The Redeemed Rose

  Have you ever wished for a “Redo” button? Have you ever had a day that started off so completely on the wrong foot that you wish you could just push a button and start over? You woke up tired because you didn't get enough sleep the night before, or the night before that, or the one before that! The stresses of the upcoming day are already pressing down on you. You are grumpy. The kids are running around wild. Not listening. Again. And then your sin rears its ugly head and you blow up. At the kids. At your husband. At anyone within sounding distance. That was my Monday morning. And there I was, trying to pick out my clothes so I could take my shower, and all I could do was cry in my closet. I already hated how things were going and it wasn't even 9AM. I hated my tiredness. I hated my grumpiness. I hated how I had sinned again by lashing out in anger (a sin I am constantly fighting). And I wished I could just back up the clock and start all over again. All of this is e...

  (Hebrews 12:1-4 ESV) [12:1] “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [2] looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. [3] Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. [4] In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” It seems that everyday I struggle with the same sins over and over. Sometimes it is frustrating, sometimes it is discouraging, and other times I am in such despair that I break down crying and pleading for God to help me. I always ask, “Why do I keep on sinning?” And sometimes, “Why do I keep doing this same sin over and over? Shouldn’t I...

A short devotion on 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 from my morning reading 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Sin is like a venom, a poison, that slowly seeps through the whole body, spreading to every vein and limb.  It will eventually be the death of us. (Rom. 3:23) But where does sin get it's power? Or simply put, why does it even matter if we sin? (56) "The power of sin is the law." If there was no law, no commandments, then sin wouldn't matter. Without a good there could be no knowledge of bad.  (Rom. 3:19-20, 5:12-13, 7:7-13) But there IS a perfect law, given by the perfect, holy, and just Creator and Judge of the Universe. And every offense against that law is the vilest act of treason against the Most High King and deserves the greatest of punishments. (57) "But thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord J...