To Live is Christ

     I was adopted from South Korea and arrived in the United States at six and one-half months old.  I usually don’t make a habit of telling people I’m adopted - I don't think most adopted people do.  As a matter of fact, it usually takes at least a good six months after a person has met me before they find out.  Sometimes people find out I’m adopted after meeting my parents or a relative, sometimes they find out through a friend of mine, and sometimes they find out after asking,“Sadler? - what nationality is Sadler?”     After people find out I’m adopted, I get mixed reactions.  Most of the time people pause as if they’re wondering how to resume the conversation and then proceed by asking me how old I was when I was adopted or if I have any siblings, sometimes people comment on how cool it is and then switch topics, but sometimes the person who learns I was adopted is a Christian, and when Christians find out I’m adopted, they tend to react differently.           A

Resolved:  That sinful motivations ought not  keep one from obedience to Jesus    Paul commands the Christians in Rome to present their members as slaves to righteousness rather than slaves to sin.  Like the Christians of Paul’s time, we understand that the fight to present our members as slaves to righteousness is difficult.  It is difficult for the flesh is both compelling and crafty.  Like Satan, the flesh will even use God’s written Word to pit the Christian against his Master.           One of the most crafty methods the flesh uses to pit the Christian against his Master is an over-preoccupation with his own motives.  What do I mean by this?  A Christian is overly preoccupied with his own motives when his own motives keep him from submitting to the direct commands of the Lord Jesus.  Practically, this looks like a Christian deciding not to be baptized because he knows that in his flesh he desires to be seen and admired by men.  This also looks like a Christian not serving

    God has given us these two metaphors to describe Christian growth and progress.  I have found that I am quick to think of my “progress” as a runner in a race and not as a plant in a field.  When I do, my flesh is quick to come up with reasons to boast in the fact that I have “gone farther” than my Christian brother or sister.  I forget that this “going farther” may not be actual progress, but simply how God has made me to be versus how He has made my sibling in Christ to be.       Growth for one type of plant looks different than growth for a different type.  Some need to learn self-control, while others need to learn to exercise passion.   Some need to remember God is transcendent, while others need to remember God is immanent.  Some need to take some time to focus on the state of their souls, while others need to take the focus off themselves and learn to consider others.  God has made each person unique, placing them in a unique situation in the present, in order to bring them

From the time I sprung up From the ground I noticed to my right A shoot that much resembled Me in every way but height Our differences delighted me I boasted that my leaves Were closer to sun and moon The celestial bodies Season after season I looked down to my right But as the both of us matured I was met with a surprise   Though short in stature  My neighbor was m uch more beautiful than I A dainty, rare, exotic plant Me a common, green giant

Obedience to Christ Not a balanced life Not an equal and opposite pull To the left and to the right Sometimes we live in light of God As King Sometimes we live in light of God As Lover Depending on which affects our lives And the lives of others To love Christ and others Is in the moment The situation Consideration of the other colors Our actions and decisions

   In the Book of James, the brother of Jesus tells the church something startling.  He writes, “You do not have, because you do not ask.” (James 4:2b).  This means that there are blessings we have forfeited simply because we have not done the simple task of asking our Heavenly Father for them.      Here you may become excited thinking, “I want to receive the blessing I ask for, so I will ask!” and this may be true.  You who ask in Christ’s name and for the purpose of His will may receive the very thing you ask for.  But the Scriptures give reason for us to be excited about receiving blessings we did not ask for in response to our requests.    We need only look at God’s answer to a famous prayer of the apostle Paul’s to know that this is true.  In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church, Paul writes of a thorn that God placed in his flesh to keep him from becoming conceited (2 Cor 12:6-7) .  Three times Paul pleads with the Lord to remove the thorn.  Jesus gives His answer, bu

Our hope is that we will see Jesus Our confidence: that He is with us now Hope and Confidence birth action— The spreading of seed—Toil—Plow We are wheat among tares In appearance both the same Nothing to distinguish us But the day of reaping—Fire—Flame To know is to be responsible Know that reconciliation is our ministry Know that your hope could be your neighbors Know that the Truth sets people free But how can they know unless they hear And how can they hear unless we speak God’s sovereignty is not at odds With our call to testify Bear witness!—Represent!—Preach! So if there is any encouragement in Christ Any comfort from His love Any participation in His Spirit Be of the same mind Faith. Hope. Love!

As selfish men, we kick against the notion that we would be 2nd to God's desire for His own glory despite the fact that in His glorifying Himself we are loved. This predisposition in man betrays a fatal flaw, for if man will not have God's love if he is not first in God's heart, man proves that he wants neither God nor His love, but first place.

We like to consider ourselves disciples of Christ The salt of the earth -- beacons of Light We pick up the good book but never Put it back down We've got our hands full We've got our hands tied