Nougat 25

Please receive today’s Holy Nougat

“He said to them, “You yourselves know that it is not permitted for a Jewish man to associate with a non-Jew or to visit him. Yet God has shown me that I should call no one unholy or unclean.” Acts‬ ‭10:28‬ ‭TLV‬‬

Peter’s honesty is something else. With the one statement he expressed his disdain for Gentiles and also invite them to experience God’s Grace.

Therein lay our daily struggle – conform to the New Covenant or satisfy the pull of our old nature and covenant. Our old sin nature is legalistic, embracing divisiveness and worst of all does not yield to God’s Spirit. We cheat, steal, bear false witness, backbite, swear … without giving serious thought to it.

But God is calling us, you and me, to something more. God’s desire is for us to rise above the squalor of sin and legalism to experience Abundant Life in God’s Spirit. It may sound utopian, but that is where daily death becomes critical. Dying daily requires our intentional decision to give God priority; even when tempted to yield to our natural inclination and responses.

Like when we’re inclined to respond in kind to someone who is unnecessarily rude; or lying to save our skins – those are natural sinful actions. Deciding to honor God invites the onlooker to see the Gospel come to life in real ways.

We might not have Peter’s profound rooftop experience or even the public manifestation of God’s Spirit upon our lives, but that doesn’t mean we get by with our sin nature. No. Let us choose to walk by God’s Spirit today.

P.s., don’t be surprised when faced with this kind of decision having read this. I pray us grace to overcome.

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May all we seek be found in Christ