John 12:12-36
Love this life? Of course not. Never. I don't think so. Well...maybe just a little. Jesus tells the people in John 12:25-26 that those who love their life in this world will lose it but that those who care nothing for their life will keep it for eternity. In other words, living for (loving) the world is deadly for us spiritually speaking. I get that completely. Yet...I still find myself loving (or at least liking a lot) things of the world. Just from my normal routine I find that I "want" a new this or a new that and I start planning on how I can do more of x (you fill in the blank). When that happens, I'm letting myself get caught up in this temporary life instead of focusing on things with eternal value. We all do this to some degree because there is always that tension of being in the world but not of it.
So here's the million dollar question for the day: How can we guard against falling into that "loving this life" syndrome? How do we put into practice the correct balance between living in the world but not being "in love" with it? Tami W.
The key word for me (and throughout Scripture) is "remember" The things of this world are fleeting- we cannot hang onto anything for even our most joyous moments or our most precious possessions will one day fade away. "But God"
This is interesting because it is just the question I was asking myself the other day - and I'm still looking for an answer. I have the fealing that this is one of those questions that we will always ask and always have to work at to find that balance.
Thank you Tami and other folks at Back to the Bible for PX4. I am relatively new but it has been sooo helpful to me. When I study the word I definitely need questions to answer otherwise my wandering mind wanders even more. When I do it each morning (still struggling with that continuity thing) I find myself richly blessed even when the chosen scripture doesn't seem to have anything to do with my life at the moment. I have wondered greatly how this could be and finally chalked it up to Godnowledge magic. I find myself growing so much when I do it. I was raised in a Christian home went to Christian schools etc. and so I am finding that my knowledge is reaching my heart and I am stringing together the knowledge I have been blessed to have acquired from birth.
I am curious to know how you come up with the daily scripture portions and who writes the great questions. I'm sure the Holy Spirit is involved with both. I am just wondering who's hands He chooses to use for this task.
Many blessings and thanks from a fellow pilgrim desiring to find His treasure in this fallen world.
A very good question Tami,it is very hard to live in this world to-day, with all the bad stuff around us, but I remember that Jesus gave His all for me, and that I should give my all for Him.
Each day I ask the Holy Spirit to help me be more Christ like, and awalys remember that I know the trut, and that gives me the strengh to continue each day one day at a time.
Attitude is everything. I guess it's easier for me, having been in the military and seen the world, but I would have to say that one needs to keep their tourist shoes on. When you live in Chicago and visit London it's easy to relate as they are both big cities but I don't think you would feel like you belonged there. For all the cultural differences there are many similarities so you can feel a part of it without belonging to it. You wouldn't even have to think about it. It's automatic. That's the way it is for me. I can be comfortable anywhere but nowhere is home. When we remember that we are tourists and our home is not of this world, then we can spend more time looking at others as fellow touists. Some are lost, some aren't. Our only issue then is to find out how best to share God's grace with our brothers and sister. Manbe help the lost to find the Way?
May the Son shine on you always...
Danette,
Thanks for the great questions. We actually have a team of people who are involved with Powered by 4 in various ways. One of our writers designs the daily reading schedule as well as writes the accompanying questions. And, for those who may not know, the cool thing is that the P4 readings are in sync with the Back to the Bible program, so they are a great complement to each other. As far as the blog, I write all the daily blogs myself (occasionally bouncing ideas off of other team members :)). We also have others on the team who facilitate in a number of areas (emails, website, blog moderating, etc). And just so you know, our team gets so excited and loves to read all the comments on the blog and to see how the Bible is changing lives. So thanks to you and everyone who has chosen to make time to read, discuss & apply God's Word. It's a privilege to walk right along with you. Tami W.