When God wanted to make a King out of David, He didn’t give him a crown…He gave him Goliath. During our lifetime we too will face unsurmountable odds, impossible situations, and hopeless circumstances. But if we look at these challenges as preparations for God’s calling, we can then view them as the process of readiness in order to fulfill His ultimate plan for our life..
Psalm 7:8 ” Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is within me.”
Godly character isn’t built by avoiding the hard seasons in our life at all cost. It’s built by trusting God through them. It’s called integrity through the bad times as well as the good…the difficult seasons as well as the easy ones. It’s doing the right thing when no one is looking…and trusting in God’s grace and mercy when those grueling and rough times hit us out of nowhere. Psalm 26:1 reminds us, “I have walked in my integrity and have trusted in the Lord without wavering.” And it’s that type of confidence in God that will guide us by the ethical framework and right relationship with God… leading us on the righteous course of life… no matter what the season is.
The Gospel is the Good News that we can be saved and forgiven from our rebellion against the God Who created us…if we will only turn from our sinful ways and put our trust in the life, death, and resurrection of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
In his letters to the Church in Corinth, the apostle Paul, warned them about false teachers and their twisted feel good message that preached another Jesus. In I Corinthians 15:1-4, he pointed out that the Gospel Message wasn’t wishy-washy, but was the profound concept that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. But in many Churches today from both the music and the pulpit, there is little to no mention of sin, repentance, the blood of Jesus, or the Cross. Instead, it’s all entertainment and an emotional experience…dressed up in spiritual language but without any power. There’s stirring words of grace, but no call for holiness…there’s a cry for intimacy, but without any personal accountability…and there’s only a rare reference to Jesus Christ, and none to His work on the Cross. As the early Church was warned by Paul, so is the Church today – do not turn the grace of God into lewdness.
James 1:26 ” If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.”
It’s been a long, hard day, and you’re headed home…tired, hungry, and still going over the crazy events of the day. Suddenly, someone cuts you off and out of your mouth comes a barrage of very unkind words that surprise even you. It’ ‘s not surprising then that Oswald Chambers once wrote, “The greatest test of a man’s character is his tongue.” Our tongue has the capability to speak both virtue and vice, and thus has the power to corrupt our entire moral character. Even King David realized how hard it was to keep his tongue from from evil when he stated in Psalm 39:1, “I will put a muzzle on my mouth.” But the saddest part is that we can’t claim to be religious if we can’t control our speech. That’s because, careless words can only harm relationships and misrepresent our faith to others…making our garbled religion useless to God.
Hebrews 12:10 ” Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness.”
The discipline of our earthly fathers is limited by time and by their fallible wisdom. But our Heavenly Father’s discipline was planned from the beginning of time by His infinite wisdom…for “our good”, (our benefit and advantage)…making us holy as He is holy. (I Peter 1:15-16) God’s Divine discipline is always out of His immense love for us, unlike earthly discipline which can serve as punishment. That’s because God’s ultimate goal in His discipline is always purposeful…conforming us more and more to His character and moral purity.
Zephaniah 3:17 ” The Lord your God is with you…”
Verses 17-19 in the third Chapter of Zephaniah describe the blessings of God’s presence, power, and protection to His people. Within these verses we see fully His love, hope, and restoration to those who trust in Him. It reminds us that God is ever present and mighty…not distant and indifferent. (Isaiah 12:6) In Hebrews 7:25, it tells us that God’s power is complete and mighty to save. Finally, God’s joy for us is deep and personal…His love and protection quiets our fears and brings us peace as He reveals His presence, power, and protection. (Psalm 131:2, Hebrews 13:5, I John 4:4, John 10:29)
Philippians 1:6 ” He Who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.”
Difficult situations may not change, but the key is how we view them. And this is where the doctrine of perseverance comes into play in our life as a Believer. As this Scripture in Philippians states, our ability to endure doesn’t rest with us but on God’s promise to preserve us. That’s because it’s by His grace alone that we can persist. So our pain can be redirected towards God’s ultimate purpose in our life…which is to become more like Him. (Romans 8:28) We can then focus our stress off of us, and instead seek God’s face… ( II Chronicles 7:14) and turn adversity into abiding daily with Him. (I Peter 1:23) The difficult situations may not change…but we can gather up our overwhelming weariness and give it to God… and gain divine wisdom, which is a precious gift from above (James 3:17)…for this is where true peace comes from.
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“It is better to serve God in solitude than to sin with the multitude.” Charles Spurgeon
This quote from Spurgeon is easy to agree with, but hard to do in the world today. We want to fit in and be part of the crowd, but sometimes what the crowd is doing goes completely against God’s Word…and that’s when we must make that lonely decision to as Jesus said in Matthew 4:10, “Serve God only.” For if we think about it, as Believers, our true worship and service belongs to God. And our lifestyle should then be one of obedience, reverence, and allegiance to Him…with our faithfulness rejecting any form of idolatry. Consequently, in Ephesians 6:7, the Apostle Paul reminded all Believers, (ourselves included) that our ultimate accountability is to God… not to the crowd, and not to the world.
“Peace begins the moment you stop explaining yourself to people who never wanted to understand you.” Mother Teresa
There will be people in your life that will never understand your Christian walk. They shake their head at the concept of II Corinthians 6:17 that calls Believers to a decisive separation from the world and its sin…and to instead live a holy life that reflects God’s character. So stop defending yourself and explaining your story. Instead, carry your story with dignity, embrace your calling, live differently, and fulfill your one-in-a-kind role in God’s magnificent plan and purpose for your life. For Ephesians 2:10 reminds us that we are created for a special purpose…God’s workmanship and unique creation. Those people may never understand…but they will still be watching you and your walk…and God can use your testimony for His glory.
Galatians 5:15 ” If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”
The Church doesn’t need outside discord when conflict among the brethren can threaten the very fabric of the Church. Here Paul likens their conflicts, hostility, and envy to wild animals fighting…rather than brothers and sisters in the Lord. Instead of loving and serving one another, Paul had witnessed them engaging in harmful words and actions, which led to the utter destruction of relationships, which in turn then led to the very unity and mission of the Church being threatened. So how can the Church of today heed Paul’s warnings? The first is to remember that gossip is no small sin, and it can destroy a person’s character with mere words. Secondly, Church is not a competition… thus jealously, envy, and resentment have no place within the pews. Finally, we as the Church Body need to be very spiritually aware of any brewing hostility…instead decisively choosing love, patience, and mutual edification one for another….for simmering division in the Church will only lead to disunity and strife in the long run.
Safetypinlove 