A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

I want to start with two questions I have had to ask myself lately:

1. Am I willing to die for Christ?

2. And am I willing to live for Him?

Both these questions are equally important, although I think it may be easier to die for Him than it is to live for him. Why do I say this? Because living for Him means dying to ourselves daily. I must say though, it has become easier and easier as the years have gone by. The closer I draw to Him, the more I see how life can be better with Him, how things are possible with Him. When you walk closely with Him your desires change, your mindsets change, your outlook on situations change.

Do we fully comprehend what it means to live as Christ did? Or to possibly even die as He did? He so clearly tells us that because He was persecuted first, we too shall be persecuted. If we want to become more like Christ, we are going to experience what He experienced. We are going to be rejected, ridiculed, cast out... we are going to offend people, sometimes even just by the way we choose to live.

In the last years I have grown in my faith in a way that my foundation in Him has become secure. His word is my bread. His Spirit is my guide. I am guided by my convictions, by what the Spirit is saying, and sometimes acting on what He says is not going to be easy for us to do. I am reminded how Moses was called to go up against His Egyptian family to call them out for the wrongs they were committing and can only imagine how difficult it was for Him, because He loved them I am sure.

We hold each other accountable out of love for one another. Jesus led by example, one which we should follow, and that was when He healed someone and forgave their sins, He went on to say, "Go and sin no more."

Matthew 5:30

"...So if your eye - even your good eye - causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your hand - even your stronger hand - causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell."

It is almost inevitable that we will still stumble as we are fighting against our own flesh and spirit, but God has given us the power to live in holiness. One argument I hear so often is, "Yeah, but Jesus died so I am forgiven." And 100% you are, but Jesus said these things for a reason. Sin divides us against ourselves, against God, and pulls us away from him. Sometimes we cannot see that what we are doing is harming us or even those around us. What may look like love is our own worldly, fleshly understanding of love. We need counsel from our brothers and sisters in Christ so that we do not continue to stumble in the same ways, or cause others to stumble. But sadly, in the day and age we live in, many take offense and are quick to call us judgemental, when this is not the case. The enemy has turned us against one another. He has distorted the truth. Many preach a watered down gospel which does not lead to love. The enemy has distorted the meaning of love, saying love means being tolerable, that is means accepting. We love our brothers and sisters through their struggles, but we have a duty to also show them a better way.

Matthew 5:11-16

"God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.

You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world - like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all the see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father."

Matthew 5:19

"But anyone who obeys God's laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven."

Matthew 7:13

"You can enter God's kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few find it."

Mark 7:6

"These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me."

I do not want to live to please man. I am realizing more and more of what that means for me. What it means for us who stand firm on the untainted Word of God. It means that peace will only come from Christ and most certainly not the people around us or the situations we face. We become a force to be reckoned with. Being a servant of Christ does not mean to go around pointing fingers calling out people's sin though, do not misunderstand me. It means serving them, loving them, and when necessary, showing them where they are stumbling or causing others to do so. We are not promised easy lives, we are called to die to ourselves daily and that looks different for every person. What I struggle with may not look anything like what you struggle with, but it is ours to walk through with God. He transforms us as he renews our minds. He calls us into holiness one step at a time.

I want a faith firm on the word, the truth that got the disciples killed. The truth that got Jesus killed. They were not killed for playing it safe and keeping the peace. They were killed for preaching the gospel of there being One True God. A God who loves each of us. One who loves us enough to lead us out of darkness, out of sin, into his light. But we need to choose to be led away from our sin. We cannot stay on the fence between our relationship with God and our own desires. Someday we have to choose. And once we do, our lives are changed, transformed, and renewed.

So my prayer for you, reader, is that you will allow God to do a work in you to renew you...to show you a better way. He does it slowly, patiently...but you have to let Him.