Slavery

In Romans 6:19, Paul talks about slavery.  "...just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness".  This again is a type of symbolism used in the Bible to help us understand concepts.  We were slaves to sin and now we strive to be slaves to righteousness!

Addiction is a form of slavary.  Your body craves certain things; if your body doesn't get these things your body goes into withdrawls.  I actually have had this happen to me.  I enjoy Mountain Dew.  That is my drink of choice.  Mountain Dew is a product full of caffine.  Over the holidays a few years ago I drank A LOT of Mountain Dew.  I could not continue to drink so much Mountain Dew, otherwise I would balloon to be about 300 pounds.  So when January came around we got back to our normal routine.  I decided to slow down on Mountain Dew.  I actually had cold like symptoms for about 2 days after stopping drinking so much Mountain Dew.  I was having withdrawls from the caffine.  That is when you know you have drank too much caffine.  I hope never to go through that again.  Was I a slave to Mountain Dew?  If I didn't want to go through the withdrawls I would have to keep drinking the Mountain Dew.  I would then be a slave to the Pepsi Company. 

Slaves to righteousness.  What a concept!  Can't help but do good.  If a slave to righteousness does not do good could it make them physically sick.  Could they go through the same withdrawls?  Those that are slaves to righteousness through their love for God they can't help but but follow His commandments or they have withdrawls.  That is the ultimate level of Christianity and love for the Father I hope and pray I will get to.  Slaves to righteousness; what a concept!!! 

In HIS name!

M. Scott Miller

Are we really different? or not?

Baptism...Baptism....Sympolism is so important to God.  As humans we have a hard time understanding the knowledge of God.  In fact we can not perfectly understand His plan.  In His Word he uses symbolism to help us better understand what he means or understand the concept he is trying to teach us.  For example, we are his sheep and the elders/pasters are to lead the sheep; Jesus was led as a sheep to the slaughter; he is the sacrifical lamb, etc.  In Romans 6, Paul explains why Baptism is so important.  The greek translation of baptizo is "to immerse, submerge".  The greek translation does not mean sprinkle or get wet.  From this translation the act of baptising is to submerge into water or to immerse in water.

This act makes a lot of sense given the symbolism God is trying to teach us.  Romans 6:4 goes along with this definition of what baptism is.  "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life".  Through baptism we were buried (immersion under water) and then we arose to have a new life.  Just as when Christ died, he was buried then rose to a have a new life.

A new life?  That sounds like a significant change.  A new life?  I think to the birth of a baby; that is a new life.  A new person being brought into this world.  The concept is there for those who choose to accept Christ through baptism.  A new life begins?  A new life means not the old life.  The old life is the way the world is living.

But, the question is are you and I living a new life?  Obvivously, there should be a difference in the way we live our life and the way others live their life.  Is there?  That is a tough question.  We live in the World.  The World does not know Jesus.  The World looks at the way of Christians as ignorant, weird, or just plain doesn't make sense. 

Is this the case?  Or have Christians surcome to the way of the world?  What is different about us and the world?  For example, movies.  The world ranks movies, G, PG, R, PG-13, etc.  So the World believes if you are a certain age it would not be prudent for a child to watch the movie (based language, violence, etc.).  If us as parents let our children watch movies in violation of the age requirements; maybe let our 10 year old see a PG-13 movie.  So the world is saying to those under the age of 13 it would be better if they didn't watch these movies; then as Christians we let our kids watch these movies.  You see the issue?  I heard someone say, "Why should I watch movies or tv shows that I wouldn't let my kids watch?  If my kids can't watch it; why should I watch it?"

What about the way we spend our money?  If someone were to look at your bank statement would they come to the conclusion that you are a Christian?  Think about how different the world would be if we all followed this and gave of our abundance?  I am as guilty of this as much as the other guy.

There are many other examples when Christians are tempted to be like the world.

So the question is....Those of us who have been baptized into His name; are we living a new life that is different from the World?

-In HIS name
M. Scott Miller

What Hope??

Romans 5:1-9 - Hope!!  We have hope!  Hope of what?  Hope of eternal life with Him; the creator of the universe!  What joy that is!  Heather and I have been following the journey of Sara Walker.  She was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer last year.  She has been documenting her hope...her hope that this life is not the end.  We are literally just passing through. (http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sarawalker (the website to follow her hope).  The other day she received the news that the tumor continued to grow even with aggressive treatment.  But, she continues to praise God, she continues to discuss her joy in the Lord, her joy in life.... This is foreign to the world.  In thinking about it,  I do not know how those who do not believe in God get through things like Sara Walker is going through.  They don't have the hope, the don't have the joy.  How depressed that would be. 

Rejoice in everything.  Rejoice in sufferings?? What!?  That is crazy!  I have been fortunate that I have not had "sufferings" like Paul is referring to, but I use Sara Walker to be an example for me of this text.  Sara is rejoicing in her sufferings, this joy that is inside her has built perseverance, this perseverance has built character that we can see from her postings and this character built the hope that she has documented so well.  What an example for us!

