let what your facing sideline you.  Stay strong in Christ.  Stay in the Word and stay on your knees.  Do not for one second take your eyes off Christ.

Know that you are loved more than you can imagine.  Know that you are not alone, nor are you the first person to face whatever it is you are facing.  And know that I would consider it an honor to pray for you.  Just e-mail me at christophercourtney@comcast.net or drop me a message on Facebook.

Until next time… sleep easy.  Rest in the Lord.  Trust in Him.

I wouldn’t call it an epiphany.  The moment wasn’t quite that earth shattering.  But… it was an awakening of sorts, and eye-opening, a moment of clarity.  Jen and I went out on a much needed, long overdue date last night.  We were talking about the people we love and how it seems that everyone is facing some life issue: illness, death, children, fracturing families, finances, unemployment… you name it. 

And then God gently convicted me.  He reminded me of some things He and I have discussed.  He showed me where I have not heeded the very words I have shared with others.  He humbled me lovingly and once again showed me that it is perfectly okay not to be perfectly okay.  Troubles are often the medium the Lord uses to shape us, form us, mold us into the the people He would have us be.

In the primate house at Como Zoo, there is a plastic injection molder that will make a toy for any girl or boy with two quarters.  The machine has a two-piece steel mold made in the shape of a monkey.  The two sides clamp together with great force and molten plastic resin pours inside.  Water sprays onto the mold, cooling and hardening the formed poly primate.  The pressure releases, and what was once nothing more than plastic pellets has been superheated, put under great pressure, and cooled to create a fun object for kids to enjoy.

Here is the deal.  We are all under pressure of some sort.  But we must not be so quick to seek relief.  At just the right time, God relieves the pressure and cools us with water (metaphorically folks).  And we discover that we are no longer what we were at the beginning of the process (which usually begins with a trying life situation).  Rather, we have been transformed into something – someone rather – who is far more useful, far more understanding, far more equipped for _____________ (you fill in the blank).

Seek the Lord.  Always.  First.  Without ceasing.  Keep your eyes on Jesus Christ and Him alone.  Don’t focus on the problems.  Focus on The Solution: Jesus Christ, our LORD and SAVIOR!

As my pastor says, you are loved.

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” – John 8:31-38 (ESV)

As Americans, we cherish the notion of freedom.  It is an ideal we hold near and dear.  While we do not have the framework of reality on this subject that our forefathers held nearly 240 years ago, we recognize – on some level – that we have a lot more freedom than many in this world.  In fact, despite our love of freedom, we take our liberties for granted an awful lot.

When Jesus talks of freedom, He is not speaking in political or social terms.  Were this the case, Paul and Silas would never have been imprisoned.  Nor would John and Peter.  Rather, Jesus takes a different point-of-view than the average person (and, after all, why should we expect anything else?  He is God Incarnate!  His worldview is not ours, although ours should be His).  Jesus is looking at the eternal, where sin imprisons us not only on this earth (sometimes in the form of some habitual back-riding monkey; sometimes in the ruins of destroyed lives and families; sometimes literally imprisoned), but condemns us to the most horrible of consequences: eternal separation from God – or, if you will, hell.

Freedom in Christ is a gift of God’s grace, a forgiveness of our sins, an empowering to do His work, and an ability to follow Jesus and love one another. I find it quite comical that the Pharisees’ retort to Jesus is, “We’re Abraham’s seed!  We’ve never been enslaved!” (v.33). Either these learned men aren’t as educated as we think, having forgotten all the OT teaches about the division of Judah and subjugation by the Babylonians.  Or they are more dishonest / delusional / bind to reality than we realize.  (Personally, I lean more toward the blinded option.)  Notice the subtle yet telling wording of verse 38: Jesus listens to and follows His Father (with a capital “F”).  The Jewish leaders do likewise with their father (small “F”).  It is a condemnation that Jesus made all the more plain a few verses later:

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” – John 8:42-47 (ESV) (italicized emphasis mine).

