How valuable do we consider Jesus Christ to be in our lives? Do we pay Him homage by worshiping Him publicly before men of faith, but retreat from Him when the crucifixion crowd gathers? Do we fall back into the old ways that once defined us both outwardly, and inwardly? In short... we may have given Him our words, but have we yielded our hearts to Him?
What can we do, and how fruitful is our faith apart from Jesus Christ? With what words do we praise the Father without His teaching, and how effective are we without His intercession, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our prayer closet? We are nothing without our Lord. Even though we think we can come to God of our own volition, is that really so?
When we see ourselves as strong, mighty, and self-sufficient then we are foolish, but when we consider ourselves as small, and humble before God, then we are wise indeed. How do we view ourselves, and conduct our affairs? Do we spend our time gathering sustenance from God’s Word, seeking safety and protection in His shadow, walking obediently in the way of righteousness, and completing our day by humbly worshiping before the Father’s feet?
Do we spend our time praying, worshiping God, praising the name of Jesus, and doing the Lord’s will, or is our time and effort directed at arguing over the unfathomable mysteries of faith? The dark one is a shrewd character, and he will redirect our attention from the important matters of God while making us feel like we are pursuing something righteous. As Satan is doing this we are left spitting into the wind... wasting valuable time that could best be spent saving souls, and not driving them away.
We find it hard to comprehend the concept of eternity, and in fact we usually satisfy ourselves by thinking of it as having begun somewhere about the time of man’s creation and running as far into the future as we can imagine, but it is greater than that. Eternity has no beginning, no middle, and no end... so how can we, being limited creatures, possibly join God there?
What have we done entirely of ourselves? What have we done that we can claim wholly as ours? Not a single thing can be accomplished that God has not facilitated it, so to Him we owe the glory. Our very next breath, the strength in our arms, the power of our thoughts, the circumstances, and the successes of every venture, they are all of Him, by Him, and through Him. In this regard we should yield all glory to God. Does this cause our pride to fidget, and squirm within us?
Are we satisfied with the Lord, and is He our entire portion in life? Before answering too quickly, think about it first. We are taught to respond “Yes!” to this question, and so, in knee jerk fashion, we do, but is our heart in that answer? Mankind... We are a restless and discontented creature that never seems to be satisfied for very long.
We are meant to be God’s people, but do we turn our back on the one who has given us shelter and protection, and snapped at the hand that has fed us? When God called to us He showered us with His love and care through Jesus, but over time have some of us have become fixed once again on our own abilities, our own desires, and forgotten whose children we are? Have we spurned heaven, that eternal place we call home? If so, then what awaits us now, and has God lost His love for us?
When you pray for provision, healing, or anything else, are you expecting it to be provided? Do you believe that by asking Jesus to do a thing it will be done? If you don’t believe then how can you possibly expect to receive? Then I ask a second question... do you proclaim Your belief aloud?
Do you find yourself impatiently waiting on the Lord? A car races off the road at breakneck speed, you finish a good book before you are ready, or you might come to the end of your life saying ”how did it pass so quickly!”, but when we deal with God there is a very different feeling to time. On many occasions the sense of urgency we apply to the happenings in our lives seems strangely absent with God, while at other times things happen in a flash.
Are you being tested in life? If you find yourself facing hardships, and I am certain that you are in some fashion, then let me ask a quick follow up question... how is your faith doing in the face of it? You see, Faith is cultivated and fertilized by adversity.
Have you ever been in a situation where praising the Lord was difficult? How about being so encumbered that you had to struggle for the words? Or, perhaps that it became impossible? Probably not, but In such a situation we would find out just how important our God is to us, and exactly how much we would miss being able to speak with Him. Can you imagine living through such a situation, or place?
Do we find ourselves hiding the fact that we are Christians? Do we think that praying in secret is the same thing as silently maintaining our faith in Jesus? Do we feel it is the same belief... albeit unknown to others? well it is not. if we Acknowledge Christ to those around us, He will admit to His Father that we are wonderfully His, but if we do not speak openly of our faith in Jesus then He will not know us.
Did we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and then retreat into the privacy of our prayer closet where we remain dormant in our faith? Maybe we visit with Him once or twice during the day, and then turn back to the world. Are we embarrassed to take Him where we go each day, or is it that we are ashamed to let others see that we say we love Him, but remain unchanged? The proof of our faith isn’t in what we say, but how we walk.
Who wins out for control over our souls? Do we read volume after volume of some empty philosophy, imagined, and written by a man, or do we look to Christ for the understanding of who we are, who He is, and how we interact with the divine, and the world?