We are all sinners, but how wonderful it is that we have the opportunity to behold the Lamb of God. He is our hope, and without Him we would most certainly be lost. This is Jesus who has taken away the sin of the world. Have we met Him, or does he remain unknown to us? Men continue to seek Him, and ask these questions... Will He end my struggles, if not then will He help me through them, or is He asking the impossible of me?
How are we living our lives? Are we living as the Spirit directs us, or are we living in the world, and for the world? Do we pray to obtain from God those things that bring Him glory, or for those things that are simply of the world, and that make us more comfortable in it? We must decide if we will live our life spiritually as the sons and daughters of God, or live it according to the flesh and die... what is our choice?
It is so ironic when we forecast, pick, our own punishment, or the path of our spiritual lesson. Have you ever been wrestling with a sin you have committed and while you did so said something like this to yourself? “If God hadn’t meant for me to do this He would/wouldn’t have _________!” Then almost immediately that very thing you said He would or wouldn’t do proves to be your undoing? Saying such things is almost always followed by a lesson, revelation, and in the midst of our ensuing suffering, a prayer for forgiveness. What word(s) did you insert? Was it “let me do it”?
As we go through life, even the life of a staunch believer, how much attention do we pay to glorifying God? If a pastor is building up a church and it fails, he is disappointed, embarrassed, and even humiliated, but does he feel these things for God, or for himself? If a man prays he asks for many things, but how few are meant to glorify God, and how many for his own need, and glory? All we do should be done to glorify God; this is what Jesus taught us.
Have you heard people say that our faith is dynamic and is ever changing with the world? Do you watch as the very tenets of our faith are confronted, and churches adjust them to suit the ebb and flow of society’s whims? Well that reasoning is not truth, and places our will, and the world’s views above God’s will, and the teaching of Jesus Christ.
When we are afraid where do we turn? When we are lost, threatened, or our world appears to be collapsing, where do we look for deliverance? In our confusion who do we look to for wisdom and guidance? If we turn to man, or to our own counsel, then we are teetering on the brink of disaster, but when we look to God, then our path is made straight, and the outcome of every challenge in life will most certainly be good.
We have no idea what the innocence of Adam and Eve was like before the fall. Oh, we can try to imagine it, but every thought we have is tainted by the flavor of sin. The knowledge of good came to them as promised by the serpent, but had evil as its dark shadow, and changed them, and us, forever. So now we work, and we suffer as we seek to recover in Christ what was lost in the Garden that day.
We travel the sandy wilderness of life, time, and across the perilous pits of sin; like skittering ants we run because the way ahead is fraught with danger. The funneled traps of ant lions have been constructed everywhere to bring us to our demise as we seek the holiness, and righteousness of God... these traps are the work of Satan, but we are instructed to clothe ourselves each day in the armor of God, and promised to be defended by His strong right arm... so that in His care we can walk boldly in faith, and find His truth sustains us against Satan’s schemes.
God sent His Son, Jesus died for us, we accepted Him as our Lord, and now we are set free from our sin... so what is left for us to do? Some say “nothing!”, that all of this, including eternity in God’s house, is simply a gift. They are right in a way, because it truly is a gift, but once we have accepted these things, it is our place to give thanks for them, and appreciate by our love and service, the efforts of the giver. In many worldly situations we are indebted to the one who gives us a gift, and in faith we feel the same. The difference is that on earth we serve out of obligation, but in faith we serve out of love.
Is Jesus the Christ to you? Are you so convinced of this fact that there is no other option for you except to follow Him, or face death? Does Jesus represent the singular truth and the one real way to joy, eternity, and an eternal relationship with God? Does He bring you some promised future life, or do you find a joyous life In Him now? So I say all of this to ask you one question... if Jesus is the Messiah, and He has promised you abundant, and eternal life, doesn’t that abundance, and eternity, begin for you the moment your faith in Him is sealed?
We hear the call, and go to the altar where, in that magnificent moment, we give ourselves to Jesus Christ, but when we do so are we fully prepared to live Our life as He lives His? We know where we are coming from; the life of the world is fresh in us, but do we see the light ahead, and feel the love and joy that awaits our next step in Christ, knowing that it will be met with temptation and suffering? can we possibly see all that is expected of us, and what awaits us, and still want a relationship with Him?
What are you prepared to endure as you deliver the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who need to hear it? In the process of placing salvation in the hearts, minds, and souls of those who are lost do you tread precariously along the precipice of hell, and risk the loss of your own salvation? Sometimes we find that it is necessary to dine with sinners before they will hear what we have to say about our faith, but we must never let go the hand of Christ, or go out before We are sent.
Are we advocates for God and Jesus Christ by reflecting God’s glory, or do our words and actions turn people away from a waiting faith by presenting it in an unfavorable manner? Perhaps we cover the Lord’s light altogether in an attempt to horde it for ourselves? God and the Gospel of Jesus are meant to be like a sweet aroma to the hungry, and an enticing light that beckons every ship in peril to enter God’s safe harbor. How do we bake our bread, how do we man the lighthouse?
The first thing we are told to do in prayer is to confirm that God, our Holy Father, is hallowed. It isn’t by accident that Jesus taught us to pray this way, it is an affirmation of our submission to God, and an acknowledgement of His glory. One of the hardest things for us as humans to do is to give up our pride in self, our claim to glory, and to cast our crowns at the feet of anything... even God. Our arrogance is the thread that holds together the veil between ourselves, and God.
There is nothing that will destroy a family, a church, a community, or a country, more swiftly, and certainly, than internal bickering, and discord. As Christians we are not meant to fuss and fight amongst ourselves, but to comfort one another, and to live in peace. However there are those whose sights are set on power over humility, ruling over serving, and man’s law over God’s commandments. We have but one ruler, one Lord, and one God by whom we are judged as right or wrong. So, who rules your heart today?