list I use each year to re-evaluate where I think I need to work on.
Y N I could lose my job tomorrow
Y N I always have to be “on” My kids are growing up without me and
I’m worried I grew up in a dysfunctional family.
Y N I long for intimacy with my wife I desire a deeper
relationship with God.
Y N I struggle with lust I need to make peace with my Heavenly Father.
Y N I don’t have a safe place where I can share my thoughts.
Y N I am ready for a change.
Y N I am hooked on pornography.
Y N I feel bored in my day job I want to feel good again.
Y N I don’t know how to BLESS my children.
Y N I was sexually abused by a person of trust
Y N I am an alcoholic
Y N My marriage really needs work
Y N I am scared to death of rejection from ______________
Y N I need help with ______________________________
The Bible says, very implicitly, that Christ “has delivered us from
the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his
beloved Son”- Colossians 1:13 and also that “ sin will have no
dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace”-
Romans 6:14. I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I think
about the reality of this truth and then line it up alongside the
reality of my struggle with different sinful tendencies, I start to
doubt that I have any part with Jesus Christ. My hope starts fading.
My assurance is almost nonexistent. My sanity starts crumbling.
Do you know what I’m talking about? Have you been there? It’s a
horrible, despairing place to be.
But think about this for a second, does our struggle with sin point
more toward the fact that we aren’t saved…. or does it point more
toward the fact that we are saved and known by Jesus Christ? I would
venture to say, based on Scripture, that it indicates the latter. If
the Holy Spirit was not in us, convicting us of sin and leading us to
repent, there would be no struggle.
I attended a Men's Bible study last Saturday morning at St Paul's
Muskego. One of the 14 men brought up a good point "It' when I stop
struggling with sin is when I should start to worry." Our wills would
be under the dominion of sin, in complete submission to Satan, and we
would see absolutely nothing wrong with ourselves– neither in our
actions nor our thoughts. In fact, we would see our sin as good. Look
around you, those who are blind and don't know Jesus. We see them do
horrible, wretched things without an ounce of remorse. They go through
everyday life, and don’t experience the same internal struggles we do.
We’re changed by the means of grace, transformed by the blood of
Christ, and made new through Jesus resurrection!
Today I was blessed with the privilege to attend Zion Lutheran church
South Milwaukee Men's Bible study after work. 10 men were in attendance were talking
about (1 Peter 4:7-11)
7 "The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment
and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. 8 Above all, keep fervent
in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.
9 Be hospitable to one another without complaint. 10 As each one has
received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good
stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 Whoever speaks, let him
speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do
so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God
may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and
dominion forever and ever. Amen." (1 Peter 4:7-11).
1) Can you honestly say that you show your love through the way you
carry out the Gospel message in your 24/7?
2) What commitment is God speaking you to focus on?
A) To God (7)?__________________________
B) To God's people
(8)?__________________________
C) To God's service
(9-11)?_______________________
3) What area do you have most difficulty
with?
______________________________
