Forged By Faith

Galatians 5:16 NIV Ok, so we've covered the dangers of material desires and our instinctual human need to feel as though we need to fill our lives with everything we desire in order to find meaning and a sense of success in life. But how? How do we learn how to go against what we've always known? How can we break free from the normalcies of a fallen society that is consumed with the pursuit of excess? How can we free our lives from the control of our deceitful hearts that crave material comfort? We can't. We ourselves cannot do it. It's in our bones. It's instilled in our human DNA. We're born into a world that is built around what you have and what you want and what other people are idolizing. We grow up being bombarded with messages and ideas and lies that point us toward ourselves and all those worldly desires that we're surrounded by. We can't free ourselves from those desires. We can't heal the brokenness into which we're born and raised. Bu...

Philippians 3:19 NIV Yesterday we discussed not giving the devil a foothold in our lives by allowing him to use his deceptive and deceitful tricks to lure us away from the path that Christ laid out for us to follow. Problem is that we make ourselves easy targets! All these worldly priorities and pursuits that we've learned to live for open us up to the attacks that drag us away from Christ. We open the door to sin when we allow our hearts to be set on things that don't lead us closer to Him. Scripture calls us to set our minds on things above this earth. To no longer allow our lives being completely consumed with the allure of glitter and gold. To realize that temporal things cannot possibly bring us lasting joy or peace. But breaking free from our lesser human desires is asking a lot. Shaking free from the things that everyone else seems to be chasing and living a strange and more focused life isn't easy to do because it goes against everything we've always known. But ...

Psalm 37:4 NIV I've got a feeling that this verse is one that many people don't quite understand. On the surface it sounds like this new prosperity gospel that so many folks apparently believe in. But while this verse says that God will give us the desires of our hearts, that doesn't necessarily mean what many probably assume it means. It's just a matter of seeing things through our worldly eyes and human perspectives. We've been talking a bit about all the things we want in life and how selfishness undermines the point of the Gospel. This isn't about us. Our lives aren't about living to obtain all the junk that catches our eye. It's not about gaining a bunch of gold and glory that loses its meaning when we're no longer here to testify to its importance. But man, selfishness and human desires sure are the driving force behind so much of our society today! The Gospel is there to help us learn to see the danger in doing what we want and chasing after w...