The Looney Toon Gospel...

When I was a kid, I just loved me some Looney Toons! I distinctly remember one episode where Elmer Fudd was hunting wabbits. (No surprises there.) Upon one shoulder sat angel Elmer, and on the other shoulder – devil Elmer. Unfortunately, Elmer then had an epic dilemma on his hands. Though a part of him truly wanted to do what was right, another part of him just wanted to kill that wascuhwee wabbit! If I recall correctly, I'm certain the devil eventually got the best of him, but despite his best efforts, Bugs Bunny was still too much for him to handle. 

As childish as this scenario may seem, it's a script that plays itself out one way or another in all of our lives on a daily basis. You see, Elmer's body played a neutral role. His body was neither for nor against hunting wabbits. His spirit was all for doing what was morally right or "righteous", while his flesh, or the "old man" if you will, just wanted to kill that wascuhwee wabbit!

As I attempt to plumb the depths of profound spiritual truth from a Bugs Bunny cartoon, I submit to you today that the reason the devil always got the best of Elmer was because he made the same mistake we've all made from time to time. When we fail to renew our minds to the truth of who we are in Christ, we will inevitably find ourselves reverting to our former, flesh-ruled lines of thought that eventually lead to our former, flesh-ruled behavior. 

Paul said in Ephesians 4:20-24:

"But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy."

Paul said that we are to allow the Spirit of God to renew our thoughts and attitudes to His thoughts and attitudes. Ultimately, what we find ourselves doing (or not doing) is merely a reflection of the primary influence(s) we've allowed to form the core of what we believe to be truth. 

This simply means that we must be intentional with what we allow our eyes to see and our ears to hear. Why? Because eventually, life will squeeze us and temptation will  come our way, and when it does all the little things we've been feeding on will come out.  It's the little things, wrapped up in our daily habits that will either bring us closer to our destiny or push us further and further from who God intended us to be!

Will we give in to temptation or will we resist the devil watch him flee? The choice is ours!

Living By Design and Not By Default: Part 2

The gist of Part One was simply to realize and understand that God as Creator knows more than we as His created do about the nuts and bolts of life, who we are in Him and how we act and react to our circumstances.

I find it interesting that so many times we try every conceivable avenue in our own strength to figure out our circumstances before we turn to God in prayer as a "last result". Another way of putting it would be to say that for whatever reason, sometimes our true beliefs are characterized more often by our lack of action than by the precepts we'd like to think we embrace.

Unfortunately, the very root of what we're saying to everyone around us through our actions is, "do as I say, not as I do." James had this very discussion in his epistle when he essentially said, "I'll show you my faith...by my works!" In other words, people should be able to look at our lifestyle habits and know what we believe without us having to try and convince them one way or another with the words of our mouth. 

What would anyone in their right mind find appealing about a Christianity that is characterized almost exclusively by, "We don't drink and we don't chew and we don't run with girls who do?" Our success in life shouldn't be a testament to our ability to avoid certain habits and practices as much as it is simply a byproduct or the end result of a Christ-centered, biblical worldview. We are something, and therefore merely reflect the thing that we are. 

(Note: You have already been doing this since the day you were born. Who you think you are has EVERYTHING to do with how you portray yourself to the world around you!) Cue "All He Says I Am" by Cody Carnes. 

Let me put it this way, Jesus said a lot of things during His time on this earth, but if you REALLY want to know what He believed about you, look at His actions. He said that He loved us, but then He willingly sacrificed His life to prove it. We say that we love Him...