Before I was a believer I really had no real conviction over sin. If I lied , it could be justified in some way . If I hurt someone , it may for a bit make me feel bad but you adopted an attitude of dog eat dog baby. If I lusted after a woman you could let your mind go wherever . Pleasure through whatever means really should be the mantra for the unsaved man or woman . In fact there are whole movements to free up our beings away from any notion of sin/guilt.
The fact is apart from a changed heart , one made aware of ones sin before a holy God , you can pretty much suppress whatever guilt you may have over a sinful desire or action.
But what happens to a believer . You are made painfully and acutely aware of your sin. If you do sin , your whole being groans . Until you confess and repent , seeking God's forgiveness . Psalm 51 is a good example of this . David was wasting away , over his unconfessed sin. I can recall sinning before I was a believer , and to be honest I never lost much sleep over it . Most saints of old , who I would consider giants of the faith whos lives I would consider truly godly, would lament their unrighteousnesses . The more they grew in the faith , the closer they drew to Christ , the more the knowledge of the sin that still lived within them became apparent.
The we have the passages of Scripture that deals with taking up your cross and following Jesus daily. It is a dying to self and living solely for the glory of Christ. That the world will hate you because of your faith in Christ. The road is narrow , it is not an easy road . There is no gaurentee of world pleasure . A life of ease.
[13] “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. [14] For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matthew 7:13-14
The road to life goes only through Jesus Christ. Listen the way is hard . Jesus said hard. Few will find it . Hard because you will fight with your sin (Romans 7) . You will be persecuted and suffer for the gospels sake . The world will try to seduce you , the devil will want to devour you and your flesh , the sinful nature, you need to crucify the old man. It is a fight , a war . Not for the faint of heart .
Plus you can still fall into sin , you can get sick , become depressed , feel despair and live in poverty. So what and how does the real abundant life work. It is not about stuff , it is all about Christ. Even when we fall into sin or struggle with the old self , we rejoice because we have an advocate in Jesus. We run to Him and ask not only to forgive us , but transform us . When we are down or depressed , we look up and say with the Psalmist , that even though I feel so far away from you God , I know you are my rock , my salvation . You will be my shepherd of my soul.
[66] After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. [67] So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well [68] Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, [69] and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
(John 6:66-69)
After Jesus had said some pretty hard things , many deserted Him . So in this portion of scripture , He ask the 12 if they would turn away as well . Peter said where would they go . That Jesus has the words of life .That he is the hole one of God .
On the this walk , this pilgrims progress , many days we will have a road of bumps,wash outs,valleys ,ditches and ultimately we all will walk through the valley of the shadow of death . But may we realize the love of God towards a repentant sinner , when we are made alive in Christ . He has the words of life , He willingly went to the cross to save His lambs . The road may be hard but His grace will be sufficient to sustain us . Plus we have a helper , the Holy Spirit who indwells us . God is with us .
I will let Jesus have the last words. May His words help on this pilgrims road.
18] And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,[20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:16-20)
[13] “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. [14] For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matthew 7:13-14
The road to life goes only through Jesus Christ. Listen the way is hard . Jesus said hard. Few will find it . Hard because you will fight with your sin (Romans 7) . You will be persecuted and suffer for the gospels sake . The world will try to seduce you , the devil will want to devour you and your flesh , the sinful nature, you need to crucify the old man. It is a fight , a war . Not for the faint of heart .
Plus you can still fall into sin , you can get sick , become depressed , feel despair and live in poverty. So what and how does the real abundant life work. It is not about stuff , it is all about Christ. Even when we fall into sin or struggle with the old self , we rejoice because we have an advocate in Jesus. We run to Him and ask not only to forgive us , but transform us . When we are down or depressed , we look up and say with the Psalmist , that even though I feel so far away from you God , I know you are my rock , my salvation . You will be my shepherd of my soul.
[66] After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. [67] So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well [68] Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, [69] and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
(John 6:66-69)
After Jesus had said some pretty hard things , many deserted Him . So in this portion of scripture , He ask the 12 if they would turn away as well . Peter said where would they go . That Jesus has the words of life .That he is the hole one of God .
On the this walk , this pilgrims progress , many days we will have a road of bumps,wash outs,valleys ,ditches and ultimately we all will walk through the valley of the shadow of death . But may we realize the love of God towards a repentant sinner , when we are made alive in Christ . He has the words of life , He willingly went to the cross to save His lambs . The road may be hard but His grace will be sufficient to sustain us . Plus we have a helper , the Holy Spirit who indwells us . God is with us .
I will let Jesus have the last words. May His words help on this pilgrims road.
18] And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,[20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:16-20)
1 comment:
I am always surprised by the abundant life movement. The concept being that "Santa" God will give you everything that you ask for. So, little greedy guts, make your list.
A couple of wee little problems with that. Wouldn't you think that if you were one of the chosen twelve, and knew Him personally through His life death and resurrection, that your life should be hunky dory? Not so, as we know. Instead they got beatings, persecutions and death.
Hum, maybe they didn't believe strong enough. You'd think if Jesus Himself personally, in the flesh, called them out that that might count for a wee bit of something, wouldn't you?
There's a whole lot of "me me me" in this movement that bothers me. So, what happens if you get everything you materially want? You become either puffed up with pride, "See I'm a good Christian look what God has given me". Or, "If you had the same faith as me, you wouldn't struggle either." Far worse, as often happens, what if you don't?
One of the biggest crisis, of my life, was the drive we took the day of my cancer diagnosis. I have always been so anti health and wealth and especially "Dear Santa God" that I didn't know how to call out to Him. I felt like I was a big hypocrite to do such a thing.
How does one ask a Holy God for something? If I had had to depend on my own strength and righteousness, I'd have been a mess. God had been working on my heart, for quite a few months, and He was fully prepared to continue. I had no idea how or what to ask Him. I think the Holy Spirit has put in a lot of over time, with me.
If you asked most Christians who they relate to most in the Bible, they could give you a myriad of answers. Mine is "Doubting" Thomas. I need to see the scars. Give me proof. Don't just say something, prove it.
I know people thought I was nuts, but God supplied our needs. Not just physically, even the silliest little things. But, more importantly spiritually. Because one thing God gave me was the assurance that if I did not wake up from the surgery, that because of His precious Son's redeeming work on the cross, that I would see Him face to face. That, my Dear, is what the abundant life really means. Love you, Mrs Reg
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