All in Christian
Once we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord we are no longer of this world. This realization can, at once, be joyous, and at the same time... terrifying. Leaving the world behind, this place which is all we have known, is not an easy thing to do, but if we lean on the Word of God we will find His joy in our sanctification, and His truth. So how is it that we can become this new person, and find joy in our separation from all we have known?
How many times have we disappointed Jesus, or God our Father? How many times have we felt such remorse that it drove us to our prayer closets in deep contrition, and how many of us cry tears of remorse? Peter wept when he realized that not only had he denied Christ, but that Jesus knew this was going to happen even as he was pledging his love and dedication... so great is the love of Jesus for us that he loves us while we are yet sinners, and can see our coming tears, even hearing our contrition as an echo.
Is your faith consuming you like a living fire? Is the old person who first heard the call of the spirit still the same one you are today, or is the corruption of sin, that was once a part of you, being burned away so that you are transformed into the pure image of the Lord? Perhaps your transformation is such that you don’t recognize it as occurring until one day you see your reflection and are amazed at who you have become.
How often do we look at those of great wealth or success, and envy them? How frequent is our wandering eye that would adore the latest fashion , or the newest craze, and partake in it, when by doing so it leads us away from God? Giving way to the allure of the world is to take a walk down the way of the foolish, and to stray from a life guided by faith... the path of Christ.
God’s promises, they weren’t made to just teach or guarantee us something about the world we live in, but rather to reveal God who created it. His promises weren’t meant to educate us about ourselves, but to lead us to become as He is. When we read God’s Word as an instruction manual on how to be a better human being... we have missed its essence, and the depth of His promises.
In our old age we turn to our children to help us with those things requiring strong hands and feet, but when we have no home, and no children, where do we turn for help? We find our help where we have always found it... in the Lord Jesus, and Almighty God. Our provision is complete in God, and in Jesus, along with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
How do you confront sin? Do you look it in the eye and try to overpower it? Do you ignore it and go about your business, or perhaps you do what any animal does when it doesn’t want to fight... it runs. Getting as far away from evil as quickly as we can is a good strategy when it comes to temptation and sin. Confronting Satan isn’t something to be taken lightly.
Are you in a difficult place in your life? Do you find yourself like the Israelites did when they had the sea before them, and the Egyptians racing to catch them from behind? Do you see no good way out of your predicament? If this is you today then do as Moses told the people “Fear not, stand firm” and trust in God to do the miraculous.
Perhaps today Someone will ask you if you have sinned, and you will tell them that you can’t recall having committed a sin today, but think again. Were you in the presence of those who were committing a sin and said nothing, or did you give the appearance of being complicit in a sin by not opposing it or removing yourself from it? If so that is to you a sin because to whom much is given much is expected, and even by your tolerance you teach others that their sin is acceptable. We “were like one of them.”
We talk a great deal about being like Jesus, but we rarely speak of those instances when He was most like us; those moments when His humanity was most evident. Perhaps we are afraid that by doing so we might denigrate Him, but nothing could be further from the truth. The Man called Jesus was just as important to our redemption as the divinity of Christ. Crucifying either one alone would not have been sufficient.
Why is your forgiveness by God tied to your own forgiveness of others? There are certain people who have hurt us that we are inclined to dislike or hold a grudge against forever, and some, who will not change their offending behavior, or become reconciled to you. Forgiveness... it takes one person to forgive, but two to reconcile, yet the first step to any reconciliation is always forgiveness. Yes, forgiveness can be so hard!
Do you feel out of sorts in your faith? Has God placed you in a certain place, or situation, perhaps asked you to do something that you don’t understand the purpose in? When this happens we often start questioning Him, and get despondent, but suddenly, we are surrounded by His light, and for a brief instant we see Him in a way that would have been impossible anywhere else. We envy those who seem to stand in God’s light always, but sometimes He moves us into a cleft to show us more of Himself.
Do you ever feel like one of the lesser believers? When work is handed out at church do you always seem to get the mundane tasks, or the grunt work? If so then rejoice and don’t lose heart! Faith is not like everyday worldly life... in faith the least shall be first. You are like the camp of Dan, and although you bring up the rear there is great importance in that. These are the most humble, most unsung, and yet most dependable of all.
How complete must the destruction of our sins be when we accept Jesus as our savior, and God as our One True God? Do we throw down most of them but allow a few to linger on in our lives? When we step back from the work of faith in us do we still see some stones standing one atop another? Are there remnants of our past life there? Until we have completely torn down the sinful stones of our old life we can’t be rebuilt.