23 May 2021
Two-Minute Features | 30 May 2021 | 16 May 2021

Snowballing in One Way or the Other (TMF:1620)

Friday, May 28, 2021
Peace to Live By: Snowballing in One Way or the Other (TMF:1620) - Daniel Litton
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       We will either be slaves of doing what our flesh wants. Or, we will be slaves of doing what we know is right, what is sound. And when we yield to the flesh, it compounds. It is a snowball effect. The snowball keeps getting bigger and bigger until we are in a real mess. When we yield to righteousness, it is a positive snowball effect. Righteousness leads to more righteousness, which leads to sanctification, ourselves becoming more and more like Christ. Verse 20: “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:20-23, ESV).

Yielding to the Ways of the New Creation (TMF:1619)

Thursday, May 27, 2021
Peace to Live By: Yielding to the Ways of the New Creation (TMF:1619) - Daniel Litton
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       I had to decide I was going to replace my negative, pessimistic thoughts with positive, optimistic, hopeful thoughts. I had to choose to start living a faith-filled life. And to do this very day, it is an ongoing process, an ongoing battle. I still have to make the correct choices. I have to yield my mind and my mouth to be pleasing to God, so that I’m no longer displeasing him with wrong thoughts. The difference between the old man and our new man is quite simple. We have a newfound independence in Christ. We no longer have to live following our feelings anymore. Does that make sense? Our new independence from the old man means we get to follow what we know is right, even if our feelings disagree with us, instead of following what our feelings (our flesh in many instances) wants to do. Frequently there is a disconnect between the two. Paul tells us that we will be slave of one or the other.

Pessimism Isn't the Way to Think By (TMF:1618)

Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Peace to Live By: Pessimism Isn't the Way to Think By (TMF:1618) - Daniel Litton
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       Before I was saved back in high school, I was a very negative and pessimistic person. If you ever met a person who could be a downer, it was me. I was so good at stating the negative, that I gained a reputation for being funny due to my sarcasm. It seemed good at the time to be liked for being so funny. Now, after I become saved, I was still a negative and pessimistic person. Once I was seeking to align my mouth with Christ, I realized, years after my conversion, that I didn’t automatically lose my pessimism. It just didn’t go away on its own. Some things we lose our desire for right when we become converted. I lost my desire to cuss; it was gone. But I was still a negative person. So, what did I have to do once God pointed this out to me? I had to start deciding, on a daily basis, that I was not going to be that way anymore. I had to decide I was going to replace my negative, pessimistic thoughts with positive, optimistic, hopeful thoughts.

Our Minds, Mouths, Hands, & Feet (TMF:1617)

Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Peace to Live By: Our Minds, Mouths, Hands, & Feet (TMF:1617) - Daniel Litton
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       Verse 19: “I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.” Again, and I want to reiterate this, even after we become Christians, we still have a choice as to how we are going to present our members. First of all, what are our members? Our members include our minds (our thinking, our thoughts), our mouths (what we say; how we encourage or discourage others), our hands (whether we help or hurt), and our feet (where we go and where we don’t go). Paul said, “so now present” as if we have a choice. We can not present our members as slaves of righteousness, or we can present them as slaves of righteousness. The choice is ours. Again, unbelievers don’t have that choice. They can only present their members as slaves of sin, of lawlessness.

The Spirit Works Out His Fruit in Us (TMF:1616)

Monday, May 24, 2021
Peace to Live By: The Spirit Works Out His Fruit in Us (TMF:1616) - Daniel Litton
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       We become more like Jesus in character. The Spirit of God works out his fruit in us so that we look more like Christ. A Christian is just that, a follower of Christ who inmates and looks like Christ. Now that we are saved, we are to be presenting (continually) our members to Christ. We should be making good decisions. We have to take the Christian life seriously. Many of us are sports fans, whatever sport we like, and we know that competitive athletes will spend a lot of time preparing and training to do whatever it is that they need to do, to be the best they can be at their sport. And how are we doing? Are we training ourselves so that our thoughts, words, and behaviors are closely aligned with Jesus Christ? Are we spending time in God’s Word? Are we letting God work the Fruit of the Spirit out in us? Or, do we just sit on the coach most days and do nothing. Are we consumer Christians, bench-warming Christians?