Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: And cause me to understand wherein I have erred. How forcible are right words! But what doth your arguing reprove? Job 6:24-25 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/job.6.24-25.KJV
When we hear the call of Jesus in our hearts and choose to follow Him our faith is the drip that becomes, or should become, a roar in our lives. God uses the Holy Spirit to touch our hearts and plant a seed that will grow into a new creation. It is our responsibility to help that seed to grow by watering it with the Living Water of God’s Word.
Some people tend toward watering it occasionally, like once or twice every year. Some who feel God leading them into a deeper relationship will water it a few times every month. Those who demand to be His disciples and want an intimate relationship with Him will water that seed every day regardless of what is going on in their lives. On the drive to work, while they are at work they will listen to Bible readings when they can. They will listen to praise and worship music and be in the spirit of worship on their way home.
I’m sure there are some different people who fit into a category in between those that I spoke about in the paragraph above and there are a few who dive deeper into the Scriptures than the disciples I spoke about as well. My point is that we, as Christian believers, fall into all sorts of slots and categories. Some are deeply involved in the mission field, some teach classes at the church, some lead Bible study sessions/classes at their homes and then there are some who have received Jesus and are confused about their role so they don’t do anything with it except attend church…sometimes.
There were people in all of these areas even in the early church but not many. Why do I say this? Because, most of the people in that early church just fifty to one hundred years after Jesus was taken up to Heaven were Jewish converts to Christianity. They had the Scriptures that were taught in their synagogues and had learned to have faith in God from their history and the prophets and had been persuaded that their Messiah was Jesus Christ! While it was true that there were also many pagans who had come to know Jesus as their Savior, a good percentage of the early church were, like Paul, converts from Judaism. Their faith was built on the Old Testament and what they had heard from the disciples and Paul himself. Most of them had unshakable faith.
The church today has become more “flexible” in their teachings and in their faith which can be a good thing but in some areas of the “message” flexibility can be a bad thing. Because it can lead many to believe that they can live like a Christian and not commit deeply to it. Being “like a Christian” is like being “sorta pregnant”, it doesn’t work that way! You either are or you’re not!
It stood still, But I could not discern the form thereof: An image was before mine eyes, There was silence, and I heard a voice, saying, Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his maker? Behold, he put no trust in his servants; And his angels he charged with folly: How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Which are crushed before the moth? They are destroyed from morning to evening: They perish for ever without any regarding it. Job 4:16-20 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/job.4.16-20.KJV
Job had lost everything, even his health, but he would not blame God for it. He praised God in that he didn’t blame Him for all that had happened, but he also asked many times why this was happening. His integrity and his faith in God never waivered.
This is the kind of faith all of us should aspire to. I don’t want to go through what he did in order to have this strong faith but studying God’s Word should produce in each of us a steadfast and unshakable faith that will carry us through all of our trials.
When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you—Psalm 56:3
So many people in the United States claim to be “Christians” yet less than half of them attend church as “OHO” (On Holidays Only) Christians. How can you claim to be one and not live it each day? I know the “pandemic” threw everyone out of sync with what we were used to but if you have faith in God why not trust Him for your protection from a bug like covid-19?
I don’t mean that Christians should be on the street corners preaching every day but if we could just determine to pray for our country and the world itself for just one hour each day I believe it would make a big difference. If our churches would get a few faithful people together and all of them would pledge to pray for revival and for our world one hour each day, it would make a big impact. Especially if one person started at…say 8 am, then the next one began praying at 9 am, then the next one at 10 am, and get enough people to do this for 24 hours this week it could truly make a change in our world. I know that it would be difficult to get up during the wee hours of the morning but some people do that just to go hunting without any idea that they will be successful.
It is just an idea but our world needs radical ideas right now and prayer doesn’t have to be a constant drone of the Lord’s Prayer. Just be praying for God’s intervention in the affairs of mankind and for those on your church’s prayer list or your family even. Talk to God like you would to a friend and then shut up and listen because He might just speak to you too.
Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
Revelation 3:10
God loves all of us who persevere, who follow him every day regardless of how good or bad the day is. He knows our hearts and who we have placed our faith in, whether it’s Him or someone else. Those who have not believed in Him for their salvation will be left to face the Tribulation and its trials during the seven years that it will last. This is the next fulfillment of God’s prophecy that will happen after the church is taken up.
Jesus came to give Himself as the Lamb of God. He was the sacrifice for all of humanity’s sins, yet many today doubt Who He was or even if He existed. There are many historical proofs that He existed because HE is mentioned in Jewish historical texts as well as some from Roman times during His lifetime on Earth. Read the book of Luke and then the book of John in the New Testament. Why do I pick these two? Because Luke was a Greek physician who traveled with Paul and he talked to many of the disciples about Jesus after he became a believer. He is the writer of his gospel and the book of Acts.
The meticulous research that Luke did to pin down the timing and the area of where Jesus was born and where He lived is proof of his education. The book of John is the next one that I suggest you read because John was an eyewitness of His miracles and His ministry. Ask God to show you His Son through these books and don’t delay because we don’t know when He will come back for those who believe in Him as their Savior, but I feel in my spirit that it won’t be very long.
When God invites you into an adventure it’s a special moment, a divine moment . . . an eternal moment. You won’t get many. So, be prepared. Be ready with a quick, “Yeah, dad. Totally.”
If you have ever felt that God was calling you to do something…do it. Don’t argue with Him like so many children do with their parents and grandparents today. Sometimes what He calls us to do for His Kingdom doesn’t feel like a “safe” thing to do. Consider what Moses did or what David did. One had left Egypt because he had committed a murder of an Egyptian. One came to bring his brothers some food from home and found a giant of a man mocking the army of Israel and their God. Both of them felt the Spirit calling them to do something that was dangerous and outside of their comfort zones. In David’s case, the need was apparent and immediate. He did something about Goliath with God’s strength and help the stone that he sent toward Goliath’s head killed the giant.
Moses had lived away from Egypt and the plight of his people for many years before God called him to go and free the Jews from captivity. He didn’t want to do what God asked and he argued with God about his ability to do it but eventually, he did go and God freed the Jewish people from bondage that had lasted for four hundred years.
What does their example tell us today?
Both of them were chosen by God for their purposes and we are as well. Our purpose…your purpose may not be so grand as theirs but to God, it is still important. Each of us has a purpose and sometimes it takes a while for us to be ready for it even if God called us many years ago. Sometimes we run from God the way Jonah did. Sometimes…we just ignore the call and hope that God will choose someone else. But God knows our strengths and our abilities and our calling may be to live our life before someone else so that they will hear Him one day. Our example of living our Christian life every day could be our calling and it could be yours.
Each of us has someone in our circle that might only listen to or pay attention to our example. We might not know who it is but one day in eternity we will. Your calling may be for a large ministry but you don’t think you have the ability. God can take your ability and your resources and multiply them in ways that you can’t imagine. I never imagined that my website would draw as many readers as it has and I pray that it will continue to grow until Jesus comes to set up His Kingdom on Earth. Look around on my site and see if you could do this. If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, please seek Him out soon because none of us is guaranteed another day.
The Living Message of Christ 