by David Brenneman
When we come to Christ for salvation, this isn't a job that we are applying for. There aren't PTO days or vacation days attributed to us. Our thoughts of personal life ought to now include doing what pleases God rather than ourselves. So so many people think that after they come to Christ that there isn't much for the Spirit to change as well.
Many launch after careers that are absolutely not God honoring. Many stay in careers that aren't pleasing to Him. Some pursue a life where they actually try to be THE architect of change in other people's lives when it's God who's really the person behind life change. Egos get puffed up and in time people fall.
We read that if we walk by the Spirit we will not carry out the desire of the flesh. The flesh sets itself against the Spirit. Did you realize that? That you cannot trust you? If the sin nature was as powerful as it was towards Adam and Eve, who had perfect brains...used all 100 percent of theirs compared to people of today who might use 2 to 3 percent...how to stand against it? Only in a life surrendered to Jesus is it possible.
In any war movie you can sit back and realize an undercurrent of one word: relentless. The battle strategies had to be relentless. Those who stayed here at home supporting them while they fought had to be relentless. To live you have to be relentless in wanting to breathe and eat. When we don't do either our physical bodies have a problem with that.
There's no real idea found in the Bible about a life of rest until we cross over, in Christ Jesus, to His Heaven. Those who rejected Him find an eternity beginning of no peace and no rest.
Those who are saved in Christ Jesus have a work to be doing in this here and this now specific to them. There are no random body parts in the body of Christ. There are no random or seldom used cells in the body of Christ. You who came to Christ, who realized your need for His free gift of salvation, have a definitive purpose in His body.
It's an active purpose not a passive purpose.
As Spurgeon pointed out in that picture...where do we get this idea of having arrived once we come to Christ for salvation? Where do we get these notions of grandeur that lift us up and not Jesus? It's that sin nature again.
That warning by Paul is for your entire life! Be on the alert for your adversary the devil roams around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
We have a responsibility to be persistent in our walk with Jesus. We should never ever point people to ourselves as being the architect of saving them. Salvation belongs only to God, through the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ.
It's honestly sickening to see people claiming to be Christians giving Jesus a bad name because they claim to be Christians and yet are deceived and are deceiving others because of their actions.
We who are in Christ must be on the alert. That's straight forward and from Jesus.
We ought to be making it a priority to be in His Word to find out what those warnings are about. To find out how to fight the battles in which we find ourselves.
Our reputation as Believers as well as the Name of Jesus Christ are at stake. Paul wrote that we ought to be living life in such a way that people see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven.
When people see your life are they glorifying your Father in Heaven?
We read in various parables of what Jesus is saying of both His reputation and ours. The builders. The builder who built upon the sand and the one who built upon the rock. The one looking to go into battle, who first sits down to see if he's able to win on paper first. What does your reputation in Christ say about you?
We need to approach living life from the perspective that Jesus taught. He sent the Helper, the Holy Spirit, another like Himself, also referred to as the Paraclete in order to teach us all things. To bring to remembrance all that He commanded. The wisdom of God in a world that seeks its own wisdom.
Jesus said our lives are hidden in Christ Jesus. We aren't to compromise in our lives in regards to living for Jesus. Promoting things or livelihoods that turn people away from a right relationship with Jesus. Jesus had Paul write about the fact that we're at war. We battle not against flesh and blood. We don't get to sit on the sidelines. One day soon we'll stand before Jesus to give an account of all that we did in our lives for Him.
Is your life going to be seen as being all about you or will it show one that was lived out of appreciation for all He's done for you?
Praying and reading your Bible...Spiritual food that's a requirement for growing in Christ. You don't whimsically say your just not concerned about breathing air or taking in sustenance do you? You don't dismiss what your stomach is telling you because you just think it's vying for attention do you? You don't think your lungs are simply needy do you? It would be absurd to go down that path.
Jesus Christ saved us and loves us too much to leave us the way He found us.
We need to submit to what all He's trying to teach us through His Spirit. We need ears that hear and eyes that see. We need to pray for those things. His reputation and ours is at stake.
How will you feel if Jesus asks you why you didn't do what He needed you to do for Him?
How will you feel if Jesus asks you why you chose to pursue the praise of men and women over obedience to God? It takes very little time on social media to see that our culture pushes that even for Believers. Multilevel marketing schemes ravage the world of Christianity today. Misleading people on everything from diets to psychology. Rather than pointing people to Jesus Christ they point them towards themselves or others in this world.
How will you feel knowing that Jesus knows that you never made talking to Him a priority? That you never thought that reading His Word was at all important to you? Will you be standing before Jesus offering lame excuses?
Most people avoid the gyms of this world.
Even more avoid the workouts that the Spirit needs them to be doing to grow in Christ Jesus. They look to skate by with the least amount of pain and trouble.
Hate to break it to everyone: Jesus said that those who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer.
A life in Christ might look terrible from the outside but inside that person is right where God needs them to be to further their growth in Christ and fulfill God's plans for mankind. There are no soldiers in the Spiritual warfare we find ourselves in that are useless. Nor are there soldiers who have nothing to do. Soldiers in today's world, even when on standby, practice, practice, practice.
What is your Spiritual condition?
What would you see if you could see your Spirit in the mirror? Would it be emaciated? Would it show someone who's starving? Or would it be healthy? Breathing in and out is only but part of living in Christ Jesus. Praying and reading your Bible is but one part. Obedience to God's Word, being IN the will of God for you is what you should be seeking. In Romans, Paul wrote that our calling in Christ Jesus is irrevocable. Our particular purpose in the body of Christ is irrevocable. It's not for us to decide to not do our part or to switch to trying to do something else.
Are you after what the Spirit is wanting to do in your life or are you following after whatever makes you feel good instead? Are you on the alert as Jesus said to be?
Are you setting aside self in order that people see Christ in you?
How's that conversation going to go when you stand before Jesus on that day?
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