During the last few months... trials and tribulations have positioned me to lean all dependence and understanding on God. God has been flowing certain things in my spirit so I began to write... I hope you enjoy some of the things God has revealed to me....
Set Apart For God
Even though we have been "set apart" as God's children, we continue to behave in ways that are contrary. As Christians, we realize shortly after we have been saved that there is a new battle in us that is raging... a battle between our old sin-lead nature and new Spirit-lead nature.
Paul talks about this inner struggle in Galatians 5:17:
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
Our heart's desire is to please and obey God, but our flesh is weak making sin difficult to resist. Yet, it is in our never ending struggle with sin and obedience to God that sanctification does its work.
We should strive to be like Christ and in that we should desire to set forth a great example of what Jesus Christ is and what he has done for us.....
Sometimes, we must make sacrifices and set ourselves aside from the standard....everyone has different convictions and has to listen to what the holy spirit is speaking to them.... alot of times if you have the slightest feeling that something is not right... it usually isn't... we all have things that we may make excuses for to ease our conscious. We as humans don't really like change.....
In 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 is states:
But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the Knowledge of God everywhere.
For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which exhales] unto God, [discernible alike] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
Also in Romans 1:1
It tells us the about the apostle paul being called and set apart for God....
He goes on in verse 5 & 6 to tell us:
Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.
And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
He convicts us on areas that need to be changed, helping us to grow in holiness. We begin to view the world, people, and personal difficulties from a more biblical perspective. Our choices begin to be motivated by love and truth and not selfishness.
However.... we need not to forget that the bible also tells us that we will never be sinless (1 John 1:8) and that we will endure temptation.... alot of times the temptations and trials we endure are just a simple act of obedience.... That is what God cares about!!!! He wants our hearts prepared to do what He asks us to do when he asks us to do it.
John 14:15 :
If you love me, you will obey what I command.
Jesus wants us to have faith and believe in Him and his word! As we do that we will become more like him. As the process is not short but through an ever growing relationship we can have the highest of joys, the deepest of peace, and receive the fullest measure of God's love and power each day of our lives!!!
But the most important commandment we must have is to love God with all our heart, mind, and soul! Of course, there is a cost for doing God's will by obeying His commands. However, keep that important commandment and it is not hard to want to be a good and faithful servant!