All in Christian
How can we love God, yet take up residence with sin? How can we say we are Christians but not do the things that Jesus has commanded us to do? Do we not see that to be with God we must separate ourselves from sin, and that if we truly love Jesus we must do as He asks, and walk in His footsteps?
Have we looked at those who sin repeatedly and watched them prosper, while never seeming to be punished or have any ill effect from it; not even a stumped toe? Then, do we watch as righteous men suffer mightily? How does this make us feel; are we tempted to question our faith, and God’s Word? Friends, God’s timing is not ours, and His plan complex. Judging our faith, or God’s Word, based on His punishment of determinably unfaithful sinners is wrong minded; look instead on the final outcome.
We are called by the Lord, but once we hear His voice we must respond, begin our search for Him in earnest, and when we find Him we need to knock on His door and enter into a relationship with Him. Stop for a moment today and ask yourself where you are in your journey towards perfecting a relationship with God. Have you just begun the trek by hearing someone call your name in the night? Perhaps you have sought Him and come a little closer... or maybe you are walking through your life in intimate conversation with him. It is always good to take stock of our relationship and judge where we are, and what our next steps will be.
Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, and it is a day when we join together across the nation to thank God for all of His many blessings during the past year. For some of us this has been a particularly hard year. We have lost loved ones to COVID-19, and had our families divided by contentious politics, but neither of these hardships, nor our other challenges, have been too great for God to overcome. So put away your mourning, broken hearts, and bitterness, as we thank God for the blessings we have received this year instead... even if you live elsewhere around the world, use this opportunity to thank God, and praise Jesus today for the many blessings in your life.
Some believe that we should obey God simply because He expects us to, and in some cases it appears to us that this is His desire, but later, in retrospect, we find that what God asked of us, His will, was for our ultimate good all along. Our Heavenly Father is not arbitrary, and all that he does, and asks, is for a purpose; for our good. Thus the question becomes this... do we trust in Him enough to do those things He asks of us even when we don’t fully understand, or see the good in them?
Just as by the disobedience of Adam all men were made sinners, and through Christ, one man’s obedience, the many were made righteous, so it is that by our singular lives we can each have an impact on all of creation. Some of us are tempted to believe that we are insignificant when in fact our one life’s force can ripple through all that comes after us, and quite often we don’t even realize it.
Even if our faith should fade away from us, and we find that our prayers are less fervent, or we turn away from our daily walks with our Father, He might scatter us, but will never abandon us. Even in a decrepit state such as this He makes a way home for those who are lost, but we must search after Him like Jesus seeks the one lost sheep. If we look for Him with all our heart and soul we will find that our Lord God never hides from us and waits faithfully for our return.
When we are in trouble do we call on God to save us out of desperation, or do we ask for His help so that through His provision, and salvation, we might glorify Him? God’s rescue is not done solely for our benefit, but also to reveal His majesty. When we give to those in need how does it make us feel? The goodness and warmth we experience is only a reflection of what God feels when He answers us in our times of need.
To be with God, and Jesus Christ, we must be changed. Laying aside, for a moment, the spiritual transformation we have been undergoing throughout our lives of faith, we are meant to be changed physically as well. This bodily change will not be a lifelong process, but occur in an instant, in a moment, and take place when Jesus returns to claim us. Are we prepared for that instant of indestructible foreverness?
Do we proclaim the mystery of the gospel of Jesus to those who would hear? Do we ask those around us to pray for us so that we will have the right words to speak when we do? We wear the armor of God, and the last article described by Paul is the sword, which is prayer in the spirit, but do we ask others to wield that sword for us so that we will receive the words to speak, and do we swing it into action for other disciples as well?
We might be suffering physically right now in this time of pandemic, but even as our bodies are being wracked, and caused to feel great pain, God is using our bodily trials to bring about great spiritual growth in us. In this time of intense suffering, and while Satan attempts to destroy our hope, our souls are calling out to God for deliverance. Can you feel a renewal of faith welling up within you?
Are we of one heart and mind concerning Jesus, or do we argue about his teaching, and what He commands us to do in His gospel? As we look about the Christian world today do we see a robust house... a nation of believers who speaks with one voice, and worships in accord with one another? Or, do we see a house divided... set against itself, and that twists God’s Word to make its own points seem true?
Are we growing more Intense, and diligent, in our faith with each passing day, or do we approach it like children who become tired with the same toys over time? When we allow ourselves to simply go through the motions of faith, and to lose sight of the immediacy of it, then we can’t possibly experience the fullness of God’s joy, or feel the love that radiates from Calvary. Do we rise each morning in wonder, that is, do we lift our faces towards the heavens thinking that we are a day closer to the coming of Jesus?
God diligently keeps His eye upon us, but our worldly life can often distract us from looking to Him as we should. There is not a second in the day when we turn towards Him that His eyes aren’t watching us. Furthermore, He is not merely looking at us, but there is a loving interest and intensity to His gaze that makes us want to please Him more. So what are we doing to deserve those moments when we notice His eyes, and our hearts fill to overflowing, not with the love we have for Him, but that He Has for us. Have we earned the lessons He teaches us, or the love He has towards us? What is it that He sees in us as we are led towards eternity with Him that links us so completely?
If you were taking a walk, and a voice suddenly told you to “cry out“, what would you say? Would you pick some arbitrary exclamation, and shout it, or perhaps tremble, and ask, “Who is this?”, or, “Lord, what would you have me cry out?”. Some believers feel that it is always presumptuous to ask questions of Jesus, or God, but as we read scripture we find that if we ask, and do so in the proper way, it doesn’t bother either of them at all. God wants us to understand what He would have us do, and to ask Him questions until we do; Jesus feels the same.