God's love allows us to have this hope. This love was demonstated by the Cross.  We have been reconciled to Christ.  Reconciliation, what does that mean?  "reconciled to Christ".  As a CPA we work with reconciliations every day; bank statement reconciliations, reconciliations of the AR aging, reconciliations of the inventory balances.  How do you perform these reconciliations?  To perform any reconciliation you locate the differences between the two balances in detail.  Then as time passes by these differences clear and disappear.  Just like our sin.  Our sin is what causes the differences.  But, the good news is that differences don't just disappear in time, but they disappear immediately when accepting Christ's gift through baptism.  Through the acceptance of Christ the "reconciling items" are cleared and continually erased through out life.  These reconciling items are condemned by God through His Word.  Praise the Lord that the sins that keeps us from being with the Most High has been removed, "cleared".

These cleared items gives Sara Walker hope; give us hope.

Hope, what a great word!

Work?

Work ethic is an important trait to be successful and any career.  For example, if you were a fireman and decided not to work you would probably get fired and even worse someone could die because of your laziness.  In fact, I would argue for any job out there.  If you did not work to be the best of your potiental you either wouldn't be successful and you could possibly even be a failure. 

Some Christians take a look at Christianity in the same format.  Work hard, work long, work. work. work.  Work is the name of the game.  Don't get me wrong, Christian work is good, Christian work is effective, Christian work is essential for salvation.  But, when do we put our trust in our "work", our "good deeds".

Romans 4:1 - 8 is our scripture for today.  Text talks about work saved Abraham... Was it his works?  In Genesis 22 God tested Abraham.  Genesis 22:2 "Then God said "Take you son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah.  Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you".  It even sounds like God is rubbing it in a bit, "the son you love", "your only son".  That is crazy!!  Sacrifice your son that you waited many many years for; who I promised was the son to fulfill God's promise. 

Did Abraham agrue?  Do he complain?  Did he try to reason?  No, Abraham did exactly what God told him to do; no matter how crazy it was.

Can you imagine the walk up to the mountain. The discussions they had on the way up.  I would assume that Abraham was not crying.  The Bible doesn't say, but I would think the boy would know something is up.

Putting Issac on the alter.  Kids under stress can be very strong.  I am sure Issac figured out what was happening.  Imaging wrestling your own son; knowing you are going to kill him through sacrifice.  Abraham came very close to doing it.  The angel of the Lord stopped him. 

Talking about looking over your shoulder when Abraham walked in the room.  How can you trust Abraham again?  Do you sleep with one eye open?  Did Issac get any sleep that night?

What did Sara say when they got home.  I can hear it now.  "Mom, God told dad to sacrifice me, but an angel stopped him right before he killed me.  It was really cool mom."

Even more interesting as to what was discussed on the way up the mountain when Abraham was going to sacrifice his own son is the question what did they discuss when they were coming down off the mountain?  I am sure Abraham explained to Issac the test that God put him through.  Maybe they discussed what God had done for Abraham? 

Do you think Sara was ok with Abraham almost killing her son?  After just leaving from their home to live as a nomad in the desert?  Did she understand? How stressful was that for Abraham to tell Sara what happened?

Abraham was not saved by works.  What!??  That work that would have been horribly difficult did not save him? 

"Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness"

If Abraham is not saved by works then I most definately am not.

What is it that saves us?  It is the gift that God has given both Abraham and all of us.  It is the gift of his son.  God did go through with the sacrifice and I am so happy He did.  Through acceptance of His gift through baptism we can have eternal life.

It is not earned by works and good deeds. 

M. Scott Miller

My Purpose?

This morning I sat down at my desk and thought about the last month.  What a month it has been.  I am dealing with a hyperthroid due to graves disease (feel bad continually), I am behind at the office, Josh is starting kindergarten today, Michael is starting 3rd grade (This means I'm getting old), I have a pain that shoots down my leg every once in a while, I have no energy to run due to my thryoid issue (I signed up for the St. Louis Marathon), etc.  I am overwhelmed!!

The best to deal with being overwhelmed, stressed, full of worry, etc. is to be reminded what life is all about.  God has told us what life is all about.

"The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man".  Ecclesaistes 12:13

Our whole duty is to fear GOD and keep His commandments!  God is in control!

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free. ... Pslams 18:1-18.

Dead God:
At times God I forget why I am put on this earth.  I get so caught up in what I am responsible for, what I have to do, just staying afloat that I forgot our purpose.  Help me stay focused on my purpose.  Help me strive to grow closer to you every day.  Help me use my life as a worship to Your Name.  Staying focused on you Father helps me resist temptatation.  Father, the devil is strong... I see his temptations all the time.  Help me resist each temptation.  Father, I love you and want to obey your commandments.  I want to fully fear you and I want to follow your commandments.  Help me be bold and proclaim your name through my actions, my attitude so others can see You in me.

Amen.

