And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Romans 8:28
This verse is often quoted as well as misquoted. The wrong way to quote it is to just say "God works everything for good." I call that a missed quote because it is void the last half of the verse. In other words, God works everything for good for those who are his children. Its just like a father, he might provide everything to his kids but that doesn't mean he will provide for the other kids in the neighborhood.
But the essence of this verse for me is a message that God is trying to tell us how we should look at the problems and circumstances in our lives. They exist for our benefit even if we don't feel that. And sometimes, in the face of these problems and circumstances we desire change. We want to get away from these issues of life and potentially miss the blessing that is often cloaked in circumstance.
I remember a long time ago, my mother was on a business trip back in the Dominican Republic. She called my father and I to tell us that she had missed her plane but come to find out, that flight had trouble right after take off and plunged into the Caribbean Ocean where all passengers and crew perished.
So here is the deal. We live in a world that thrives on dramatic change. Our attitudes are "if it ain't broke, break it." Today we focus on what we don't have rather than what we have. We are primarily driven by unsatisfaction rather than contentment.
When a pothole appears on the road of our lives, we often swerve at all cost to avoid the pothole. We do this because at the end of the day, we really don't trust the integrity of the vehicle God gave us to enjoy life. We fail to understand the blessings we have in the potholes and often run into bigger problems.
So grab the steering wheel firmly and go straight through for God intends to make the best of it so you can enjoy life.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
Mind your own business
Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”
John 21:22
It is important to know the context of this verse. This is at the end of the Book of John when it tells the story of Jesus asking Peter three times "do you love me?" A frustrated Peter asserted his love three times and then when Jesus said, "follow me" Peter responded like "what about him?" referring to John. That's when Jesus practically said to him, "mind your own business and worry about yourself, follow me."
It's a quite familiar scene with kids. The teacher tells a student to do something and the child says, "but why doesn't Mary have to do that?"
We know what we need to do, we know what God wants us to do, yet we are always looking for a way out. When we see someone take the easy route we wonder why we have to take the challenging path.
Think of how much trouble humanity gets into with this issue. Whether its keeping up with the Joneses or postponing action on account that someone else hasn't taken action, its all a recipe for bad things to come.
While we are called to help one another, we still have to mind our own business and make sure our actions in our paths are focused on following God and nobody else. He never plans for our destruction, his path for us is the optimal path to victory. Consider Psalm 119:105 which says "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." He will always light OUR path, let's follow it.
John 21:22
It is important to know the context of this verse. This is at the end of the Book of John when it tells the story of Jesus asking Peter three times "do you love me?" A frustrated Peter asserted his love three times and then when Jesus said, "follow me" Peter responded like "what about him?" referring to John. That's when Jesus practically said to him, "mind your own business and worry about yourself, follow me."
It's a quite familiar scene with kids. The teacher tells a student to do something and the child says, "but why doesn't Mary have to do that?"
We know what we need to do, we know what God wants us to do, yet we are always looking for a way out. When we see someone take the easy route we wonder why we have to take the challenging path.
Think of how much trouble humanity gets into with this issue. Whether its keeping up with the Joneses or postponing action on account that someone else hasn't taken action, its all a recipe for bad things to come.
While we are called to help one another, we still have to mind our own business and make sure our actions in our paths are focused on following God and nobody else. He never plans for our destruction, his path for us is the optimal path to victory. Consider Psalm 119:105 which says "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." He will always light OUR path, let's follow it.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Joy v.s. Self-pity
Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
They walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance.
Psalm 89:15
Our nature is not to be joyful. We humans love to complain and wallow in the pit of self-pity.
It's much like a blue bug light. Don't the bugs see that their friends got fried by the blue light? Even as they are flying towards the light and their friend just in front of them gets friend, they march on towards the light despite the fatal danger. Likewise, we march on towards the pit of self-pity despite the fact that we have NEVER seen self-pity work for anyone.
In contrast, how much better is life when you can tune your ear to hear God's synphony of grace? When you can walk in awareness of the pit of self-pity and keep your distance from it, you can experience joy!
So how do we tune our ears to Him rather than the sound of the blue light zapping our friends? We do this by fixing our eyes on Him, by praising God for what he has done for us despite ourselves.
