There are times, perhaps more than I want to admit, that I wish the Christian life would be easy and not so demanding. Let’s face it. We cannot honesty read the New Testament and come away with a description of following Christ as easy, requiring little effort and not demanding the surrender of our entire bearing to His Lordship. Yet, equally so throughout the New Testament we find the Christian life defined as spiritual freedom, liberty, delight, full of joy, and providing true contentment to the soul. I can see where a person may say, “Okay, which one is it?” The Bible teaches the Christian life is hard, yet, easy. The way to harmonize the two is found in the illustration Jesus uses in today’s scripture and that of the yoke.
Pleasing God, Making Disciples of Jesus Christ
Pleasing God, Making Disciples of Jesus Christ
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Luke 14:27 – Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
Here you will find activities and information that promotes growth in our personal relationship with Jesus Christ and our journey of discipleship.
We are fearful people. We were created to be fearful people, but when sin entered the world, the wrong type of fear came upon humanity. Originally, the fear God placed upon His choice creation was that of delight, purity, and a healthy reverence for Him. But then sin . . . then the devil comes and gets Eve to question God’s Word and goodness. Gone is this healthy fear. Now born into every human being is what characterized our first parents after the fall – unhealthy fear of God and being afraid in life’s circumstances. How may we overcome the many fears that come into our lives as a result of remaining sin in our hearts? How do we overcome fears that our children may not be followers of the Lord Jesus? How do we overcome the worries of life such as finances, security, and safety in a dangerous world? In today’s scripture, there are three helpful truths given to Joshua by Moses to overcome fears of all kinds.
There are two works of grace that occur in the Christian. The first is what we may call “the grace of justification.” This is a once and for all work of God declaring us “righteous” or “just” as we receive Christ Jesus as our Savior. The other work of grace in the Christian we may call “the grace of sanctification” and has two aspects. Like justification, it is a declaration by God. The word “sanctify” means to “separate for a specific purpose.” The primary work of sanctification in the believer is a process; the process of becoming more and more like the Lord Jesus. It is strongly implied in today’s scripture and a truth carried throughout the New Testament. However, unlike justification, in the process of sanctification, we play a part; a huge part.
Every Christian longs to please the Lord. We yearn to obey the Apostle Paul’s words, “Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more” (1 Thessalonians 4:1). Every day we should want to bring delight to the Lord in how we live, speak, and conduct ourselves in a godless world. And there are many ways we may do so. For today, I want us to focus on one of those ways. It is found in today’s scripture. We please the Lord and bring delight to His heart by living a life bathed in the spirit of thanksgiving.
The main character in today’s scripture (Hebrews 11:24-26) serves us well as a role model on how to not only live the Christian life, but to evaluate the quality of our Christian life. His name is Moses and he is included in the “Hall of Fame of Faith” chapter in our Bibles. When life gets tough and it will, look at Moses. Yet, there is something else about Moses leaving us a worthy model to follow. It happened before he became the great leader of Israel. This excellent quality in him is found in today’s scripture. It was his decisiveness when it came to living out his walk with God.
James 4:13-14 – Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. THEME OF THE DAY:…