WHAT CAN WE EXPECT?
I don't believe that there is anyone who follows Christ who has not asked a question about what is to come from their decision to commit to Christ as their Savior.
I do think that many people who have identified with Christ do not have a clue as to what that commitment really means. With that in mind, I think it would be wise to take some time and space to remind us of what that mutual commitment between us and Jesus really means. Jesus warns against starting to build something without thinking it through completely, and I have every reason to believe that some people who are only now beginning to count such costs are having trouble with their " Christian " lives.
These costs I refer to are based on what we are willing to sacrifice of and for ourselves to see that commitment through to the end. Let's take as an example the commitments that God has made to you: we see all kinds of promises that God has made to us if we will only believe with our hearts that He is who He has said He is. JOHN 3:16 " For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that those who would believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life" It is that gift that God gave of Himself to show His love for us that is among the first things we should resolve in our hearts about believing that God is truthful. It is a statement and a fact that Jesus did live, minister to this world, was crucified; died and was buried, but even more; that He rose from the dead and lives today! Those things sound foolish to a world who cannot see this through s[iritual eyes, but for someone who has allowed God to touch their heart and to realize what it is to have someone that committed to a relationship with you it changes everything.That change comes when we realize that God made that commitment to us first, and without any guarantee that we would ever return that love to Him; but with hope in His heart that we could see how genuine this love is to us.
If we do believe that God has been truthful about His love for us then our only decision is to accept it or reject it, and then live with that decision. Here is the problem; because if we decide to accept that love it means that love must be returned with the same dedication and commitment that it was given to us with. This is the part of our Christian experience we need to think through even before we begin with the development of our relationship with Christ. So many have now come to the point of serving Christ to be a burden on them because they are following Christ out of a commitment to the law and not to the love of God in their hearts.
Today the desire in our hearts for control and for being the decision maker for our lives is greater than ever. We turn to our family as the center of our lives in a hope that we can maintain control and ownership only to find that even with our best efforts as we grow older and those children mature control becomes ever more impossible. There is only one final source for control in this life and it does not reside in our hands, but rather in God's hands. It is a trick of the enemy for us to ever think anything different.
Our only true hope is in running to the arms of God in times like this, and in becoming the child we were meant to be to Him. The cares and all of the battles of maintaining control in our lives should simply fall away when we finally relinquish that fight into God;s hands and then do what He tells us to do. There is no gift greater than we could give to God than our complete hearts control. Trust that judgement and love beyond anything else and we will find the greatest peace and control in life we have ever experienced. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
I do think that many people who have identified with Christ do not have a clue as to what that commitment really means. With that in mind, I think it would be wise to take some time and space to remind us of what that mutual commitment between us and Jesus really means. Jesus warns against starting to build something without thinking it through completely, and I have every reason to believe that some people who are only now beginning to count such costs are having trouble with their " Christian " lives.
These costs I refer to are based on what we are willing to sacrifice of and for ourselves to see that commitment through to the end. Let's take as an example the commitments that God has made to you: we see all kinds of promises that God has made to us if we will only believe with our hearts that He is who He has said He is. JOHN 3:16 " For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that those who would believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life" It is that gift that God gave of Himself to show His love for us that is among the first things we should resolve in our hearts about believing that God is truthful. It is a statement and a fact that Jesus did live, minister to this world, was crucified; died and was buried, but even more; that He rose from the dead and lives today! Those things sound foolish to a world who cannot see this through s[iritual eyes, but for someone who has allowed God to touch their heart and to realize what it is to have someone that committed to a relationship with you it changes everything.That change comes when we realize that God made that commitment to us first, and without any guarantee that we would ever return that love to Him; but with hope in His heart that we could see how genuine this love is to us.
If we do believe that God has been truthful about His love for us then our only decision is to accept it or reject it, and then live with that decision. Here is the problem; because if we decide to accept that love it means that love must be returned with the same dedication and commitment that it was given to us with. This is the part of our Christian experience we need to think through even before we begin with the development of our relationship with Christ. So many have now come to the point of serving Christ to be a burden on them because they are following Christ out of a commitment to the law and not to the love of God in their hearts.
Today the desire in our hearts for control and for being the decision maker for our lives is greater than ever. We turn to our family as the center of our lives in a hope that we can maintain control and ownership only to find that even with our best efforts as we grow older and those children mature control becomes ever more impossible. There is only one final source for control in this life and it does not reside in our hands, but rather in God's hands. It is a trick of the enemy for us to ever think anything different.
Our only true hope is in running to the arms of God in times like this, and in becoming the child we were meant to be to Him. The cares and all of the battles of maintaining control in our lives should simply fall away when we finally relinquish that fight into God;s hands and then do what He tells us to do. There is no gift greater than we could give to God than our complete hearts control. Trust that judgement and love beyond anything else and we will find the greatest peace and control in life we have ever experienced. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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