“Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

Be wise who you give your ear, heart, time, and mind to.

If you are around the wrong people long enough, if you listen to the wrong things long enough, pretty soon what is wrong will seem right while what is right will seem wrong.

Be wise who you give your ear, heart, time, and mind to.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, there are several things you can do to protect yourself from error.

First, commit to weekly worship. We need a weekly reminder of who God is and who we are. We need a weekly recalibration that takes place as we listen to God’s word preached. This is not an option. We need to worship. God is not the one who needs to be worshiped. It is we who need to weekly hear and eat from God’s word.

Second, commit to a daily reading of God’s word. God’s word is the greatest weapon against falsehood, error, and sin. We read God’s word because we need it. This too is not an option. God’s people need God’s truth found in God’s word.

Finally, surround yourself with people who have committed to submit to God and God’s word. Be with those committed to God-honoring character.

“Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for humankind” (Psalm 66:5).
“Come, taste and see, that the LORD is good” (Psalm 34:8).

First, please accept my apologies. Somehow the Verse of the Day for Tuesday ended up getting lost somewhere in the web universe.

Now to the Verse of the Day.

One of the things people complain about the Christian faith is that it requires “blind” faith, that to be a Christian you have to lay aside your brain and science because science and reason and faith are incompatible.

That couldn’t be further from the truth. God is not intimidated by science and reason. God created science and reason. God doesn’t shy away. In fact, God’s invitation is “Try me out.” “See for yourselves.” “Come and see what I have done.” “Come and taste and see. I’ve got nothing to hide, nothing to lose. Try faith for yourself, you’re going to see how amazing and good the LORD is.”

The reason why many people get confused about the faith thing is because some believe that your troubles are over when you become a Christian.

That’s a problem because there is nothing in the Bible that supports that.

Even in the Psalm above look at what the psalmist declares in Psalm 66:10-12:

For you, God, tested us;
you refined us like silver.
You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs.
You let the people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you, brought us to a place of abundance.

Look, God saves us from sin and judgment, but God does not save us from suffering and sorrow. Suffering and sorrow is part of what it means to be human.

Believing in God doesn’t mean your loved ones will never suffer and die, or that you will never be sick and diseased, that you will always be wealthy and healthy. There is nothing in the Bible that says that. Besides, if this were the case, no Christian and their loved one would ever die, get sick, and suffer! That’s absurd!!!

When the only pathway to salvation for us was through Calvary and the cross, why do we think that the pathway for discipleship will be paved in gold and comfort? That just isn’t in the Bible.

What God does promise is, not that there won’t be any suffering, but that even in the midst of suffering God is present to strengthen and give us peace and joy. There is nothing in the created universe that can separate us from the love, the plan, and the peace of God.

That is our victory. That is discipleship. That is Christian faith.

And, God’s invitation to you and me, “Come and see. Check it out for yourself!”

“Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds on what the Spirit desires” (Romans 8:5).

Happy Easter Monday!!!

Because of all that God has done for us in the life, death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ our status is forever changed. Those who receive God’s plan for salvation are forever changed from sinners into sons and daughters of the Kingdom of God.

While our status is changed, it takes the rest of our lives for us to become the people God saved us to become. This is called sanctification. And sanctification is hard work. We will have to work at it for the rest of our lives. But, we are not alone in this work. God has given us his Holy Spirit to help us.

The key word is “help.” The Holy Spirit will help us, remind us, and encourage us. However, the Holy Spirit will not force nor coerce us to change. We have to work with the Holy Spirit to become who God wants us to be.

The great reformer, Martin Luther, is credited with saying, “The old Adam is drowned in baptism but that jackass is a good swimmer!”

The old Adam – our status is changed. We are no longer sinners. We are sons and daughters of God.

But the old Adam is not dead. The old Adam lingers. Our personalities and character need to be developed. Unless we strive to work at becoming who God saved us to become, we will fall back to our default mode – old Adam. This work is sanctification, and this is hard work.

The Apostle Paul knew well this struggle. Read Romans 7. The Apostle Paul struggled with old Adam, just as we do.

The Apostle Paul gives us an insight in how we can work with the Holy Spirit. He tells us:

• Those who live according to the flesh –> have their minds set on what the flesh desires
• Those who live according to the Spirit –> have their minds on what the Spirit desires

What is your mind set on? The flesh? or the Spirit?

The Apostle Paul is talking about our pre-determined priorities. Spirit priorities are things we have to pre-determine before our priorities are challenged. We have to pre-determine to set our minds on the Spirit. Our default mode is old Adam. We know old Adam very well. We need to re-train our minds and hearts to be focused on the Spirit because, when we don’t, we will fall back to our default mode – the flesh.

The mind follows the will. Set your minds on the Spirit. This is about obedience. This is about allegiance. This is about alignment. The more we obey and the more we align ourselves with the Spirit, the more we become who God created us to be. This is sanctification. This is an on-going process. This work will continue until Christ completes the work he began in us.

The more we partner with the Holy Spirit, we will be able to look back and see that we are no longer who we used to be a year ago.

Max Dupree said, “We cannot become what we want by remaining what we are.”

Since we are recipients of such an amazing grace, let us join the Holy Spirit by pre-determining to set our minds on the Spirit.