When You’re Free, Live Free

(This is a follow-up from https://100fold.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/handicapped-with-god/).
When you are free, live free

Life is full of opportunity. And, life requires a little trying on your part.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
— Romans 12:2

What does it mean to “prove” what is good and acceptable and perfect? The word “prove” is “dokimazō“, which means “to test, examine, prove, scrutinise (to see whether a thing is genuine or not), as metals” or “to recognise as genuine after examination, to approve, deem worthy”.

How would that look in your life? To me, I had an example of this, where God came through in an unexpected, but sensible way.

I used to be in a band and I put some energy and thought into bringing the band back together to produce an album of our “hits”. 🙂 I tried very hard, had some buy-in into the idea. But eventually nothing came of it. I was sad, but thought to myself (not sure I told anyone) This is the end of my music career. just “Point of fact”-ly.

But God had different plans.

My plan didn’t work, but what I learned is that what I’d done was really proving God’s will for myself. Was this God’s will? Maybe. Maybe not. How will you know? By proving God’s will. Testing it. Trying it. Scrutinizing it. Sounds like Romans 12:2, doesn’t it?

At the end of my trial, God did give me a gig singing, which I do now happily. Just because what I tried didn’t work, God saw my heart behind it and was able to find His Will in my attempt. I tried and was able to prove the G.A.P.

Good. Acceptable. Perfect. Will of GOD. Go for it!

Action

Christianity can be a crutch – something religious and stale and without life. Knowing one is doing something good must help to deafen all the wrong that’s done in one’s own life and possibly in the world. But is knowing enough?

Armchair Christianity exists to feed the feeling of being accepted. But God calls us to more – to take action on what we know.

The Problem With Pride

A great lie that we often find ourselves lost in and can lead to other, serious consequences — the problem of Pride.

I recently experienced a moment of “pride” in my life and what I found was surprising. I often think of myself as a humble person — I don’t jump around, talking about how great I am or anything like that. On the outside, one might say, very humble.

Should Christians Act Like “Christians”?

An interesting dilemma, it would seem, for a Christian to not behave like a “Christian” should. In our culture today, there is already a preconceived idea of what a Christian is and how a Christian should behave. But is this Truth; is this what God’s Word says about the topic?

Some other questions arise on this subject: Can a Christian behave like a “non-Christian”? Must a Christian behave like a “Christian”? How should a “Christian” behave themselves?

To find the answer to these questions, we’ll see what the Word of God has to say on the topic of behavior, especially for those who consider themselves “Christians”. I think we’ll find grace, liberty and guidance on the lifestyle that God would expect us to live.