ARE YOU FINDING CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE?
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
It has been a long time since I have not had something going on within me that is not in some way connected with a spiritual battle of some kind. It has become a part of what I carry with me each day that sharpens my ability to sense the enemy around me. Every day as we get more closely tied to God's Spirit both to Him and to one another that battle increases a little more, and I have found that while the ways we are attacked and tested by the world will change as we grow in Christ they will never get easier and they will never stop. Throughout my life, as I have made gains in my walk with Christ there have always been things that pop up within me that test my commitment to Christ. As I walk with Christ these changes occur without fail. Sometimes they are no more than challenges to my strength to stay the course, and sometimes they become very difficult temptations for me that require prayer and seeking power from God's Spirit to overcome.
One of the basic things I try to always keep in my mind and heart is that I can never attempt to do battle by myself for very long before I find myself too weak to overcome. Just as today's drawing indicates I find that the only safe place for me to ever be is in the arms of Jesus. It is that relationship that keeps me grounded in the truth, and even when I cannot clearly see what the truth is at times it is my faith in that truth through Christ that sustains me.
I think that we can all be confident that God will never leave us to ourselves when we are in the middle of a struggle with the enemy, but also as we grow and change on the inside, and those struggles will also change. Many people have asked me how to know they are making progress in their faith walk, and I always ask them to look at their life over the past year to see if they can see changes now from the person they were then. Many times we must look at our lives from a point of the third person before we can see the change within us in our relationship with God. Some of those changes are so very small and yet so important that we may miss them ourselves. It almost takes someone looking from the outside to be able to see these changes that are being made inside of us.
This one of the reasons that God wants us to constantly be in fellowship with one another so that we can be lifted up by others being able to see those changes even though we may not see them. We are to build up one another in the faith and in the courage to continue to stand even when we may be in the middle of a very difficult time in life. We need to look for these changes within us and take courage because from the very start Jesus has told us that when we become known to this world as peacemakers and children of God this world is bound to hate us just as it hates Him. Matthew 5: maps out this journey for us from start to finish when it tells us we start out in weakness and poor in spirit, and as we grow to realize that we are inheriting the Kingdom and when we can believe enough to commit to God this world will turn against us and separate itself from us. If we are true to our faith in Christ we will no doubt suffer as He suffered from the hate of evil that has taken over this world. We should no longer be so concerned because we have a new Kingdom and a new life in God's promises to us. We are not simply accepting or adding God to our life; we are exchanging this life and membership in it for the eternal promises of the Father that we love and serve. Do you see changes in you from where you started with Christ? If you do then you are making progress no matter how slow it may seem to you. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
It has been a long time since I have not had something going on within me that is not in some way connected with a spiritual battle of some kind. It has become a part of what I carry with me each day that sharpens my ability to sense the enemy around me. Every day as we get more closely tied to God's Spirit both to Him and to one another that battle increases a little more, and I have found that while the ways we are attacked and tested by the world will change as we grow in Christ they will never get easier and they will never stop. Throughout my life, as I have made gains in my walk with Christ there have always been things that pop up within me that test my commitment to Christ. As I walk with Christ these changes occur without fail. Sometimes they are no more than challenges to my strength to stay the course, and sometimes they become very difficult temptations for me that require prayer and seeking power from God's Spirit to overcome.One of the basic things I try to always keep in my mind and heart is that I can never attempt to do battle by myself for very long before I find myself too weak to overcome. Just as today's drawing indicates I find that the only safe place for me to ever be is in the arms of Jesus. It is that relationship that keeps me grounded in the truth, and even when I cannot clearly see what the truth is at times it is my faith in that truth through Christ that sustains me.
I think that we can all be confident that God will never leave us to ourselves when we are in the middle of a struggle with the enemy, but also as we grow and change on the inside, and those struggles will also change. Many people have asked me how to know they are making progress in their faith walk, and I always ask them to look at their life over the past year to see if they can see changes now from the person they were then. Many times we must look at our lives from a point of the third person before we can see the change within us in our relationship with God. Some of those changes are so very small and yet so important that we may miss them ourselves. It almost takes someone looking from the outside to be able to see these changes that are being made inside of us.
This one of the reasons that God wants us to constantly be in fellowship with one another so that we can be lifted up by others being able to see those changes even though we may not see them. We are to build up one another in the faith and in the courage to continue to stand even when we may be in the middle of a very difficult time in life. We need to look for these changes within us and take courage because from the very start Jesus has told us that when we become known to this world as peacemakers and children of God this world is bound to hate us just as it hates Him. Matthew 5: maps out this journey for us from start to finish when it tells us we start out in weakness and poor in spirit, and as we grow to realize that we are inheriting the Kingdom and when we can believe enough to commit to God this world will turn against us and separate itself from us. If we are true to our faith in Christ we will no doubt suffer as He suffered from the hate of evil that has taken over this world. We should no longer be so concerned because we have a new Kingdom and a new life in God's promises to us. We are not simply accepting or adding God to our life; we are exchanging this life and membership in it for the eternal promises of the Father that we love and serve. Do you see changes in you from where you started with Christ? If you do then you are making progress no matter how slow it may seem to you. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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