2004-09-03
Good Morning Cherished Ones,
As I mentioned last week, I am led to write about how we live a life in Christ, considering the template He gives us in the Sermon on the Mount. Christ is always there for us, but the question is whether He is always able to count on us. Christ is perfect, omnipresent [always with us], omniscient [all-knowing], always-righteous and always loving. Mankind is very imperfect, which is why they need to go through sanctification [the process by which God perfects us]. Remember that in RO 6: 3-6, we find out we get the choice not to sin by our faith in Christ. “For surely you know that when we were baptized into union with Christ Jesus, we were baptized into union with His death. By our baptism, then, we were buried with Him and shared His death, in order that just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life. For since we have become one with Him in dying as He did, in the same way we shall be one with Him by being raised to life as He was. And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on His cross, in order that the power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin.” What we learn in this passage is nothing short of powerful! Christ wants a relationship with us, so His death on the cross and resurrection establishes that. Sin’s total stranglehold on us is broken, and now we are left with the ability and the desire (if we are truly grounded in our faith in Him) to stop sinning. We can relate to Him in a unique and life-giving way.
JN 8: 32, “We shall know the truth, and the truth shall set us free.” As this country has just celebrated its 228th birthday, i.e. 228 years with God-given freedoms to be who we are, to choose what we do for a living, to worship according to the dictates of our hearts, and the list goes on. That is national freedom that wouldn’t be possible without the personal freedom that comes from active and profound faith in Jesus Christ. I’m not saying these things to be an effrontery to non-Christians living in America. I chose to be a citizen of this mighty country because of my beliefs that it was founded on a bedrock of decency and morality that came directly from God. Is every founding father of this country perfect? Of course not; but, the principles they established were, in my humble opinion, God-given. Sadly, people take these freedoms for granted, just as they often don’t realize that ignoring or disobeying Biblical principles chips away at the supernatural freedoms believers enjoy.
I have often cited 2 COR 5: 17, which tells us that when in union with Christ, we are new creations, the old has gone and the new has come. With that, I add COL 3: 10, which explains that God is constantly renewing us in His own image, so that we are brought to a full knowledge of Himself. What a worthwhile goal that is! I certainly don’t yet have a full knowledge of God, but my experience in working toward that goal is that I’ve never have greater bliss than when I get to discover something new about God. Obviously, I have to put that in the context of what He has already taught me about Himself. Since I gave my life and service to God, He has taken me on a spiritual adventure in which I never know what is around the next corner. I’m praying He is doing that for you too. It is through the circumstances of our individual and congregational lives that He teaches us how Biblical principles are applied. This process is sometimes painful and certainly involves some pain, suffering, and loss along the way. But, it also opens us to unparalleled blessings which come from our loving Father in heaven and His Son.
One such spiritual adventure for me was serving on a Via de Cristo weekend which involved a lot of hard work, a lot of fun, and helped to give me a new perspective from the lives of 37 women in transition (women coming away from horrible problems in their lives). Each of these women made the decision to nail their individual problems to the cross and walk away to new lives. This was accomplished successfully, and Christ was surely victorious. Praying for these women and some of the team members (who had also had troubles in their lives) gave me the chance to gain more empathy than before and to put my own troubles in godly perspective. Seeing the power of Christ for doing good during that weekend led me to greater trust in the Lord than ever before. That’s how God works, chipping away at our fleshly propensities piece by piece.
The question arises: What should we do with our lives once we have made the decision to come to faith in Christ? The specifics of how this should be answered are different for each individual believer. However, there are some general principles that are answered in EPH 2: 8-10. “For it is by God’s grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God’s gift, so that no one can boast about it. God has made us, what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus He has created us for a life of good deeds, which He has already prepared for us to do.” We must first turn to God in prayer and ask Him to make His will clear to us. A good place to start after that is to see what talents He has given you, and then, what can be done with those talents which fits into God’s plan. We are each called upon to: 1) examine our willingness and history of keeping up our part of our covenant relationship with Christ; 2) if there are defects in our keeping the covenant, then make changes to correct them; 3) always turn to God first when having difficulty, just as these 37 women on the Via de Cristo weekend did; 4) have faith that God loves each of us and is willing to guide us through whatever path is necessary to bring us into a full, dynamic, active relationship with Him. Our awesome God adores each of us and wants us with Him for eternity.
PRAYER: O Lord, You know that it takes courage for us to make the changes necessary to move forward toward spiritual maturity. Your desire is to have all who were given to Christ brought back to You through Him [JN 6: 39-40]. You have never called us to a task that You didn’t first equip us to do. Often, You call us away from our comfortable zone, just as You did Abram in GN 12: 1. We dedicate ourselves to not wasting the great sacrifice that You and Your Son made for us when You sent Him to the cross and then brought Him back from death to life eternal. We acknowledge Your sovereign decision to empower us to battle the devil and his followers to victory in Christ [EPH 1: 18-20]. Your power to bring us from the depths of evil’s control over our flesh is true and not to be ignored. You take delight in every detail of our lives, revealing Your unconditional love and compassion. PS 145: 8-9, “The Lord is kind and shows mercy. He does not become angry quickly but is full of love. The Lord is good to everyone; He is merciful to all He has made.” How blessed we are that You reveal Yourself in our daily lives. IS 41: 13, “I am the Lord, your God; I strengthen you and tell you, ‘Do not be afraid; I will help you.’” In the course of our efforts to make the changes You direct us to make, we all too often worry about whether You will provide for our needs. This worry is foolishness in view of what you tell us in PS 37: 11, “But all who humble themselves before the Lord shall be given every blessing, and shall have wonderful peace.” We praise and thank You, Dearest Abba, for all You are and all You do for us. In Christ’s holy name, we pray. Amen.
What a different perspective God and the Son give us from the flesh-driven one! The Lord propels me to discuss how the new covenant takes care of the problem of our wicked, deceitful human heart in next week’s message. Just when I think I’m gaining on my knowledge of the Lord, He shows me that to think this is arrogance. He shows me in His characteristically kind way, so that I will realize that I can’t know everything about Him while I’m still here on earth. PS 139: 6, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to know!” That’s nothing to be sad about, because it is the process of learning about God that brings ever-strengthening faith. The Lord told Jeremiah in JER 33: 3, “Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” When God said that to Jeremiah, He said it to each of us. And so Cherished Ones, it is my fondest hope that you will let the Lord lead you on your very own spiritual adventure, knowing well that He is taking you down the path that leads to eternal life with a lot of opportunities to mature spiritually along the way. Keep spending daily time with Him in the Scriptures, pray often-letting Him speak first, be an active part of Christ-led congregation, and learn from the circumstances of your lives against the backdrop of His word. The Lord loves each of us with all His heart, and He is eager to bless us abundantly and forever.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn