{"id":3112,"date":"2012-09-14T08:45:25","date_gmt":"2012-09-14T12:45:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=3112"},"modified":"2012-09-14T08:51:54","modified_gmt":"2012-09-14T12:51:54","slug":"making-the-simple-hard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/09\/making-the-simple-hard.html","title":{"rendered":"Making the simple hard"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Each day, as a Christian, my struggle with life revolves around the question. \u00a0How do I please the Lord?<\/em>\u00a0 Paul met with this problem while ministering God’s grace \u00a0to the churches spread all across Asia Minor and Europe. \u00a0He spoke boldly to the Galatians and Romans. \u00a0His letters carried a fist full of truth striking hard while revealing the heart of the Gospel to a church that sought her own way. \u00a0Again and again, he admonished, “Don’t turn the simplicity of the gospel message into a hard and difficult road of works.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>For Paul, there were several non-negotiables. \u00a0The first and foremost was our bend as humans to turn everything into a Pharisaical Law. \u00a0Making the simple hard. \u00a0Regulations telling us what we eat. \u00a0What we drink. \u00a0All these things were fodder for the Adamic mind to turn into can’s and cannot’s. \u00a0Men who were schooled in the Law were thrilled to provide teachings which transformed our relationship with Christ into a set of do’s and do not’s. \u00a0Congregations who had been set free from the tyranny\u00a0of the Law pleasantly sipped the soothing soup of regulations.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Paul’s anger could not be appeased by human arguments. \u00a0He was compelled to speak boldly against this gaping violation of the true nature of Christ’s Gospel. \u00a0He spoke vibrant words of strength in dealing with this hideous tendency to turn our relationship forged by God’s grace and Christ’s blood into a mere set of regulations. \u00a0The Holy Spirit working through Paul would not allow God’s merciful sacrifice to become a common book of rules changed and manipulated by mankind.<\/p>\n

It is the genius of God that he has fashioned salvation as a process that man can never achieve through our own efforts or desires. \u00a0We must yield to Christ’s love to see the completion of our journey of faith. \u00a0As our walk with Christ progresses, we find that each day is another opportunity for surrender and turn from our own legalistic desires. \u00a0I must willingly yield my life, keeping the simplicity of the Gospel simple. \u00a0In this way, our will becomes enfolded into the grace of Christ which never disappoints or leads us into bondage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Each day, as a Christian, my struggle with life revolves around the question. \u00a0How do I please the Lord?\u00a0 Paul met with this problem while ministering God’s grace \u00a0to the churches spread all across Asia Minor and Europe. \u00a0He spoke boldly to the Galatians and Romans. \u00a0His letters carried a fist full of truth striking…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,3,40,186,49,16,8,12,4,41],"tags":[21,688,7,699,715,701,694,689,6,687,523,700,524],"class_list":["post-3112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-religion","category-simple-truths","category-spirituality","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-simple-scriptural-truths","tag-simple-truths","tag-simplicity-of-the-gospel","tag-spirituality","tag-tyranny-of-the-law"],"yoast_head":"\nMaking the simple hard - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Making the simple hard - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Each day, as a Christian, my struggle with life revolves around the question. \u00a0How do I please the Lord?\u00a0 Paul met with this problem while ministering God’s grace \u00a0to the churches spread all across Asia Minor and Europe. \u00a0He spoke boldly to the Galatians and Romans. \u00a0His letters carried a fist full of truth striking…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/09\/making-the-simple-hard.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-09-14T12:45:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-09-14T12:51:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2012\/09\/tying-shoes-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. Howard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Making the simple hard - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Making the simple hard - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","og_description":"Each day, as a Christian, my struggle with life revolves around the question. \u00a0How do I please the Lord?\u00a0 Paul met with this problem while ministering God’s grace \u00a0to the churches spread all across Asia Minor and Europe. \u00a0He spoke boldly to the Galatians and Romans. \u00a0His letters carried a fist full of truth striking…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/09\/making-the-simple-hard.html","og_site_name":"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","article_published_time":"2012-09-14T12:45:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-09-14T12:51:54+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2012\/09\/tying-shoes-150x150.jpg"}],"author":"Linda G. 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