2012-02-17
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, I enumerated five steps necessary to rejecting sin and having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ: 1) Hearing the Gospel [1 COR 15: 3-5; RO 10: 17]; 2) Renewal of the mind [RO 12: 2]; 3) Confession and belief [RO 10: 9-10]; 4) God’s stamp of ownership [EPH 1: 13-14]; 5) Having one’s mind set on the Holy Spirit [RO 8: 1-5]. These are the steps that lead to salvation [JN 3: 16], eternal forgiveness [1 JN 1: 9], justification [RO 4: 3], and the gift of the Holy Spirit [RO 8: 14-16, 26-27]. The road through all of this isn’t easy. There are times when others or even ourselves interfere with the hearing of the Gospel. That can be through our own prejudice, believing lies the evil one puts in our way, or the prejudice of others. Any refusal to yield to the Holy Spirit can block renewal of our minds. We must gradually learn to submit to the One power that is always trustworthy and will act in our best eternal interests. That kind of submission is a learned behavior. Pride and other negative effects of the natural self can block or delay us from openly and honestly confessing our sins and coming to true belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. Any of these problems can keep us from having our minds set on the Holy Spirit, looking to Him for leadership in our lives. I don’t mean to be entirely negative here, only to mention the pitfalls an angry adversary will try to put in our way. Now, we must remember 1 PET 5: 6-9, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may life you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” Christ has given each believer the same power to vanquish the devil in spiritual warfare as the Father used to raise Christ from death to eternal life in heaven [EPH 1: 18-20].
In his book The Second Coming of the Church, (Nashville Word, 1998, p. 2), George Barnas expresses his opinion that newly-baptized people usually are not connected with a church within 8 weeks. Most people are not moving from decision to conversion. This is a sad state of affairs if such is really the case. It’s hard for this author to test this assertion, but it’s truthfulness is certainly a possibility. What causes the problem? It can be something I have experienced in my rather long, zigzagged path through four major denominations. My observation has been that synagogues and churches which don’t base everything they do on the word of God seem to be spiritually and temporally failing. These houses of worship do not provide the potential believer and the believer with spiritual nourishment of the kind every one of us needs. They fail due to divisive differences in polity and/or theology, acting as “houses divided against themselves” falling by the wayside. Christ’s own words in MK 3: 15 say it all, “If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” Sometimes the problem is due to unfriendliness caused by elitism or exclusivity. I’ve experienced this very thing in a church in Decatur, GA that my husband and I were thinking of joining. We left, knowing that we couldn’t grow spiritually in such a stultifying congregation. These people didn’t understand that we are all sinners, and thus, all in need of the spiritual enrichment that comes from being fellow citizens and members of God’s household. EPH 2: 20-21, “In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” God’s truth is like a brilliant light, which spreads over the darkness of being governed by human desire and reveals the great need to expunge such approach from our lives. This is replaced by the blessing of living with the Holy Spirit in leadership of our lives.
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before You to ask for a deeper understanding than ever before of our covenant relationship with You. Each day that we listen for You in prayer and allow You to reveal Yourself in our study of Your word, we are more deeply seated in our belief in You and You Son. The Holy Spirit propels us to hunger for Your word, which is the supernatural aspect of the Bible, something no other book on earth has. We must remember 2 TIM 3: 16-17, “All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good deed.” Also, we must understand our need for You whenever a decision must be made, an action taken in our interactions with others. You offer us the very best guidance and make Yourself available to us when we need it. Your remarkably caring heart can be seen in PS 37: 23-14, “The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for He holds them by the hand.” You listen to our prayers and answer them with Your love and wisdom. You help us when we face times of trouble, never abandoning us [PS 46: 1; PS 9: 9-10]. You give us wise advice and encourage us to faithfully obedient to You, knowing right well the blessings that come from this. We bow down before You in reverence, Dearest Abba, recognizing all the daily blessings we have from You. We acknowledge Your sovereignty in our lives and Your faithfulness in providing our needs and hearing the yearnings of our hearts. We thank You and praise You. We ask You to place us in godly congregations and to give us the right words we need to say and actions we must take in carrying out Your most righteous will. In the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I’m led to write about the Christ connection, from decision to conversion, next week. Living in a covenant relationship with the Lord and with our believing brothers and sisters is the only way to enjoy the many blessings God is eager to shower upon His children. As far as this author is concerned, it’s the only way to true inner peace and happiness. 1 JN 2: 19, “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” It is clear that for that moment of decision to lead to true conversion, there must be the true Christ connection. A church to be healthy in its outlook must provide Christ-led leadership -from the pastorate, it’s administrators, it’s teachers, and other leaders. It must offer many kinds of worship from corporate, to small group, and individual. Many chances for and encouragement of prayer should exist, and there should be a host of service opportunities. Care given for groups and individuals should be available. These should thrive and be stimulated by being centered on godliness and God’s word. A church must also see to it that socializing opportunities, mission opportunities, evangelizing, and excellent education for all ages of congregation members are available. There should be all kinds of music and styles of worship available, especially in larger congregations. Both traditional and contemporary services should be offered. Every age group from newborns to the elderly should be served and serving the Lord. Elitism, greed, power-mongering, and other forms of evil should be permanently eschewed in favor of honoring the Lord. Every person entering a healthy church will be made to feel both important and welcome. Let’s all pray for that! We must remember that no inquirer about our faith should be left to wonder if there is a benefit to him by rejecting sin and coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Instead, we should all lift our hands in thanks and praise to Him forever!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15