All in Christian
For most of us our belief in God is based primarily on faith. We have never seen God, but we have felt Him; not so much by His outward physical touch, but through an inward touching, and by a spiritual response to His actions and voice in our lives. For His physical touch we depend on the love we have for one another, and in the hands of man being borrowed to do the will of God. Does your faith bridge your body and spirit?
We have spoken of idols, and how real they can be in our lives. We have discussed the effect they can have on us spiritually as well, but today we will look at something a bit more divisive; something about our association with others who worship false gods, because if we are not careful that influence can cause us to become separated from our special relationship with God... our righteousness.
Discussing false god’s and graven images in church is a favorite topic because it is a natural tendency of man to place various things above God as we move through our lives. One of the favorite topics of every preacher is money, or gold, but there are so many others. One of them is a nearly sacred topic, and we are often remiss in discussing it... family. We love our spouses, children, and families dearly, but do we allow them to encourage our faith in God, or to discourage it? Does our love of family become a god to us?
Who enters into our heart? In the house of our faith, which is our body, who do we place at the most honored seat at our table, and who do we allow to occupy the master’s bed? We have many who come into our lives, and many who vie for our worship and faith, but there is only one who deserves to be called master. Who is it in your life, your heart, and your soul? To whom have you opened your door?
Are you anxious to get to heaven? If you were on the verge of death would you just throw in the towel and give into it? Well, although heaven is our goal, our reward, and our wonderful anticipation, getting there prematurely isn’t what God desires for us to do. We have a purpose here just as Jesus did, so we are to serve that purpose until we take that last breath.
When you are being persecuted or ridiculed for your faith in Jesus Christ do you hold fast to your beliefs, and not let go of all that you have come to trust in? Depending on your circumstances, or the place in which you live, your degree of persecution can be very different, but your dedication to Christ should be the same, because the promise of His love and reward never changes.
Do you complain about where your faith is leading you, and the hardships and punishments that you must endure along the way? Some of us feel that when we accept the LORD as our one true God, and Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer, that we have reached the pinnacle of life, and that everything should be fragrant and painless from that moment on, but in fact we have just entered into a journey of faith in which we will be challenged, and made to suffer as we grow in faith. So do not grumble at the lessons we are receiving, they are evidence of God’s love.
When disaster comes, or times grow hard to bear, how do you perceive these events in relation to your walk with God? Do you question Him and wonder why He would allow such things to happen to you? Maybe you even think they are of His doing, and that He is mad at you, or in some way displeased. Well friends, we read in the Bible that the Lord has indeed punished some, but for the most part times like these are just the everyday storms of life that bring rain upon us all.
Do you lean on God’s promises for your hope? Does His Word not only give you hope, but does it allow you to live abundantly again? Sometimes our hopelessness becomes a millstone around our neck, and it is so burdensome that to go on living seems futile, but even in such drastic times we can find hope and relief in the Word of God, and certain joy in His promises.
We are inclined to reach out to God when we are in need, and rightly so, but is that the only time we do so? God is our provider, protector, Lord who establishes laws, and many other such things, but He wants more than these official responsibilities; He wants to be our friend, and our companion. Do you walk with the Lord? Do you seek to know not only what He is, and what He will do for you, but who He is? Have you allowed God to be your friend and companion?
Does our memory dull to the wonders of God, and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ? Do we find ourselves being drawn back into the world; not by decision, but because we have simply wandered there out of forgetfulness? It is natural for our memories to fade with time, so how do we keep Jesus in the forefront of our consciousness?
You have undoubtedly heard the voice and the knocking of Jesus Christ at the door of your heart, and I hope you have let Him in at some point, but are you making Him knock again and again each time He desires to dine with you? Do you constantly treat Jesus as a visitor? Well, He doesn’t want to be a visitor at our door, but a family member in our home.
Do you remember the moment when you made your commitment to God, and to follow Jesus Christ? How long ago was that, and have you done so since then? Perhaps you have never made that pledge... maybe you just started worshiping Him without a promise, or you have recently decided that this is something you should do. Establishing an agreement with Jesus is important because it commits us to Him, and a relationship... just as the wedding covenant commits us to marriage... this promise too is a Covenant we establish.
Do you worry about earning your salvation? Do you look at your life and try to find ways to defeat the sin you see there? If you are doing that I have to ask “How is that going for you?” If mankind, from the time of Adam, has not been able to perfect themselves then what makes you feel that you can do it now? If we were capable of doing this on our own do you think God would have sent His Son to die for us? No, it is only through Jesus, and God’s grace that we can be victorious over sin.
Do you live in dread, and the fear of evil or bad things that can suddenly happen, or are you calm and at peace within yourself? What rules your life; is it a constant waiting on the next terrible thing to befall you, or the rest and peace of God who shields you? Anxiety and stress are today’s buzzwords, but they needn’t be. Fear, and even startling fear, are not what God wants you to feel, or to anticipate in your life.