"Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above..." (James 1:17, HCSB).
Christ did all He could to discourage halfhearted followers who were more fans and groupies than worshipers and disciples. He wasn't trying to win a popularity contest and in His economy quality outranks quantity. He constantly admonished them to count the cost--yes salvation is costs, but it costs more not to be saved! Grace is free, but not cheap; the Lord demands our all, He doesn't want our achievements, but our obedience--in short, He wants us and all we are.
But He freely gives us all things to enjoy (cf. 1 Tim. 6:17), and the only way He can pour His riches into our hands s if they are empty. In God's economy emptying comes before filling. We don't think our lives are anything to be compared to what we gain in Christ: to live is Christ, to die is gain! The only condition we need to come to Christ is a bankrupt soul that has stopped trying to save itself and started to trust in Christ.
Yes, salvation is an expensive proposition, but it's worth it! We offer ourselves as living sacrifices only to receive ourselves back, renewed in the image of Christ. He wants to change our way of thinking and a whole outlook on life itself. Yes, we must come to full, absolute surrender to Christ per Rom. 12:1 and also must keep on yielding our will to His. The motto of our lives becomes: "Thy will be done!" We don't come to God on our terms, but His, because He is sovereign and we cannot dictate conditions to God. We all have a throne of our heart and must give it up to Christ's rule so that we are no longer living for ourselves, but for Him. This is not the easiest life, no bed of roses or rose garden, but it's the most rewarding and best life--the more abundant life.
All that God gave us is only stewardship and we will be held accountable for it. This includes our wealth, time, resources, talents, gifts, skills, plans, children, future, intelligence, opportunities, and especially our faith, which is given, not achieved, and we are to put it to work and sow seeds and cultivate fruit--no fruit, no faith. In fact, Paul said, "Who makes you to differ? What do you have that you didn't receive?" (Cf. 1 Cor. 4:7). When we are faithful in our stewardship, God blesses us and we bear more fruit, because He who is faithful in little, shall be faithful in much. We must come to the realization that all we own and possess belongs ultimately to God (Psalm 24:1 says the earth and the fullness thereof belongs to Him).
All we are is stewards; even our righteousness is God's gift to us, not our gift to God. Actually, we don't own anything, and only in Christ can we learn not to be materialistic and we can truly "possess our possessions" per Obadiah 17. The world has alluring things to offer, but it can only offer things, love cannot be purchased nor and is immeasurable--you cannot ask for two pounds of love!
Christ can demand all because He gave all and our crosses pale in comparison to His, and He isn't asking us to give up anything He didn't. He gave up His throne and the independent prerogatives of His deity to save us, suffering all the shame and pain on our behalf--all He asks of us doesn't compare and we can be sure that He meant it when He said in Matt. 11:28, ESV, "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." We have to stop making demands on God and trying to get our way--He knows best. Our very lives are not our own anymore, but a living sacrifice--He wants us to live for Him by the power of the Holy Spirit in us.
All the rules that God ordains are for our own good and not to keep us from enjoying ourselves--God isn't a Cosmic Killjoy trying to keep us from having fun. The rules that applied for Moses apply today, because moral principles are timeless and based on God's character and, therefore, do not ever change--we don't change our values with the times or the whims of society. And so we must realize that God's rules are the best rules and we function best in accord with them--the Bible is our Owner's Manual. God demands exclusive loyalty and will not tolerate any competition because He's a jealous God and anything that comes between you and God is idolatry. Soli Deo Gloria!
Christ did all He could to discourage halfhearted followers who were more fans and groupies than worshipers and disciples. He wasn't trying to win a popularity contest and in His economy quality outranks quantity. He constantly admonished them to count the cost--yes salvation is costs, but it costs more not to be saved! Grace is free, but not cheap; the Lord demands our all, He doesn't want our achievements, but our obedience--in short, He wants us and all we are.
But He freely gives us all things to enjoy (cf. 1 Tim. 6:17), and the only way He can pour His riches into our hands s if they are empty. In God's economy emptying comes before filling. We don't think our lives are anything to be compared to what we gain in Christ: to live is Christ, to die is gain! The only condition we need to come to Christ is a bankrupt soul that has stopped trying to save itself and started to trust in Christ.
Yes, salvation is an expensive proposition, but it's worth it! We offer ourselves as living sacrifices only to receive ourselves back, renewed in the image of Christ. He wants to change our way of thinking and a whole outlook on life itself. Yes, we must come to full, absolute surrender to Christ per Rom. 12:1 and also must keep on yielding our will to His. The motto of our lives becomes: "Thy will be done!" We don't come to God on our terms, but His, because He is sovereign and we cannot dictate conditions to God. We all have a throne of our heart and must give it up to Christ's rule so that we are no longer living for ourselves, but for Him. This is not the easiest life, no bed of roses or rose garden, but it's the most rewarding and best life--the more abundant life.
All that God gave us is only stewardship and we will be held accountable for it. This includes our wealth, time, resources, talents, gifts, skills, plans, children, future, intelligence, opportunities, and especially our faith, which is given, not achieved, and we are to put it to work and sow seeds and cultivate fruit--no fruit, no faith. In fact, Paul said, "Who makes you to differ? What do you have that you didn't receive?" (Cf. 1 Cor. 4:7). When we are faithful in our stewardship, God blesses us and we bear more fruit, because He who is faithful in little, shall be faithful in much. We must come to the realization that all we own and possess belongs ultimately to God (Psalm 24:1 says the earth and the fullness thereof belongs to Him).
All we are is stewards; even our righteousness is God's gift to us, not our gift to God. Actually, we don't own anything, and only in Christ can we learn not to be materialistic and we can truly "possess our possessions" per Obadiah 17. The world has alluring things to offer, but it can only offer things, love cannot be purchased nor and is immeasurable--you cannot ask for two pounds of love!
Christ can demand all because He gave all and our crosses pale in comparison to His, and He isn't asking us to give up anything He didn't. He gave up His throne and the independent prerogatives of His deity to save us, suffering all the shame and pain on our behalf--all He asks of us doesn't compare and we can be sure that He meant it when He said in Matt. 11:28, ESV, "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." We have to stop making demands on God and trying to get our way--He knows best. Our very lives are not our own anymore, but a living sacrifice--He wants us to live for Him by the power of the Holy Spirit in us.
All the rules that God ordains are for our own good and not to keep us from enjoying ourselves--God isn't a Cosmic Killjoy trying to keep us from having fun. The rules that applied for Moses apply today, because moral principles are timeless and based on God's character and, therefore, do not ever change--we don't change our values with the times or the whims of society. And so we must realize that God's rules are the best rules and we function best in accord with them--the Bible is our Owner's Manual. God demands exclusive loyalty and will not tolerate any competition because He's a jealous God and anything that comes between you and God is idolatry. Soli Deo Gloria!
No comments:
Post a Comment