From the Kitchen Table

The Game of Life:  Day 111

Navigating Life’s Highway:  Defined by Your Driving

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? ² For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. ³ For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS Romans 4:1-3

On this highway of life, we are all defined by our driving or living.  And it’s not about being somewhere on Sundays but being someone every day.  Abraham was defined by God and man by his faith.  Abraham believed God; he didn’t just believe in God.  Abraham was someone who went somewhere, he didn’t show up somewhere so that they thought he was someone.  Abraham owned his faith and it influenced the way he lived.  When we become someone who believes God we can live by faith, not fear, foolishness, fantasy, failure or frustration.  All those things show up in the way we drive down this highway.

The Game of Life  Day 110

Navigating Life’s Highway:  Fuel

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “ BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH. Romans 1:16-17

The righteous man shall LIVE!  There it is, the promise of God that the righteous man of faith will LIVE and he will LIVE by faith.  It’s faith in God that fuels the heart and life of the believer.  We not only believe in God, we believe God and do life His way.  Life is on the other side of God’s love for us.  This is the gospel of grace.  Jesus doesn’t save us to die but to live.  Death is what we bring into the equation through fear.  Fan the flame of your faith and live in the grace of God every day along the way.

The Game of Life  Day 109

Navigating Life’s Highway:    Fuel

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “ BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH. Romans 1:16-17

The more we know the further we go in this life.  We know the right way to think, talk, turn, and travel as God reveals His truth to us.  God will reveal His person, passion, power, and plans for us as we live by faith.  God will keep us moving through the woods, the wild, and over the wonders of life as we live by faith in His great love for us.  Many will stop as they stop living and looking by faith.   The way we think about life will determine the way we live this life.  Don’t ever stop; God has more than we can even imagine.

The Game of Life  Day 109

Navigating Life’s Highway:  Fuel

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “ BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.                                                 Romans 1:16-17

Grace is the love of God that becomes the power of life for those who believe.  Grace is what God does and faith is what we do.  God doesn’t have to live by faith, we do.   And by faith, we put ourselves in a place to witness and walk in the love of God.  God’s love working in and through us gives us the fuel, the power to live this life.  When loves wanes, life weakens on every level.  God loves us and He has opened heaven’s door to all who believe through the sacrifice of love on the cross for us.  Live loved! 

The Game of Life:  Day 107

Navigating Life’s Highway:  The Fuel of God’s Grace

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “ BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.                 Romans 1:16-17

The gospel is the good news of God’s undeserved and unreserved love for us who believe.  It is “love” that motivates and moves us along life’s highway.  The love of God will motivate and move us in and through this life, as nothing else can.  Love is pure fuel to be burned in the heart of the believer.  Shame is life bad or dirty fuel that will cause us to sputter and stop short of our destination.  The good news is that God loves us, always has and always will and those who believe in that love live on that love. 

The Game of Life:  Day 106

Navigating Life’s Highway:  Grace

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “ BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.                 Romans 1:16-17

Our fuel for this journey is found in our faith for this journey.  This life that God gives us is lived by faith in God who gave it.  The gospel is the good news of God’s grace for those who have faith.   Grace is what God does and faith is what we do.  The gospel of grace is the good news of God’s undeserved and unreserved love for us who believe.  We find the fuel, the mojo we need for this life in the love God has for us.  Live by faith in that love today and every day and you will never run out of fuel along the way.

The Game of Life:  Day 105

Navigating Life’s Highway:  Danger

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers,  haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; ³² and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same but also give hearty approval to those who practice them              Romans 1:28-32

When we take or lose God from creation, we lose God from our conscience only to become the casualty of our own calloused heart.  A man without a Maker is a man without meaning.  Without a Maker, man is the result of an accident, not the response of affection. Watch out, unloved people are a danger to everyone on life’s highway. 

The Game of Life  Day 104

Navigating Life’s Highway:  Danger

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper…    Romans 1:28

Passion without purpose becomes a passion that poisons our person.  We can’t touch sin and not suffer.  When our passion becomes selfish, for whatever reason, we separate ourselves from God.  Without God, our minds become depraved, worthless to us in living eternal lives.  We can’t let go of our minds, it’s through here that God works His will.  You see, Jesus has completed His work in life, on the cross, and through the resurrection, there’s nothing left for Jesus to do but come back.  He won that war and released His word on and through the cross.  Now it’s our turn to receive and respond to what He has done for us.  That only happens as we let His word & His work transform our hearts and our minds.  Hold on to the mind and don’t let the passions of this world pervert it. 

The Game of Life  Day 103

Navigating Life’s Highway:  Danger

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, ²⁷ and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error Romans 1:26-27

Passion without purpose becomes poison to our person.  It all begins when we exchange the truth for a lie.  Lies degrade while truth develops.  The truth is that God has created us with passions and those passions are normal to our creation, but those passions can be used for purpose or poison.  Promiscuity poisons our perspective and our purpose in life.  It’s dangerous to allow our passions to become our purpose but it’s wonderful when our purpose guides our passion.  Passions are God-given and powerful for our pleasure but poison when they become our purpose.  Our purpose always trumps our passion.  It’s dangerous & degrading to live otherwise.

The Game of Life  Day 102

Navigating Life’s Highway:  Danger

For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen                           Romans 1:25

The most dangerous thing we can do on this journey is to turn on the truth and to exchange the truth of God for a lie.  And understand that lies are never or rarely outright deception but rather deformed truths, which are not truths at all.  There are lies out there and they appeal to our flesh, not our faith.  They feed our flesh so that we can’t or won’t live by faith.  We cannot walk with God and not walk in the truth.  But all this requires that we be truthful about who believe and how we behave.  When we are no longer truthful about ourselves, we won’t be truthful ourselves.  Remember, God is the one blessed to be a blessing.  That’s the truth and those who believe in Him are blessed by Him.  Don’t exchange that for anything in this world.