Tag Archives: Christ Jesus

God’s Candidate Will Win

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elephant and donkey

We, as a people and nation, are in a different place than we were eight years ago. Without delineating the prevailing issues, it is enough to say that the church has become increasingly irrelevant except where it is seen as a voting bloc. Data bases of megachurches reveal clusters of thousands in the US and an unknown vast number of smaller community churches. When has so many people had such little impact at such a critical time?

Even worse, the churches ‘call to action’ amounts to courting political candidates whose views may be somehow contorted into a moral or religious framework. Christian colleges, ministries, media programs, and countless churches rally around a prospective president as if he or she could be a mini-savior, representing Christian viewpoints to our country. As citizens it is our right to vote. However, wooing worldly men to represent godly views is fruitless. The Lord saves us and calls us to represent Him ourselves – to abdicate this holy call to anyone else, to a politician, disqualifies us in the race.

Why coddle candidates or strategize campaigns? Be assured, God Himself has chosen a candidate and no one will thwart His plans.

“No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. But it is God who judges: He brings one down, He exalts another.” Psalm 75:6-7

Sovereign God raises up prophets, kings, pharaohs and presidents. He uses the godly and wicked to serve His divine purposes: one to proclaim God’s truths that will ultimately reconcile man to God, the other to display His glory, His power and as His rods to chastise and refine, also to reconcile man to God. God declared to Pharaoh, the enemy and enslaver of His people, “I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you My power and that My Name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” (Exodus 9:16)

Rather than ‘picking up our cross’, American Christianity espouses a worldly mixture of faith:

  • Jesus came that we might have a good life
  • God is ‘for’ America and the ‘American Way’
  • God does not judge sin

Not only do these tenets bear bad fruit in our lives but worse, we export them to other countries through various prosperity ministries. If God loves us, if He is calling us and drawing us to Himself, He may raise leaders and circumstances that will set fire to our lukewarm floundering faith. After years of godly warnings, God raised up Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, to invade and desolate Jerusalem as a painful rod of chastisement to crush the unbelief and unfaithfulness of His people. His heart was to restore them as faithful to Him, separated from this world.  While as good citizens we may defend and protect our fellow citizens, prideful allegiance to any country, any world system or ‘way of life’ is adultery toward God. Except for the prophetic promises for Israel, God is not ‘for’ any country. Sad to state, God is not ‘for’ America.

“Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales…Before Him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by Him as worthless and less than nothing.” Isaiah 40:15, 17

And, sad to state, America is not ‘for’ God. As all the world, it will voluntarily come under the domain of the Antichrist. What is of great and eternal worth to God? God’s people, true believers, are His treasured possession – He will defend us, protect us, and endow us with His presence wherever we are.

Who is God’s presidential candidate?

It is not the one who passes the ‘Christian Value Litmus Test’. We cannot try to elect a president to ‘sanitize’ or ‘Christianize’ the United States. Believers are not called in any way to pump life into this condemned world, to make America great, bolster the stock market, or champion civil liberties. Jesus said, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” Do we believe Him?

God’s candidate may unknowingly hold a powerful unspoken promise, “Vote for me.  I will bring about the chastisement and discipline of God. Under my leadership, you will be brought to your knees, crying out to Him!” God may ordain the leadership and circumstances that shake us and bring us prostrate before Him: calamity, economic downfall, the uprising of enemies, natural disaster.  The Lord’s only campaign is for men to turn to Him and find eternal life and forgiveness through the cross of Christ.

Beloved, the alternative to God’s painful discipline is not prosperity, it is abandonment.

The Lord has already chosen His candidate and no amount of campaigning will change that. He Himself erects authorities in the world and they will suit His eternal purpose and fulfill the expressed prophecies of His unchanging word. I pray that we are not in the least swayed by political promises or put our hope in any man.  Pray that the Lord’s ordained candidate and circumstances miraculously and mercifully lead our nation into repentance. The fearful alternative is that God ushers in a president that sustains our implosion of sin and fortifies the lie we have been living, that we can sin and get away with it and by the way, there is no such thing as sin. A prelude to coming Judgment.

It’s time for us, GOD’S ELECT, the Body of Christ, to rise up and take up our office in Christ, shut in with Him and come forth with a fresh and living word to restore and renew our lost nation.

“No one is like You, O Lord; You are great, and Your name is mighty in power. Who should not revere You, O King of the nations?” Jeremiah 10:6-7

GUN CONTROL, Drug Control, God Control…..Making the Devil Laugh

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“There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.”