Praising him yields joy whereas self-pity yields destruction.
They walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance.
Psalm 89:15
Our nature is not to be joyful. We humans love to complain and wallow in the pit of self-pity.
It's much like a blue bug light. Don't the bugs see that their friends got fried by the blue light? Even as they are flying towards the light and their friend just in front of them gets friend, they march on towards the light despite the fatal danger. Likewise, we march on towards the pit of self-pity despite the fact that we have NEVER seen self-pity work for anyone.
In contrast, how much better is life when you can tune your ear to hear God's synphony of grace? When you can walk in awareness of the pit of self-pity and keep your distance from it, you can experience joy!
So how do we tune our ears to Him rather than the sound of the blue light zapping our friends? We do this by fixing our eyes on Him, by praising God for what he has done for us despite ourselves.
Praising him yields joy whereas self-pity yields destruction.
Friday, February 11, 2011
A simple twist, startling consequence.
If any of you lacks wisdom he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
James 1:5
I believe that this verse along with many in the Book of James can be misunderstood. For example, as you read the verse one could easily focus on the words "without finding fault".
You see, I think the devil could easily re-write this verse to sound the same but completely hinder you from it's blessing. Read what I think the devil's version would be: "If any of you lacks wisdom he should ask God, who gives generously to all that are without fault, and it will be given to him."
See how a simple alteration changes the complete meaning of a graceful statement into a condemning statement? The devil would want you to think that this blessing is only available to you if you have no faults! Think of all the time we waste seeking perfection. So these types of lies become the beliefs that shape our lives and our actions.
So back to the verse... As I read it, my interpretation of it is that if I lack wisdom and I ask God, he will give it to me freely without holding my actions for ransom. In my opinion, this one of the keys to true Christian living. A life free of condemnation, free of religious requirements, a life of relationship with the God who treats you as if you had no fault because of your trust in what he does for you every day.
So as you can see, a simple twist of the word and you find yourself in startling consequences. Think about it, if salvation and grace was up to us, we would be finished!
James 1:5
I believe that this verse along with many in the Book of James can be misunderstood. For example, as you read the verse one could easily focus on the words "without finding fault".
You see, I think the devil could easily re-write this verse to sound the same but completely hinder you from it's blessing. Read what I think the devil's version would be: "If any of you lacks wisdom he should ask God, who gives generously to all that are without fault, and it will be given to him."
See how a simple alteration changes the complete meaning of a graceful statement into a condemning statement? The devil would want you to think that this blessing is only available to you if you have no faults! Think of all the time we waste seeking perfection. So these types of lies become the beliefs that shape our lives and our actions.
So back to the verse... As I read it, my interpretation of it is that if I lack wisdom and I ask God, he will give it to me freely without holding my actions for ransom. In my opinion, this one of the keys to true Christian living. A life free of condemnation, free of religious requirements, a life of relationship with the God who treats you as if you had no fault because of your trust in what he does for you every day.
So as you can see, a simple twist of the word and you find yourself in startling consequences. Think about it, if salvation and grace was up to us, we would be finished!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
We get through our troubles...
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:4-7
At the beginning of a new year, I think that just about everyone is rejoicing. Either you are rejoicing that a bad year is final over and you get a new start, or you are rejoicing because you just had a great year and looking forward to the coming one.
But in this passage, the Apostle Paul is talking about rejoicing no matter the circumstance, no matter the time of year. So the big question is, can we rejoice every month of this coming year? Will we rejoice when we encounter the first setback this year? Will we rejoice when one of our resolutions fall through?
My mother recently passed away and given this verse, how am I supposed to rejoice? If you have lost a loved one, you know what I'm talking about, and if you haven't, you can only imagine. However, I do rejoice because I can think of a million positive things having to do with her. So it is a choice to rejoice. No matter the circumstance, divorce, death, attacks, adversity, will you take a look at the positive aspects of your circumstance and decide to rejoice.
Sure, it is easier said than done but you can always imagine a worse alternative. I think of Psalm 88 when the sons of Korah were obviously faced with extreme adversity, "I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death." That's a dark place to be but I'm sure that most of us have thought this one time or another. But my final point is that you got through it, didn't you?
So rejoice, we get through our troubles, just remember that.
