…present…your members as
instruments of righteousness to God. —Romans 6:13
{CHAMBERS} “I cannot save and sanctify myself; I cannot make
atonement for sin; I cannot redeem the world; I cannot right what is wrong,
purify what is impure, or make holy what is unholy. That is all the sovereign
work of God. Do I have faith in what Jesus Christ has done? He has made the
perfect atonement for sin. Am I in the habit of constantly realizing it? The
greatest need we have is not to do things, but to believe things. […] We cannot
do anything pleasing to God unless we deliberately build on the foundation of
the atonement by the Cross of Christ. […] Obedience means that I have
completely placed my trust in the atonement, and my obedience is immediately
met by the delight of the supernatural grace of God.”
{ELGIN} There was nothing we could do to save ourselves except place
our faith in Jesus Christ and there is nothing we can do to be successful in
this new life except to submit to the will of God – to say “yes Lord, I will
trust you and obey. Yes Lord, yes to
your will and to your way. When your Spirit speaks to me, with my whole heart I’ll
agree and I will answer yes Lord, yes.”
The is a phrase from a great song, but it is much more than that. It describes the attitude of the heart of a
Christian walking by faith in obedience to the voice and direction of God. While driving around Pasadena Texas, I saw a
pizza restaurant – Peter Piper Pizza.
That brought back memories to Martie and me from our time at Fort Bliss
in El Paso Texas in the early ‘80s. We
loved the jalapeno pizza! Their
advertising slogan was “Don’t be a could-a had-a! Don’t say I could-a had-a
Peter Piper pizza!” Well, I would say
the same to you about your life in Christ.
We choose our level of spirituality.
Once you are born again, you can choose to grow in your faith or you can
vegetate. Never grow up. Never experience the fullness of your faith
and blessing found in trust and obedience.
Do you trust God enough to leave your old nature behind. Or are you
like Lot’s wife, looking back longingly to what you are leaving behind,
even though God has said that is what you must do.
Listen, we all struggle with
laying the natural down and picking up our cross of submission and faith and
following Jesus. This new life of our
requires determination and deliberate action.
There is a tension between the natural and the supernatural. If you don’t grow your faith through the
Word, prayer, worship and fellowship with other believers you will always find it hard to walk
in obedience to God and easy to slip back into your old, natural ways. The ways that God has called you to leave. The ways that do not honor God. Friend don’t be a “Could-a Had-a” I could
have had a more fulfilling life in Christ, if only I had trusted Him and not
myself to decide what is good and what the Lord required of me. (Micah 6:8) “But
to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God”.
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