Wow. I am really bad at this blogging thing. I haven't posted since July! I'll get to an update soon, but I thought I would share with you what I have been learning and realizing as I am reading through the book of Ephesians (slowly mind you - there's a TON of stuff in there).
Ephesians 2:3-5
We were by nature, objects of wrath. but God made us alive with Christ (paraphrased).
To go from being an object of wrath to ones in God's favor seems like a very heavy thing right now. Not sure why. To be under wrath and then not. That's a HUGE deal. It doesn't sound pleasant "gratifying the cravings" and "following it's desires" It's like we had no control over ourselves. There was this entity living inside us forcing us to serve it and do what made it happy. That it craved things and it's desires were evil.
It does seem fun to b able to do whatever without worrying if God will think it's okay, or if it's right or wrong. Just to do whatever one leases. But that becomes tiresome and empty after a while. There is not one iota of fulfillment in that lifestyle. You are always looking for more, the next cool thing to make you happy, the eternal search for "something else."
Now, we can be fulfilled in Christ. And this isn't a fulfillment that is partial that goes away after a while. It is complete and FULLfillment. That i what God did when h made us alive in Christ. We were trudging along forced to gratify the cravings of the entity in our souls, the living dead. (visualize a person with a parasite on their back walking around only doing what the parasite wills). We were dead. But God took us out o that. He plucked the parasite from our backs, healed us, and gave us a path to follow. Freedom to do what we want. To follow him. to make our own choices. And we are alive because of Christ. God allowed Jesus to be a substitute for me. When Jesus died, God saw me through the perfection of Jesus. It is in Jesus and through Jesus that I have this relationship with God. That I have anything.
Ephesians 2:3-5
We were by nature, objects of wrath. but God made us alive with Christ (paraphrased).
To go from being an object of wrath to ones in God's favor seems like a very heavy thing right now. Not sure why. To be under wrath and then not. That's a HUGE deal. It doesn't sound pleasant "gratifying the cravings" and "following it's desires" It's like we had no control over ourselves. There was this entity living inside us forcing us to serve it and do what made it happy. That it craved things and it's desires were evil.
And God brought us out of that.
It does seem fun to b able to do whatever without worrying if God will think it's okay, or if it's right or wrong. Just to do whatever one leases. But that becomes tiresome and empty after a while. There is not one iota of fulfillment in that lifestyle. You are always looking for more, the next cool thing to make you happy, the eternal search for "something else."
And God brought us out of that.
