We are extraordinary beings. We are a mélange (It’s OK to use your dictionary) of walking, talking, living, breathing contradictions. God has told us over and over never to worry. That’s right—we sin when we do worry. Yet it is God Himself who has gifted us with an astounding capacity to worry!
Even the great apostle St. Paul was exasperated by this tremendous ability to disobey God by doing what he knew above all people should not be done. Remember how he described himself (Romans 7:15ff, Contemporary English Version [CEV] of the Holy Bible):
15 In fact, I don’t understand why I act the way I do. I don’t do what I know is right. I do the things I hate. 16 Although I don’t do what I know is right, I agree that the Law (of God; see Old Testament) is good. 17 So I am not the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them.
18 I know that my selfish desires won’t let me do anything that is good. Even when I want to do right, I cannot. 19 Instead of doing what I know is right, I do wrong. 20 And so, if I don’t do what I know is right, I am no longer the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them.
My goodness gracious—what is a person to do? How about what I walked in the door preaching and teaching over three years ago? Be filled with the Holy Spirit! Again listen to the apostle Paul re Living by the Power of God’s Spirit:
8 If you belong to Christ Jesus, you won’t be punished. 2 The Holy Spirit will give you life that comes from Christ Jesus and will set you free from sin and death. 3 The [Old Testament] Law of Moses cannot do this, because our selfish desires make the Law weak. But God set you free when he sent his own Son to be like us sinners and to be a sacrifice for our sin. God used Christ’s body to condemn sin. 4 He did this, so that we would do what the Law commands by obeying the Spirit instead of our own desires.
5 People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things. 6 If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace. 7 Our desires fight against God, because they do not and cannot obey God’s laws. 8 If we follow our desires, we cannot please God.
9 You are no longer ruled by your desires, but by God’s Spirit, who lives in you. People who don’t have the Spirit of Christ in them don’t belong to him. 10 But Christ lives in you. So you are alive because God has accepted you, even though your bodies must die because of your sins. 11 Yet God raised Jesus to life! God’s Spirit now lives in you, and he will raise you to life by his Spirit.
12 My dear friends, we must not live to satisfy our desires. 13 If you do, you will die. But you will live, if by the help of God’s Spirit you say “No” to your desires. 14 Only those people who are led by God’s Spirit are his children. 15 God’s Spirit doesn’t make us slaves who are afraid of him. Instead, we become his children and call him our Father. 16 God’s Spirit makes us sure that we are his children (Romans 8:1-16, Contemporary English Version [CEV]).
Wow! Double WOW!! I rest my case—uh my pen (actually my PC) because we can do it. We can be happy and not worry.
As I always like to remind us, we indeed are blessed beyond measure!
Pastor Curtis
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