LIVING A LIFE THAT REALLY LIVES

Having thus a fond affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us ( I Thes. 2:8).

There was a time that while living I wasn't really living.  I was existing.

Of cancers, and injuries, and handicaps, and pains in general, the one mark which saddens me above all others is the zombie-life the general populace has taken on.  Look at people.  Day to day, paycheck to paycheck, back and forth, in and out; mediocrity is an accepted routine. 

This is disastrous to have such attitudes in the church.  Jesus called us to be lights set out in the open; not to be hiding under baskets.  We are to really live.

I was destined, called by the god of Isthisallthereis, to trudge through life with anticipation for weekends and holidays.  Friday's coming! is a wonderful and glorious thought to the non-liver.

But God.....

But God entered me and I entered Him and we swapped lives.  He promised to take my sins if I would take on His sandals. 

Life arise!

Really living isn't a series of good breaks.  Neither is it positive thinking.  It is passing through the grave and entering resurrection power when one is baptized.  A problem with the church is that we have emphasized baptism as a doctrinal sword to fight off denominations by convincing our neighbors of the need to get totally wet.  The church is to pull people from the death walk and thrust each of us into a life that's over our heads.

I LOVE IT!

I don't always know what to do.  This Sunday's sermon assignment has me stumped.  It alone is over my head.  But I have shed that old life of living in mediocrity simply because I don't feel in control.  I walk in God's system!  He will be there for me.  He may come through in an hour or Sunday morning at 7:30.  Nonetheless, God gives me reason to really live.

And.....He does the same for you!  How to teach one on one Bible studies is a good thing.  Reacting favorable to challenges and responding lovingly to irritating neighbors and letting our faces look like we are filled with joy would also change our communities.  An enormous segment of the world reads our faces before they open their Bibles. 

May we be seen as a committed group who really lives.

....for now we really live if you stand firm in the Lord (I Thes. 3:8).