Tag: Freedom

A Different View

Today’s a new day! I have several friends who do not like going to church, but they think Jesus is really cool. When Jesus was walking on earth, thousands of people flocked to hear him teach. He had something worth saying and his message was life changing. If you are a Christian how do you live? If a non-Christian spent the day with you, would they change the way they viewed Christians?

Some people believe that the Church is a place that is only for people who are good enough. Nothing could be further from the truth. The faith lived out by Jesus was one that was taken up by people who were the wrong sort according to the religious people of the day. They did not have it all together. People came to Jesus with their imperfections and some turned to him and called on him for forgiveness and he forgave them and he led them in a new life. Jesus never sent anyone away who was imperfect and he never sent people away who didn’t agree with him or who didn’t want to follow his teaching. One of his disciples Peter, cut off the ear of one of the people who had come to arrest Jesus (John 18:10), Peter also denied knowing Jesus three times (Mark 14:66-72). In Matthew 16:18, Jesus shares these powerful words, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” In Peter we see the worst and best of the Christian faith, but Jesus loved him and still chose to work with and through him.

Where some Christians go wrong is that they try to portray themselves as perfect rather than the truth which is that we are all broken and thankfully have been forgiven. That as Christians, we are all on a journey of change. I’ve heard it said that: God loves us as we are, but he also loves us too much to leave us that way.

When we make the choice to follow Jesus we are born again, spiritually beginning a new life. The Bible also talks about us reflecting the glory of God as he changes us (2 Corinthians 3:18). The apostle Paul who wrote most of the New Testament talks about a battle going on in every Christian between the Spirit (God in us) and our sinful nature (Romans 7:9). Who will we listen to? Will we live for ourselves only or do we want to live for God?

I pray every Christian will walk securely in God’s love, acceptance, forgiveness, grace and all of His beautiful gifts. I pray as God’s children, we will be guided by the Holy Spirit living in us to keep on striving to become more like Jesus. ~OC

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New Normal

Today’s a new day! As I continue to walk through this crazy beautiful health journey, my life has been filled with many new normals. During all of the new normals, I have learned a new normal does not mean that God has thrown away His plan for me. A new normal does not mean that I am less than anyone else. A new normal has made me the person I am today.

When I decided to embrace the truth of the new normals in my life, I experienced a beautiful freedom. I can still live a full life in this broken body even on days I wish I could return it. I started focusing on what I had and what I could still do.

With this broken, but blessed body:

I can still live and lead an intentional, meaningful life.

I can still worship God in all I do.

I can still love and serve others.

I can still cherish time with my family and friends.

I can still cultivate new and old meaningful friendships.

I can still grow and bloom right where God has me planted.

Sometimes when we walk through the storms of life, we may feel that God isn’t there. Well friend, I have some great news for you. He is. Keep walking in that truth. ~OC

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Gift of Grace Part 2

Today’s a new day! Being a Christian and living a life saved by grace does not mean we take sin less seriously; it means we take sin more seriously. We cannot continue to live in our old self and continually bring out the grace card. Yes, we are saved by grace through faith and not by works. But that doesn’t mean we can be flippant about our sin. Jesus told us, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). The Apostle Peter reminded us that “as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15). Genuine faith produces the fruit of good works; by the same token, “faith apart from works is dead” (James 2:26). That’s why Paul, even after he has told us that there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1), admonished us to “put to death the deeds of the body,” which themselves lead to death (Romans 8:13). If we take a casual attitude toward sin, we will eventually take a casual attitude toward Jesus. While we should never live in guilt and shame over sin from which we have truly repented, we cannot allow ourselves to live a life where we think that a decision to follow Jesus means anything less than actually following Him. ~OC

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The Gift of Grace Part 1

Today’s a new day! The beautiful gift of Grace is not freedom to sin; rather, grace is freedom from sin. Jesus did not die for our sins so we could continue to live in them. No, He died for our sins so that we could go and sin no more. Will we always deal with sin in our lives? Absolutely. Does our struggle with sin separate us from the love of Christ? Absolutely not. But our attitude as one truly saved by grace should not be to continue wallowing in the very behavior that Jesus died to deliver us from. Rather, a person redeemed by the love of Jesus will strive to trust in the work He did on the Cross and desire to become more like Him each day. When the Apostle Paul explained salvation by grace, he anticipated the replies of those who would seek to abuse it. That’s why he asked, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2). The Apostle John shared this warning, “No one who abides in [Jesus] keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen Him or known Him” (1 John 3:6). Jesus Himself warned that we “will recognize [people] by their fruits” (Matthew 7:20). As believers in Christ, we must not offer the world a cheap grace that allows us to proclaim devotion to Jesus with our lips while having a love affair with sin on the side. Our daily lives should reflect a real and life changing encounter with Jesus. That is what a broken and unbelieving world is looking to experience. Do our lives reflect the love, forgiveness, hope, grace and freedom of Jesus? The world is watching and wanting to experience that true freedom and grace. ~OC

