WALKING WITH CHRIST IN FAITH
As I look out into the Christian Churches today, I am often surprised that there is such a lack of focus on learning how to “ WALK WITH CHRIST IN FAITH.” Have you given much thought to what your life means in terms of your Relationship with Jesus, and How that relationship actually Changes Who You Are ? A “Walk” with Christ is so far beyond just a simple “Behavioral Change.” A “Walk” with Christ is also way beyond the simple emotional response and new “feelings” one might encounter along the way. The beautiful thing about Jesus coming to earth as a man and also God, is that He Alone came to show us THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE ! He came to Change Our Hearts and Put Inside Of Us a true hunger to be “DOERS” of the things He talked and taught about versus simply “HEARERS”. Jesus wasn’t just bringing us a list of things to do to be close to God; Jesus was bringing us the KEY TO RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD,….and that key is all about FAITH ! If we look way back to the father of our faith family, Abraham, we find a man who did not have a list of “Laws and Commandments” to follow. There was no “Church Traditions”, because there was no Church. Abraham simply had God, and His Voice. It was an invitation into Relationship that was truly remarkable. ABRAHAM HEARD GOD, AND HE BELIEVED ! His belief had no Scripture; no Laws; no Liturgical Theology or opinion….just a voice and Invitation To Relationship. Believe and partake, or shrug God off and go about his life as usual. Abraham wasn’t gaining “Righteousness” by a mechanical performance of doing this, or doing that. ABRAHAM HAD A HEARTFELT RELATIONSHIP THAT BROUGHT HIM INTO A CLOSENESS WITH GOD THAT SPRUNG FORTH FROM TRUE FAITH ! Abraham TRUSTED GOD WITH HIS LIFE ! He was so trusting in God, that he was willing to give up his own son Issac as a sacrifice. PONDER THAT TYPE OF FAITH.
WHAT SHOULD WE SAY ABOUT THESE THINGS ? WHAT DID ABRAHAM , THE FATHER OF OUR PEOPLE DISCOVER ABOUT BEING RIGHT WITH GOD ? DID HE BECOME RIGHT WITH GOD BECAUSE OF SOMETHING HE DID ? IF SO, HE COULD BRAG ABOUT IT. BUT HE COULDN’T BRAG TO GOD. WHAT DO WE FIND IN SCRIPTURE ? IT SAYS, “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD. GOD ACCEPTED ABRAHAM’S FAITH, AND SO HIS FAITH MADE HIM RIGHT WITH GOD. Romans 4: 1-3
SO FAITH COMES FROM HEARING, AND HEARING THROUGH THE WORD OF CHRIST. Romans 10:17
NOW FAITH IS THE ASSURANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR, THE CONVICTION OF THINGS NOT SEEN. Hebrews 1:11
FOR WE WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT. 2 Corinthians 5:7
AND JESUS ANSWERED THEM, “HAVE FAITH IN GOD. TRULY I SAY TO YOU, WHOEVER SAYS TO THIS MOUNTAIN’ ‘BE TAKEN UP AND THROWN INTO THE SEA,’ AND DOES NOT DOUBT IN HIS HEART, BUT BELIEVES THAT WHAT HE SAYS WILL COME TO PASS, IT WILL BE DONE FOR HIM. THEREFORE I TELL YOU, WHATEVER YOU ASK IN PRAYER, BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED IT, AND IT WILL BE YOURS. Mark 11: 2-24
Life can indeed be challenging, and the journey into a deep relationship with God can only be achieved through JESUS CHRIST ! Faith in who HE IS. Faith in what HE DID FOR YOU ! Faith in HIS RESURRECTION ! Faith in accepting and building RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM ! Surrender TO HIS WILL AND SOVEREIGNTY OVER YOUR LIFE ! It is So Important to understand that it isn’t about a list of things to DO. It is about building a trusting relationship that shows you the path to maturity and righteousness through your belief in Relationship with HIM:) It is so easy to spend time in our life setting up guardrails and checks and balances of all the things we need to improve upon and defeat. Good intentions, but in ourselves, We Will Fail Every Time. Only in JESUS will we find Justification, Sanctification and Righteousness. God’s Word is our template and strategic planner for an Abundant Life, but without a Walk Of Faith With JESUS, we are simply “On Our Own”. In Galatians 3, Paul makes it Crystal Clear that thinking spiritual growth and maturity can be achieved through works of the flesh is Not Possible ! Spiritul Growth and Maturity only comes from Faith, and Abiding In Jesus ! The author of “enduring Word” puts it in a very simple order: Under the law, one is blessed and grows spiritually by “earning and deserving”; Under grace, we are blessed and grow spiritually by believing and receiving. The point is this : Jesus kept the commandments of the Father, meaning that He protected and Honored them, while living His Life in a way that fulfilled them. FOR US, WE can only find that fulfillment and keeping the ways of God through JESUS CHRIST. On our own we are hopelessly lost and floundering. Our Purpose and Our Path come through WALKING WITH CHRIST IN FAITH ! ARE YOU ?
TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND DO NOT LEAN ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING. IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEGE HIM, AND HE WILL MAKE STRAIGHT YOUR PATHS. Proverbs 3:5-6
FOR BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED BY FAITH, AND THIS IS NOT YOUR OWN DOING; IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD, NOT A RESULT OF WORKS, SO THAT NO ONE MAY BOAST. Ephesians 2:8-9
I HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST. IT IS NO LONGER I WHO LIVE, BUT CHRIST WHO LIVES IN ME. AND THE LIFE I NOW LIVE IN THE FLESH I LIVE BY FAITH IN THE SON OF GOD, WHO LOVED ME AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME. Galatians 2:20
Are you ready to embrace Christ ? I find it amazing that in His Sermons, Jesus called us to a higher standing and effort than what Moses brought in the Stone Tablet Commandments. Jesus is asking us to look outside just our minds and our behavior to a deeper place. OUR HEARTS ! Can we live according to HIM AND HIS STANDARDS IN SIMPLE FAITH ? OUR Perfection and Righteousness comes from HIM…not our knowledge, and practices, and theology, and liturgy, and rules, and Human Effort. IT IS BY HIS GRACE THAT WE ARE MADE ANEW. A NEW CREATION IN HIM ! BLESSED….AND NOT CURSED. Jesus has asked each of us to make HIM the cornerstone in our lives. WILL WE HAVE THE FAITH AND TRUST TO DO IT ? Make your life complete and strong by Walking In Faith With Christ :)
SO WE DO NOT LOSE HEART. THOUGH OUR OUTER SELF IS WASTING AWAY, OUR INNER SELF IS BEING RENEWED DAY BY DAY. FOR THIS LIGHT MOMENTARY AFFLICTION IS PREPARING FOR US AN ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY BEYOND ALL COMPARISON, AS WE LOOK NOT TO THE THINGS THAT ARE SEEN BUT TO THE THINGS THAT ARE UNSEEN. FOR THE THINGS THAT ARE SEEN ARE TRANSIENT, BUT THE THINGS THAT ARE UNSEEN ARE ETERNAL. 2 Corinthians 4: 16-18
WALK IN FAITH/JAA