Sometimes you see on social media sites where people seem to be wondering about their lives. Of course, most of us are not philosophically minded so the topic doesn’t go very deep. We feel that following this line of thought is just a waste of time and energy, so we drop it and mostly forget about it. But..if you look at it from a spiritual point of view it really does take on a different tone altogether.
Religion and being religious are good, but you can be religious about playing golf or fishing or any number of things which have very little to do with religion. Having a life of contentment and being content with your life regardless of your wealth is another way of looking at and living your life too. Neither one of those actually has anything to do with your salvation though.
Yes, I am steering the conversation back to the saving grace of God through Jesus His Son. Why do I do this? Because it is my job to do so. I am a pastor and a follower of Jesus the Christ and He did give His followers the command to “go into all of the world teaching the gospel“. That includes all of His disciples and those of us who have recently come to know Him as Savior and Lord as well.
God loves you and me and anyone who may be reading this and the life that you live is important to Him. Living it as a disciple of Jesus is sometimes hard and it can be dangerous depending upon where you live. But it is a very rewarding life. I am not speaking of getting rich from “love offerings” or from being paid a salary at a mega church. I am speaking of the rewards which come from being His servant in all that you do!
God has given each of us gifts to use in our lives. Some of them are for our vocation in life and some are for spreading the message of His Love for us. Some of these gifts are for taking care of others, like the gift of mercy. Some of these gifts are for encouraging others when life beats them up or grief wears them down. Some people have more than one gift and some only have one, but all are useful in living daily with Jesus and walking according to His ways!
Why are they useful in our world when people don’t want to hear about Him? Because even if you don’t speak about Him to others, many will see Him in the way you live or carry your burden through this life. Regardless of what that burden may be, give your life to Jesus and live as He would as much as possible for us, being human. Yes we will fail on some points and we will fall on others, but read His Word and live like it says in all ways. Pray that you will have the strength given by His Spirit to be able to walk in His ways daily because it is only by His Spirit that we can do this.
Our own strength and power is just not up to the task of walking in the steps of Jesus. Regardless of what your coach tells you or your family tells you, we just don’t have it in us to be like Jesus without the Holy Spirit giving us that strength and ability to do so. I am not putting anyone down by saying this but Jesus says that “you can do nothing apart from me“. Seek Him in the Word of God, learn about Him from its pages and make sure you are in a Bible teaching church so that you can grow in your faith.
It isn’t a hard thing to believe in Jesus because He did come to Earth and die for all of man’s sins, past, present and future. Whether we accept it and believe it as the Truth of the Bible is another matter. Many don’t believe it, mostly because they see Jesus as He was…a man or a prophet. They don’t see nor do they recognize Him as the Son of God. Why? The Bible tells the story of His birth, most of His life after He began His ministry, and His death on the cross and His resurrection. The Bible is God’s Word, so why not believe it?
Some people see Him as a great prophet. Some claim that He is the Son of God. Christians believe that He is the Son of God, foretold in Scripture, born of a virgin, fulfilled the Law of Moses in His life, Who taught His disciples that belief in Him is the way to Heaven. Then after three years of a miracle-filled ministry, He was taken into custody, condemned as a heretic and a rebel toward Roman rule and crucified.
The Bible, particularly the New Testament, says that we should believe in Him. Archaeology has proven many, if not all, of the historical books in the Old Testament to be true and accurate. Science has proven that God’s rule of circumcision on the eighth day to be medically accurate because a baby’s body doesn’t have clotting factors until that time. There are many other proofs of the Bible which I won’t go into here.
Yes, a long sentence to tell of the life of Jesus the Christ. A short version of His life, death and resurrection, but a story which has significance for so many around the world! Some of whom believe that He is our Savior and Lord, some do not believe He was anything other than a prophet.
Why? Because, Jesus told us to take the gospel into all of the world…so what better way to do it than to tell others about Him as you go about your day? Why do we, as Christians, decide not to tell others about our Lord and Savior? Is it because we are afraid of what they may say about us being so pushy with our faith? Probably. In today’s society we are so caught up in being tolerant and politically correct until we barely talk to each other at all! We message each other on Facebook and Twitter, occasionally we will have a sit-down talk with someone over lunch or dinner, if we can put our phones down long enough.
Today just as in times past, persecution is like gas on a fire or fertilizer for plants in regard to the number of believers. The church grows! No matter where the persecution may be or what form it takes, people notice how believers have faith and joy in Jesus! Then they turn to their faith and realize that they don’t have that. No other faith offers that joyous hope in Jesus because there is no hope of eternity in anyone else!
The Living Message of Christ 