What if the distance between you and God has already been removed?

Opportunities for taking shortcuts abound in this life. We can choose, multiple times every day, either to take the easy route out of expediency, or the longer one to do what's right; to cave in to evil, or to struggle through for good. I wonder, when was the last time you cut corners; when you caved to something less than good?

In the first century BC, amidst the chaos of the late Roman Republic, political alliances shifted like sand. Many senators backed whoever promised them wealth or survival, but Marcus Tullius Cicero sought instead to judge matters through the lens of justice and the common good.

During the Catiline Conspiracy, when Lucius Sergius Catilina plotted to overthrow the government, some urged a swift execution of all suspected conspirators—no trial, no evidence weighed. But Cicero resisted the mob's rush to judgment, pressing for clear proof before condemning anyone. His measured approach exposed the true leaders of the plot while sparing the innocent, demonstrating that wisdom discerns not just between right and wrong, but between what merely seems expedient and what is truly just.

Hebrews 5:13-14 Anyone who lives on milk is still a baby and is not able to understand much about living right. But solid food is for people who have grown up. From their experience they have learned to see the difference between good and evil.

True wisdom, godly wisdom, refuses the shortcut of expedience, choosing instead the harder road of goodness, justice and kindness based on God's truth. The function of wisdom is to discriminate between good and evil.

Be prepared to take the longer road.

That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.

Sometimes we get so caught up in our own "self-improvement program" that we forget completely that following Jesus isn't about self-improvement. It's about…well, following Jesus.

The chameleon is a pretty amazing animal that changes its skin colour to suit its surroundings. Pretty clever little fellow when you think about it. And in a sense, it's something that we all have a tendency of doing as well. We change according to our surroundings.

It's one of the reasons that every parent worries about their teenage son or daughter, getting in with the wrong crowd because that wrong crowd can drag them down. On the other hand, if they make friends with good, loyal, honest, decent people then that's going to influence them as well.

We know that. And if it applies to our teenagers, it applies to us too. It turns out that what we do and say and think and the places and the people we hang around, impact greatly on the things that we do and say and think.

Let me give you an example. It may be that you're a naturally very positive person but you hang around a bunch of people who only ever grumble and complain and before you know it, you're grumbling and complaining too.

And then you start thinking that way and seeing the world through their eyes. And one day, you kind of wake up and think, "Whatever happened to this incredibly positive and optimistic person I used to be?"

The more you think about it, the more we're just like that little chameleon.

Last week we spent some time looking at what it meant to break free from the power of sin. For many people, sin is a four-letter word but actually, sin means "to miss the mark – to miss the whole point of life". Sin is the thing that robs us of the fantastic life that God always had planned for us.

It's like an addiction. It's powerful. You do the wrong stuff, you feel guilty and condemned and it just gets worse and you end up on this downward spiral. This is not some religious guilt trip. You don't even have to be religious to figure it out. I'm not.

I mean, wives, if you constantly hen-pecked your husband, what you'll find is that he will withdraw emotionally from you and he won't want to spend time with you. Doesn't matter how right you are. And husbands, if all you do is work, work, work, work, work and you never spend time just cherishing your wife, you know she's not going to want to get intimate with you.

If we're lazy that has consequences. If we're angry that has consequences. If we're envious or proud, all those things have consequences.

So last week, we had a look at the power that God gives us to change. It's the most amazing power. If you missed it you can listen to those programs again at our website: adifferentperspective.org.

This week we're going to get really practical, we're going to look at where the rubber hits the road. How exactly do I live out Gods grace and Gods power so that they remove the power of sin over my life?

Now I want to start today with this very simple reality; you have to change where you live. The best way I've ever heard it explained is this; you own two dogs, a big black one and a small white one. Which one is going to be the stronger of the two? The one that you feed of course!

So many people are living under the burden of sin and yet they have the power to take some simple steps to step out of it. Paul the apostle explains this in Romans chapter 8. He talks about the flesh, our human sinful nature and the Spirit – God himself. He says:

If you walk according to the spirit, you're going to live in the spirit and have life but you walk according to the flesh, you're going to die. (Romans 8:5

See, this is the "two dog" analogy, which one are you going to feed, which one are you going to live in? The spirit or the flesh? God or our selfishness? Have a listen to how that wise old apostle puts it. he

Our capacity for denial of the obvious is amazing. We can be presented with irrefutable evidence that something exists and yet, based on our experience, our particular worldview, our version of the truth, still deny that which is as plain as day.

I recently met a man who, with every fibre of his being, believes that the world is flat. I mean, he was absolutely genuine. Wow!

But did you know that there are also people who … wait for this … don't believe in the existence of God? I know, now you think I'm the crazy one. Because, in point of fact, the vast majority of the human race doesn't believe in God. No, the universe wasn't 'created', it just happened, and life simply … evolved.

Former American President Ronald Reagan once said, "I have long been unable to understand the atheist in this world of so much beauty. And I've had an unholy desire to invite some atheists to dinner and serve the most fabulous gourmet meal that's ever been concocted and, after dinner, ask them if they believe there's a cook."

The Apostle Paul put it like this:

Romans 1:20 There are things about God that people cannot see—his eternal power and all that makes him God. But since the beginning of the world, those things have been easy for people to understand. They are made clear in what God has made. So people have no excuse for the evil they do.

Look around. From the bee sitting on the flower in your garden to the peak of Mount Everest, it's obvious. So we have no excuse for the evil we do.

