How then do we live, when all of our need for purpose, completeness and satisfaction has been met in Christ? ... Be there as who you are in Christ Jesus. Linda

Linda ... most excellent!! :)

There's an older movie called "Green Card" that has a plot about an American woman and a French man who get married, technically, so that he can get a green card (American citizenship) and she can get into an apartment that only allows married couples. The plan is that once they have secured their goals they will get divorced. In one scene, the woman makes a comment about how glad she will be to get all this mess over with so that her life can get back to normal - and she asks, "And what about you?" "Me?", he says, "I'm waiting for my life to begin."

I understand the feeling of annoyance and the sense of bother when my life seems to have been put on hold. I know what it is to live in the anticipation of finally getting my life back to the way it was. I wonder how I forget so easily that my life BEGAN in Christ, and not that it got put on hold?

Before faith, we were waiting for our life to begin. Oh, we were walking around PRETENDING to be alive, but it was in reality a walking death. You know, "Dead man walking!" The reason we begin to think that "too much grace" might cause us to become lax is when we use the old fleshly activity of that walking death as the standard by which we measure production. We will always end up being disappointed with God's work when we compare it to the works of the flesh because there is a pretty doggoned convincing illusion that at least SOMETHING is happening when we get busy and just do it.

As He is, so also are we in this world. 1 John 4:7

Yes, be there as who you are in Christ Jesus!

Love,
Jim :)