Philippians 4:4-7
At the beginning of a new year, I think that just about everyone is rejoicing. Either you are rejoicing that a bad year is final over and you get a new start, or you are rejoicing because you just had a great year and looking forward to the coming one.
But in this passage, the Apostle Paul is talking about rejoicing no matter the circumstance, no matter the time of year. So the big question is, can we rejoice every month of this coming year? Will we rejoice when we encounter the first setback this year? Will we rejoice when one of our resolutions fall through?
My mother recently passed away and given this verse, how am I supposed to rejoice? If you have lost a loved one, you know what I'm talking about, and if you haven't, you can only imagine. However, I do rejoice because I can think of a million positive things having to do with her. So it is a choice to rejoice. No matter the circumstance, divorce, death, attacks, adversity, will you take a look at the positive aspects of your circumstance and decide to rejoice.
Sure, it is easier said than done but you can always imagine a worse alternative. I think of Psalm 88 when the sons of Korah were obviously faced with extreme adversity, "I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death." That's a dark place to be but I'm sure that most of us have thought this one time or another. But my final point is that you got through it, didn't you?
So rejoice, we get through our troubles, just remember that.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Do we really know what love is?
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5
WOW! What a contrast of today's world! Think about it. What is normal in this world? Aren't we always inpatient? We want everything fast, we want the convenience of not having to wait. I was thinking today about Google and the Internet... before those two things existed and we needed information, we had to go to the library! That required a great amount of patience for sure! Now, if we can't find the info in seconds, we surely get inpatient!
The greekbible.com has some interesting words relating to the original term used here for "patience": μακροθυμέω,verb \{mak-roth-oo-meh'-o}
1) to be of a long spirit, not to lose heart 1a) to persevere patiently and bravely in enduring misfortunes and troubles 1b) to be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others 1b1) to be mild and slow in avenging 1b2) to be longsuffering, slow to anger, slow to punish.
Kindness? There is example after example of how we can be so unkind to each other every day. Even people who are "religious" can be some of the most unkind people in this world. Intolerant of what some people choose to do, rather than approach those people with kindness and love, they spout vitriol from their mouths.
Envy? Our whole society is constantly bombarded with marketing messages that are designed to evoke envy in our hearts that leads us to buy something just because the Joneses have it. While we all acknowledge that outright envy is bad, we indulge in it every day.
Again, here are some sobering words on the original word meaning for "envy": ζηλόω,verb \{dzay-lo'-o}
1) to burn with zeal 1a) to be heated or to boil with envy, hatred, anger 1a1) in a good sense, to be zealous in the pursuit of good 1b) to desire earnestly, pursue 1b1) to desire one earnestly, to strive after, busy one's self about him 1b2) to exert one's self for one (that he may not be torn from me) 1b3) to be the object of the zeal of others, to be zealously sought after 1c) to envy (greekbible.com)
Boast? Love does not boast... yet it is one of our favorite things to do. We look at what we have done, what we have, what others don't have and we boast about it, it's the American way. Yet, the word says that love does not boast. Meaning that if we act in love, we would never boast, we would never gain joy at the expense of another.
Love is not proud? Yet we thrive on pride every day. Pride is the other side of the coin from envy. We are proud when people envy us, it's part of the American dream, to work hard so you can own stuff and be proud.
Notice how all these things that love is not are connected. Imagine someone walking into a room and immediately you see that person impatiently working through the crowd, boasting and pridefully speaking, what would be your first impression? Probably that they are rude and self seeking. And in this verse it says love is never those thins so your first impression might also be that this person has no love.
Ever know someone who has no love? They are usually easily angered and you hate to speak to them about any issue because you are afraid of the "blow up". They will spare no time to point out the flaws of others and flash into explosive diatribes but never stop to account for their own flaws or wrong doings. Sadly, that's more common that needs to be.
In the end, if we were to really understand LOVE, our lives would be way different. But in a society that "loves" everything, I love coke, I love Chevy, I love this and I love that, we have become desensitized to the word "love" and have lost the true meaning of it.
