Pastor Karen's Meditation for Saturday, March 30

Here is Pastor Karen's devotion today:

Good morning, friends!

We are loved! We are forgiven! God will not hold our sins against us who are “in Christ Jesus.”

God has released us from the punishment we deserved because of our sin and our inability to make ourselves righteous enough for Him. He has made a way where there was no way—in Jesus Christ. He has dealt with the sin of all the world once and for all—in Jesus Christ.

We have new life because of Him. We have abundant life here in this world—because of Him. And we have eternal life in the world to come—because of Him.

Now we no longer live by the “flesh.” We no longer live for our own pleasures and material gains, like the world teaches us to do. Our focus is no longer on “looking out for number 1” and making sure that we get “our piece of the pie.” We live by the Spirit of Christ that dwells within and empowers us to know God’s Will and obey every day.

I cannot think of happier news to tell you this morning, the day before Easter, than Romans 8:

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Does living by the Spirit mean that we will not sin anymore? I wish! Does living by the Spirit mean that we will faithfully obey God every time He reveals His will to us? I wish!

But living by the Spirit does mean that we ARE ABLE to do as God desires. That we ARE ABLE to love and forgive, as He loves and forgives. We ARE ABLE to live an “abundant life” –in God’s kingdom right now in this world—if our hearts, minds, and eyes are "set on the things of the Spirit." If we have faith to “see” His kingdom.

Don’t fret over the things of this world, my sisters and brothers in the Lord. And don’t be discouraged by your own sin and weaknesses, because God sees you through the perfection of Christ. Don’t be disappointed in this life of “flesh” because your “flesh,” in God’s gracious perspective, has already passed away!

Romans 8 continues:

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

“But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”

So this day and always, my friends, don’t see your life as a half empty glass! Don’t always want something more in order to be “happy.” Don’t look for all the flaws in your church and in other people. Of course we are flawed! We are still human.

Be patient. God who has forgiven us all in Jesus Christ will be faithful to complete a good work in us.

Look for Him in every face, in every place. Be at peace. Your cup runneth over when you live abundantly by faith. You have everything you could ever want and need—because you have one thing—you have no condemnation in Jesus Christ.

Will you pray with me?

Hold God, thank you for our salvation in Jesus Christ! Thank you for loving and forgiving us and not condemning us to death because of our sin. Thank you for making a way for us to come boldly to your throne of grace. Thank you for your Spirit that is working hard in us to change us into the people you desire us to be. Give us eyes to see your heavenly kingdom while we are still here in the “flesh” on earth. Give us the peace and joy of faith in Christ, knowing with all certainty that our cups “runneth over.” That there is nothing more we could ever want or need because we have no condemnation in Him. In Your Son we pray. Amen!

Blessings in Christ,

Pastor Karen