All in Christian
When you are sick with a cold and you pray for healing, then go to the pharmacy to get medicines to treat your runny nose, cough and fever, where do you then place the trust for your healing? We are meant to do what we can to take good care of our bodies, but when we call on both physical and spiritual remedies, do we allow the physical ones to overshadow the spiritual ones? Does your faith supplement the cough syrup, or does the cough syrup supplement your faith?
I realized as I sat quietly in my living room chair, that I was mourning much more than the death of a president, but also the passing of a sense of goodness and honor, that in my youth symbolized the United States, and that made our flag venerable; our country and her values worth dying for. I Looked at this goodness, and the noble cause of freedom, through eyes filled with tears and realized that it all poured out from our exercise of faith, and how if that faith could be destroyed then the rest of those things we once valued so deeply would surrender themselves quietly.
There are messengers who deliver the words of the king, and then there are Regents who act act in the place or name of the king. When it comes to Jesus which are you? Which of these roles did Jesus intend for us to fill until His return, and why is it important for us to understand this?
Concerning your salvation, are you meeting God half way? He has sent His Son Jesus Christ to suffer and die for you, thus securing your redemption, but do you come to Him? In what condition is your faith today, and are you honoring Jesus? In as much as God has, and is, doing His part in repairing the relationship that was broken by Adam.. we must do ours. We must guard our gift of grace with our faith. This is our agreement in the contract which binds the relationship, and eternal promise we have made with God. This is our marriage covenant with Christ.
When you are struggling, suffering, or wandering, where do you go, and in who do you place your trust? If you go to men or institutions then you are preparing yourself for disappointment, but if you seek out God, then you will find relief and salvation in Him that is certain, and will not fail you, and the realization that all paths to Him lead through Jesus Christ.
Each morning in your prayers do you pray in intercession for all those around you? Jesus taught us to do this in wonderful fashion as He prayed in the upper room. He prayed first for Himself, then those who were with Him (His disciples), and finally for all believing people. Are you in the habit of praying for others each day? Do you understand the enormity and power of this?
Are you a professed believer in Jesus Christ but still waiting on the victory? Have you made a conscious commitment to your faith, and yet the sins of the flesh still rule over you? Look to the cross for relief because in it the world has already been crucified to you, and in it lies your power over the sins of the flesh. You have picked up your cross but are yet to be crucified on it. Don’t look up to the cross... look out from it.
When Communion is offered in your church do you examine yourself to determine whether you are a believer before you participate? Do you look inward and find that you can take the bread, and the wine, while understanding it to be the body and blood of Christ... a reminder to you? There are those who believe that taking Communion improperly is an innocent attempt to go along with the crowd, while others view it to be sacrilege or sin, and there are even those who see it as a pretense designed to fool the Church. How do you approach Communion?
When we have been saved, and have allowed the blood of Jesus Christ to wash us clean, something amazing happens... life, and not just life for a while, but eternal life. The question is, “Do we know what that means?” Do we understand what it is to live eternally? Well, we think we do, but there is much more to it than just existing without an end.
Do you ask God to do something for you in prayer and then wonder how long it will take Him to accomplish it? Do you ask and then couch what you have requested in language which shows your doubt in His power by providing Him a way out of doing that thing you have asked of Him? When we do not expect God to do the things we have asked in the name of Jesus then we have lost our faith, and no longer believe and trust in the Lord... we have relegated ourself to chasing after clever fables. Do you truly believe in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit? Then, expect!
Is the church we attend living in the full power of Christ, and the Holy Spirit, or have we let our own humanity take it captive? That is a very big question, and one which Paul asked the church in Galatia, but let’s make it a bit more manageable by asking ourselves... “am I living in the full power of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, or is my flesh determining the direction of my faith?”
Have you met Jesus Christ, and become determined to study and understand the truths of God? Do you say to yourself that you want Jesus to abide in you, and yet you are not really certain that He has done so? Well when you ask Him, He will anoint and enter you, but in the beginning you may feel only His peace and joy, but little more... this is the first day of school, and from here you will begin your education by being taught how to learn.
The human view of knowing is based almost totally on our minds, as evidenced by the fact that we judge the worth of each other based on intelligence and intellectual achievement, but although God places value in that as well, He founds His judgement of our relationship with Him on what happens in our hearts. Do you love God? This is the greatest commandment! This is the greatest of our emotions, and is not an intellectual pursuit that we can control and dictate. It is the greatest commandment Indeed!
Through the intercession of Jesus Christ, Satan cannot have his way in us. Oh, he might beat up our lives and our bodies, but within us abides Jesus who prays from there, and even through us. In this way Jesus defends what is His... our heart, spirit, and soul, all of which He has been given.
Do you sit at the feet of Jesus to learn, and if you do, exactly what is it that you are expecting to learn about? Are you there to learn what God can do for you, or maybe about what heaven looks like, what is required for you to be healed of something, the secret of eternal life, how about to increase your power... or, perhaps some other hidden knowledge that you think He might give you? Jesus came to do one thing, the will of God, and that is what we should expect to learn by sitting at Jesus’ feet.