In Spanish there are different words for love. For example, you would never say "Yo amo Coca Cola" - You would say "Me gusta la Coca Cola" or "I like Coke". You use the word "amor" only when it relates to God and family. "Yo amo a Dios", I love God, "Yo te amo", I love you. I don't "amo" my friends, I "quiero" my friends. It's the same thing with the Greek words for love where you have "agape" God's absolute unconditional love, "phileo", brotherly love and "eros", a sensual impulsive love.
As pointed out above, the verse uses "agape" for love. So when we seek for the meaning of true love, when we ask ourselves, "do we really know what love is?" we should refer to God's unconditional love. Because if we believe that God is in us, then his agape love resides in us and we can simply pray to God that he loves others through us, even when we fail to love ourselves.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5
WOW! What a contrast of today's world! Think about it. What is normal in this world? Aren't we always inpatient? We want everything fast, we want the convenience of not having to wait. I was thinking today about Google and the Internet... before those two things existed and we needed information, we had to go to the library! That required a great amount of patience for sure! Now, if we can't find the info in seconds, we surely get inpatient!
The greekbible.com has some interesting words relating to the original term used here for "patience": μακροθυμέω,verb \{mak-roth-oo-meh'-o}
1) to be of a long spirit, not to lose heart 1a) to persevere patiently and bravely in enduring misfortunes and troubles 1b) to be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others 1b1) to be mild and slow in avenging 1b2) to be longsuffering, slow to anger, slow to punish.
Kindness? There is example after example of how we can be so unkind to each other every day. Even people who are "religious" can be some of the most unkind people in this world. Intolerant of what some people choose to do, rather than approach those people with kindness and love, they spout vitriol from their mouths.
Envy? Our whole society is constantly bombarded with marketing messages that are designed to evoke envy in our hearts that leads us to buy something just because the Joneses have it. While we all acknowledge that outright envy is bad, we indulge in it every day.
Again, here are some sobering words on the original word meaning for "envy": ζηλόω,verb \{dzay-lo'-o}
1) to burn with zeal 1a) to be heated or to boil with envy, hatred, anger 1a1) in a good sense, to be zealous in the pursuit of good 1b) to desire earnestly, pursue 1b1) to desire one earnestly, to strive after, busy one's self about him 1b2) to exert one's self for one (that he may not be torn from me) 1b3) to be the object of the zeal of others, to be zealously sought after 1c) to envy (greekbible.com)
Boast? Love does not boast... yet it is one of our favorite things to do. We look at what we have done, what we have, what others don't have and we boast about it, it's the American way. Yet, the word says that love does not boast. Meaning that if we act in love, we would never boast, we would never gain joy at the expense of another.
Love is not proud? Yet we thrive on pride every day. Pride is the other side of the coin from envy. We are proud when people envy us, it's part of the American dream, to work hard so you can own stuff and be proud.
Notice how all these things that love is not are connected. Imagine someone walking into a room and immediately you see that person impatiently working through the crowd, boasting and pridefully speaking, what would be your first impression? Probably that they are rude and self seeking. And in this verse it says love is never those thins so your first impression might also be that this person has no love.
Ever know someone who has no love? They are usually easily angered and you hate to speak to them about any issue because you are afraid of the "blow up". They will spare no time to point out the flaws of others and flash into explosive diatribes but never stop to account for their own flaws or wrong doings. Sadly, that's more common that needs to be.
In the end, if we were to really understand LOVE, our lives would be way different. But in a society that "loves" everything, I love coke, I love Chevy, I love this and I love that, we have become desensitized to the word "love" and have lost the true meaning of it.
In Spanish there are different words for love. For example, you would never say "Yo amo Coca Cola" - You would say "Me gusta la Coca Cola" or "I like Coke". You use the word "amor" only when it relates to God and family. "Yo amo a Dios", I love God, "Yo te amo", I love you. I don't "amo" my friends, I "quiero" my friends. It's the same thing with the Greek words for love where you have "agape" God's absolute unconditional love, "phileo", brotherly love and "eros", a sensual impulsive love.
As pointed out above, the verse uses "agape" for love. So when we seek for the meaning of true love, when we ask ourselves, "do we really know what love is?" we should refer to God's unconditional love. Because if we believe that God is in us, then his agape love resides in us and we can simply pray to God that he loves others through us, even when we fail to love ourselves.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Your punishment has already been executed
We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me. 1 Timothy 1:8-11 NIV
This morning I woke up and it was like God whispering into my ear saying "the law is for the lawless"... I knew exactly what verse He was talking about and I immediately started to think... "NO I don't want to write about this verse...!"
