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salvation

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clothed, spiritual, salvation

Adorn: Abandoning the Old and Clothing Ourselves With Salvation

Devotionals, Stay Sane

Worldly garments look completely different than spiritual garments. Clothing ourselves in sin hinders our ability to adorn salvation daily.

Clothes. Such a necessity. But why, oh why, do they have to produce laundry? I absolutely loathe laundry. It is one of those chores that we will never see come to completion. Unless you’re a family of nudists (not judging, but kind of). I really have tried the one “load of laundry a day” tip. Y’all, this is not realistic.

My boys are so very blessed with loads of clothes (pun intended). They have clothes for each season. Clothes for school, for playing, for sleeping. Church clothes, Christmas clothes, sports clothes. Seriously, I’m really contemplating becoming a minimalist. But, no matter how many clothes they have, my boys still have their favorites. The ones they will wear whenever they are clean (sometimes even dirty). Special clothes that wear out, tear, have stains. Even still, these items are chosen over shiny new ones.

Have I hit the point yet? This is moving toward matters of the heart…

Adorn: Dirty Clothes

We do this, don’t we? We all have “items” we put on day in and day out. For me, I’m constantly trying to change out of perfectionism, negativity, and insecurity. The list goes on but these are my comfortable clothes. These are the 8-year-old yoga pants I do chores in because they have bleach stains all over. They fit perfectly, and I NEED something to clean in, right?!

Because I’m a mere mortal, it is not in my nature to habitually clothe myself with supernatural adornments. It does feel good to put on freshly laundered clothes. But, why is this such a difficult process in our own spirits? When sin creeps in and goes unaddressed, we become more and more comfortable wearing it. The elastic starts breaking in, so to speak (I think I’ve pushed this analogy as far as I should).

Worldly garments look completely different than spiritual garments. Clothing ourselves in sin hinders our ability to adorn salvation daily.

Adorn: Daily Clothes

Sneaky sin is not what our Heavenly Father wishes for us. He has created the most beautiful spiritual ornaments. However, spiritual clothes are more difficult for us “put on”. In the midst of anger, how easy is it to be compassionate? When depression overwhelms, it’s difficult to be joyful. Anxiety makes us feel a need to act quickly, instead of being patient and trusting in the Lord.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Colossians 3:12, NIV

It takes daily submission and acceptance of this truth; we are His chosen. In every worldly situation and circumstance, we are to stand out. We are set apart and should not be wearing the same yoga pants as everyone else. These are not to be worn for our own glory, but for everyone to witness God’s glory. For all to see the precious gift of salvation through Christ Jesus.

Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day.

1 Cronicles 16:23, NIV
Worldly garments look completely different than spiritual garments. Clothing ourselves in sin hinders our ability to adorn salvation daily.

Adorn: Salvation Clothes

Most of us can remember the moment we accepted Jesus as our savior. It took me longer to understand what truly happens when we leave our sinful nature behind and accept the forgiveness and mercy of God. When we adorn our clothes of salvation, we are adorning ourselves in all that God has offered. Rest, protection, righteousness, joy, forgiveness, gratefulness, comfort, love.

I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Isaiah 61:10, NIV

In our salvation, it takes more than just washing our dirty clothes, we must learn to completely abandon them. Every. Single. Day. Salvation is the only piece of clothing I want or need to put on. For in salvation all else rests. It is humbling to know I can approach the throne of God in my ugly yoga pants, because He prepared a way for me to ditch them. In Him, I am made new. My old clothes don’t fit anymore.

If you have found this inspiring, share the encouragement…

When sin creeps in and goes unaddressed, we become more and more comfortable wearing it. Click To Tweet
Worldly garments look completely different than spiritual garments. Clothing ourselves in sin hinders our ability to adorn salvation daily.

Tammy Strot

I was tired, worn out, and dirty, but God…

This is the newest item in the Oh Lord Help Us Shop. It serves as a reminder that we are no longer who we were. The story has changed.

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consumed, need, choices, ego

Consumed: Too Many Choices Distract Us From What We Truly Need

Devotionals, Stay Sane

Our culture is consumed with satisfying our needs however we deem best, but we still crave more. We are created to to be filled by Christ alone.

I’ve been asking myself the same question for the past month. It’s that scene from You’ve Got Mail where Kathleen Kelly says, “I’m wondering about my work and all. I mean, what is it that I do exactly? All I really do is run a children’s bookstore…” Except I exchange bookstore for ministry. Couldn’t anyone do this job?

There are days when my heart and flesh fail. I want to get through a Sunday morning with zero hiccups and have so many volunteers I have to turn people away. But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. He shows me how need leads to Him being able to show up at the last minute and save the day. God really likes to do that because He gets all the glory!

Our culture is consumed with satisfying our needs however we deem best, but we still crave more. We are created to to be filled by Christ alone.

Consumed: Too Many Options

It’s easy to slip into the show up, fill up, go home mentality. It’s like an entire generation of pirates, “Take what you need. Give nothing back.” Every day presents us with scads of choices. Do you want a small or medium latte?  Would you rather have chicken or hamburgers for dinner? Should you go with highlights, balayage or a solid color at the salon? Our options are abundant. When we walk through the doors of our churches it’s enticing to bring those expectations with us.

Options have been a thriving part of western society for the last few generations. As a result, self-absorption is now an inbred disease. We’ve all seen adults acting like toddlers, right? When they don’t get their way they whine and moan. Maybe you are that person. I’ve certainly digressed to infantile behavior on more than one occasion. It wasn’t pretty. I’m glad you weren’t there to see it.

Some churches succumb to giving tantrum-throwers a watered-down gospel that neither convicts nor produces change. At best, it offers a gold “I went to church today” sticker. Maybe we saw a few friends and got goose bumps during one of the worship songs. In our society we are easily bored. If something doesn’t dazzle us we’re on to the next thing.

Consumed: What We Need

Hold up! The gospel is dazzling! The Christian life is never boring! So what are we missing?

God takes our lives and changes our story. He fixes our mess and changes our want-to. Jesus doesn’t charge us to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness so everything we need might be given to us. No; He said He will give us all the other things we need.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10, ESV

The early days of my faith were just that—faith. I professed Jesus Christ as Lord and by faith I continued to claim Christianity. But now I have come to know and believe the love God has for me.

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

1 John 4:16, ESV

Our culture is consumed with satisfying our needs however we deem best, but we still crave more. We are created to to be filled by Christ alone.

He is the One and only. I want to be done toying around like this faith owes me something for being a long-standing member. Need motivates. Rapidly consuming and moving on to the next thing seems to merely produce more clutter. And don’t we all long for a simplified life?

His love heals the self-absorbed ego and enables us to notice and be sensitive to others around us.

Timothy Keller

If you have found this inspiring, share the encouragement…

Need leads to God being able to show up at the last minute and save the day. Click To Tweet

Our culture is consumed with satisfying our needs however we deem best, but we still crave more. We are created to to be filled by Christ alone.

 

Evan Dennis

We are messy people who make messes, but God redeems those messes and makes us beautiful.

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