All in Christian
Do you want to follow Jesus but have something you must do first? Has God called you to a specific purpose but the timing not been convenient to you? If that is the case, did you console yourself by saying "God understands that I will eventually come" or perhaps some other rationalization? Well, think again. The table may be cleared.
Do you have a gift to offer God, but you just can't find the right moment to give it to Him? Are you standing before the altar with doubt in your mind wondering if He will receive your offering? Is your spirit unsettled and in a state that keeps you at arm's distance from God's will in some matter? In moments like this there is something not right... there is emptiness of spirit... listen as the Holy Spirit directs you in clearing away the obstruction.
Are you working hard to do all of those things that Jesus spoke of during His Sermon on the Mount? If so, how is that working out for you? Are you going at it alone, or are you leaning on Jesus for your success? Sometimes we get tripped up by His simplest sounding instruction, but most certainly we will fail if we struggle by ourselves.
How many little things of faith have you left unaddressed? I dare say the major items are either solved or you are working with God on them, but have you overlooked the small and seemingly less important nuances to your walk with Jesus?
Is your house quiet this morning, and are all others asleep? Can you hear every little noise as the furnace ignites and the walls and floors pop and crack while settling into their new warmth? Can you hear your spirit whispering deep within you as it calls out..."Father, Father."? When we are still, and the world is hushed, the sounds of heaven become audible to us... this is the time for intimate conversation and spiritual embrace; this is the realm of eternal prayer.
Who is Jesus in relation to God? Is He a servant, a slave, a son, a prophet, a high priest, a tool, or all of these things? If you are having trouble answering this question then perhaps you can more easily answer the same question regarding yourself and your relationship to Jesus... No?
Once we accept God as our creator and the God of our lives, and we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Redeemer, we receive by grace the gift of eternal life, but is that gift absolute? Is it a firm commitment on God's part? how about on ours as we receive it? The discussion of topics such as this can either divide us or bring us together.
Jesus is without sin, and perfect, but is there any hope for us to be perfect as He is? Is perfection something that we are even capable of? The glorious surprise of faith is that we are transformed not into men seeking to behave as God, but into God flowing from man.
Are you being tempted with Jesus Christ even today? In that temptation do you continue on with Him, or do you turn away from Him and leave? This is a question Jesus asked His disciples at the last supper, and which is still valid today. I ask you one more question... when we give into our temptations are we saddling and shaming Jesus with sin again?
Are you tempted as Jesus was tempted? Do you even understand what that means? When we as Christians look back at the difference between the alluring we faced before we were born again and those temptations that came following our conversion we realize that they are quite different. Our common temptations that occur in every person's life suddenly transformed themselves into temptations of a higher spiritual plane. We move from purely moral temptations to those which can alter our spirits and condemn our very souls.
When you pray the Lord's Prayer and say the words "lead us not into temptation", what do you think that means? Do you think you are asking God to keep you from experiencing temptation? Do you understand it to mean that you are asking God Himself not to tempt you? Do you think it literally means that God should not purposely lead you into tempting situations? Or, do you feel you are asking God to lead you away from your natural inclination to be tempted and sin?
Do you have questions about faith, or revelations about yourself that you need to communicate to God? Are there things so personal that you blush with embarrassment and shame at the mere thought of them? These are the most pressing things that you need to reveal to God, and they require a secret place where you can be absolutely open and honest with Him.
Do you have hidden sins that are undoing you? They don't have to be huge or incredibly sleazy, but dishonest to God's law, and to the commandments of Jesus Christ. Tolerating such behavior in ourselves will surely undo the good work done in us. We will certainly become blind.
How do you know when you have been in fervent prayer? Is it when you end your sentence with Amen, or is it when you unfold your hands, open your eyes, or get up off your knees? Those can all be indications of having prayed, but the real give away regarding fervent prayer is your heart; when the fingers of your soul begrudgingly let go of the hand of God and you return to your body... and language serves you once more.
God never leads us by the ear into salvation. He never forces us to acknowledge Him against our will, or badgers us until we finally give in. No, a tiny seed is planted within us and it becomes our responsibility to tend and grow it, or let it lie dormant and eventually whither away.