While not quoted from New York Times, Washington Post, or Boston Globe this is an accurate description of our culture today.  It was written over 2700 years ago, Hosea 4:2, where the answer to moral decay, violence and treachery was not legislation.  There were plenty of laws already written with steep penalties  for violators.  The law merely served as a barometer , a gauge to measure man’s  innate potential for depravity.  If any law could successfully set boundaries  around man’s  behavior or curtail evil there would be no need for a Messiah, for Christ to die on the cross, for the Lord to come and “save His people from their sins.”

The timeless inerrancy of God’s Word continually exposes the futility  man’s attempts to create an orderly, civilized culture.  History will never record, ‘our society was out of control with violence, family destruction, drug and alcohol abuse and corruption but with the right laws, we put everything under control.’   Tragedies, vicious attacks, perversions, lying and conniving at every level are only fruits that we ourselves cultivate by fertilizing unrestrained freedoms, watering the lusts of our own fallen nature and lastly, cutting away that which would quicken our God given conscience.   Eliminating all shame, leaders puff up and posture around futile ‘controls’ to set boundaries around human nature, at which the devil laughs.

“What a man sows so shall he reap”. All the laws in the world cannot change these apples into oranges – a laughable endeavor!

“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander”, declared Jesus in Matthew 15:19.  Change a man’s behavior without changing his heart?  Impossible if not laughable.

The United States can gauge the downward spiral by the leadership which we rally after and elect.  There were declarations for godly righteousness, there were cries for shame as the only impetus for change….      

 Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God…

And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon;

…to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.

…. We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown.

But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.

Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

…. I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer….

By the President: Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward, Secretary of State

Those days are woefully gone.

The Ten Commandments ordered removed from Oklahoma Courtyard

The Ten Commandments ordered removed from Oklahoma Courtyard

“…the decision to remove the monument under the cover of darkness was made to avoid disturbing workers at the Capitol and to keep protesters from demonstrating…”  (Reported by Sean Murphy, AP News, 10/6/15)

Removing the Word of God ‘under the cover of darkness’ to avoid a dust-up with mortal man?  A tragic laugh/weep moment in history!  The devil is laughing and we should surely be weeping.  The problem is not when darkness is dark, the problem is when our light is dim.  The ‘treacherous days’ marked by the Apostle Paul in II Timothy 3 are here but can be the greatest days for the Body of Christ in the world if only we would ‘lighten our ship’ of the useless cargo of sin – materialism, greed, lust, and carnality.

The Lord Jesus, Creator of the universe, could have used the world as His podium.  However, He often displayed His power and deliverance by personally touching the lives of ordinary individuals.  While some wait for a  ‘call to great ministry’ the Lord is calling us to obey and enter into the simplicity of communing with Him, receiving the joy of His presence and allowing him to share His grief for the lost. Waiting upon Him, through prayer and study of His Word, enables us to break His bread with those ‘coincidentally’ around us.  The Word of God in us is a living word for the ‘woman at the well’, whether she is at the bus stop, market, the home next door or office across the hall.

Believers must ‘rally’ solely for the Word of God, embracing the truth –  the only source of ‘control’ – for peace, healing, deliverance, and restoration – is the Holy Spirit.   Contrary to popular mantras, we are not here to ‘change the world’ but called to represent Jesus Christ and enlarge His Kingdom as we anticipate His return.  It is impossible to legislate God or even morality but we can be surrendered and available vessels of truth for Him, in spite of the darkness, in spite of discouragements, in spite of a devil who laughs…temporarily.

“And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur….tormented day and night for ever and ever.”  Revelation 20:10

5 Benefits of Excruciating Trials

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In these end times when sin and apostasy abound there is an undeniable deep shaking, the epicenter of which lies in the Body of Christ.  Many are suffering great persecution and loss from the rise of nightmarish demonic enemies.   Others who live in relative safety are greatly shaken by fiery trials allowed or orchestrated by the Lord Himself.  As darkness thickens over this fallen world we can be assured of two things:  The Lord will always have a testimony of Himself in this world to reflect His glory and secondly, as pervasive evil comes to fruition, it will always ultimately serve the purposes of God.  The Lord’s prophetic word unfolds with certainty and eternal victory.

