by David Brenneman
"In other words, God has chosen the specific era, location, and giftedness with which you would exist for the purpose of serving Him. You are not a mistake-your strengths, weaknesses, and situation in life are part of His plan to be glorified through you. Your
ministry does not start sometime in the future when your circumstances change. It begins the moment you believe in Christ. Serve Him obediently with this in view."
"I have a right to..."
"What about my rights?"
"When is it my turn to..."
"But what about me? When do I..."
These thoughts are very much in the world today as well as many others like these. In this, it's as prolific in the Church as it is outside of it.
People are indoctrinated into selfishness from a young age with many parents doing nothing to curb it in the very young. So it becomes a greater problem as they grow older.
Our world isn't what the world wants us to believe about it. It's not global warming. It's not social injustice. It's not racial inequality. It is a sin cursed world and the days of judgment by God through Jesus Christ are coming.
We who are among the saved in Christ Jesus are not to be wasting our days here on Earth that we've been given. We cannot afford to be living for self when the world around us is heading quickly for the Great Tribulation.
We can't afford to keep calling sins 'mistakes'. Nobody is in Hell due to mistakes. They chose to reject Jesus and died in their own sins.
We, you and I, were born in this here this now to live a life in Christ in such a way that people see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven. To live in such a way that people want to know why we're different and to show them how to find what we found in Jesus.
We do ourselves and the cause of Christ a grave injustice when our selfish nature rises up when we ought to be silencing it.
We ought to be completely aligned with what the Bible calls sin and avoid it. We are to be living examples of Jesus to the world in which we find ourselves.
People ought to see the fruit of the Spirit in us. People ought to recognize something more in us than the world is offering.
How can we ever expect to hear "Well done!" from Jesus when we haven't been striving to please Him in all that we do, say, or think?
Why? Why are we doing so little to be committed to the calling by which we have been called? Why is it so difficult to consistently be in the Bible every day yet we can check up on movies, sports scores and stories, news stories, a Facebook newsfeed, a plethora of videos? Why is it we are falling for what's tripping up the rest of the world so easily?
I am not here simply harping...I have to look in the mirror too. I have by no means arrived any more than others in Christ.
It's a constant daily challenge to stay consistent. To persevere when life's showing an easy way to get by or go through seasons of life.
We can't afford to just accept the world's ideologies or definitions to life's difficulties either. There ARE demon possessed people in our lives today. Some may be out in the world when we leave our homes, some may be in our homes.
In Ephesians Paul is writing about how to engage the world from a spiritual perspective. We need to be fully devoted, fully committed, to suiting up in the whole armor of God each and every day. The implication in how he was lead to write it by the Spirit is that suiting up in the whole armor of God has to begin when we wake up. Right where we are...immediately...not later after we've had coffee or tea or whatever morning beverage.
We are among the called out ones to be walking in a manner worthy of our calling.
Do you really want shame to be your covering when you give an account of your life before Jesus?
How do you think you're going to feel when all these times you kept convincing yourself that you were making mistakes, you get shown that no, you were sinning instead?
Jesus has so much more in store for all who believe and are willing to put obedience first in their lives in everything they do.
We aren't part-time Christians either. We aren't to only live holy lives when we're in Church and live as we want the rest of the time.
Are you striving to please Jesus in all that you do? Are you committed to obeying God? Are you suited up in the whole armor of God? Are you seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness? Are you asking Him for whatever is next for you to be doing?
We were bought with a price, the shed blood of Jesus Christ, we're to always glorify God in our bodies.
We need to ask the Spirit to open our eyes to the truth of what God says needs to go from our lives.
Why such talk in this message? It matters to God! The Jewish Leaders redefined the Law in many ways and oppressed the Jewish people and Jesus called them out concerning it. They wrote hundreds of extra things to be in control over the people. As Christians we should not be redefining anything in order to keep from calling what God says is sin as being anything else.
We are to confess our sins and He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It is never translated confessing our mistakes.
Striving to please Him in all that you do. There's the motivation for a Godly life in Christ.
Time is running out. As soon as the Church of Jesus Christ is complete there is then no longer any reason for Jesus to delay in returning.
Get in the game. Get suited up and engage. Let your light shine in such a way that people see your good works and so glorify our Father in Heaven.
All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.
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