Millions of Christians have been lulled into thinking that God’s purpose for us boils down to little more than a fulfilling life on earth with the added bonus of a heavenly reward later. With this mindset, it’s only natural to focus on what God can do for us here and now. While this belief fits in neatly with our human appetites and ambitions, it merely serves to derail our spiritual growth. This clever deception of the enemy has always been a blight on believers—all the more so in this age of prosperity.

       Life is really all about glorifying and enjoying God. And He also wants to enjoy us. In His infinite wisdom, He’s engineered a program to accomplish both goals. In what way might God enjoy us as fully as we enjoy Him? By making us His very own sons and daughters. God fashioned us the way He has, frailties and all, to accomplish this very purpose.

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

“Dad, I’ve always felt I was destined to do something great,” my son once told me.  Pretty cool, huh? It spoke volumes about our God-given ability to dream. Dreaming can be rooted in the pride within us all, but I think it goes deeper than that—much deeper.

       Why does fantasy come so easily to us? Is it just for fun, or merely an escape from reality? Possibly. But just maybe we’re reaching into the very depths of our being, into the realm of the Spirit—tasting a little of God’s ultimate purpose for us.          

       Have you sensed being cut out for something great—that you truly are more than what you appear to be? Of course you have! If nothing else, it took place as a child. It happened before the rigors of life smothered it—before you decided that it was more reasonable to settle for the mediocre. That sense of purpose can be reenergized.

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

Paul’s goal was to explain the meaning of Christ’s coming—to make absolutely clear who Jesus is and what He came to do. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is God’s promise to us. Hope is first born in our heart through God’s promise. Hope is a catalyst. It’s the great motivator. Hope that God will do as He promised ignites the faith that pleases Him. But faith is much more than a superficial belief in God.

   We inherit God’s promise through what the Bible calls the obedience of faith—thriving faith which ultimately is proven genuine by our behavior. The Gospel holds marvelous privileges for us. But the sheer magnitude of God’s promise raises questions as to how Jesus works it all out in our lives. It’s mysterious! Yet getting to know Jesus makes spiritual growth a piece of cake.

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

The freedom we have in Christ can be a bit confusing. The Bible says, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” But don’t you find that a little surprising? We tend to think about freedom from sin only as being liberated from the problem of sinning. So how could being freed from law have anything to do with sin losing its power over us? Well, in fact it has everything to do with it! But if you’re like most Christians, your grasp of this truth is probably a little fuzzy.

Don’t feel alone; you’re in good company! I’ve often asked believers: “How many of you feel like you are truly free from the power of sin?” I haven’t had anyone jump up yet shouting, “that’s me!” Though we may accept by faith the fact that we are free from sin’s power, we commonly don’t experience it as a reality in our daily lives. That’s just the way it is. No worries; there’s a solution to this bewildering problem.

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

I love Paul’s writings. So practical! So honest! In Romans 7 he exposes what we like to keep as a closely guarded secret. It’s this: “I’m not the model believer I appear to be. There are problems with my heart I don’t even want to admit, or that I blatantly hide in an attempt to appear more righteous than I actually am.” Our inborn pride strongly resists any admission of failure. After all, people might discover what we’re really like!

             Paul knew that if we are ever to successfully walk in God’s purpose we must first come to a sound understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And since the gospel impacts every facet of a person’s life, a good grasp of who we are in Christ requires that we be aware of at least three very important things: First of all, God’s purpose and plan for our life. Secondly, our own nature as human beings. And finally, the implications of being redeemed in Christ, but still impacted by a worldly environment dominated by sin.

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

What Christian doesn’t yearn to be free from the nagging presence of sin? To one degree or another, our humanity traps us in a repetitive cycle of failure—the grinding reality of a redeemed life pitted against our self-serving flesh in a sin-riddled world. Thankfully, God has made provision for our sin! But what did He provide, really?

Many argue that in Christ we possess the power to become holy in our walk with God by choosing obedience over sin. Well, shooting for holiness in this way is a noble pursuit, but the strategy is flawed. Why? Because the purpose of Christ’s redeeming sacrifice is to impart God’s own righteousness to us, in spite of our sinful nature.

Because we now belong to Him, we don’t need to earn God’s favor. We already have it! God showers His grace on us, and in so doing His righteousness becomes our own. By His grace alone we are given the unbridled capacity for intimacy with God, in spite of the weakness of our flesh.

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

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.”