Today is another snow day in SW Idaho.  I was going back to work today for the district I was working with prior to Christmas.  The lady I was replacing short-term is still unable to return.  I got word of the snow day but then I got word that the district office administrators are coming to work and would I join them, so off I go.  It looks like I’ll be spending a couple days a week there for a while yet.

This morning’s devotional time had some critical revelations for me.  The first one was about simplicity.  II Corinthians 11:3 tells us to not let our hearts be corrupted by Satan as Eve’s was.  Instead we are to have sincere devotion to Christ.  The King James Version says to have devotion to the simplicity of Christ.  Christ really did live a simple life but he delivered a continuously powerful message.  I read this, this morning, and saw how I’ve struggled with this message.  Simple had meant “not much meaning” in my old self.  I needed to do powerful things so I could find relevance and be relevant.  How frustrating that was.  Today the message of simplicity resonates.  In simplicity is freedom from bondage.  The new life given to us seeks simplicity so that the powerful message of Jesus Christ can be clearly seen through us (me).

The second piece that really stood out to me was examination vs condemnation.  Paul was writing in II Corinthians 12 about his “thorn in the flesh”.  It is not given definition except that it was used to humble him so that Christ was seen in him and not the Paul he had been.  I’ve often wondered if my own personal past is like a thorn for me.  This morning when I read the difference between examination vs condemnation I realized God was now using  my past as a point of examination so I can grow from it.  I then realized that was the way I was seeing my character defects and learning from them instead of condemning myself because of them.  My past does humble me but it does not need to condemn me any longer.  I praise God for that.

The last piece of this morning ties to the above message.  In my past when I was tempted to sin I would condemn myself severely and think I was like my dad or brother–abusing someone.  If there was a temptation I couldn’t be trusted with people thinking the temptation made my untrustworthy like my dad or brother.  I would immediately condemn myself and live in that shame and guilt.  This morning God was showing me how my new created Earnie can examine temptation, confess it and move on.  This ties to simplicity, examination and freedom.

I love what God is teaching me.  It makes living one day at a time a joy and not a threat.  To God be the Glory!