November | 2012 | Tom Zimmer

We have heard it all our lives, Jesus did it, and we are supposed to as we’ll. Problem is, life seems to get in the way. What I mean by that, is simply that a lot of the time I don’t want to love someone because they have just done or said something that make them kind of unlovable. For instance, when somebody tries to run me off the road, the last thing I want to do is love them. My heart is pounding, and my blood is boiling, and rather than love them, I would prefer to bonk them over the head and ask “what were you thinking?”. Now we all know that is not the “Jesus” response, He would instead say something like “bless you and I give you peace”. So, how do I go from rage to loving? Well, as I have probably said before, I sometimes don’t, because the part of me that is enraged is not my spirit, it is my old “flesh”, which has been allowed to take control of my emotions. Paul said it best, “Romans 7:24 who will deliver me from this body of death?”, The whole chapter is an incredible read, but lets focus on the last verse; “7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”. So, to be clear, the secret is to NOT serve the flesh, but to keep our “minds” on Christ, who will give us the power to keep our flesh under control. The solution couldn’t be simpler, in that moment before our flesh tries to rise up and take control of our emotions, we can turn our mind to Christ with the simple prayer “Lord help me!”. And finally, when I do seek God, the words of the old hymn become reality when it says; “and the things of earth will go strangely dim, in the light of His wonderful face”.