Posts Tagged ‘ consistency ’

Consistency

January 10, 2011
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A few years ago I was given the opportunity to try oysters. Raw oysters. I’m not sure whether it was the peer pressure or just morbid curiosity, but I decided to give it a shot. Open the hatch, past the gums, look out tummy, here it comes!

I learned something that day: I am not a big fan of raw oysters. It wasn’t so much the flavor that bothered me, but the texture. I don’t know any way to describe it except for the word “slime.” In food, consistency can make or break something. I think that’s true in all of life.

It’s not hard for us to stand and acknowledge that the Christ is king. What is difficult is to live that truth day after day after day. It isn’t that hard to be a Christian on Sunday mornings. Our consistency on Tuesday at four-thirty is what tells the whole story.
It’s the second Sunday of 2011. Many of you have started the year off with perfect attendance! Will you strive to maintain your commitment and your consistency throughout the next fifty weeks? Some of us are new Christians. Are we planning and working to build a faith that is built on the rock that will weather the storms of life? (See Matthew 7:24-27). Some of our number are experiencing the difficulty of failing health. Will you “finish well” even in times of physical difficulty?

Let’s work to encourage each other to be more consistent in 2011. Jesus says, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10)

Consistency

October 7, 2010
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The car in front of me was slow as molasses…until we reached the passing zone, that is. I don’t know why this always seems to happen, but it does every week. The car in front of me unfailingly drives ten miles per hour below the posted limit until we reach a passing zone, at which time it lurches forward to speeds unreachable in a 1996 Volkswagen Golf. It only begins to decelerate into the realm of molasses well after the double yellow lines have appeared.

I don’t know about you, but that irritates me. If the person was speeding, they wouldn’t interfere with me. In fact, they would vanish on the road in front of me. If the person were driving slowly, I’d simply pass them and watch them vanish in my rear-view mirror. The real problem is the lack of consistency.

Nobody likes inconsistency—and that includes Jesus. He said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5)

We could all stand to improve our consistency. We can be more consistent in our treatment of others (James 2:9), our standards of holiness (Titus 1:15), and our building up of God’s family (Hebrews 10:24). This week, let’s all work on making our lives more consistent with our calling. Let’s be more believable believers!

Consistency

August 23, 2010
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For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. II Corinthians 1:20

It is easy for men to live inconsistently. We can say one thing and do the opposite as easy as eating melting ice cream in our hot summer temperature. Inconsistency is the one thing that will remain consistent in our lives.

There is a contrast in the verses surrounding the verse above between the humanity of the messengers – Paul, Silvanus and Timothy – and the divinity of the person who is the essence of the message. 18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”

Those who believe the message are the ones who find the “Yes” for their lives. It is never that we know everything and we are sure of all things. It is never that we are assured because we know from a human standpoint that Jesus is God’s son. We do not find security because we have understood all about the incarnation, propitiation and glorification. (Some have a hard time even saying those words must less in understanding them)

Our faith is not in our complete understanding of the gospel. Our faith is in the giver of the gospel. Our faith is in who Jesus is and what he has done. We can know the truth and the truth can set us free. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.

In and through Him the divine “Yes” has become a permanent reality because of God’s character and promises. We are sure of who we are because we know who He is. All promises of God are fulfilled in him. In him we live and move and have our very being. Because of him we walk with the Lord and find hope fulfilled in his live, death and resurrection.

We are confident in him – never in what we are or what we do. 18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”

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