Scott Miller

Asleep at the Wheel - Wednesday Night Devo

Are we asleep at the wheel?

Growing up we used to go to Paoli Peaks every year to go skiing.  I love skiing.  You get this rush from going fast down the hill.  We always skied during the day growing up.  But, they have the all night skiing deal. They keep the slopes open all night.  It is less expensive and you don’t have to stay at a hotel.  Perfect for a college kid.

When I was at Lipscomb each year the student government organized a group to go to the all night ski.  We would leave Friday around 5:00.  Get up to Paoli.  The all night skiing period opens at 10:00 and you still till 5 or 6 in the morning (Can’t remember).  Then you would drive back to Nashville and be back by 10 or 11 o’clock.  I worked at Dillards at the time and would then be back in time to go to work at 1:00.  (That was a long day).

We all met and I offered to drive my car.  So I had my car full and we headed up.  Had a great time. 

Then it was time to head back to Nashville.  I was really tired.  When we got to Louisville everyone in my car was asleep.  I was really tired. 

As I was driving I heard someone honk their horn at me.  I had accidently fallen asleep for just about 1 or 2 seconds and had changed lanes and other car had to change lanes.  That is what woke me up.  I was awake the rest of the trip without a single issue.  I had plenty of time to think about what could have happened which kept waking me up more and more.

I was asleep at the wheel.  So the question is am I asleep at the wheel of our lives?  Are you asleep at the wheel of your life?  Is our Church asleep at the wheel?

Are coasting through life just cruising asleep at the wheel; not noticing what God has placed in front of us for us to see?  Also, me asleep at the wheel put my whole car in jeopardy.  What you do or don’t do doesn’t just effect you it effects everyone around you to the fullest extent.

How easy is it just to put the car in cruise and just take our eyes of the road?  Taking our eyes off the goal.  It takes a lot of energy to get ourselves moving and focus staying awake at the wheel.  There is a scientific concept that objects in motion stay in motion unless obstructed by the force of something else.  What is that "obstruction" that keeps you from moving?

What did it take to wake me up so that I wasn’t asleep at the wheel?  Someone honked at me to let me know I was asleep at the wheel.

The one who blew the horn at me could have saved me and all those in the car with me by letting me know that I was asleep at the wheel.  Can you think of anyone that is asleep at the wheel?  Maybe it is someone here at Church, maybe it is a co-worker, maybe it is someone in your family?  Do you need to try to wake them up so that they aren’t asleep at the wheel anymore? 

When the guy blew his horn could I have ignored it?  Maybe I didn’t understand the definite injury or death I would have if I stayed asleep at the wheel.  In life it might take years of blowing our horns to wake up some that are asleep at the wheel?

But, the main piece is that I was on the road.  Are you on the road of Christianity?  I won’t lie the road is full of pot holes and hard times will come, but the view is magnificent.  The road leads to our eternal reward.  The finish line is said to be unimaginable.  Of course, I am talking about heaven.  The only way to get to the finish is to get on the road.   Have you been baptized and are traveling down that road?  Or do you need to be baptized to enter the road on your way to the ultimate finish line.

Or are you already on the road and have hit a pot hole and have a flat tire, broken down and in need of a mechanic or just took a wrong turn and are lost?  Are you ready to get back on the road to Heaven?

Do we believe that God is in Control?

The last few weeks I have been working on preparing for a high school lesson series.  I have entitled the lesson series, "Let's go to the Movies".  It is a lesson series in which we will take movie clips to teach a heavenly meaning.  It is something a little bit outside the box.

My first lesson is from "Empire Strikes Back", there is a scene in there where Luke Skywalker is asked by Yoda to raise a spaceship out of the water using the force.  He trys and trys to raise it, but can not.  He tells Yoda it is impossible and gives up and says it is much to big and goes and does something else.  Yoda then using the force raises the spaceship and sets it down on dry land.  Luke Skywalker then comes over and is shocked.  He goes up to Yoda and says, "I can't believe it - that was impossible".  Yoda then looks at him and says, "That is why you failed".  - This idea came from David McMurray.  Mr. McMurray taught my high school class back when I was in high school.  This clip can be powerful in relation to believeing in God.  Do we believe that God is in control?  Have we put God in a box?  Do we tell God what He can or can not do? 

This lesson goes along with a lesson I had with the adult class I was teaching called, "Coming to our Senses".  One of the lessons focused on our vision.  What is our vision individually?  As a family?  As a Church?  The main scriputre was from Proverbs 29:18a - "Where there is no vision the people perish, but he that keeps the law, happy is he".  We as individuals, family units or even our Church set goals/visions for the future.  Are our visions/goals to the point that some look and say that is impossible.  There is no way you can achieve that.  Or are we like Yoda and believe.  Do we fail at meeting goals due to the fact that we didn't really believe it could happen.

The question is "do I believe that the impossible can happen"?  Or am I like Luke Skywalker and do not believe?

This same concept can be true with any aspect of our life.  It can be used for our professonal track.  It can be used for our relationship with God most importantly.