Perfection! Why can’t I seem to get there? Paul writes in Romans 7:15 “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; butt what I hate, that I do.” ow can I be a true believer and not be consistent in my walk with Christ? Our struggle in the Christian life is that our expectations are not realized in this life. We struggle and struggle with our heart and our actions, as we find ourselves striving for perfection. Yet our struggle seems to be a brass ring that is always out of our grasp. This leads us to a frustration that often causes us to just simply want to give up. 1 Peter 1:3-5 challenges us to restructure our priorities and expectations in the Christian life. It reminds us that our focus needs to be on maturity not perfection. In life perfection is an unattainable goal, the more we learn, the more we know that we have more to learn! What this verse reminds us of is the reality that we are to grow in wisdom, and move toward a mature faith. That maturity can always grow, but it … READ MORE

Today we live in a culture, that believes that no one has the “right” to tell me what I can and cannot do. If the Bible does not speak against a specific act, it is assumed that we can do whatever we want. However, Galatians 5:13-14 reminds us that just because I may have the liberty to do something, doesn’t mean that I should do it. We do not possess a spiritual license to do as we wish. This would be seen as Spiritual “Sadduceeism.” Sadducees were a sect of Israel which taught religious tolerance to the nation of Israel, the problem was that they were only tolerant to those who agreed with them on their “liberty in God” This is part of the reason they hated Jesus so much, because He challenged their doctrine. We need to be careful that we do not desire to exalt ourselves at the expense of others. Demanding my right to exercise liberty, and exercising it at the expense of others, is a sign not of maturity but of carnality. Paul reminds believers in 1 Corinthians 12:31 “that I show you a better way” and then shares with the wonderful instruction in 1 Corinthians … READ MORE

Most people like decisions to be clean, a “yes or no” answer works great, but when we have options we go nuts trying to figure out what to do. When we live in Liberty we must be careful that our decisions are built on love for others. Have you ever seen a compliant child, who is doing all the right things on the outside but then manifests rebellion, and you wonder what brought on that behavior? Luke 15:11-32 gives us the parable of the lost son, but in reality you have two lost sons in this parable. The first is the one we focus on, but the second (seen at the end of the chapter), is a child that is compliant. He serves his father, but is rebellious at heart. His Pharisaical obedience is manifested through his frustration that the father would love his brother, after he behaved differently than he did. We must be careful that the “rules” are not more important than people. Legalism leads to external conformity to rules, but no real heart for God. The danger of this type of mindset is that it leads us to a judgmental attitude, as we believe that people who … READ MORE