So Simple

These sub zero temperatures remind me of Sunday morning, right after we sing our last song, give our offerings and share the last testimony. Preaching starts and some folks go into a deep freeze. Don't get me wrong, I'm not judging anybody, most people don't even realize that this is happening. We hear the word sin, or law, or commitment and our brain tells us; we know all about this. We do hear about these things often, don't we. So why do we fail to put them into actions as often as we do?
Application is the problem! For over twenty years I have used a proverb of my own creation; "you ARE what you DO, and you DO what you ARE". Simple; you LIVE what you believe, if you don't live it, you don't believe it.

S.O.A.P.

1-9-2015         Romans 2:21-29

S.       21 Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?23 Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.26 Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

O.      It is not the outward showing of obedience to the law that brings righteousness; it is the obedience of the heart that God calls righteous.

A.      It is my heart that I must keep clean first. God starts me on this path at the cross through salvation, teaches me 

          his way from the Bible, aids me with the Holy Spirit and empowers me with faith. Sin is born in the heart before it appears in my hands or spouts from my lips.

   P.       Father; I open my heart, mind and soul to you. Clean and keep me on the path of righteousness. Amen.