What of these fiery trials?  An entire book would not be sufficient to describe them – they seem tailor made for personal grief, heartache, confusion, physical and mental anguish.  Outside of James, believed to be the half-brother of Jesus, few lay claim to find “pure joy” when facing trials of many kinds (James 1:2).  But, while on the path to victory, many of us can testify to great spiritual benefits that come forth through fiery trials.  Five benefits arose in my heart, even as I continue to wade through the high waters:

  1. The battlefield of fiery trials strips us of frivolities and useless vanity, creating a pointed focus with priorities established by God.  Here we learn that much of our previous fretting and preoccupations were valid to the world but counted for nothing in God’s Kingdom.  When your house is on fire, trinkets hold little value.
  2. The Word of God will actually become “living and active. Sharper than any two edged sword”.  In times of confusion and turmoil we will see this living Word as “a lamp to our feet and light to our path”.   As we seek Him and wait upon Him, the Lord Jesus will speak through His Word as He is the Word.  (John 1:1)
  3. Fiery trials that manifest with supernatural power force us to acknowledge the futility and sin of self–reliance and worldly dependence. Money cannot buy relief, social ‘connections’ become powerless, and no search engine holds the answer.  Cornered without strength or resources, God reveals Himself and begins to unfold His ways, His agenda, His deliverance within the storm.  There is no greater backdrop for God’s divine providence and power than a totally surrendered heart.  Resolving to trust Him is the greatest challenge but comes with great promises.  The Lord will not disappoint.
  4. There is a supernatural peace that “surpasses understanding” when one is solely dependent upon the Holy Spirit. The peace of God is His visitation upon our heart as we cry out to Him.   We can sleep as Jesus slept, in the midst of a raging storm.
  5. As the Lord Himself cried to the Father to let the cup pass, we also cry to the Lord to spare us tragedy, grief, and pain.  Yet it is the fruit of crushing brokenness that prepares us for Kingdom work like nothing else.  “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  Loss, betrayal, grief and injustice are the personal milestones of spiritual giants, from Genesis to present day.  Excruciating trials are launching pads of great works of God.  Every challenge and obstacle leads us to higher places of faith and usefulness to the Lord.  They are opportunities, even appointments, used by God that hold great eternal reward.

Pastor Zac Poonen sums up the immeasurable value in brokenness:

“If you are really earnest about partaking of the life of Jesus, God will allow a thousand-and-one things to happen to you, in order to deliver you from the love of material things, from seeking the honor of men, from self-pity….if you are thirsting for God’s best, He will deal with you ruthlessly, cutting out the cancers that are ruining you and destroying the idols that corrupt you.  He will allow you to suffer pain, disappointment, loss, shattered hopes, humiliation, unjust criticism, etc. in order to bring you to that place of stability – where you can’t be shaken anymore.”   Zac Poonen, ‘Secrets of Victory’

“A thousand and one things” are really happening to true followers of Christ.  While the devil is “filled with fury, because he knows his time is short”, the Lord stands by us, ready to undergird and lead us through every inward and outward calamity.

The benefits, the eternal rewards of service, even the ‘pure joy’ await us in every trial once we pour ourselves out to the Lord and resolve to stand behind Him.  No matter how dark the circumstance, His love for us has not waned, His sovereign power never diminished.   The Lord stands at the edge of our Red Sea, ready for us to enter into intimate fellowship and His divine presence – His outpouring in us through committed time of prayer. 

“I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered..Hold on..” (Prov 4:11-13)  (AP Photo/David Duprey)

Satan would rob us of victory by magnifying the circumstance and disastrous outcomes.  Let us magnify the Lord, eat and drink of His living Word and He, our Deliverer will “broaden the path” beneath us so we will not fail, we will not fall. 

CALLED TO STAND BY HIS SIDE

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As the world spins faster and closer to Christ’s return, there is an ever increasing dividing line between Believers in Jesus Christ and the world.   Darkness seems to prevail as God’s people suffer near annihilation and the truths of God’s Word trampled upon.  As followers, not wanderers, we must stand in the only place of security and strength.  We must stand by Christ’s side.  There is no gray area, we are either yoked to this world or to Christ….free to live and move through darkness or walk toward eternity in the light of our Maker.  “Come to me” Christ calls, “all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  (Matthew 11:28-30) The world and its false religions cannot give you this rest.

“For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”.

Carnal Christianity builds a gospel around ‘easy’ and ‘light’.  Yet, without the Lord’s yoke and  burden, it is a useless gospel.  His yoke binds us to His side; His burden opens His heart into ours.

One's mobility, speed and direction are determined by Another.

Here, one’s mobility, speed and direction are determined by Another.

A yoke is forward focused, causing great discomfort when the bearer veers to the left, to the right, or turns to look behind. Under His yoke, through obedience and submission, we share in His burden to reflect the glory of God in this dark world. Here, at the Lord’s side, we will stand with Him and He will stand with us.  Before His arrest on the Mount of Olives, even knowing their weakness, the Lord said to His disciples,

“You are those who have stood by me in my trials.”  (Luke 22:28)

High accolades from God to mortal man!  What are the Lord’s trials – and how can we stand with Him?

