All in Christian
Are you filled with the joy that only Jesus and God can give you? Even in those times when you suffer or mourn is there an underlying joy that others see in how you approach those things? When we have grasped the gospel of Jesus Christ, and brought God into our hearts as Lord and Master, joy bubbles up in us like a flood. This is the mark of our faith, and is easily seen by those around us. Have you received that seal of joy?
We serve the one true God, the creator of the universe, do you wait on Him today, and the return of Jesus Christ, just as Abraham and Moses waited on Him, and the first coming of the Messiah in theirs? Do you pray and wait on Him, knowing that He will answer your prayers? Do you faithfully expect His presence to be known not only in your lifetime, but in your life, because He calls to you, and knocks at your door even now? This is the moment of our faith, and the promise which thrills us. He to whom Jesus prayed, and to whom He taught us to pray, desires a relationship with us.
Do you really know how to pray? No? Well, do you know how to talk with God? There is no secret to having a conversation with the Lord, and no secret to answered prayer, just one simple fact... it we pray in unison with the conversation we are having with Him, and ask for those things we agree on during that interaction, then He will do those things for us.
Are you living out your life claiming to be a Christian while continuing to live under the control of your own will; skirting God’s? How is it that we can be satisfied in this? How is it that we can taste His will, experience a touch of sanctity, holiness, and joy, then retreat back into our own humanity? This is the struggle of faith... the denial of the comfort we find in our own flesh, nature, and will, that we might accept God’s.
Are we like a slave in our Father’s house, or is it time to step forth and become what our Heavenly Father has desired for us from before the moment we were born? Are you ready to hear and assume God’s will for you, or are you clinging to the life of a child in His house?
Prayer heals us; it heals our physical illnesses, and it heals our spiritual sickness. The answer of prayer can be seen in the lame walking again, and it can also be witnessed in the forgiveness of sin. What is our need today? Is our body, or the body of a loved one, in need of prayer? Are we desperately in need of salvation, or the forgiveness of sin?
The rift that was formed between God, and man when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil has been closed for us. Jesus gave himself in sacrifice to make that happen. What an incredible gift of grace we have received, a gift of forgiveness, and yet we are like a children who have been given a gift but refuses to play with it because we can’t believe it is ours. It is time that we opened the present which has been handed to us, and thrill at its contents.
When we look at a sunrise, or a sunset, we see its beauty. When we look across the mountains we see their grandeur and beauty as well. The night skies filled with stars, and all of God’s creation bring us wonder and awe, but it has also impresses us with its beauty to the point of tears. Science argues the creation of the universe, but who can argue the beauty we feel and see in it, and the wonder at the divine hand that causes us to know beauty from nothingness.
Are you a branch on the vine of Jesus Christ? Do you know what that means to you? When we are grafted into the vine of Jesus, you become righteous as He is righteous, and free of sin as He is free of sin. Grafting doesn’t transform the branch’s nature, but it is from that moment on supported and fed by the new vine. Are you fed and supported by Jesus? Is your fruit made more perfect and full by its perfect new source of nourishment?
Have you ever faced a problem and prayed for God to reveal His will to you, to guide you through it, and when He spoke, and then lead you to a place where you felt comfortable again, did you tell Him thank you and go about your merry way alone? This happens all of the time to believers, but the Lord doesn’t want to be the taxi that you call in a pinch, He wants to be your personal automobile that you depend on to take you everywhere you go.
Do we abide in Jesus Christ? This is an incredibly powerful question, and our answer to it determines much. This is the condition that is placed on one of the most sought after promises in the Bible... answered prayer, and it is also linked to other promises such as the love of God, and joy. So how do you approach Jesus? Is Christ abiding in you, or just a visitor?
Praying for those things that are within the will of God for us; do we really know how to do that? Seeking out the will of God, as He has determined it to be, takes much prayer in which we ask no other question but “what is your will for me?”, and listening for His reply, then when God answers and makes that desire known to us... we will know how to pray as we should. Until that time our prayers are best conducted by the Holy Spirit within us.
Do we think of our faith in God, and Jesus Christ to be entirely spiritual? Do we continue on in the sins of the flesh even after we have presented ourselves as believers to the Lord? Resisting those things is difficult, and this is why Satan attacks us there so often by finding this weakness in our armor.. Here he finds advantage against our physical body, and breaches the walls of our spirituality.
Are we ready for the Lord’s table when we take Communion? Have we prepared ourselves body, soul, and mind to receive Him? Do we take this meal lightly or is it a moment of intense spiritual fulfillment? Of all the sacraments that we as Christians are involved in, consuming this meal should be our most spiritually anticipated... Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, Anointing the Sick, Ordination, and Matrimony, are all for not without the body and blood of Jesus offered in sacrifice for us. Are we ready to receive Him? Are we ready to take Him into our bodies?
Are you the child of an imperfect father? Well, here is some news for you... all men are flawed, and we as children are flawed as well. However, God is perfect and beyond blemish... He is perfection in every way. Yes, He is Abba, the perfect Father, and in so being will never abandon you, or do any of those things that abusive, or otherwise imperfect human fathers do. No matter how bad your earthly father is, and I know that some are monsters... God the Father is good, and can rescue you from all abuse and calamity.