Are you in the midst of some trauma in your life? Are you looking to God and asking “Why Lord? Aren’t I your child?” Of course the answer to this question is that He loves you too much not to discipline, or teach, you. The storms in the life of a Christian are meant to teach and perfect us, but they sure feel like pure punishment don’t they? Yet, amidst the hardships and discipline, never lose sight of the fact that you are indeed a child of God.
Where do your blessings come from? Are you busy trying to earn them? Is your goal in doing God’s will to be blessed, or is your blessing simply that of being in His will? Where does our spiritual blessing truly come from, and how do you come by it? Do we really know what blessed means? Let’s look at the role of Christ in our blessings, and then ask again how we earn being blessed.
Do you pray alone? It is good to pray alone, and in secret, because that is required for the intimacy of our relationship with God, but are there times when praying together are necessary? The answer to my question is a resounding “Yes!” There is power in joining together in certain prayers, whether we are physically together, or praying in unison apart. A common cause prayed by many carries much weight before the throne of God.
Do you have the blood of Jesus on the sides, and above the door of your life? Is your lintel smeared with the promise of eternal life? If we were to walk back in time, and down the streets of Egypt, we would see the very real blood of Passover lambs on the doorways of houses, but the Holy Spirit reveals to us the spiritual reality of that act; it shows us the power of the blood of Jesus Christ to in our lives; it makes tangible the promises of God... grace, forgiveness, and everlasting life.
Do you wait patiently for God’s provision and direction? Have you become practiced in allowing Him to do all things in your life, or does He teach you over and over again how to wait? Have you set your spiritual clock, and your expectations to divine time, the time of heaven? As the length of an earthly day is constantly changing, and our bodies acclimate to that change, we must also acclimate spiritually to the natural variation in the will of God... the day of heaven.
Do you dwell on who Jesus Christ is? When asked about Him do you tell of what He did, how He redeemed you, and taught you things like loving your neighbor as yourself? These things are all true, but do you also tell them that He is the jar that holds the essence of your life, the container in which you dwell? Do you reveal to them that He has so changed you that He has become engrained in your very DNA; so completely intertwined that to extract Him would certainly certainly destroy you? If you can tell them this, then your faith has become the fullness of Christ, and you are no longer about Christ, but in Him.
Do you speak with God in prayer? Does His voice come to you and direct you, or do you approach Him with a list of wants and a proclamation then follow them quickly with “Amen” without listening? If God isn’t speaking to you then perhaps you need to first believe that He will, and that He desires to. Not believing that God wants to speak with you is an indication that you don’t really know Him.
When we look at life we know that there is only room for one God, person, or thing at the pentacle of it. When we look at ourselves we don’t see a Mesa, or a plateau, we see a peak... the spire that is our ultimate point of existence. So what will we place there? What will occupy the highest point in our life, will it be the God of Abraham, Jesus Christ, some created form of mock spirituality, financial success, physical prowess, or another worldly desire? The decision must be made, and the champion of our lives placed at the crest.
What is the state of your life right now? Are you proud of where you are in your faith at this very moment? When you address your actions of the past, even the last few hours, how do they make you feel right now? We hate the word “now” because it requires immediate action. We put off changing our lives, we neglect a marginal faith, we postpone a look at where and who we are. We say, tomorrow I will begin to __________. How do you complete this sentence within the bounds of your life? Jesus says NOW is the accepted time.
Do you fret over the condition of the country and this world? Do you wring your hands and cry out “Lord! Lord! Look at what is being done and the harm there is to your people!” Well if you do, then stop! Ours is to trust in Him who created all things, and to leave princes and principalities to He who established them. We are like the grasses that cover the earth. We may brown with drought, but we have faith in the showers. The trees will wither and die, but the grass returns with the rain, dark clouds and lightning are the harbinger of mercy.
Do you wake up in the morning with a song of faith in your mind and a melody on your lips? Is it a lyric that only God could ever put together, and you know right away that it is the ballad of your life today? I like to listen to music alone in a quiet place with my earbuds in, and my eyes closed; it moves me. Prayer is meant to be like that... a quiet place, a still about you, the earbuds of prayer carrying Christ’s voice into your ears, and the lyrics of heaven softly ushering you before the throne. Is this how you pray?
Do living waters flow from you? Are you filled with the Holy Spirit as Jesus had said, and become the source of a flood... not a trickle, but rivers of living Water? If you are able to contain the desire to spread the good news of the gospel, then you have not yet found the source of the waters that Jesus spoke of, and there is more for you to believe will come. These are the waters of life which will be offered by both the Spirit and the bride of Jesus Christ.
What shape is your home in? I am not talking about the condition of the physical house you live in, but rather the spiritual roof you and your family live under. Are you providing a sound structure of faith that will shelter and protect you and your family for generations to come? As parents we must first look after our own faith and salvation, but then we must provide an example and instruction for our children. What shape is your spiritual house in today?
Do you think God has abandoned you when you are in a season of suffering in your life? Do you look to Him and cry out in anger at your pain? Does doubt come from your strife, or, even the mere endurance of hardship... or do you trust in Him all the more? There is a mystery in suffering; we wonder why God uses adversity and pain to teach us some of faith’s most valuable lessons.
How do you view those who don’t know God and who have no relationship with Jesus Christ? Do you walk past them and look for a tender spot in the heart of others, or do you begin to pray for their salvation? When a fellow believer falls on hard times, do you say a quick prayer and then go about your life, or do you sincerely pray for their relief every day? We say we want to be like Jesus and yet so many of us don’t follow Him in one of His most basic characteristics... we don’t intercede in prayer for others. Jesus is the Great Intercessor.