To what extent is God's life truly manifested in us, in our way of being and doing? To what extent are God's expectations fulfilled in our lives? It is perilous for a Christian to focus only on what is God's responsibility and never think about what is his own responsibility. This leads us to live extremely deficient lives, where we live in a state of incomprehension because we do not know why this or that happens.
Somewhere inside us, we believe that we can remain as we are and that God will continue to keep all of His promises. However, God's promises are conditional. God's Word tells us, for example, that if we believe, we will be saved. Salvation is conditioned by faith, given by grace, but conditioned by faith. At every stage of our lives, God has expectations. We are saved freely, without having to pay for salvation, but we had to believe to receive it. In God's economy, salvation is freely offered, and in reality, everything is given to us freely because we can do nothing to deserve God's goodness and grace at any level of our lives. However, God does have expectations of us.
Why this frustration among Christians?
In the system God has set up, the answers and results we receive are conditioned by the choices we make and our conformity to God's expectations. So, everyone needs to get rid of the idea that all God wants is for us to go to church on Sunday, listen vaguely to the message, be kind, not too mean, and then we become a good Christian. This is false, and this misconception is the reason many Christians feel frustrated in their lives. They think they are doing everything right, so why doesn't God answer?
In the system God has put in place, the answers and results we receive are conditioned by the choices we make and our conformity to God's expectations. Share on XThis is why it is important to meditate deeply on redemption because we have a false idea of our righteousness and justice. Anyone who does not continually meditate on redemption forgets where God brought them from. They forget their own wickedness, which persists to this day, and the extraordinary grace they have received. If we are not continually aware of the immense grace we have received, we will be resistant to the obedience and change required by God. Yes, God requires change.
A life of service and sacrifice
Indeed, the Christian life is a life of service and sacrifice, the opposite of what we are preached today. Many people want us to believe that all we have to do is attend a service, dance in praise, have a good time on Sunday and everything will be fine. But this is not the case; otherwise, God would have to apologize to the Apostle Paul, to Peter, and to all those people who gave their lives so that we could be born again. The song 'Only Yeshua will reign forever' is a beautiful song that declares the lordship of Jesus. But Jesus reigns through his Church, and throughout the world.
Today, we see that the Church seems to be in decline because those who call on the name of Yeshua have not decided to obey Him. There is nothing more powerful on earth than a Christian. And there is no entity on this earth more powerful than the Church, none. This is certain, and the reason is simple. There is no entity on earth more powerful than the Church because it is inhabited by God, and it is through the Church and the Church alone that God acts on earth and manifests His power. But if this Church does not decide to live in accordance with God, it remains weak.
A child of God is a concentrate of power
A group of young people from the church returned from a short retreat and testified that they had prayed as they had never prayed before. The life of God was already within them; the ability to pray was already within them, but they were not manifesting it. Every child of God is a concentrate of power, but many live weak lives, even though God has placed an extraordinary engine within them. And why? It is because in some cases, we have not understood and accepted what God wants and the need to follow His Word. God's Word tells us that God is love. The foundation of our relationship with God is based on the fact that He has loved us, loves us, and will continue to love us. The ultimate sacrifice was made because He loves us, and that is why we love Him.
And by loving Him and following His command to love our neighbor, our enemies, and those in God's household, we position ourselves to experience extraordinary graces. This is our part that we are supposed to do that will trigger a response from God. In 1 John 4, verse 7 says, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. He who loves has been born of God and knows God." So, if someone does not manifest this love of God, we have every right to question their conversion.
And when it comes to loving God Himself, that love is demonstrated through service. When we love Him, we serve Him. So when I meet people, I want to know what they are doing for the Lord and for His Church. After all, how can you be born again, know God, and not love what He loves?
The Church, Jesus' priority
So, those who say it's just Jesus and me, and prefer to stay home or watch online without participating in the Christian community and don't get involved anywhere, are either not truly converted or Satan has taken them hostage. Jesus is building His Church and it is His priority. And if we truly love the Lord, we will love His Church and be invested in it. What God is doing on earth today, He is doing through strong, passionate churches filled with men and women who love Him.
The Church doesn't exist just for the Christian's well-being; it exists so that God can have a community of people who love Him, continually being transformed, living and acting together to advance His cause on earth. God takes His purposes seriously, and everyone needs to understand that they are not His obsession, that their well-being is not God's obsession. His will, His kingdom, that is His obsession. You are included in that and you benefit from His grace, but if you were to leave, He wouldn't miss you. Sometimes people think that if they stop going to church and decide to live their lives on their own terms, God will mourn their departure.
What God has done for us is too extraordinary. We cannot afford to play with His affairs. Share on XWhat God has done for us is too extraordinary. We cannot afford to play with His affairs. This is how God has shown His love for us. He sent His only Son into the world so that through Him we might have life. He sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. And God's Word tells us to love one another, not because we have become wonderful people, nor because we suddenly grew wings, nor because everything we say is pleasant.
God didn't tell us to love one another because we'll never have problems, conflicts, or misunderstandings. He told us to love because He loved us. You have the right to stop loving someone the day God stops loving you. It's important for us to understand this because the Church today is weakened, undermined by internal issues, problems, and divisions, because everyone wants to assert their rights, preferences, and will at the expense of the work and the community. Everyone believes they have the right to do what they want.
But in this wonderful kingdom of love, we especially have the right to love. And this is how our lives will correspond to the expectations of our great God.
You must be logged in to post a comment.