Jesus said His kingdom is like someone who discovers hidden treasure, or a valuable pearl, and immediately recognizes the magnitude of his find. It’s about surrendering everything to gain this amazing salvation, but I think there’s even more to it than that. Why? Because what we first find so precious has the tendency to lose value in our eyes.

        One day I was struck by how oblivious the owner of the treasure was to its true worth. Are we like that? Are we like the owner of the field who neglected to notice what was so easily uncovered by some passerby, or akin to the merchant so lax in his trade that he failed to recognize the true value of the pearl he owned?

       Have we forfeited our treasure in Christ for something less meaningful? In the weakness of our flesh, it’s not uncommon to fall short of a single-minded pursuit of Christ. There are reasons a zealous heart slips into complacency, and understanding them is extremely helpful in trying to rekindle that lost fire.

From Free from the Power of Sin: the Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

As I began to learn about God as a new Christian, I saw that sin is a big issue for believers. The Bible has dozens of warnings about sin, most which point to my personal responsibility to say “no” to it. But saying “no” was the very thing I was having trouble with! The more I learned, the more confused I seemed to get. What really baffled me was Paul’s account of his own struggle with sin.

Yet why not be confused? Regarding human weakness, Paul said, “If I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.” (Romans 7:20) What in the world did he mean by that? Could he actually be shirking off personal responsibility for sin? There’s no question that Paul recognized his duty to wrestle against his flesh in resisting sin. He’s not excusing sin, but rather trying to get to the root of the problem in the believer’s life. Shouldn’t we be doing the same?

From Free from the Power of Sin: the Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

My behavior was radically impacted when I was born again. But it wasn’t long before a difficult question confronted me: how do I remain strong in my commitment to live in a way that pleases God when Jesus Himself said, “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak?” Weak indeed! What’s this all about, I wondered? I knew I had been deeply transformed, so why would I have even a remote desire to return to things so destructive in my past?

It amazed me because I knew from experience that sin could never be a source of lasting joy. Yet I was willing to toy with it. Could I really be that stupid? And another issue bewildered me. Why was I now completely set free from some old habits while others sprang back with a vengeance? There they were! Needless to say, the shame that came along with falling into the same old sins was extremely discouraging. The Bible talks about struggling with the old man; for me it was the old Dan!

From Free from the Power of Sin: the Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

“Beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service to Him,” Oswald Chambers wisely wrote. “The one aim of the call of God is the satisfaction of God, not a call to do something for Him…. The men and women Our Lord sends out on His enterprises are the ordinary human stuff, plus dominating devotion to Himself wrought by the Holy Spirit. Be absolutely His.

We are not primarily called by God to do something or go somewhere; we are called to Someone. We are not called first to special work but to God. The key to answering God’s call is to be devoted to no one and to nothing above God Himself. Establish this the foundation of your life in Christ.”

Intimacy is what God is really after. We can busy ourselves with all kinds of things in our effort to please God, but if it doesn’t first begin with a meaningful personal interaction with Him, all our serving can end up in vain. While Martha busied herself with serving Jesus, Mary sat at His feet. When Martha complained, Jesus said, “…you are worried about so many things; but only one thing is necessary…Mary has chosen the good part” (Luke 10:41-42).

            The woman at the well questioned where people ought to worship—Samaria or Jerusalem. Jesus got right to the point: “True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers” (John 4:23). What does it mean to worship God this way? He asks us to pursue relationship by being what He wants, not simply by doing stuff. Genuine worship begins with getting our priorities straight.

Images! Images! A scenic cityscape can be photographed in just the right light, enticing us to experience it first-hand. But what’s never portrayed is the crowding, smut and evil within it. The advertising world is extremely skilled at toying with our emotions. They simply project a series of images before us, whether they be pictures or brief videos—all those smiling faces leading us to believe that happiness is just around the corner if only we will try their product.

The constant bombardment of images seriously impacts our lives. It’s only natural to believe what we see and automatically incorporate it into our beliefs. This system is very powerful and it takes real wisdom not to be captured by its deception. The Bible warns: “Look not at the worldly things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen… for the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)