All tagged Life
Our lives are ever changing, and no matter how hard we try to control them they will always be set upon by outside forces beyond our control. Not even the sweetest times of faith go without looking up to find a looming challenge on the horizon, because as we experience life we lean on God in various new ways, and through this we come to a fresh understanding of Him in the process. How well we know God seems to depend on how fully we have lived our life.
Are we holding firm to our faith in Jesus Christ as the world boils and evil seeks to destroy the peace and rest of God in us? In the midst of the world’s darkness that is stirring strife, even from the pulpits, there shines forth a light, and in that light we find not only our life, but the light which is the life of the world... Jesus. He is unlike every lamp, or torch, because He can’t be extinguished, not by deception, lies, or any other sin. He has defeated these through His own life, death, and resurrection, and His brightness lights our way as we navigate the darkness of the fallen world, even death, that surrounds us.
We go to our knees, and accept Jesus Christ as our savior, and in so doing we acknowledge God as our Father, and thus we have taken the single greatest step in our lives. We immediately feel the exhilaration, and the joy, as we lift our arms towards heaven, and feeling the Holy Spirit as He surrounds us we think “it is done”, when in fact it has just begun. Now that we are standing atop the mountain we find that we must struggle mightily to remain there. We must keep ourselves in the love of God despite the efforts of Satan, and the sin that desires to blow us from the summit of Mt. Zion.
As Christians, how are we living right now in this time of fear and global sickness? Where are we placing our faith, and our hope? Moreover, in whom are we steadfastly trusting? When we suddenly find ourselves locked out of our church buildings, unable to take communion with the other saints, and facing great difficulty, are we looking towards the Lord and asking “Do you know us? Have you forsaken us?” In times of great hardship, and uncertainty Satan finds The hunting easy, but don’t fall victim, because our God is still ever present, and knows who we are... we are His!
The love of Christ, we can only think we know it. When we are saved, and first feel it rushing into us with such an amazing force, we are convinced that this torrential flood must be the fullness of His love, but as we grow in faith we realize that the waters slow, and the river deepens. We then get a sense of the fact that there are seas, and oceans, ahead... and we are overcome by the expanse that is His love for us, and the journey ahead.
You say you are a person of faith, but what does that mean? As it concerns our life there are two ways that we can approach our walk of faith; the first is by making our faith a part of our life, and the second is by making our life a part of our faith. We should each ask ourselves the question... “Which way do I order my life?” On the surface we might think it sounds like an academic exercise, but in the eyes of God it is much more than that.
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?
Are you humble, and patient in your spirituality, or do you proudly flaunt your faith before others; quoting scripture as though you were in full command of it? This is a question we should each ask ourselves as we journey along the way of our belief, and while attempting to be truly transformed into a crowning possession of holy righteousness worthy of God.
Have you been reading the Bible today, and not found Jesus as you did so? Perhaps you are reading in the Old Testament, and although you read those wonderful accounts of old, you don’t recognize so much as a glimpse of Him. Many times we miss seeing Him because we don’t expect to find Him there. Our reading has become our inadvertent road to Emmaus... we walk and talk to Jesus, and yet we don’t recognize Him.
How do we live out our lives, are we bitter, and often unhappy, or does the peace and joy of Jesus flow through, and from us? As Christians we should seek Christ in each hard time that confronts us, and not allow those who would separate us from the joy of God to have dominion over us by baiting us into seeking vengeance against them, or by withholding forgiveness from them.
What do we do when we are happy, and filled with joy? What bubbles Forth from within us almost uncontrollably, and with such amazing creativity, and diverse scale and measure? Music, and song spring from us in praise, and when we are solemn, and worshipful the music and sound of our souls raises up in honor, adoration, and respect. No matter the occasion there is a song. Melodic is the language of our soul, and of God. We are created in His image, and music is the outpouring of our spiritual feeling, emotion, and of love.
Sometimes there is more to an illness than meets the eye. We ask to be healed because we are suffering, but do we consider the greater purpose of the Lord as we pray? The will of God, which is the same will that Jesus conforms too, is paramount to everything in our lives. We come to know God when He reveals Himself to us... or in other words... by His will, and we are healed when it is His will as well. A leper approached Jesus with that understanding, and was healed.
Loving God, and loving one another go hand in hand, both of these originate in God, and neither can exist in us without His love having first been given to us. Do you have trouble expressing love? Do you consider yourself a tough and worldly person? Perhaps you have confessed your faith with your mind, but your heart and soul are yet to experience Him.
Today is Memorial Day, and is a federal holiday in the United States; it is a day in which we remember those who have fallen in military service to our country. It is appropriate on this day for us to read or recite Psalms 91 which is known commonly as the soldier’s prayer. On this day my mind wanders to a different kind of soldier as well, the Christian soldier, and the hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers”. It is hard to separate soldiers from their faith in God... it is so deeply called upon in the heat of battle... both physical, and spiritual.
We read scripture and it tells us that laying our life down for another is a singularly great act of love, but how do you go about doing this? Is it a life ending experience? I am going to surprise you by saying that there may be more to it. More often we give our life not in death, but in the unselfish and complete service of another, and if we are the recipients of this kind of love how are we to honor it?