#essay

“To Him who is able to do far more abundantly” Eph 3:20

How much freedom do I give the Holy Spirit to guide and direct the ship of my life? Yes, I am a believer and know absolutely that I will eventually dwell with my God for eternity. But—what about now? Is the Holy Spirit free to change the direction of my ship mid-stream? Or do I smile and say, “Praise the Lord” while holding firmly to my rudder; sometimes with both hands.
Ephesians 3:20-21 “ Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”
Cross references: Rom 16:25; 2 Cor 9:8; Eph 3:7; Rom 11:36
Our lives have no limits except those which are self-imposed. Before Christ our lives may be seen as a series of boxes stacked upon one another representing boundaries with imaginary restrictions and constraints. We believed in the boxes and their supposed value to our lives. But, thanks be to God, those boxes have been demolished, flattened, torn down. Now we can see horizons without limits–mountains to climb and rivers to cross or paddle down.
Phil 3:7-8 “But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that I consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Phil 3:13 “But one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.”
The past and its sins belongs right there…in the past. Leave it alone and be refreshed daily as God’s new creation, created in Christ Jesus.
Gal 6:14-15 But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For both circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing; what matters, instead, is a new creation.”
2 Cor 2:10 “For we are His creation—created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.”
2 Cor 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.”
You’ll notice that the Scripture doesn’t say, If anyone is in Christ he has been given a new, shiny box to live in!” Quite the contrary, God tells us the elements, strategies, foundations and ideas of our old lives have PASSED AWAY! We are miraculously new creations with a fresh start. New hope. New power. Eternally forgiven. Let us leave our former burdens at the foot of His cross and walk away from them. Do not return to carry them one more time out of habit. Walk away. As we walk away, not turning back, they will decay and self-destruct, like the Mission Impossible tapes.
1 Peter 1:3-4 May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed! On account of his vast mercy, he has given us new birth. You have been born anew into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. You have a pure and enduring inheritance that cannot perish—an inheritance that is presently kept safe in heaven for you.

British Rock and Rollers Bring World-wide Change!

Initially the UK was ruled by Kings and Queens, then by a parliament consisting of Lords and upper-class men. The established rule of law was passed down to the working class who expected to live in a type of subjection to those living in castles and mansions. Working class people grew up with class distinction firmly in place.

In the sixties, change crept into life in the UK and around the world; Change brought about by teenagers who tossed aside the status quo and turned their backs on tradition. They looked for and found their own idols who were their age, had long hair and danced about on stage, banging on drums, guitars and singing songs of revolution, sex and drugs.

Their new idols were an incredible success and changed the status quo forever. Although rich barons and lords still had wealth and power, the young rock and rollers brought societal changes for good and for bad. Actually, they brought a bloodless revolution with far-reaching effects.

Not only was their music challenging, loud and in-your-face, their behavior was totally outlandish which gained them a world-wide following among teens. They were sudden idols; stars who misbehaved, tore hotel rooms apart, smashed guitars on stage, openly took drugs, had sex with young women who clamored after them.

They broke all the norms of society and did it with bravado. Of course they should do whatever they wanted, they were famous and quickly became rich as well. The adults didn’t know what to do so they did nothing which brought out the very worst behavior in these teen idols.
They became wild and out-of-control which made them even more famous. It was sort of “Just how bad can we be before someone stops us?” The answer? “As bad as you want!”

For the first time in history, admiration was now reserved for the young and disdain for adults. Society was tipped upside down and has never recovered. Along with replacing adults with teens for respect and admiration, morality also went out the window. For the first time, the most sexually exaggerated behavior was not only condoned but revered as well. Before this global change, teenage sex and pregnancy were the exception but now became the rule.

Enter abortion! Now that promiscuity was predominant, what about pregnancies and unwanted babies? Some insidious, evil people stepped forward with a simple answer–abortion. If you find yourself inconveniently pregnant, we can take care of that issue. It is a woman’s reproductive right, after all. No, that thing is not really a human yet. That doesn’t happen until it is born.

And now, more than fifty years later, thousands of young people have been ruined by drugs, alcohol and abortions. How can it be fixed? Actually the disastrous state of affairs in which we now live can only be “fixed” by faith in Jesus Christ who brings total forgiveness and a new life. The search for pleasure, independence and freedom from rules will always bring an unhappy ending.