when you don't know what to do

I read in I Chronicles 19 this morning and came across the story of Joab and his brother Abshai.

They were facing a difficult situation in combat with the enemy coming at them from both directions. Here's what Joab said: " Be strong and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and may the Lord do what is good in His sight." ( I Chronicles 19:13)

I just sat and looked at that phrase for awhile: " be strong, and show ourselves courageous... may the Lord do what is good in His sight."

Even if you don't know what to do, you can be strong and let the Lord do what seems good to Him. Don't be paralyzed by indecision. Obey what you can see in Scripture.

why you should read the dictionary

We take for granted that we understand certain Bible passages. I've said it before and I will say it again:
read slowly ... eat the Bible -- chew it over and over

Romans 7:1-6 was never really a fascinating passage to me. I usually skipped over it on my way to Romans 7:14-25 ( because I felt this way more often). The first part of Romans 7:1-6 is amazing. It is true what one man said: " The word of God does not yield its fruit to the lazy."

So here it is: death decisively changes our relationship to someone/ something

Lee Harvey Oswald was never put on trial for the death of JFK ... why ? Because he died.

Sin picks up the law of God and uses it like a machete to chop off our limbs. Sin is always ( like the lemur said in Madagascar): " interrupting our parties and ripping our limbs off. "

In a way that is difficult to explain a Christian's death took place through Christ and here are the results of that death:
1. freedom from the law's power to condemn us ( we have been forgiven, restored, redeemed)

2. we have been joined to another ( our new husband is Christ ... spiritually speaking)

3. we can now bear fruit for God

4. we can now serve in the newness of the Spirit

I really latched on to the idea of us bearing fruit for God and I thought how does this happen ? It can only happen if we die. Fruit bearing happens when seeds die.

Listen to this : " Jesus' death is the soil out of which rich fruit grows ( see John 12:24) ; His death on the cross brings about redemption for men. As the vine, He sends out life giving power to the branches ( remember who the branches are ?) This power is the power to believe God's word. Some call it faith.
Man ( by himself) can accomplish moral and technical achievements by his natural gifts. However... the fruit of the gospel --that which God expects from man -- can only grow from the soil of obedience, which essentially consists in recognition of the bond between Creator and creature, established by the death of Christ. He ( man) no longer needs to consider his own achievements. Freed from the anxiety of failure, he is capable of the highest endeavor ( more fruit) . CHECK THIS OUT: Because the source of his capacity to bear fruit lies outside himself, the yield is certain. It counts and remains for eternal life (John 15:16). "

These ideas came from a dictionary believe it or not. ( Colin Brown's Dictionary of NT Theology page 723 vol 1) I am encouraged by that last statement: bearing fruit is certain because the source is God, not me.

I am constantly thinking of ways to stop thinking about myself. This passage in Romans reminds me that if I really want to bear fruit to God a death has to take place : namely, my death.