This is a picture of Tennessee's Smoky Mountains at sunrise - a sight which always fills us with awe. ) It's still early enough that the household is still asleep, and I take the quietness of the hour to reflect upon my reading from Romans this morning and fully appreciate what Jesus has done for me and my family as well.
There is so much for which I can be thankful. My children are in good health, but also in a walk with Jesus, learning and growing step by step. Nicholas will be heading back to Camp Red Cloud within the month, continuing the fine ministry outreach to families across the country. Peter has returned from the mission trip in Chicago, where he told me he is internalizing what he has experienced. Jill is in better health, and both she and I seek not only to grow closer together but also to see the new ministry the lord will lay before us. Little Julianne, of course, is a joy to the household, and loves Jesus vocally and enthusiastically.
But I also see the battle within me, and as I read Romans 6:
Rom 6:11
Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Rom 6:12
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,
Rom 6:13
and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin {as} instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members {as} instruments of righteousness to God.
Rom 6:14
For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
The first thought that may strike us is that the battle is with sexual sin or a sensual nature leading into lasciviousness. However, this warning leads to other dangers. Anger, for one.
As I have stated, my anger is a danger to me. It is almsot like being an alcoholic. I will never be able to say I have won a true victory overmy anger - only that, by God's grace, I am able to see it kept under control.
I can recall the time as a student at the university when a fellow student was getting antsy and kept kicking my bed, trying to get me to wake up from much-needed rest in order to go to the dining hall. He got more and more mouthy and challenging. Those who were in the hall remember what I did - I was so livid I shot out of that bed, literally picked him up, kicked open an adjacent door and threw him bodily into another room. I don't give this account to brag - in fact I am ashamed of it - but to note how my anger used to throw me into a rage.
Now, decades later, it is no longer physical in that sense, but it is an Achille's heel that I must constantly take before Jesus. The other day I was accosted with very callous words by a fellow employee, and I had to seclude myself in my office in order to siummer down, knowing any return words would be hurtful. Thank the Lord a fellow Christian stopped by and sat with me.
I have no desire to let my mind or my mouth become a tool of the Enemy. These will not become a hoplon - (Greek - an instrument) against Christ. The word "instrument" can be defined as a weapon. I will not let any part of me be truned over to the Enemy, against my Lord. Therefore, I go before Jesus and ask him to have control of my arsenal. Let Him have the registry of all of my weapons and ammunition.