You see, I believe these is one of those verses in the Bible that can be used for good as well as for evil. While I'm no Bible scholar, perhaps you will allow me to share some thoughts about this very difficult verse.
Why do I say it is difficult? To start with, the word "homosexuality" appears in today's verse. Immediately, the readership is potentially divided into two and now this very blog post is at the risk of alienating one person or another. No matter what your thoughts might be about homosexuality, can you hang in here with me for a while?
I chose to focus on the word "homosexuality" in this verse because it can be such a divisive word when it comes to "religion". The sadness of it all is that this passage really has nothing to do with that. Yet, taken out of context (as the devil is good at doing) the verse can be used to condemn people who might not be thought of as fit for "the church."
When read in context of the previous verses, what the Apostle Paul is trying to do with this letter is settle the record straight with "false teachers." Those are teachers who teach a gospel of works. You do this, you do that and you are saved. In other words, follow the law and you are saved. This kind of thinking leads people astray and away from the true Gospel which points to a Savior. Someone who saves you despite who you are instead of the effort to save yourself by keeping rules.
It's ironic that Paul's writing which is meant to free us from the law, is used to bind us to it even further. Please don't misunderstand my choice of words when I say "free us from the law." I didn't say we now have license to do whatever the hell we want! What I meant is that Paul's words are meant to free us from condemnation.
Back to false teachers: I remember the book series "Left Behind" as it featured a pastor who was left behind after the "rapture". Throughout the story, the pastor realized what he had done wrong. He was left behind because he did not REALLY believe in the Gospel of a Savior but taught the Gospel of works which is totally dependent on the law. This is really Paul's central theme of his message.
When you look at the list of sins it's not just about "homosexuality". This is an all inclusive list. He covers ALL of humanity with his list and to make sure, at the end he says "whatever else". In other words, if you think you are good enough to escape this list, consider anything else you do that you KNOW is against God. If you say you don't sin, you are deceived.
Paul's specific point in doing this is to point the reader to God's plan to save us (the lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious) and without a Savior, we are reduced to just that. With a savior, even though we deserve death, we are free in that our debt is paid for and because of that, God does not see our sinful nature, he sees HIS purity in all of us.
Let me close with this simple analogy to explain how I see the true Gospel Paul is talking about. Maybe it can help you too:
When you come to your "judgment day" you find yourself in a court room. In this court room you find a VERY SMALL guy with lots of notes. He is yelling in the court, going through a litany of "violations." You realize that he is talking about YOU. You are all the sudden reliving all of the wrong choices you made in your life, all of your transgressions, your lies, EVERYTHING. You suddenly realize this is the DEVIL and you are amazed at how little and un-intimidating he really is. Yet, his words continue to pierce your heart and you realize you are in a hell of a desperate situation as the judge is intently listening to his words.
That's about when you notice Jesus next to you. He is calmly waiting for the devil to finish. Finally, after a hellish account of your actions the devil says "I rest my case". Then Jesus gets up, calmly, and says "Your honor, may I submit the 'Book of Life' as Exhibit A? There you will find the defendant's name. As you see, his transgressions as so eloquently put forth by the devil have been already prosecuted and paid for. Therefore, the defendant's record is clean without any blemish. I ask that you dismiss the accused immediately."
That's the true Gospel. You believe in a Savior. Someone who can do what YOU CANNOT do. He kept EVERY aspect of the law and was sacrificed for you. He took your place in death so when you hear the painful account of all your wrong doings, you can be confident that He will step in to declare that your punishment has already been executed. Now imagine the alternative, arguing with the devil, trying to justify your existence. Trying to make a case that your "good deeds" outweigh the bad ones.
Now it is up to you, it's your choice. Do you trust yourself to keep up with a litany of rules, traditions and religious activities in order to save yourself? Or do you want to rely on faith that the little child "Emmanuel" which we celebrate during Christmas came to us to serve as our stand-in for the punishment we deserve?
If your choice is the latter, its really easy. Romans 10:9 says: "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
Whatever your choice, I would love to know.
