Discipline

Donna Braman

This Is The Day The Lord Has Made And I Shall Rejoice In It!

A woman disciplining her son sends him to sit quietly in a chair. Glaring over his shoulder, he walks to the chair and circles it a few times until his mother says in a firm voice, "Sit down!" The boy does, but as she leaves the room, he calls after her, "I'm standing up on the inside!"

We can't control people, not even our own children. But thankfully, this universal truth means that we cannot be controlled by others, either. Yet we often cast blame as if someone else's actions dictated our emotional response: "Joe made me so mad..."In reality, Joe could not make you mad; you chose to be angry (justified or not). We also decide whether to react in a godly or worldly fashion when someone hurts or frustrates us.

No matter how much blame we attempt to offload onto others, the Lord cannot be misled by our maneuvering. He looks only at the heart when determining how to discipline believers or convict them of sin. As a result, the blame games does not end up making us look better. Instead, it hinders our fellowship with God. The responses He is looking for are forgiveness when we are hurt and repentance when we do the injuring. Otherwise, we are too caught up in either vengeance or escaping culpability to focus on spiritual matters.

SEED WORD:

Followers of God are to sow peace and grow spiritual fruit like love, joy, and kindness. (Galations 5:22-23) If you are clinging to blame, all that is growing are the emotional "weeds" separating you from God's best. Ask Him for forgiveness and the strength to forgive others. The blame game is over.

Passion

Donna Braman

Today Is The Day The Lord Has Made And I Shall Rejoice In It!

A PASSION TO PROCLAIM HIM

Read: Colosians 1:28-29

What activities embarrass you? Maybe you feel uncomfortable singing in public or your face turns red when you are caught mumbling to yourself. Does talking about Jesus embarrass you? Staying quiet may seem safer than risking ridicule or being seen as as one of those church fanatics.

Unfortunately, silent believers waste their lives. We receive so many good things from God, a new way of thinking, forgiveness, healing, answers to prayer, and the Holy Spirit's presence. The list could go on and on. Our favorite subject should be Jesus Christ and His transforming salvation.

The apostle Paul spoke freely of his great sin before redemption. (Acts 26:12-18). He was a church persecutor transformed into Christ's spokes person by Grace. Nothing within Paul was worth saving, and he knew it. Consequently, the man never stopped publicly praising and proclaiming the Lord's love.

Even with the magnitude of Paul's sins, he received no greater measure of grace than any of us. That Grace is for everyone who comes to Him. We may have lived a moral life before receiving salvation, but sin still separated us from God. Believers sometimes neglect that truth and forget Jesus' transforming power. Then we find ourselves too embarrassed or uncomfortable to share about the great change He made in our lives.

SEED WORD:

We might be tempted to think we are better than the sinning Paul, the unmarried couple living next door, our drug sister or adulterous brother. We are not. What separates "us" and "them" is believers and unbelievers. We have received Jesus and they still need to hear our passionate love for Him because of what he has done in our lives.

Sometimes we can get on our soap box and preach all we want about what is the good news, but it is when we put our personal testimony with it that we have impact. So if you've overcome in a particular area tell it to people who are still stuck where you once were and how Jesus made you and overcomer.

Dressed for Battle

Donna Braman

09-04-09

DRESSED FOR BATTLE

Read: Ephesians 6:13-18

We start our day by dressing appropriately for the weather or an activity. But many believers leave the house unprepared, they fail to arm themselves for spiritual warfare. Our first prayer before rising should include step by step application of God's armor.

First, we strap on the BELT OF TRUTH. A leather apron protected the Roman soldiers abdomen; our protective girdle is the truth of who we are in Christ: saints with supernatural power from God's indwelling Spirit. Next, the breastplate deflects arrows. As difficult situations arise, we can repel the temptation to live by emotion, whether anger, fear, or dissatisfaction, and respond with a right spirit instead.

The SANDALS OF PEACE help us to stand firm. Roman battle sandals usually had thick, spiked soles so that the soldier could anchor himself in the dirt. Regardless of the enemy's fierce tongue coming at us, we can remain firmly planted in God's peaceful will. The SHIELD OF FAITH is no tiny round piece of armor; it is door-sized equipment representing Christ's protection against anything Satan throws at us.

Faith brought us salvation, the point at which we exchanged our old thought patterns for new ways of thinking. Consequently, with SALVATION'S HELMET, we put on the mind of Christ, which gives us discernment and wisdom. Finally, we take up the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT so that we can combat Satan's lies with Scripture's truth.

SEED WORD: Knowing precisely what we will face each day. The Lord has graciously provided the perfect equipment needed for our challenges. Always be sure to dress for battle.

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