All in Christian
Do we feel that we are threatened because of our faith today; are we treated as though our beliefs are bland and harmless, without danger to those who rule and practice sinfulness with impunity, or perhaps placated by those who pretend to be Friends of Jesus? Strong enemies are confronted carefully in battle by an opponent’s strengths, subtle enemies by discernment, so where does the Church stand today... not just externally, but on the internal battlefields of righteousness?
Are you living for the here and now? So many people go through life looking at the world as if what were happening at this instant in their life was of the utmost importance. They say that they plan, but they are making plans for tomorrow, and for how they will live out their life... seeing no further than the grave. God wants so much more for us than that; He wants to spend eternity with us.
Are you one who has been waiting on the promised Christ to return? Do you rise every morning and go to church throughout the week in anticipation of His arrival? If so, what will you say to Him, and when He presents Himself will you know for certain that it is Him? We like to believe that we will easily recognize him, but will we? If you aren’t immediately lifted to join Him in the sky, or if you aren’t privy to a miracle... will you know Him? Will you believe this man is Jesus? If an everyday carpenter dressed in work clothes introduced Himself... would you believe He was Jesus... or just disturbed?
We pray to the Father, the Holy Spirit guides us, and we ask in the name of Jesus. Have you ever felt so loved? Have you ever felt so cared for? In this way, has your joy ever felt so full before? In Jesus, our prayers are now complete as He intercedes for us before the Father. Do you ask in His name when you pray? It is not just a formality, but the grasping hold of His promise.
Is there a doctor in the house!? Is there a doctor in the house!? These are words we all dread to hear, and especially if they are being called out on our behalf, but when Jesus came into the world that was exactly who He was; he was the good doctor who had come to heal us of our sins, and pull us back from the brink of death! Do you need a doctor? Do you need Him to come running into the room to treat you... to pull you back from death’s door?
Have you allowed Jesus to lead you into full and abundant life, or are you satisfied with merely existing in Him? Do you allow Him to own you completely, and have full reign in your life, or have you only leant yourself to Him, and become like a sheep under the watch of a hired hand? Have you given yourself to Him as a prized possession, or merely treat him as a servant; a sheep that is His to watch for a day, but in which there is no joy of ownership? Are you a sheep that follows a stranger, or one that follows a loving master who would lay down a His life for you?
How do you treat your sexual body, and how does it impact your spirituality? The greatest bodily temptation is sexual immorality, and God understands this... He is no prude, and knows the desire that we have; after all, He created us with it. Sex is meant to be pleasurable, and by so being, to insure procreation, but when Satan gets hold of it then it loses the purpose that God intended, and becomes misdirected and immoral. Do you have control over your body, your desires, and your sexuality?
How diligent are we in our faith? Do we only set aside time in the morning to study the Bible, and to pray undisturbed each day? If we do, I certainly hope that Jesus returns to claim His bride in the morning. Routine times of study help us to insure that we spend time in contemplation and prayer, but we should dwell on those things we have studied in the morning as we travel through our day. In this way we remain at the ready, and those around us will see Christ in us.
Are you waiting on the answer to a prayer today? Have you been praying for something for quite a while, and though you believe it is within the will of God it remains unanswered? Perhaps you have been feeling out of sorts and just want to feel better, but you don’t really know how to say what is wrong with you, or know what to ask for. If so... then you are not the first to wait, or the only one who didn’t know what to ask for.
Who have you prayed for today? Have you left your prayer closet after having prayed in the spirit for your personal needs, the needs of your family, and maybe a close friend or two? Well if so, that was a good start, but it is only the beginning of our daily prayers. In fact, we should consciously pray for all the saints, and all day long in every circumstance, for every soul in need, and as our conscious prayers fade, we should recognize our unconscious prayers as well.
Do you obey the commandments of Jesus? If your answer is yes, and you are working your way through life doing all you can towards this end yet you have not felt Jesus to be alive in your life, then I need to ask you one more question... do you obey Him out of love?
When someone is baptized, and the Holy Spirit comes over them, three things occur within them. They are given gifts, a calling(s), and they will begin to behave in a new and wonderful way. Gifts, service, and activities, these identify them, and set them apart, on a course that God has willed for them even before their feet became wet in the waters of baptism, or they took their first breath as a child of God.
Do we give thanks for our brothers and sisters in Christ? Do we take our own sanctification by the Holy Spirit as more than a distant hope, but as a present truth? Do we find ourselves filled with the glory of Jesus Christ, and allow him full reign as he abides within us? There was a time when I accepted Jesus as fact, but didn’t want the close relationship that He offered; I wanted to follow Him but not to walk too closely, not to accept the changes that walking hand in hand with Him meant. Is Jesus your speaking friend, or your best friend and confidant? Are you sanctified or just aquatinted?
In this day and age when the Church has been taken hostage by the influence of the world, and often forgets who it really is... who it represents in power; it isn’t surprising that we as individual believers find ourselves weakened, and led astray. But the truth of the matter is that the Church is meant to represent the creator of the universe, and you and I have been authorized to act in the name of His Son Jesus Christ for the glory of God!
How do we worship and have faith in the Father and the Son? Do we go about doing the physical things that identify us as religious, and leave the inner, spiritual, things of faith to quietly stagnate? God made us to be both physical and spiritual beings, but didn’t He make the physical first, and then breathe the spirit into it? As we grow in faith is our body fully formed, but our spiritual self lagging behind?