“Our Daily Bread” http://odb.org/
The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie
http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht
“Homily Grits Devotional” http://www.homilygrits.com/
Hebrews 12:1b-2a… let us layaside every weight, and the sin which so easilyensnares us,and letusrun with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, (NKJV)
The Apostle Paul uses the same analogy the writer of Hebrews uses in the opening scripture… Paul speaks of his Christian life as a race, in which he was striving for an eternal crown…not a temporal crown like the ones handed out at the Olympic games…1 Corinthians 9:24-25…
At the end of the Apostle Paul’s life, he tells us about finishing his race well, in…2 Timothy 4:7-8… I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, willgive to me on that Day, and not to me only butalso to all who have loved His appearing. (NKJV)
Indeed, every Christian graced with the gift of salvation through saving faith alone in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9), will receive “the crown of righteousness”… As the opening scripture alludes to…Jesus is the “author and finisher of our faith”… Jesus is the “author of our faith”,because anyone looking to become a Christian in God’s eyes must go through Jesus to get to His Father in heaven…
John 14:6… Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. Noone comes to the Father except through Me.” (NKJV) The “way” is through obedience to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ… (See link at the bottom for more on God’s grace) The “truth”is found in the Word of God, and it will set the sinner free from Satan’s chains of bondage in sin…John 8:32… “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” And the “life”that Jesus speaks of is eternal life in heaven with His Father…
If any of this seems strange or unfamiliar to you…I pray that you will go back and read my 2 days writing on “False Faith”, by going to www.Godsmanforever.wordpress.com and typing 5/24/2013 and 5/25/2013 into the search window… This is writing is about two kinds of “want to be” Christians, who have been deceived into believing they are going to heaven…when Jesus tells them why they aren’t, with His warning in…Matthew 7:21-23…and the Apostle Paul warns, about the need to obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, in…2 Thessalonians 1:8-9…
Once a person becomes a Christian in God’s eyes (when they are filled with the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation…John 14:26)…the race set before them by God, can be filled with God’s richest blessings that He reserves for those that diligently seek Him…Hebrews 11:6… Or the sin filled Christian’s life can be loaded down with guilt, anguish, strife, pain, fear, and anxiety…or any other weight that Satan will use to keep the Christian from finishing the race set before them well…like the Apostle Paul…
It is the Christian’s choice to live for Christ, and be blessed…or to fall back, and continuously stumble with a life filled with sin, that will leave them no better off than the un-believer…except for the fact that when they die they will be in glory with the Lord… For those who never had a chance to read the REV. C.H. Spurgeon’s sermon on “Grieving the Holy Spirit”, made back in 1859…here is the link with his sermon explaining this exact scenario in vivid detail… http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0278.htm
The life of a Christian that is constantly being conformed into the image of Christ…Romans 8:29…is a life that can be filled with an abundance of love, joy, peace, and all of the other fruit of the Spirit, that will be maturing as the Christian grows closer and closer to the Lord over time… All of these supernatural, God given fruit will only grow and mature, when the Christian decides to get out of their own way, and allow the Holy Spirit to lead them down a perfect path God has planned for His obedient children…Proverbs 3:5-6…
The Apostle James says it best, when he pens this, in…James 4:7-8, 10… Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Drawnear to God and He will drawnear to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, youdouble–minded. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. (NKJV)
Friends, God sees everything all of us do… We can go to church every week…and we can get involved in Bible studies, and all kinds of good works done in the name of the Lord, that make us look like a model Christian in the eyes of those around us… But God see’s right past all of a person’s good visible works, right into the hearts and minds of each and every one of us…1 Chronicles 28:9…
Notice what James pens in this scripture above, for anyone with hidden sins in their heart…“and purify your hearts, youdouble–minded”… And then James pens this…“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up”… Christians can “Resist the devil”, just like James writes… But for me personally…it took all of God’s spiritual armor…Ephesians 6:10-20…and total submission to God, through finally humbling myself into being filled with (controlled by) the Holy Spirit…Ephesians 5:18-20…
I could have saved myself several years of anxiety…by just putting aside my pride…and humbling myself before the Lord… This scripture by the Apostle Paul is absolutely true, in…Philippians 4:6-7… Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpassesall understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (NKJV)
The Lord is right there waiting for His children to come to their spiritual senses… And for any wayward children, the Lord promises to chastise and maybe even scourge them (Hebrews 12:5-11), to bring them back into submission… For those sinning Christians, who finally “Humblethemselves in the sight of the Lord”, we see this, in…Hebrews 12:11b… but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceablefruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (NKJV)
Heavenly Father, I pray other Christians will learn through my personal mistakes…and humble themselves before You, to receive“the peaceablefruit of righteousness”, and the fullness of joy (John 15:11), that You promise for those obedient children who are walking in the Spirit, according to Your will and Your ways… I pray for this fullness of Christ for all of us, in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…
Blessings in Christ, bruce r mills
P.S. Here is a link for this most important days writing, about how God’s grace is received to become a Christian in God’s eyes; through obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…
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