Romans 8:14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Come on mih bredrin, it’s Monday, time to get out into the world and make a living! (smile) Oh, and please don’t forget, that simultaneously, meaning at the same time, we need to be a good witness for Christ and exemplify the lifestyle He desires us to live. And no, there are no conflicts of interest between the two; that’s between making a living and being a good example of a Christian lifestyle. They both can co-exist, otherwise Jesus would not have asked us to do it.
And yes, they don’t, or won’t always co-exist comfortably, but we have the tools of Christ to make them run together as smoothly as possible. (smile) That’s the beauty of living and working for Jesus; we can do things that the unbelievers can’t do! Remember, we have that most encouraging and authoritative scripture, that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. (Phil. 4:13)
Yes friends, that means that whatever Christ needs us to do on His behalf, or in His name, He can, and will enable us to do it! That’s why we can be in the world and not be a part of it; sanctified, or set apart for Christ’s sole purpose. Not fazed or frazzled by all the evil machinations and spiritual warfare that’s going on around us. And we can do that because once we accept Christ as Lord and Saviour, we become the adopted children of God, co-heirs to the kingdom of heaven with Christ, who then also becomes our big brother. Glory be mih people!
And hear this great affirming scripture nuh: ‘For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.’ (Rom. 8:14-17)
Oh my people, what a wonderful life we come into when we come to Christ in all sincerity and truth. We get Almighty God as our God and Father; Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, our Advocate, our High Priest and Big Brother, plus the Holy Spirit that dwells within us to lead, guide and comfort us, also becomes our close family! Wow! Nothing can be better than that my fellow saints! So please tell me why so many people are turning away from Jesus eh, if they have all of that to look forward to?
I don’t know for sure nuh, but I can venture a few reasons. First off, our natural human nature tends to evil and ungodliness, and the pull of the evil and ungodly world these days is very strong. Plus the fact that Jesus desires us to travel on the straight and narrow path which entails sacrifices and forgetting oneself to do His will. ‘Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me (be my disciple), let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.’ (Matt. 16:24)
On the other hand though, the ungodly world offers a do as you like, wide and winding path filled with all kinds of worldly pleasures, but which unfortunately ends in destruction. And let’s not forget this last, but very important reason: we, as followers of and believers in Jesus don’t set a very good example for others to follow. Too many of us supposed Christians behave just like the world, and ofttimes, even worse than the world!
We don’t show ourselves as the salt of the earth or the light of the world, as Jesus desires us to be. So what incentive does the unbeliever have to come to Jesus eh, if we behave in an unchristian manner? None whatsoever. And to tell the truth friends, our major weapon against the enemy is the example that we set, by living in a Christ-like manner. We can spout all the scripture we want, and don’t live it, then folks won’t turn to Christ. Remember actions speak louder than words.
Consequently, it’s only when they see us gentle, LOVING, giving and kind, calm in the midst of storm and filled with a joy that transcends our circumstances, will they know that we have something ever so valuable that they don’t have and want to come to know Jesus. And until we show that Christ-like behaviour on a much wider scale, we’re just spinning our tops in mud!
So what’s it to be eh friends? Are we going to come up higher, sincerely try and do better for Jesus? I certainly hope so. And there’s no better time to begin than right now. That means immediately taking our problems to the Lord in prayer, what we call our Monday Morning Battle Hymn.
As one strong voice: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.
And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’
Remember though my fellow saints, that it all means nothing, unless we keep our promises. Much LOVE!
…don’t make a promise to God and not keep it…for He has no pleasure in fools…
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