Today let’s consider the timeless nature of our relationship with Jesus; not so much as being either in or outside of time itself, but the unending or eternal nature of it. Do we truly understand the extent of His faithfulness and how incredibly deep His love is for us? Is our love for Him capable of reaching just as far?
Do we spend an inordinate amount of time trying to achieve the perfection of Jesus Christ and too little time just living out our daily lives like He did? Are we wrapped up in searching for some hidden meaning in God’s Word at the expense of just living out the obvious things scripture teaches us? Our goal should be to follow Jesus and learn at His feet, but we can't do that unless we are walking with Him and making camp where He makes camp. Are we doing this? Are we reading scripture with the open minds of children?
Following Jesus into Transfiguration and on to His Ascension leads us into our study this morning, but beyond that let’s also look forward towards Pentecost. A day that comes Forty nine days, seven sevens, from Easter. Will we, can we, understand what Jesus felt and became during His transfiguration, at prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, or whiles Ascending into heaven? Perhaps not, or at least not yet, but we can certainly feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. The promise of "another", a comforter, that is very real to us today.
To consider ourselves consecrated we are required to have a complete dedication to God. He does not give a portion, or measure, of Himself to us; He gives us Himself totally, and that is how we should dedicate ourselves to Him. This morning, I am contemplating the path to consecration and what that actually means.
Troubles are a part of our lives. In daily life we face many trials, but as Christians and believers in God the Father, we face them from a point of great advantage and strength. We find confidence in God's ability to bring us through them, and they strengthen our faith as we face them, but what of the good times?
We share in the death and resurrection of Jesus to obtain salvation, but we also share in the life of Christ, and that gives us great joy, peace, and holiness in our everyday lives. How can we call ourselves Christian and not live as He did and manifest the essence of His life? Today let’s explore the meaning of a full and abundant life in Jesus.
We will all be resurrected into judgement one day, so are we maintaining a clear conscience as we go about living our lives of faith? This morning, I am concerned with allowing my own conscience to guide me as I follow God's commandments and prepare myself to stand in the judgement of Christ before Him. I listen intently to it so that on the day when I account for my sins I will be perceived as pure by the profession of my conscience which was formed and reformed by my righteous spiritual knowledge and understanding. Are our consciences clean, and have they been cleansed by the blood of Jesus as we have undergone our transformation in Him… made new in Jesus Christ?
Are there situations and places where we don't feel at home with God? This is my morning thought. Our goal in faith should be to remain comfortably in the presence of God wherever we are and in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in... So how do we get there? It is easy to walk with Him when all is going well in our lives of faith and we are not experiencing spiritual challenges, but what about those times when we are facing storms and temptations?
Do we know what love is, and do we understand the depth to which it should be experienced and applied to those around us? This is our contemplation today, and let’s ask ourselves if we are truly showing others the love of God and Jesus Christ as it is described in scripture and shown to us through Jesus Christ. But before we can know if we are showing it, or fully giving it, we must first know what love looks like so that we can recognize it in our lives. Scripture helps us to recognize it by describing its attributes…
How do we practice our faith? Do we add to it each day by striving to make the level of faithfulness that we reached the day before something we can perform automatically…a spiritual reflex? I hope that our faith becomes reflexive and doesn’t require us to relearn or concentrate on it day after day. I pray that our faith becomes ingrained in us by repetition and working to deepen it over time. For this to happen it requires us to continuously practice our liturgy, study scripture, and to do the other things of faith that we have already mastered, and then to build upon them by adding God’s new lessons and revelations atop this foundation. We need to continue practicing what we have heard preached in church, what we have learned during our walk of faith, and then to build upon these things as we continue walking in a newness of faith each day.
Does God reveal Himself to us each day? If we are anticipating a revelation of God, we are more than likely going to receive it. Looking for God implies that He is central to our lives, and has replaced self as the driving force in them. When we look inward for the answer to our problems, we get a solution that is limited by our own intellect and experience, but when we turn to God the possibilities are endless.
Are we able to hold the spiritual ground we have won? Do we have the patience to wait as God prepares us to be used by Him to complete His will? Do we exhibit the endurance of Sardis by keeping God's commandments and Word? In Revelation, Jesus tells John to write these words to the church at Sardis...
Placing our relationship with Jesus above all others in our life. Is this something that we are willing, or able, to do? Could we walk away from home and family if Jesus asked us to "follow me, and I will make you fishers of men"? Peter and Andrew left far more than just their nets... they left their homes and families to follow Jesus. Have we seriously thought about how we would react if Jesus walked up to us and said, "follow me?" So I ask again… Would we, or could we, just walk away from our home and family to follow Him? Could we love Him more than our wives, and our children… could we love our families less than Him?
We don't find Jesus through an academic study of scripture nearly as much as scripture is revealed to us while walking with Him. Don’t each of us remember a time when we were mired down in our study of the Bible to the point that we couldn’t touch the living Christ there? But, once we have met Him in the gospel, doesn’t He bring the whole of scripture alive for us and set us free in it.
Salvation... We question ourselves by asking how we can achieve this and live our lives as God expects... obeying Him is just too hard and it can be difficult to believe that anyone could possibly accomplish such a thing. Satan whispers to us “You can never be saved!”, but that is a lie.
Judgement… does the uncertainty of our success in obeying or pleasing God challenge us? Does the complexity and mystery of God cause us to wonder if we will be judged worthy? Well, if we trust in His Word and the gospel of Jesus, believe in Jesus, and ask forgiveness for those things we feel we have failed at, then we can rest assured that we are indeed worthy.
And finally there is Fear… This is what we feel when we face Satan’s lie concerning our salvation, and the doubt that confronts us regarding our own worthiness. Fear causes so many of us to run away from the challenges we face in life and the greatest of these is believing and having faith in God and Jesus Christ. Until we overcome fear, as scripture tells us repeatedly to do by saying “Fear Not”, then we can never truly rest in the Lord, experience His peace, and walk eternally in His presence.
Let’s study these things.