All in Christian
Are you born again in the hope and resurrection of Jesus Christ? If so do you go through periods when you are vexed by suffering and calamity in your life? Does this cause you to confront your faith, and if so does it challenge it, or strengthen it? Many of us seem to believe that when Jesus steps into our lives we cease to feel the pain and suffering of living in the natural world, but is that really the promise?
Do you want to improve your prayer life, to pray in joy, to pray without ceasing, or to find the ear of God with your words... but try as you might you fall short of during your attempts? Do you find yourself going through the motions as you retreat to your prayer closet only to return empty and unsatisfied? Perhaps the problem isn’t in your praying at all... perhaps it is in your faith.
Do you feel inadequate in faith, spirituality, and in what you do for the Church? If so then let me ask you a very simple question... how is your prayer life? If our prayer time is weak and disjointed; sometimes good but often forgotten, then this may be the root of the problem. Prayer isn’t simply a time to give the Lord your wish list... it is the root of our relationship, and the source of our strength.
You are a believer in Jesus Christ, and you do your best to order your life by His teaching, but do you believe, truly believe, that He forgives your sins? If you do, if you believe in who He is, and you believe that He is capable of forgiving your sins, then why is it that you can’t forgive yourself, and let those sins go? Why is it that you continue to carry the guilt of having sinned when God has decided not to remember them?
Am I obedient? This is a question that on its surface seems so simple, you would think it would be answered with either a yes or no, but perhaps the confusion is in the question, and how we ask ourselves. The more appropriate question is “Am I obedient in the way that God would have me be?” Do we play the “Army Game” with God?
Do you speak and walk with Jesus every day? Is He your constant companion, and closest friend? We should be close to Him every single moment, and yet, how often we, as Christians, wander off on our own and forget to call on Him. How often we just pack up our things and walk off on our own for periods of time. Have you done this? Does looking down at the nail holes in your hands remind you of who you are, and lead you home?
Are you a humble person, just playing with the notion, or do you actually make no pretense at it whatsoever? Humbling ourselves is a foundational element of the Christian faith, and yet it is also a human trait that many people see as being a weakness, and unbecoming. Friends... humility and weakness are not synonymous... being humble before God allowed Jesus to take His place on the cross, but that wasn’t weakness... it was a strength of love that few of us can understand, much less realize in our lifetimes.
Do you have a loved one who is sick today, perhaps even unto death? Have you done all that you know how to do for them? In desperation have you at long last uttered a prayer to Jesus asking Him for a healing? Maybe this sick one is you. If this is happening in your life then surrender yourself to Jesus Christ, praying first for faith, and belief... this is the ointment that heals us.
Do you exercise your faith in fullness, or is God required to constantly remind you of its importance? Do you place what you do for Him ahead of who He is in you? If so then perhaps your holiness and power have followed suit. Are you wanting to reinvigorate the miracle working faith that we see in the apostles, then stoke the fire of your faith.
Do you have an intolerance for those who are yet to accept Jesus as their savior? Do you walk a wide circle around those who still live in sin and treat them as if they were lepers; having nothing to do with them? If you have found the Love of Jesus Christ, and it has changed your life, don’t horde Him... share the love He had for you while you were yet a sinner with those around you. Even though you don’t find yourself to be a preacher... teach the gospel.
Have you been working hard to perfect yourself, and to make yourself righteous and even holy? Well, there is only one way to overcome sin, to stand before God a righteous person, and to live eternally with The Father in heaven... a belief and faith in Jesus Christ. Only by our yielding to Him, and His abiding in us, can we be changed, and made acceptable. Only in this way can we conquer Satan, and restore life to dead eyes.
When we say that Jesus abides in us and we in Him what does that really mean to us? Does it mean that we have a house guest that we treat cordially, or does it mean that we are actually sharing a home and life with Jesus... doing our laundry together... preparing and eating our meals together... praying together? How convenient it is for some to treat Him as a guest in their home, when in fact Christ wants joint ownership in that home, and to live fully in it with us, sharing Himself just as He expects us to share ourselves.
Do you exercise the same Holy Spirit that filled Jesus? Have you acknowledged this truth that comes when He enters you at conversion, or do you read of the miracles and amazing things that were done by the apostles and wish you could accomplish such things? Now is the time to claim the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and then to go about the business of the Father’s will. It all starts in love...
Are we waiting on the return of Jesus Christ? I’m not talking about saying “come quickly Lord Jesus” in one breath, and then at the next moment saying “but not right now.” I am speaking of the longing of your spirit for the imminent return of the Lord... as if you were a child awaiting gifts on Christmas morning.
You have prayed and asked God to come into your life, you have gone down in the waters of baptism, and for a while you felt the ecstatic joy that comes in that moment... you claimed His victory over the effects of the world. Then as time goes by you begin to feel the weight of the world once again, or your circumstances join together in order to drag you into the “valley of despair.” How is this so, why has God allowed this, and how can we escape it... or where is God when we need His rescue?