Evidently, absolute truth does exist.  What’s right for you is what’s right for me, and that’s what God says is right.  It’s not legalism.  It’s love.  Once we realize – at least as much as our limited cognitive abilities can realize – that Jesus set us free for all eternity to be who God created us to be, to live without fear of falling or failure or fatigue of this life, we can begin to grasp the depth of what Paul meant when he wrote:

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. – Romans 8:1-8 (ESV)

If you are “in Christ,” following Him, letting the LORD be the guide of your life, then live in that freedom.  Let no man ensnare you with legalism.  If someone judges you unjustly, remember that accusation and conviction are two very, very, entirely different things.  If Jesus does not condemn you, who is any man to judge?  Follow Jesus as revealed in God’s Word.  Seek His truth and guidance in all things.  Be prayerfully ready, in season and out, to hear what God has to say. 

Cast your cares aside!  In Jesus Christ, YOU ARE FREE!

On September 23, 1846, the world was introduced to Neptune.  All we new at first was that the eighth planet in our solar system existed.  Over years – well over a century, in fact – the more time and technology astronomers invested in the exploration of Neptune, the better we got to know her.  We discovered she had a moon (Triton).  Then more moons.  We figured out that one Neptune year is roughly equal to 165 Earth years. Then, in 1989, we were able to encounter her closely via Voyager 2.  We found her to be a beautiful blue hue.  Drawing nearer, we found her to be very stormy, with winds that exceed 1200 M.P.H.  We discovered her exact chemical makeup.  Rings, first thought to exist in the 1960’s, were confirmed by Voyager 2’s visit.  We even got to know her “children” (her moons), discovering her largest (the aforementioned Triton) to be volcanic. 

Relationships are built in much the same way.  We meet people and get to know a little surface level information about them.  We invest time and treasure in developing the relationship.  After some distance, as we draw closer to one another, we discover deeper truths about each other.  We find common threads that connect us.  We truly get to know one another.

Warts and all.

This is where relationships get tricky.  As we grow together, we discover the icy aspects of our friends.  We find out what makes them tick, both good and bad.  There are great times together and tough times together.  And, sometimes, relationships get rocky.  Disagreements and misunderstandings arise.  But – if love is truly present in the relationship – what stays at the forefront of our minds is not the poisonous atmosphere, not the storms and gales, not the volcanic eruptions.  We remember the beautiful blue hue, what attracted us to the other person in the first place.  We remember our common thread – even if the only common denominator we hold is Christ.  We understand that they are no more perfect than we ourselves are.  We are quick to forgive.  Even when we feel we are right, have been wronged and have every reason to hold a grudge, we need to remember what Jesus said to Peter:

‘Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”  Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.’ – Matthew 18:21-22 (ESV)

The message is simple: love one another.  As Sara Groves sings, “In the end of your lives your relationships are all you’ve got.”  They are worth the investment.  They are worth the travel, no matter the distance to be spanned, to fortify and repair and deepen. 

Is there somebody you need to forgive?  Do it.  Swallow your pride.  Let go of the anger.  Let go of the hurt feelings.  Let Christ be your guide.  It doesn’t mean you allow yourself to be hurt or taken advantage of again.  But never, never – never – allow bitterness and disagreement and misunderstanding undermine or destroy your relationships.  Let Christ lead.

Relationships can be messy.  But, instead of wallowing in bitterness, be understanding.  Bear one another’s burdens.  Love one another.

Love one another.

“Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)” – John 18:10 (ESV)

Every Monday morning, the members of the Pre-Dawn Theological Society rise early to meet at 6:30am for Bible study.  We started doing this in May 2011, with a study of the Gospel of John.  Now, sixteen months later, we are still studying John.  (We are in no particular hurry, relishing every chapter and verse of the fourth gospel).

One of the most astounding aspects of the Bible is its economy.  There is not one wasted word.  Not one trivial verse.  Nothing is unimportant.  Every word is significant.  Even the ones we don’t quite understand, or for which we lack a historical background.  This fact hit me square between the eyes as we studied John 18.

