Thursday, May 19, 2016

Our Struggle With Choosing Between The Flesh and The Spirit, Sin And Salvation

My Utmost For His Highest
 
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? —Romans 8:35
 
“God does not keep His child immune from trouble; He promises, “I will be with him in trouble…” (Psalm 91:15). It doesn’t matter how real or intense the adversities may be; nothing can ever separate him from his relationship to God. […] And he [Paul] said we are “super-victors” in the midst of them, not because of our own ingenuity, nor because of our courage, but because none of them affects our essential relationship with God in Jesus Christ. […] Tribulation is never a grand, highly welcomed event; but whatever it may be— whether exhausting, irritating, or simply causing some weakness— it is not able to “separate us from the love of Christ.” […] Can God’s love continue to hold fast, even when everyone and everything around us seems to be saying that His love is a lie, and that there is no such thing as justice? […] Can we not only believe in the love of God but also be “more than conquerors,” even while we are being starved? Either Jesus Christ is a deceiver, having deceived even Paul, or else some extraordinary thing happens to someone who holds on to the love of God when the odds are totally against him.”  CHAMBERS
 
A friend of mine recently asked me what I thought about the issue over the use of bathrooms in our country.  He was feeling oppressed, ashamed, uncertain about what to do.  First, the real issue is not about bathrooms.  Both genders using the same public facilities is common in a number of countries already.  The real issue is about accepting a lie as the truth. (Romans 1:18-32).  Should you accept the lie for truth, other things, like bathroom use, legalized relationships, promotion of the lie in schools rise up.  It is a spiritual problem that has manifested itself through the physical.  Why is that surprising? In the face of what is happening in the United States,  is a strong temptation to withdraw from a culture that has turned its back on God, but this is certainly not the first time in the history of man that this has happened, and until Jesus returns it will not be the last.
 
This is just one example of the adversities we will face in this life.  Cultural persecution is not the only difficulty that we must endure.  The struggle between the flesh and the spirit, sin and salvation, manifests itself in many ways.  We must accept the fact that we do not live in a Christian nation, at least not in the spiritual sense.  From the world’s perspective, Christian has come to be a synonym for Gentile.  Meaning we are not Muslim or Jewish.  It has an ethnic connotation.  But, the Saints are in nearly every nation.  Our responsibility is to let the light of Christ shine in the darkness.  One way that happens is by living in obedience to the Word of God, no matter what pressure we might face to conform to the lie. What are you willing to give up for Jesus?  What if you were told you could not keep your job because of your faith?  Would you abandon Jesus and the Truth?  What if you were shunned by people around you because you would not call a lie, truth.  Would you abandon Jesus to preserve some level of acceptance from the world?  What if your children were at risk in school?  Would you be willing to take them elsewhere or teach them at home? Your temptation to abandon the truth is so strong because your faith is so weak.  Because you are looking to yourself for answers forgetting that everything in Jesus is yes and amen.  (2 Corinthians 1:20-22) “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.   Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God,  who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”  You must stand Christian.  I will let the Word speak for itself. CHARLEY
 
(1 Peter 4:12-19)  “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.  If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.  However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?  And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” GOD

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