All in Christian
When you sit at the feet of Jesus are you teachable? Do you humble yourself and listen intently to every word He says, or are you a know it all, and keep interrupting with your own two cents? Jesus was gentle and humble when He taught, and we are to be this way as His pupils. How do you approach your spiritual instruction? Think about how you enter into your lessons and ask yourself “Am I teachable?”
How are you walking through this life? Are you doing so while loving your family, perhaps some folks at church, and a few friends, but simply tolerating everyone else, or maybe even disliking some? We divide ourselves into groups... we belong to this church and not that one, we are from this town and not that one, we believe this and not that, we are this race and not that one, and the list goes on, and on. We love some, tolerate others, and dislike or even hate the rest. Does this describe you? Step back and take a good look in the mirror; be honest because your salvation depends on it.
What does it mean when scripture tells us to rest, be quiet, and trust the Lord? How does it sit with us when it says that this is our strength, and our salvation? To us this sounds so foreign because we feel like there must be something that God would have us do. We want to be actively involved like the young David who used his sling to slay Goliath. Yet in many scriptures we are told that by just sitting in the presence of God, and waiting we will experience our greatest strength... yet we resist this.
Does waiting on God seem tedious to you? Perhaps it has become this way because you have the idea that He is doing nothing while you wait, and that He continues on doing nothing until at long last, in a moment suited to His good pleasure, He suddenly cares enough to act. Well nothing could be further from the truth, and waiting should be an active effort on our part in which we watch Him at work.
When we have fully accepted the Holy Spirit to reside within us we are declared to be a child of God... not by human birthright, but by power which comes through the resurrection of Jesus. It is at that moment in which our spirit receives the entirety of the power promised to us. Are you prepared to submit fully to The Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, and our Father’s will?
You think you are righteous, after all you have been working at it diligently for quite some time, maybe all your life, and yet you fail at pretty much the same frequency that you always have... what is wrong? Why is progress in your faith so slow, or stalled? I am going to ask you a simple question that might possibly drill to the heart of your struggle... Are you continuously seeking Jesus for yourself, or have you said to him “here I am Lord, I am yours.”?
Spiritual gifts, they are so misunderstood. Are you one of those who believes that you have no spiritual gifts? Do you watch as others exercise the gifts they have been given, and become despondent because you think that you have been passed over? Well I pose this question to you... what have you prayed for? Have you asked God to show you His will for you, and then after receiving that answer, asked for the ability to accomplish it?
Are you in need of a comforter today? Is your heart broken, are you filled with sorrow, or perhaps a fear that deflates you sails? Whatever brings you to that place where you need an arm on your shoulder, and a comforting embrace from God... know He is there, and will ease your burden, and lift you once again to your feet.
Do you know that the fullness of God is available to you? Has anyone ever prayed for you and asked that you be granted spiritual power? Has someone asked in prayer that Jesus dwell within you and that you be filled with the fullness of God? Well if we are to follow in the example set by the Apostle Paul then that prayer should be prayed, because this is precisely what he prayed for all those at the church in Ephesus... Pastors, Deacons, and Saints, pray for your churches today!
How great is your dependence on Jesus Christ? Is He the source of everything in our life; spiritual and physical sustenance, a firm foundation amidst the storms, the basis of emotional and mental well being, and our guide to eternity with God? We should look to God for all things, and to Jesus, His Son and our intercessor, to bring us, and each of our prayers, before the Father. Do we do that in every aspect of our lives, or do we envision ourselves as being like a self-sufficient plant that is growing beside Him?
In the midst of our own troubles do we think to pray for others? When we are suffering, or the enemy is knocking at our door, do we ask God for help, and then include our neighbors in that prayer as well? It is hard to think beyond our own circumstances when the situation is dire, because our true nature is a selfish one. Can you overcome the “ME” in your prayers long enough to lift up a stranger as you ask for personal deliverance? While you are waiting on God, try spending some of that time in prayer for others who are facing trials and hardship of their own... maybe while you are waiting on God He is waiting on your intercessory words for another.
What is it about prayer that we value the most? Is it the time spent with God? The comfort it brings us? Knowing that we are heard? Realizing that we are never alone? Finding joy in praying for others? The list goes on and on doesn’t it... but the one thing that stifles our spiritual lives more than any other is making the answer to our prayers paramount in gauging the success of our prayer lives; and not just answers, but those we have dictated, or in other words, when we want OUR will to direct God’s answer to our prayers.
Do you fear for your children? Does their strength of faith as opposed to all the sin and evil in this world terrify you? No matter who you are, the love of your children brings you terror for them. Given this, if one of your children had just died and Jesus had miraculously healed them what would be your immediate inclination? Wouldn’t it be to fall at His feet, and then to tell everyone about what He had just done? To make believers of them! Wouldn’t it be to shout to the world that this man Jesus Christ was a miracle worker, and exactly who He said He was? Well what if He told you to keep that amazing miracle silent?
How strong is your faith? Is it strong enough that you can face the hatred of those around you? Is your faith firm enough to withstand the trials and persecution that nonbelievers will put you through? Is it like steel when Satan comes against you because of it? Is it invincible even when those who you love, and that you thought loved you, turn against you for it? When your faith has grown, and becomes like an adornment of shiny armor, that is when the evil one will test you with all the weapons at his disposal. It is then that you must trust wholeheartedly in the Lord because at that moment your very soul lies in the balance.
Before we come to that point in our faith in which we understand that our relationship with God and Jesus Christ is what is of paramount importance, we seek the ancillary things pertaining to the promises in God’s Word. We search for such mysterious ingredients as knowledge, wisdom, eternal life, power, joy, and peace, but in doing so we are like any child who prefers eating the icing over the cake. We see those things that are the fruits of an intimate relationship and mistake them for its purpose.