Sometimes we miss words in Scripture.  We hit upon a portion that grabs our attention, and breeze past the remainder.  Consider John 18:10.  Everyone remembers that Peter lobbed off the ear of the high priest’s servant.  How many people remember that the servant’s name was Malchus?

What do we know about Malchus?  Only what we know from Scripture:

1. He was the high priest’s servant. 

2. Peter performed an earectomy on the guy.  (By the way, do you really think Peter was aiming for his ear?  Evidently Peter was a lousy swordsman.) 

3. Jesus healed Malchus’ ear.

4. John remembered the man by name.

That’s it.

In fact, the details seem to reveal themselves a bit incrementally.  Mark tells us someone nearby swung the sword.  Matthew reveals it to be one of Jesus’ followers.  Luke adds that Jesus’ healed the servant’s severed ear.  But John…

John does what makes his gospel so unique.  He fills in the blanks.  He gives the hitherto unrecorded details.  It is John who tells us that it was Simon Peter – impetuous Peter – who was the swordsman.  And, John tells us the name of the victim: Malchus.

So… why does John consider it so important to tell us the name of this otherwise unknown servant?  Why does he give us such a meaningless detail while not informing us of Jesus’ miraculous reattachment of the ear?  We must remember that John’s gospel was written much later than the other three “synoptic” gospels.  John was most likely aware of at least one (if not all three) of the other gospels.  As I mentioned in the paragraph previous, I firmly believe John’s purpose – at least in part – was to fill in the gaps, so to speak.  John is telling us things the other three do not.

By the last decade of the first century AD, when John probably penned his gospel, the story of Jesus in the garden was most likely widely disseminated.  To John’s original audience, the healing of Malchus’ ear by Jesus was probably well established fact.

Most likely, John is showing his original Greek and Jewish audiences that this is not merely a story.  This is not allegory.  This is a real event, and the name of the servant was Malchus.  He had a name.  He was a real man.  Jesus really healed him.  The Greeks would have appreciated the facts of the matter.  The Jews would have now seen Malchus as a human being with a name, not just Caiaphas’ servant.

Perhaps Malchus was known to the early Christians because of the healing touch he received from the LORD. Maybe he was known as the guy who had his ear put back on by Jesus. Maybe Malchus, in the ensuing chaos of Jesus’ arrest and trial, managed to escape and spent his remaining days telling people how Jesus Christ miraculously healed him.  Who knows? 

The main point I’m trying to make is this: don’t speed through the Bible.  Don’t cruise through the verses on auto pilot.  Stop.  Absorb.  Question.  When you read something that makes no sense or seems to have no real importance, stop and ponder it.  Study it.  There is more there than meets the eye.

Why did John feel the need to point out this servant’s name was Malchus, even some sixty years after the event took place?  Because the scene is so important, so vital, so hopeful… it deserves to be recognized as the very real historical event it was.  And it needs to be remembered as such.

Here is one of my favorite adult education faith lesson illustrations.  Ask for two volunteers.  Cover volunteer #1’s eyes tightly, ensuring that they are entirely unable to see.  Volunteer #2 has to lead their blind cohort across the room, from point A to point B, in a convoluted, curvy path, with many unexpected turns.  Along the route knees get bumped, toes stubbed, chairs knocked over.  But, eventually, by blindly following the hand he has grasped, our blind volunteer arrives safely at his destination.

Voilà!  Faith illustrated. 

Whether we care to admit it or not, none of us is master of our fates.  We have no real control.  For some people, that is a very depressing proposition.  Personally, I am grateful that, ultimately, I don’t call the shots.  Plotting my destiny is way out of my pay grade.  Why do I say that?

Simple: God is God, and I am not.  I am flawed and imperfect.  I cannot see one second in front of me, nor do I – with my limited human cerebral faculties – possess the ability to perceive with absolute 100% accuracy the events of the past or evaluate my present situation.  Lots of pollution clouds my view: emotion, ego, tiredness, background, lack of all facts, bias, acumen…  All these factors make perfect perception impossible for me.

Don’t grin.  You’re onboard the same boat as me.

