Suffering

I used to have coaches use the mantra, "No Pain, No Gain!" To a certain extent they were right. I needed to push myself just a little bit further each day so I could get stronger, so I could build my endurance. They were right. They were also wrong. Sometimes pain is your bodies way of telling you to stop, "No Mas!" Pain alerts you to injuries or things that can be even more damaging.

In Romans 5:3 Paul encourages us to rejoice in our suffering. Perhaps this is even where, "No Pain, No Gain" started. In some ways this section sounds to me like a rehashing of the beatitudes. I hate when character is being built. It's usually painful and difficult. Yet, when all is said and done I'm grateful for the hope that it has produced.

So it seems when suffering, difficult times, come along in our life we do have a choice. We can ignore it or run away, but it's still there. We can fight it, but that seems only to irritate it and make the suffering worse. We can embrace it, like Paul encourages us and in so doing we find hope. So go ahead and embrace your suffering, and those who are suffering around you.

Snow

I woke up this morning to:

cold
snow
ice
wind
winter breaking through

yet at the same time it was:

beautiful
amazing
comforting
and challenging

Today is going to be a good day!

Romans 4:1-14

Promise, that's the word that stuck out for me today. Paul talks about Abraham and his circumcision. When was Abraham chosen? Before the circumcision! The circumcision was a sign then, simply, of what God had already done in his life. Abraham was chosen regardless of his actions. Is that not the case for us as well?

I pray today that I might live those promises given to me by God at birth, through my baptism. That I might know them in a real way. That we all may know them in a real way. That we may no longer be bound by the law, but be free to live beyond the law.

Flight Plan

Last week Dawn and I went to see "Flight Plan". I thought it was a fun movie. I think we both enjoyed that it had several twists along the way to keep us on our toes as viewers. If you haven't seen it, I would recommend it for your holiday viewing.

As the week has gone on there is something about it, though, that has kind of struck me. If you haven't seen it you may have at least seen that the basic plot of the movie is that a mother and daughter enter a plane and somehow during the flight the little girl goes missing. It is amazing, really, with what tenacity the mother continues to search and hunt for her daughter. She is unwilling to let anything stop her. It is a powerful testimony to the kind of love a parent has for a child. How much more is our heavenly father willing to search for us when we go missing, when we wander away spiritually speaking? It reminds me a little of Luke 15. I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty cool.

Romans 3:19-31

I'm going to try something new. Currently in my morning devotions I am working my way through Romans. I thought maybe part of that ritual can be sharing some of my thoughts here...

I can't say that I had a lot of thoughts today. One thing that certain stuck for me was Paul's comment, or perhaps I should say question, about what then do we have to boast about? We live in a very boastful society, culture, etc. I watched both the Vikings and Packers play yesterday and there was a lot of dance and celebrating. They weren't celebrating all so much what others had done, but crying out to the nation to see what they had done. Yet wouldn't Paul suggest that they have nothing to boast about, but it is Christ (God) working through them instead? It's an amazing thing to recognize Christ working through you. See, one of the traps of humility is falling into despair, or a lack of self-confidence. However, when you recognize Christ working through you then you can boast like Paul, that you are capable of accomplishing anything. There is a confidence, a confidence in self even, but it is a recognition, a humility that says, that it is Christ doing the heavy lifting.

All that being said, my prayer today is that I, we, would know the kind of faith that Paul is talking about here in Romans. That we would know a faith that frees us to live unencumbered by the law. That we would know a faith that frees us to live life rich and to it's fullest. I pray that we would know it in such a way that we would live it.