Post Easter Faith

Now, With Easter fresh in my experience I am going to cut off the voices that condemn me and listen to the voice that convicts me in grace.

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot." - Romans 8:1-7 ESV

Faith sees a future filled with hope. It does not see a darkened repetition of the past. Faith has Easter still in view. Faith lives in newness no matter what the facts of the circumstances might suggest to the logical mind.

Natural thinking says:
1+1=2...
<natural disposition>+<circumstance>=<what happened before will happen again>
As long as life's balance sheets are in the black it looks like a good system. But if they are in the red then people either strive to change the outcome or give in to compromise.

"May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire." - 2 Peter 1:2-4 ESV

Faith thinking says:
<spiritual disposition>*(<grace>+<peace>)=<redemptive outcome>
Grace gives expectation and creativity in freedom

The holiday is over. Only the pastel wrapping paper remains. The problems and issues that existed before Easter did not magically disappear over the course of one weekend. I don't want to live in the patterns of yesterday... even in they were working for me. I want to be available to conviction because the resurrection is now real to me in freshness.

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