And I would hate to think that I – or you, or any other human being – was at the helm of the boat.  Guaranteed, at some point in our journey of life, I will blindly run the boat aground, our fall overboard into a frenzy of hungry sharks, or somehow pilot us into some great catastrophe.

No, I am grateful – ever so – that God is in control.  He is not my co-pilot.  I am not even allowed in the cockpit.  And I am fine with that.

Except… I am also human.  There are times when, despite my appalling lack of credentials, I feel the need to wrest control of the wheel from the LORD.  “You’re not working fast enough.  I know how to get there!”

Swerve.

Crash.

Iceberg.

Just call me H.M.S. Titanic.

It is always best to be sure one is following God.  He is the One with the plan.  He is the One Who sees all, knows all, can do all.  He is the Great I AM THAT I AM.  In other words, He is Existence Itself. 

Still, in my limited human view, it can be very tough to blindly follow a deity I know exists, but I cannot see.  When times get tough, clinging to Christ can be tough.  I tend to get in touch in my inner Peter.  “Sure I’ll walk out on the water.  Cool, look at me!  Wait… was that lightning?!  Help, I’m sinking!!”

And Jesus saves.

And I believe.

My point this week is simple: have faith in God through His Son Jesus Christ.  Grab His hand and let Him lead you through this life.  You’ll bump your knees, stub your toes, knock over some chairs… Hey, that’s life.  But don’t look at all your circumstances.  Look to God, keeping your focus squarely on Christ, in faith, knowing that the Lord God Creator and Sustainer of All has you firmly in His grasp.  There is nothing you cannot face, knowing God is in control and has a plan for you.

Rest well tonight, friends.  You are loved – more than you know.

by Chris Courtney

Call it what you want…

An “A-Ha!” moment.

Getting it.

The illumination of understanding.

God whacking me over the head until I get it through my thick skull.  (That would explain the headaches…)

The moment of clarity.

A theme repeated throughout one’s day (or week, or month, or lifetime) that may seem coincidental, even serendipitous.  But… I believe it is one of God’s wonderful ways of getting our attention.  After all, we are His children, and the LORD instructs, directs and corrects His children.  My five year old is a very bright young man.  But… I can tell him five times in the span of as many minutes (or sometimes far less), “Do not throw kitty in the air!  He will not stick to the ceiling!  He’s going to scratch you!”  And, despite my repeated warnings, guess what he keeps on doing… And, guess what the cat does when he lands on my son…

(NOTE: My son has never actually thrown any of our animals in the air, or even attempted such a stunt.  I use this merely as a fictitious, humorous illustration.  Writing about my boy taking daring leaps off the sofa in his Batman cape isn’t nearly as funny.  No animals or children were harmed in the writing of this post.)

Jen and I’s running joke about our son is that his listener is broken.  He hears… but he doesn’t always take heed to what he hears.  He doesn’t apply the lessons he is hearing.  The moment of clarity comes when the cat is hurdling downward toward his upturned head, legs sprawled out and claws at the ready for whatever – or whoever – he may land upon.

My simple point is this: if you keep hearing the same Scripture (or Scriptural theme) repeated over and over (and over) from disparate sources, and you feel it is confirming a suspicion you’ve had about yourself for awhile, and – this is the most important part by far – it all lines up with the Word of God, you may want to stop and listen. 

And prayerfully take heed of God’s Word, lest your upturned face become a claw-marked feline helipad.

Last night I grabbed a copy of the Tanakh (the Jewish Bible, JPS translation), settled into my grandmother’s chair and read the book of Amos.  (Now, before anybody gets the idea that I am boasting about having read an entire OT book in one sitting, bear in mind that Amos is only nine chapters long and a very easy read – even if you slow down to absorb the message, which I would hope we all do when reading Scripture!)

You gotta love Amos, the Non-Prophet Prophet.  You would have had to have been called by God to be an OT prophet.  Makes for a great episode of “Dangerous Jobs.”  Ride into town, give God’s Word to the people, find yourself boiled in oil or dismembered or being fated to any one of a number of painful, ghastly endings. When Amaziah seeks to run Amos out of town, I love the prophet’s response: “I’m no prophet!  Nor am I the son of one!  I’m just a shepherd and fig farmer.” 

