Be obedient in the things that you know first...

...and only then should you bother worrying about the things that you are unsure of.

 

God has given us 1000 things to be obedient in already.  And that is just through one command.

 

In every decision that you make, you must go back to this one command and ask, "What will be the most loving action towards God?" or put another way, "How can I demonstrate the work of the Spirit the best in this decision?"

 

Rest assured that any promptings from God, anything that He has laid on your heart to do, will not contradict this greatest of all commands.  But remember to start with what you know for sure - and to do this you need to know inside and out His revealed will.

 

Because there is nowhere else to go...

If you are a Christian, and you fall back into sin, do you feel the urge to both run from and run to God at the same time?  If you do, it's because you know that you have done wrong and that sin cannot stand His presence.  Your conscience is raging.  But at the same time you know that your only hope of forgiveness is to meet God openly and honestly, with your faults laid bare before Him (because they are anyway).  The Christian will ultimately keep returning to God.

 

If you are not a Christian, and are trying to run from God, you should stop wasting your effort.  God is everywhere for starters, so where can you go to which He won't be there?  And how else do you intend to have your evil deeds dealt with?  God will catch up with you because you are already in His grasp.  Why not cease the futile fight against Him and submit to His mercy?  

 

I guess that there really is somewhere else to go, but that involves paying for your wickedness yourself.  But that's not really an option when the alternative is everlasting peace and joy in the presence of the Lord.

 

Open yourself before the Lord and let that rawness of guilt and misery spew forth.  Turn away from sin and toward your Saviour.  Trust Jesus, and keep trusting him every day!

 

 

Accepting that you are weak

This is an important part of repentance that leads to salvation.

 

Repentance is not so much about changing the things that you do, because someone who is very righteous by the standard of the average person does not need to be a Christian to be so good.  Consider a moral Atheist for instance, who acts good so that he can then say to you, "Your faith doesn't matter if I can be good without faith."

 

Pride is not really righteousness though.

 

Compare this to someone who sees that they are weak, sees that they have a habit of sin from birth that needs breaking, and sees that they do not have the power to overcome by them self.  In admitting that they are weak, they can then give glory to God for His work of granting new life in the Spirit and causing something supernatural to occur inside which makes the Christian now able to be a good person.

 

In the strong "good" person there is weakness that does not acknowledge the need for God's help to be a better person.  In the weak "bad" person there is a humility and a rawness of soul that opens up to admit fault.  This person knows that it is not a matter of their actions because even their good deeds are soiled by imperfect motivation.

 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied - Matthew 5:6

 

 

Is Christ really a part of your life?

How can you tell if Jesus really is important in your life?  It's simple really.  When he is significant in every single part of it.  Is your mind on God from sunrise to sunset?

 

Not just there, not just considered at a token level when you are choosing which school to send your children to.  Significant means that he affects everything in a way that you couldn't do without, or that would see a totally different life if you were without consideration of Him.

 

And in every part of your life.  There are no small decisions.  Even down to the colour of your socks or the brand of cheese you buy.  Jesus should be considered.  Even if the answer is that it doesn't matter in this case, it is a habit that the Christian should be constantly building.  Through this process you learn to understand the principles of Spiritual living which guide the "big" decisions.

 

The Christian life should be a closely examined life in many ways.  Best we do the examining rather than waiting until Judgement Day where God will do the examining.  It could be embarassing...

 

Rising to your responsibilities vs. immaturity

Sometimes life seems hard, unfair, and unrewarding.  Our responsibility is not to complain, but to rise to the occasion and deal with whatever comes our way.

 

It is common today for adults in their twenties and thirties to shirk responsibility, to shirk maturity, and to generally fail to act their age.  Here's a truth: anyone older than our world's children has a responsibility to be a role model for those children.

 

Now, a person doesn't have to be a Spirit filled Christian to fulfil this, do they?  Maybe not, but to do it consistenly, with joy, with great depth of consideration, and to delight in serving others for the sake of God's great name, they do. We do. And it is arguably easier when you have the Spirit because you have power from above to accomplish all that is good.

 

It's a cliché but the acronym WWJD is useful here.  Didn't Jesus always rise to the occasion?  Aren't Christians supposed to follow his example?  Then get off your X-box if you know you are on it too much and use your time responsibly to advance the kingdom.  Do it!

 

Do you ever feel under-appreciated?

Whether the feelings are an accurate relfection of reality or not, these feelings are common.  It could be your spouse, failing to see all that you do for them, or it could be children, colleagues, and friends.

 

Know this though: You don't appreciate God as much as He should be appreciated.  You don't know His incredible holiness, how much he has blessed you, or the suffering that He bore on the cross for sin.

 

Allow your unrewarded servitude for others to draw you closer to Jesus.  Know that he is the only one who has the right to complain in this, and that he doesn't.

 

Know also that if you suffer in this for Christ, you will be comforted.

 

Reading your bible and meditating

Some days we are so busy that the foundation of our faith is forgotten...

 

What?  Seriously?

 

If we are living with the understanding of an eternity of heaven or hell for every person on the planet, if this reality is firmly rooted in our soul so that no matter which way we turn it tweaks our hearts, we will not want to make any decision without considering God's will.  And where will we learn, better and better each day, what is this wonderful will?  Scripture - the revealed word the comes from God!

 

Read something from the bible, every day, twice or more a day even, comsume yourself with knowing God.  Reading can be empty if you're in a rush but much fruit comes from sitting and meditating on the collision between your life and what you have read.  

 

Do it, for Jesus sake.