It’s indeed great to be back!
A new year is upon us and new challenges for sure. We serve a living God and therefore as imperfect beings we can expect that He is never done working on us. Paul reminds us of the strain we must undertake to reach greater depths in Christ, in his letter to the Philippians 3:12-14.
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
We must always keep in mind we are a work never complete. "From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain, prophets and priest alike all practice deceit." Jeremiah 6:13
Now I'm not saying we are deceitful as individuals, or greedy. We do not all wrestle with all manner of sins, but of sin itself. And we do so not without struggle nor without the temptations of things we've never really dealt with from from arising or re-arising. This is the nature of things. So we fight without rest to make ourselves ready for the great rest in Christ Jesus! So too, must remember not to place so high a priority on the things of this world.
"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." Philippians 3:20, 21
It used to be said, "God, family, country, in that order" But of late and in particular, on Twitter the many tweets are "country, country and country!" The argument is we must fight the evil in government. But we must beware, and let us not get caught in the devils trap!
This country, though I would not like to see it, will pass away. All countries, empires and kingdoms do. So too will this entire earth, it is written. But this country will go faster if we make it so much our fight that it becomes idolatry.
If at the end of the day we go to our beds angry about the status of this country, the line has been crossed. "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:26, 27. There is no wiggle room here! Neither our anger nor our country can become our god. For our God is a jealous God, and he will have no other gods before him.
I love my family so I will put my God first! I love my country so I will put my God first! 'Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul and with ALL your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37-40
Again, the argument will no doubt be "I am putting God first by taking on my government when it goes wrong. But Christ never said "fight your government."
He did say; "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." Mark 16:15-18
Yes the line is fine, just the way the devil drew it. God's line is not fine it's narrow. On one side it's love and life on the other it's hate and death. We must resist the temptation to spend too much time engaging in politics and rather work on our own salvation, with prayer and meditation in the word, learning how to love despite our natural instincts. And it's with saving individuals in our neighborhoods, and communities and beyond.
If we've told our leaders "be saved, go and sin no more," and they do not, move on. God will deal with them. Trust God! If we've said abortion is evil, and they do not change, God will deal with them and the government. In fact He already has.
But when preaching to people our tone should not be one of condemnation, but of love without condemnation. Saying and exemplifying that Christ came to save sinners from death out of love. Letting them know without question "believe, be baptized, love one another and go, sin no more." The good news is for individuals, not governments.
Trying to change government or the people working within that worldy principality, is like trying to fix a burned out light bulb. Yes, we must engage, but not so much that it takes up our time from preaching the good news and indeed BEING the good news, of the Agape love Christ to all we happen to meet.
The great news is, if we are not getting it right God will not destroy us. We are not under condemnation! Rather, it's just something we need to work on to become more perfect as He is perfect. And make no mistake it is something we need to work on. (I am speaking to myself as well friends).
Yet, it's just one more thing in a list of things we must strain toward the better of in reaching for the prize. So let's have a mind of preparation for change, because God is the unchanging changer. He has no need of changing, but we do.
A new year is upon us and new challenges for sure. We serve a living God and therefore as imperfect beings we can expect that He is never done working on us. Paul reminds us of the strain we must undertake to reach greater depths in Christ, in his letter to the Philippians 3:12-14.
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
We must always keep in mind we are a work never complete. "From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain, prophets and priest alike all practice deceit." Jeremiah 6:13
Now I'm not saying we are deceitful as individuals, or greedy. We do not all wrestle with all manner of sins, but of sin itself. And we do so not without struggle nor without the temptations of things we've never really dealt with from from arising or re-arising. This is the nature of things. So we fight without rest to make ourselves ready for the great rest in Christ Jesus! So too, must remember not to place so high a priority on the things of this world.
"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." Philippians 3:20, 21
It used to be said, "God, family, country, in that order" But of late and in particular, on Twitter the many tweets are "country, country and country!" The argument is we must fight the evil in government. But we must beware, and let us not get caught in the devils trap!
This country, though I would not like to see it, will pass away. All countries, empires and kingdoms do. So too will this entire earth, it is written. But this country will go faster if we make it so much our fight that it becomes idolatry.
If at the end of the day we go to our beds angry about the status of this country, the line has been crossed. "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:26, 27. There is no wiggle room here! Neither our anger nor our country can become our god. For our God is a jealous God, and he will have no other gods before him.
I love my family so I will put my God first! I love my country so I will put my God first! 'Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul and with ALL your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37-40
Again, the argument will no doubt be "I am putting God first by taking on my government when it goes wrong. But Christ never said "fight your government."
He did say; "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." Mark 16:15-18
Yes the line is fine, just the way the devil drew it. God's line is not fine it's narrow. On one side it's love and life on the other it's hate and death. We must resist the temptation to spend too much time engaging in politics and rather work on our own salvation, with prayer and meditation in the word, learning how to love despite our natural instincts. And it's with saving individuals in our neighborhoods, and communities and beyond.
If we've told our leaders "be saved, go and sin no more," and they do not, move on. God will deal with them. Trust God! If we've said abortion is evil, and they do not change, God will deal with them and the government. In fact He already has.
But when preaching to people our tone should not be one of condemnation, but of love without condemnation. Saying and exemplifying that Christ came to save sinners from death out of love. Letting them know without question "believe, be baptized, love one another and go, sin no more." The good news is for individuals, not governments.
Trying to change government or the people working within that worldy principality, is like trying to fix a burned out light bulb. Yes, we must engage, but not so much that it takes up our time from preaching the good news and indeed BEING the good news, of the Agape love Christ to all we happen to meet.
The great news is, if we are not getting it right God will not destroy us. We are not under condemnation! Rather, it's just something we need to work on to become more perfect as He is perfect. And make no mistake it is something we need to work on. (I am speaking to myself as well friends).
Yet, it's just one more thing in a list of things we must strain toward the better of in reaching for the prize. So let's have a mind of preparation for change, because God is the unchanging changer. He has no need of changing, but we do.
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