All in Christian
Who will join us in heaven, and will We recognize them with a hug, and a holy kiss, embracing them as equal believers and loving them as fellow Sons and Daughters of God? We say that we look forward to that day when we will dine at the table of God, but do we really? Are we ready to lovingly walk those streets, and are there similarities between them and the streets of our town that we walk today?
In this age of selfishness, and the hoarding to ourselves the riches of the earth, it is easy to give a tithe, and say it is enough, but that is just what God told us to set aside for His purposes. Is this, or our words, the only way we are asked to praise God, or is there more? Are we to adhere to the law, or go beyond it as Jesus did to feed the hungry, and give drink to the thirsty... even as He did for us with His own blood and body.
Have you ever been living out your life and suddenly realized that something you were doing wasn’t what Jesus would have done? In our early years of faith this might be an obvious diversion from a major teaching of Jesus, but as we grow in faith it will most likely be subtle... yet the blessing we gain from this realization, and changing how we behave to be in obedience to Christ in it, is just as strong as when we first believed. The sin of disobedience just as abhorrent.
What will we look like in heaven? I have heard that question many times, and heard it put in many different ways. Young healthy people ask it in curiosity, and the aged or infirmed ask it in fear, or dread. Can we really know? Let’s explore some scripture regarding our redemption bodies.
God is our creator, and has worked out the means of our redemption, our salvation; Jesus was nailed to the cross, but it was God’s will that placed Him there. Have you picked up your cross to follow Jesus, or are you still waiting on God to say come? Waiting on our Father becomes much easier once we realize that He formed us, saved us, and it will be in His house that we will live forever. But do we know who He is, or do we believe in a mystery?
Are you a witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; if so do you witness at home or abroad, and do you ever feel overwhelmed by the task? If you are overworked, and see way too many souls than you can possibly reach, or teach, then listen to the words of Jesus as He tells how to call for help. If you are not witnessing, or going on a mission field, then listen for that call. In all cases pray!
When we say the word revival, as it pertains to our faith, what comes to our minds? Is it tent meetings that run late into the night? Is it a guest Pastor who preaches fire and brimstone or directs the Church towards some new endeavor? Is it the return of calm to a chaotic world? No, although you might find a sense of revival in these things, it is actually the restoration of the divine nature in a soul, a church, or even the world... it is the reinvigoration of faith by God’s divine presence.
I read this week about realizing the depth of our sins, but it took a different view of them, and turned the depravity of our wrongdoing from the heartbreak of remorse into the amazing heights to which they are raised by our forgiveness. This author encouraged those with the darkest of sins to confess them, repent from them, and ask the Lord for forgiveness because the love they would feel between themselves and God at the moment of their relief would be amazingly great.
We recite a prayer before meals, and at bedtime, and we pray in church service as we recite the Lord’s Prayer, but for most Christians that is the extent of our regular conversation with God. Oh, we might say a prayer when in the midst of trouble, but that is a one-sided prayer and seldom a conversation, and all we really want to hear Him say is “Got it!” Am I describing your prayer life? If so then you are missing out on the greatest blessing of prayer.
How humble do you find yourself to be? Are you strong enough to maintain your course of faith, and yet meek enough to do so without rippling the water around you? Are you bold in your humility before the cross, or do you carry your faith before you like a sharp sword? As we approach Pentecost we can’t help but compare ourselves to the apostles before they received the Holy Spirit, with those same men after the Spirit had come upon them... they left behind their desire to be first on that day, and became images of Jesus.
When we are hungry, to whom do we turn? When we are thirsty, where do we look to have our thirst quenched? When we are in need of a safe place to lay our head, whose name do we Call out to? Before we search for food, water, or shelter, we should seek God, and then obey Him as He leads us, and provides for us. This was the message to the Israelites in the desert, and it is our message today.
Princes and principalities, customs and countries, circumcised and uncircumcised... these, and many others, are all things we have used to separate ourselves from one another, and to secure God and Jesus Christ for ourselves alone, but that is not God’s will, nor what Jesus meant to happen; it was meant for the Holy Spirit to bring us together through the Cross... one Church.
When we think of the ransom that was paid for us by Jesus, it is easy to think about that ransom being paid to some entity, or to someone, for us, but this is not the case. Who would be powerful enough to hold us ransom from God? No, we are ransomed from the sin and death that is within us... the very punishment that was created and placed there by God Himself. God is ransoming us from His own steadfast law against sin... against the imbalance of wrong that became inherent in us.
Is your life so disjointed, and your spiritual journey so up and down that you often are brought to doubt that God is at work in you at all? If this is you then you need to lean on the Word and listen as scripture reassures you that God is absolutely desiring to be the focal point of your life, and to give you His joy, and overwhelming rest, peace, and comfort in Himself.