The disciples stood with Jesus, God incarnate.  After the Lord’s ascension, the Holy Spirit was sent to indwell believers, giving us new birth, new life, and joining us together as the Body of Christ on earth.  If we would really stand with Christ in His trials, we must likewise stand with His Body in this world.   As Saul persecuted the brethren, Christ challenged him, “Why are you persecuting ME?” (Acts 9:4)

We must be challenged to stand with Christ as His Body is despised and rejected by men, suffers need, languishes in prison, tortured, widowed – humiliated and dishonored in every way.

Jesus proclaimed that eternal life awaited those who served His Body in this world – and damnation for those who neglected the same.  (Matthew 25:31-46)  Our world is exploding into an arena for the mocking and torture of Christ.  If we are not standing at His side, we are amongst the spectators, the condemned.  

There may be brethren in our midst who are suffering and discouraged, in grief and even despair. We must be available in Christ to minister to them. For certain though, a collective lament cries out from those who are persecuted and in the clutches of cruel and merciless hands.  We are accountable to hear those cries, to open our hearts, to “mourn with those who mourn”, and stand with them in their trials as with Christ….but how?

The devil wants to keep us as spectators, pitying the ‘foreigners’ who are suffering so much… out of reach, impossible to help.  Our unseen brethren are as foreign as the unseen Christ.  They are as unreachable as Peter in Acts 12, held captive by the most powerful world government.  No carnal plan or coup can subdue the powerful darkness consuming the world.  As with Peter, only that which is launched supernaturally through prayer can rescue, deliver and strengthen.  Esteem prayer as the Lord Himself did – reserving time and place as a supernatural encounter.  As “co-workers in God’s service”, our work in prayer yields rewards as the Lord answers. Believe that “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much”,  whether or not we see physical evidence.    Lacking fervency and passion?  When yoked to the Master and into His Word, His heart will rekindle our passion and zeal.

To stand by the Lord in His trials is to take His yoke and follow His lead.  It does not guarantee detour from pain, anguish, or even martyrdom but will assure this:  He will never leave or forsake us, He will stand by our side and indwell our hearts to overflowing that we may endure whatever He sets before us for the glory of His coming Kingdom.

We can only imagine hearing Him say,

“You are those who have stood by me in my trials”

“Well done, good and faithful servant.”

TAKE THE LORD OUT OF THE MANGER

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manger-cross
Americans spent nearly 51 billion dollars during the Thanksgiving weekend to kick off the Christmas spending season. Is the ‘reason for the season’ really Jesus? Why does so much of this activity, clamor, entertainment, spending and planning yield so little if anything for the Kingdom of God? How could so much count for so little?

When God commissions an event or mission, He is in it and it will not fail. He will make Himself and His power known without bells, whistles or tinsel. In fact, all He seeks is a willing vessel, often choosing the weakest, the oldest, and least capable.

“The Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing”. (John 6:63)

While the Word of God is “active and living, sharper than any two edged sword” the Lord chooses to conceal some ‘vital information’ from man – obscuring specific dates, times and places such as the burial place of Moses. He knows man’s propensity to enshrine and idolize events, times and places, and, in doing so, miss the mark. Have we missed the mark here? If so, why?

Perhaps presenting God in a manger is a benign message – one the world can easily tolerate. A helpless baby, animals, shepherds and gift bearers – all pose no threat to the average man or the world at large. The whole world can celebrate without conviction or accountability. Yet, we know that when God moves, the world trembles.

It is good and right to rejoice at the truth that God became flesh. As vessels of God, Old Testament prophets stood as living beacons for this event, preaching a message of repentance and hope. However, this most important event of history had no fanfare, no crowds, no entertainment or publicity. By God’s design, those whom He called, those who would seek Him, would find Him. As the Body of Christ, we are called – commissioned – to be heralds and beacons, surrendered vessels to proclaim the coming Messiah – proclaiming not only His birth, death and resurrection but His return – as Judge!

“So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.” Matthew 24:44

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out…” Acts 3:19

“In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world by the Man He has appointed.” (Acts 17:30.31)

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His Kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season…” II Timothy 4:1-2

“He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the one whom God appointed as Judge of the living and the dead.” (Acts 10:42)

“For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God…” (I Thessalonians 4:16)

The Lord did not point to His birth as He walked in this world…He pointed to His return, commanding and beckoning us to “watch”, “wait”, “pray” and keep our lamps burning. As His Body in this dark world, we extend His call to repentance and reconciliation, hoping men might turn, receive forgiveness, new life, and life everlasting.  Are we willing to go beyond the manger, calling people to repentance, to the cross of Christ?  Can we tell of and point to His promised return?  