That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.

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The word "pleasure" can have both positive and negative connotations depending on the sort of pleasure we're talking about. But have you ever wondered whether God takes pleasure in anything, and if so, in what?

There's a verse that, each time I read it, completely blows my mind. Here it is:

Psalm 149:4 For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation. (ESV)

How do you unpack that? How do you make sense of the fact that the God who created the whole universe takes pleasure in His people – fallible human beings like you and me who've made so many mistakes in our lives; who've dishonoured Him, turned our backs on Him … so many times in our lives.

Imagine a guy gets fired—it's his own fault, too many no-shows. Weeks later, his old boss calls. "We're short-staffed. Want your job back?" No lecture, no probation—just a fresh start. He hangs up, stunned, grinning like a kid. That, to me, is this verse in real life: God delighting in the humble, lifting them when they least deserve it. And let me tell you, that expression, "takes pleasure in", is a really strong one in the Hebrew language in which that was originally written. It speaks of deep pleasure, acceptance and favour, not reluctant tolerance.

God's love for you and me is active and joyful. And it's not in our human strength, or status or self-reliance, but in those who walk humbly with Him. So when you're perhaps feeling a bit down on yourself, know this: that heaven's applause is already yours, and He adorns you with His salvation.

That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.

A woman prayed for food and God answered. But her story reveals a deeper hunger shared by many who are longing to find hope in Him.

To a lesser or greater degree, those who profess a faith in Jesus Christ will invariably suffer. For some, that may merely involve scorn or ridicule. But for countless others down through the centuries, it's cost them their lives.

In the 16th Century, Anne Askew, a young English poet and Protestant reformer, was arrested and tortured for rejecting Catholicism. Offered freedom if she recanted she refused, answering her interrogators with clarity and even wit. Despite the brutal treatment, she spoke of her joy in Christ and her certainty of a heavenly reward.

As she was burned at the stake, eyewitnesses recorded her praying aloud and quoting Scripture until her voice was silenced by the flames. She lived—and died—with the unshakable assurance that God's promise outweighed any earthly suffering. Said Jesus to His followers:

Luke 6:22-23 Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. (NRSV)

Over the last few days, we've chatted about fearless faith and bold belief. Too many of Christ's followers today have become all too shy about their faith, hiding their light under a bushel for fear of recrimination.

Why, when Jesus, in the face of persecution, called us blessed? When the world turns up the heat, remember—no fire on earth can burn away the reward that awaits you, so rejoice in that day, leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven.

That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.

When we finally wake up to ourselves and admit that the way we're living our lives just isn't working, the next thing we need is something that does work. Because like it or not, what we discover is that by and large, we ourselves our powerless to change. We need power to change.

I don't know, you turn on the evening news on the radio or the TV and there never seems to be much good news, it's all bad. And then, when there is good news, on the odd occasion, I don't know, the good news stories, they're very, very rarely, you know, really good news. Well today on the program it's a 'good news' story, not just a good news story, a great news story. In fact, not just a great news story, an absolutely fantastic news story.

If you've been joining me on the program this week, what you'll know is that we've been talking about breaking free from the power of sin. Okay, there are people who think sin is some old-fashioned concept from an out of date Church but scratch below the surface, what you'll always find is that each one of us has things in our lives that we do or we say or we think, that have lousy consequences. Things that drag us down and rob us of life. And the worse they become, the more powerless we feel to change them. And in fact, powerless we are because they are addictions.

So today's absolutely fantastic news is this; that there is power available, the power to change and it comes to us from a source that, perhaps, we may not expect. It's the power to have a fresh new life irrespective of what it is that the world's throwing at us.

Power is something that people in this world seek after and abuse. You don't have to look very far to find that. There are the powerful and the powerless. So many people are oppressed by power but that's not the kind of power I'm talking about today. I'm talking about the power to change. The power to deal with things in our lives that rob us of life and that ruin the lives of those around us.

Sin is shorthand for those things. Sin literally means to 'miss the mark' to 'miss the whole point of life'. The point of life is that God is the most amazing God. He wants to fill us with His joy and His peace and He wants us to live a life that glorifies Him.

See, for me, when people talk to me about sin, for much of my life, I was so touchy about that. I cared so much what other people thought about me. I'd do anything to enhance my reputation. I'd lie, I'd cheat to get people to think better of me. I couldn't stand it when I didn't have the limelight. I couldn't stand it when other people succeeded and they got the limelight and they got the credit.

Now maybe it's entirely different for you, we all have something different that we're addicted to. For me it was recognition and success and we need setting free from that stuff. Now I'm a tough-minded, hard-nosed businessman kind of guy but as much as I tried, I couldn't get away from that and I know it was ruining my life. I just didn't have it in me. I needed some power.

Well today, I want to share with you where that power came from, I want to share with you actually through the words of the apostle Paul, yesterday we looked at what he wrote in Colossians chapter 2. I want to have a look at a different part of that today, this is truly powerful stuff. We're talking about breaking free from all that rubbish that robs us of life, God calls it sin, breaking free from the power of sin. How, if we don't have it in us, can we break free?

Have a listen to what Paul writes; this comes from a really contemporary translation called The Message Translation 'cause I find it really easy to understand. I'm beginning at Colossians chapter 2, verse 2.

I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know about God. Then you'll have minds confident and at rest, focused on Jesus, Gods great mystery. All the richest treasures of wisdom a