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My Home in Heaven

Today’s a new day! This body and world are just temporary. Life is but a vapor. I will not let the struggles in life become my identity. My God-given purpose in life is to love and serve. Not to hate or judge. My home is in Heaven. I am just passing through on my way home. ~OC

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Keep Living!

Good Morning! As I have walked through this crazy beautiful health journey, I have always tried to be honest and transparent about my health issues. So I wanted to share the latest update with you. I do not share this update for pity, but to hopefully encourage anyone walking through their own journey.

I met with my medical team this past week. The doctor shared my Parkinson’s has moved to Stage 3 out of 5. He upped my medication and started me on some new medication. The doctor wants me to start using a cane and a voice amplifier. My Myasthenia Gravis and Gastroparesis has gotten worse. Eating has become more of an issue. The doctor shared I could be in the beginning of a major decline. Not sure about that, because I have a lot of fight left in me. Laura and I continue to stay encouraged and believe God has some amazing plans for our future. We look at this as a little bump in the road. I am truly looking forward to all God has for me in this next chapter of the journey. ~OC

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The Prodigal

Today’s a new day! Remember, we’re all prodigals until we come to a saving relationship with Jesus. So keep praying and loving the prodigal loved ones in your life. No judgment or condemnation. Just love and grace. ~OC

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Catch It!

Today’s a new day! Our senses can become numbed in the aftermath of life storms, and the presence of suffering. But if the declaration of God’s love begins with awe, I can think of nothing more effective in helping to restore our wonder than by reminding ourselves through scripture, of just how much God loves us. So much so, that he sent His one and only son to die for us. (1 John 4:9-10)

One of my favorite scripture verses is found in Zephaniah 3:17:

“The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with his love, and rejoice over you in singing.”

Did you catch that? God will rejoice over us with singing. What a beautiful thought. God delights in us. When we have an accurate view of God’s amazing love for us, we can process our suffering through a lens of hope. And hope can turn our thoughts from being inward focused, to being upward focused. This change in perspective can make all the difference, in the presence of suffering. ~OC

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Take a Risk

Today’s a new day! As I was praying this morning, God brought a phrase to my mind. That phrase is “To love is to risk.” With everything going on in the world, that phrase really spoke to me. I had to asked myself, Do I take enough risk in loving people? Do I take enough risk in letting people love me back? Do I take enough risk in reaching out to those I would not normally reach out to and love them – love them like Jesus would love them? Am I happy not to risk being rejected and just sit in my comfort zone and only love those around me I am comfortable with?

Taking risk can cost:
To reach out for one another is to risk involvement.
To expose one’s feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas, your dreams before people is to risk their loss.
To live is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
But I believe risks must be taken,  because the greatest pitfall in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing,  has nothing,  is nothing.
They may avoid loss, suffering and hurt, but they miss learning, growing, and truly loving. 
Chained by their fear a person who refuses to take risks, misses out on freedom. Only a person who takes risk in life is truly free.

I choose to be a risk taker. I do not want to be someone who risks nothing,  does nothing,  has nothing,  is nothing. I want to be free – free to go and love on people no matter how they respond. Free to risk showing love, hope and forgiveness even if I am not shown this in return. Free to reach out to people even if it does risk being rejected. I want to love even if it comes with risk. Who will join me?

The light of God’s love shined within us when he sent his matchless Son into the world so that we might live through him. This is love: He loved us long before we loved him. It was his love, not ours. He proved it by sending his Son to be the pleasing sacrificial offering to take away our sins. Delightfully loved ones, if he loved us with such tremendous love, then “loving one another” should be our way of life. ~1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭

What would the world look like if we all took the risk and truly loved people – all people no matter their color, their political beliefs, spiritual beliefs or their cultural background, the kind of love we as Christians are called to show to all around us? I just wonder. ~OC

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