No Confidence in this Flesh
Watch out for our society. They want you to think that flesh is the best. Look at our media, look at our advertisements, and look at everything thrown at us. It is no secret this world serves the body and not the spirit. Our surroundings are shouting: Eat this. Drink that. Do this. Take that. Go there. Come here. Trust us. We know what will satisfy you (as if they even cared). This world puts so much confidence in the earthly bodies and impulses. But Christians are different. We serve God by his Spirit, not by our flesh.

Rotten Flesh
I could list accomplishment after accomplishment. I could go on and on about how I helped so and so or gave my money to this cause or sacrificed my OWN time and money. But all of my righteous acts are like dirty dish towels used to clean up the dog’s vomit. What used to be a gain to me—fame, fortune, money, respect, power, knowledge, the right clothes, the right jokes, the right girl—I now count as nothing compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus. For Christ’s sake, I have lost all things; they have no place in my heart. The beauty is this: because Christ was the Someone, I am free to be no one. I consider all accomplishments and riches pure poop, such that I might gain more of Christ and be found in him. My righteousness is not my own, but Jesus’. I have accomplished everything I need only because Christ accomplished everything I need. Now, when I fail, it’s not even noticed, because Jesus has already succeeded. I put no confidence in this flesh because my skin is rotting. I put all my confidence in Jesus.

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection. I want to participate in his sufferings and die to myself only because, by doing so, I am mysteriously attaining the resurrection from the dead. That is the mystery of the gospel. Though outwardly I am wasting away, inwardly I am being resurrected day by day.

Run that Zombie Race
I have not yet attained all that Christ has to do in me. Instead, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Jesus. I know that God will continue his work in me till the end. I know that I am invincible until He is done with me, like a zombie with a bulletproof head. Everything I face in this life is meant for the glory for God. While it is true that God is for me, it is really only because God is for God. He is the one worthy of praise. It is not how much I worship him, but instead how much he deserves worship.

Straight Crooked
In a crooked world, those who live straight lives are going to be accused of being crooked. Without out something straight, you can’t determine if something is crooked; we have the word of God to show us what is straight. This crooked world is tirelessly adjusting their lines because they have no straight edges to compare. It is a shame that many live as an enemy of the cross; I mourn it almost every day. I cry out: “Why does the road have to be so narrow?” not realizing that it will be no other way. The destiny of this crooked world is destruction. The god of this crooked world is their stomach. The only glory this world has is their shame. This earthly place is set on earthly things. But we have the citizenship of heaven. This is not our home. Though the straight road to our home disappears in the horizon of time, we do not lose hope. Jesus has the power to bring everything under his control and he will transform our lowly, dying bodies in to something glorious like His.

Let’s be straight lines showing a crooked world what is true. Christ is the way.