Then Amos explains why he is in town to spread such a dire message of impending doom: The LORD told him to leave his flock and his figs and warn the people of Israel.  Let them know what’s about to happen.  Explain how their wickedness has led to this.  Make them understand their destruction is at hand.  And let them know there is still hope.

Hope. 

Israel has become deeply sinful.  Great gain brought with it great pride, immorality and faithlessness,  The rich prey on the poor.  Sexual immorality and “carousing” now prevail.  They are no purer than the godless nations that surround them.  Worst of all, God has been all but forgotten.  Service to the LORD has become empty religious exercise.  Does any of this sound familiar?

God has sent painful circumstances to get their attention: hunger, thirst, failed crops, locust… He is trying to get their attention.  The LORD is trying to get them to understand that they need Him.  They cannot simply rely on their riches and strength.  Does any of this sound familiar?

Since they refuse to turn away from their wickedness and turn back to God, He will destroy them and leave them for dead.  Israel will no longer exist in the form that it has.  Mourning and misery will reign. Indeed, very soon this all came to play when the Northern Kingdom was invaded and subjugated by the Assyrians.

But still… there is hope.

“Seek the LORD and live.”  If Israel will repent – turn away from evil and run back to God, wholeheartedly, truthfully…  they will live.  It is the same message Jesus gives us: “Seek first his kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33, NIV).

Seek God’s ways first.  Follow His Word and do not reject it.  Do not follow the feel good path of self indulgence, but do what God calls you to do.  Seek Him and live!

Does any of this sound familiar?

The Pre-Dawn Theological Society has been meeting every Monday morning (well… almost every Monday morning) for over a year now.  Throughout these fifty-odd early morning meetings, we have been thoroughly combing through the Gospel of John.  (We are currently at chapter 14.  We’re in no rush.)  So, naturally, yesterday we discussed Romans 12:2.

Now, you may well ask, “What on earth has Romans 12:2 got to do with John’s gospel?”  Directly, not a lot.  But, if you take a holistic approach to studying Scripture (and I do because, despite having 40 or so writers, the Bible has One Author with a remarkably diverse yet cohesive message for His people), then it has everything to do with it.  You see, Romans 12:2 really expresses what our approach to life should / should not be.  If you truly are seeking God’s will for your life (and I do mean truly – not using the Magic 8-Ball method of trying to find what to do, but wanting wholeheartedly to be changed in your very innermost being to who God wants you to be), here it is.  Sit down.  Read this.  Memorize this.  Be like Madge with her bottle of dish soap: soak in this. 

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.” – Romans 12:2 (NIV)

Now… some of you may well be thinking, “I thought Chris was an ESV man.”  And you’d be right.  However, despite my preference for The ESV Study Bible, we in the Pre-Dawn Theological Society do not practice translational snobbery.  We have guys who, like me, appreciate the closer accuracy of the ESV, while others are more comfortable with the NIV or the NKJV, or even the tried, true and trusted KJV.  (And, personally, I also hold a deep fondness for The NIV Archaeological Study Bible.)

And, in the case of Romans 12:2, the NIV rendering holds a small idiosyncrasy that I believe makes it just a bit more accurate.  It is the omission of the word “be” from the beginning of the verse.  Read the ESV version:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Such a subtle yet sizeable difference that little two-letter word “be” makes.  The ESV / KJV / NKJV versions all seem to suggest that there is some force outside ourselves that is causing us to “be conformed to this world.”  And they are correct.  That force is called sin and, thanks to Adam and Eve, it is practically part of our DNA.  As Paul points out,

“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” – Romans 7:18-20 (ESV)

What Paul is pointing out in Romans 7 is the simple fact that the law won’t save you.  The law shows us wrong from right.  It defines what is evil, and what is good.  And Paul teaches us, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good” (Romans 12:9, NIV).  So, clearly, we have a choice to make.