The full Gospel is not a popular message, even among some Christians.  But it is the message delivered by the Holy Spirit, through surrendered vessels, to hearts prepared to receive.   Heaven does not rejoice over the popular, heaven rejoices when one sinner repents.

Time is short. Christ is no longer in the manger, He’s standing at the door!

“Behold, I am coming soon!” Revelation 22:7

 

Crossing Over From Death to Life

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“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (Jesus Christ, John 5:24).  Death began in the Garden of Eden. God told Adam and Eve that if they disobeyed His word, they would “surely die” Genesis 2:17.  Unbelief and rebellion brought spiritual death and separation from God.  “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men…” (Romans 5:12). The Bible clearly describes the ‘dead’ state of man’s soul due to his sinful nature:

“For every living soul belongs to me…The soul who sins is the one who will die.” (Ezekiel 18:4)
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world….”  (Ephesians 2:1-2)
“When you were dead in your sins…God made you alive with Christ”. (Colossians 2:13)

Common responses to this dead spiritual state are denial, compensation, and acknowledgement.  Lofty pride leads many to deny that they are spiritually dead and in need of God.  While ‘sin is sin’, pride is called the mother of all sin. The Bible states more than once that “God opposes the proud” (James 4:6) and “detests the proud” (Proverbs 16:6). “Pride goes before a fall”,  “Pride goes before destruction” (Proverbs 16:18) – this is the sin that aptly describes the fall of Satan from heaven to earth – and God’s proclaimed judgment upon him for hell.

As this judgment has yet to be enforced, Satan has a dominant influence over this world. He is known as the “The god of this age” who “has blinded the minds of unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 4:4) This world is on a course, one which opposes the Word of God and ever increases man’s focus on himself, this temporal life and the ways of this world. God however, admonishes: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:15-17
Even so, heart and soul yearn for wealth, achievements, fame, status, and talent. Politics and nationalism are  a  captivating but hollow vein of influence and power.  Two kingdoms vie for man’s allegiance with no middle ground.

“…friendship with the world is hatred toward God…Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” (James 4:4)

Compensating for their lack of spiritual life, many turn to sensual pleasures.  Drugs, sexual encounters, alcohol, and entertainment are often sought, albeit futilely, to bring life to the soul. Sensual life replaces spiritual life.   Others, acknowledging their dead spiritual state, seek religious and spiritual practices. Some gain validation through religious sacraments, choosing to believe that ceremony and rites can impart spiritual life.  Religious practice may appease conscience and even improve lifestyle but in itself cannot bring about right relationship with God.

God Himself reached out to mankind through prophets, teachers, and anointed leaders. Through prophecies and divine providence, God prepared the world for His son, man’s Savior and Deliverer, to reconcile man to Himself. Jesus Christ fulfilled the prophecies of the coming Messiah, giving His life as the atoning sacrifice for our sin.

“If we confess our sins, he is  faithful and just and will forgive our sins…If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and His Word has no place in our lives…we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.  He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins….”  (I John 1:9-2:2)

Only one faith puts forth God as a Father, as One seeking those who are lost, reconciling man to Himself – establishing a personal and eternal relationship.   God’s love unveiled to us gives us new life.

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ…” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Without Christ, we are powerless to release our guilt or redeem our failures. Repentance and surrender opens to us the life and lordship of Christ in us.   This life brings death – death to ‘self’, death to the ways which oppose the ways of God, death to the ways of this world and the spirit of this age. In fact, we are called to ‘die’ as Christ did:

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)
 

At this juncture many would-be followers turn from the Lord.

The apostle Paul said, “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31) in order to live for Christ, in order to fulfill the call of God upon his life.  “How can two walk together unless they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3) It is not God who will agree to our standards and will, but we who must submit to His standards and His will for our lives. Only then can we, in agreement with Him, walk with Him.   At this critical crossroad we must ask, ‘Will I live for myself in this world or will I live for the Lord?’

“But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him…Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did”. (1 John 1:5-6)
“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him” (John 14:21) Jesus will “love and show Himself” to the one who obeys!

This is the Christian life, a life of salvation and deliverance, a life that glorifies God in this world. It is the one in whom Christ lives – through obedience and surrender. The Life of Christ in us thrives through the study of His Word, communion with Him in prayer and fellowship with believers. We walk with a view of eternity as we cross over from death to life in Christ.