This morning I woke up and it was like God whispering into my ear saying "the law is for the lawless"... I knew exactly what verse He was talking about and I immediately started to think... "NO I don't want to write about this verse...!"
You see, I believe these is one of those verses in the Bible that can be used for good as well as for evil. While I'm no Bible scholar, perhaps you will allow me to share some thoughts about this very difficult verse.
Why do I say it is difficult? To start with, the word "homosexuality" appears in today's verse. Immediately, the readership is potentially divided into two and now this very blog post is at the risk of alienating one person or another. No matter what your thoughts might be about homosexuality, can you hang in here with me for a while?
I chose to focus on the word "homosexuality" in this verse because it can be such a divisive word when it comes to "religion". The sadness of it all is that this passage really has nothing to do with that. Yet, taken out of context (as the devil is good at doing) the verse can be used to condemn people who might not be thought of as fit for "the church."
When read in context of the previous verses, what the Apostle Paul is trying to do with this letter is settle the record straight with "false teachers." Those are teachers who teach a gospel of works. You do this, you do that and you are saved. In other words, follow the law and you are saved. This kind of thinking leads people astray and away from the true Gospel which points to a Savior. Someone who saves you despite who you are instead of the effort to save yourself by keeping rules.
It's ironic that Paul's writing which is meant to free us from the law, is used to bind us to it even further. Please don't misunderstand my choice of words when I say "free us from the law." I didn't say we now have license to do whatever the hell we want! What I meant is that Paul's words are meant to free us from condemnation.
Back to false teachers: I remember the book series "Left Behind" as it featured a pastor who was left behind after the "rapture". Throughout the story, the pastor realized what he had done wrong. He was left behind because he did not REALLY believe in the Gospel of a Savior but taught the Gospel of works which is totally dependent on the law. This is really Paul's central theme of his message.
When you look at the list of sins it's not just about "homosexuality". This is an all inclusive list. He covers ALL of humanity with his list and to make sure, at the end he says "whatever else". In other words, if you think you are good enough to escape this list, consider anything else you do that you KNOW is against God. If you say you don't sin, you are deceived.
Paul's specific point in doing this is to point the reader to God's plan to save us (the lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious) and without a Savior, we are reduced to just that. With a savior, even though we deserve death, we are free in that our debt is paid for and because of that, God does not see our sinful nature, he sees HIS purity in all of us.
Let me close with this simple analogy to explain how I see the true Gospel Paul is talking about. Maybe it can help you too:
When you come to your "judgment day" you find yourself in a court room. In this court room you find a VERY SMALL guy with lots of notes. He is yelling in the court, going through a litany of "violations." You realize that he is talking about YOU. You are all the sudden reliving all of the wrong choices you made in your life, all of your transgressions, your lies, EVERYTHING. You suddenly realize this is the DEVIL and you are amazed at how little and un-intimidating he really is. Yet, his words continue to pierce your heart and you realize you are in a hell of a desperate situation as the judge is intently listening to his words.
That's about when you notice Jesus next to you. He is calmly waiting for the devil to finish. Finally, after a hellish account of your actions the devil says "I rest my case". Then Jesus gets up, calmly, and says "Your honor, may I submit the 'Book of Life' as Exhibit A? There you will find the defendant's name. As you see, his transgressions as so eloquently put forth by the devil have been already prosecuted and paid for. Therefore, the defendant's record is clean without any blemish. I ask that you dismiss the accused immediately."
That's the true Gospel. You believe in a Savior. Someone who can do what YOU CANNOT do. He kept EVERY aspect of the law and was sacrificed for you. He took your place in death so when you hear the painful account of all your wrong doings, you can be confident that He will step in to declare that your punishment has already been executed. Now imagine the alternative, arguing with the devil, trying to justify your existence. Trying to make a case that your "good deeds" outweigh the bad ones.
Now it is up to you, it's your choice. Do you trust yourself to keep up with a litany of rules, traditions and religious activities in order to save yourself? Or do you want to rely on faith that the little child "Emmanuel" which we celebrate during Christmas came to us to serve as our stand-in for the punishment we deserve?
If your choice is the latter, its really easy. Romans 10:9 says: "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
Whatever your choice, I would love to know.
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