This is where no longer conforming (as opposed to being conformed) comes in to play.  What saves us?  Well… faith in Jesus Christ.  Salvation is a gift of God’s grace provided through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross to cover the sin of the world.  Not merely our individual sins, but sin as an entity.  Once we are saved – the process of sanctification having begun within us – we no longer desire the junk that once littered our lives.  We want to live rightly – to abhor evil and crave what the Lord says is good. 

But, as we read, we can’t pull it off.  Do not set a goal of making yourself perfect.  Nobody transforms themselves.  We are saved by grace, and it is the power of God that is transformational.  And, while we cannot save ourselves, that does not mean we should go on living as we did pre-salvation.  We must make a choice: conform, or let God transform us.  And Joshua makes clear that this is a choice we must make:

“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ¹⁵ And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” – Joshua 24:14-15 (ESV).

Yes, what we do is important.  If we choose to follow God, we will stumble along the way.  Sin can slip in and slip us up.  Okay… repent, seek forgiveness, and move on in Christ.  If we choose to conform to the world’s ways – to continue in the sin we were once neck-deep in – then we need to consider the honesty of our alleged salvation.  For salvation brings about transformation – a change of heart, a soul turned toward Christ and His will. 

The point is this: don’t let your “salvation” be an excuse to willfully continue in sin.  Like it or not, you are either a slave to sin or a slave to Christ.  Sin brings death – it is bondage of the worst sort.  However, being a slave to Christ brings great freedom and joy!  You cannot serve two masters.  You must choose to no longer conform to the ways of the world and commit to Christ, allowing Him to strengthen and guide you through the lifelong process of sanctification.

Let’s let Paul have the last word on the subject today:

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,^[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin — ⁷ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

¹¹ In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” – Romans 6:1-14 (ESV)

I’ve noticed that, the older I get, the more I give second thought to aspects of life that I once upon some time ago accepted as fact.  I think about some of the “truths” I have accepted over the years and think, “Wow… I didn’t even feel the hook set in my mouth!”  Maybe it’s because I am gaining the sage wisdom of middle age (or just the simple fact that I am finally starting to grow up).  But I am beginning to truly realize just how little control I have over my life.

It can be a little nerve-wracking for a control freak like myself to realize just how little control I truly have.  I can choose how I react.  I can choose how I perceive life (to an extent – but even perception has it’s influences).  But, ultimately, I cannot force my will on every area of my life.  I have to accept that I am not master of my own domain, nor can I be anyone I want to be in life.  Despite what we were taught in school, that simply isn’t the case.

Don’t believe me?  Ask someone who has been sidelined by a tragedy.  Talk to someone whose dreams have inexplicably vaporized before their very eyes.  Watch someone who keeps trying to shove open a locked door. 

Do not misunderstand me.  I am not saying we should not dream.  I am not saying we should not strive.  I am not saying to roll over and let life roll all over you.  Before anyone picks up on that particular negative vibe, I’d best get to the point. 

The point: we put our hope in so many things – so many desires and wishes and hopes for a bright future brimming with meaning and joy and promise.  But we tend to skew our priorities.  As I’ve been going over Malachi 1 the past couple of days, I understand that the cause of most misery is the flip-flop of our life goals toward self (self-achievement, self-worth, self-gratification, self-this, self-that…) and away from God.  I see it in myself and feel, quite frankly, like a hypocrite writing about it.  (I hope people understand that, when I am writing about a particular topic, I have most likely faced it at some point or am still dealing with it.  Either way, God is speaking to me as much as anyone else.)

There is nothing of deep profundity here.  The message I’m being so wordy at sharing really boils down to this: if you want to be filled with joy, follow God,  What you do is not nearly as important as why.  If Jesus is at the center of your life, circumstances will matter far less.  Life is going to have it’s pains and disappointments and hardships and trials, right along with it’s joys and happiness and good times. 

But don’t bank on your abilities in life.  Don’t expect what God doesn’t promise.  Because the only surety we have in life is God and Him alone.  And that’s good news!  Sure takes away a lot of the burden of trying to run everything.