“Are you saved?” I can remember as child a Baptist preacher saying every week without fail the words; ‘Are You saved?’ I believe those 3 words are possibly Baptist’s greatest contribution to the faith. You may know a lot about Him, but do you know Him? If there is no grieving or sorrow over your sinful condition…no witness of the Spirit, then you don’t know Him. For Jesus to truly save you, you must believe you are drowning and in need of saving—otherwise the broken cry for a savior is not heard and He cannot save. It is a matter of need…do you need Him? Do you see your very real need of His love and forgiveness? Or, do you see yourself ‘pretty good’– never considering that one sin…it’s rebellion like witchcraft that has you under a spell of deception never considering yourself that bad; it is your only weak link, but it is powerful enough to destroy your whole life with that one unredeemed failure. I see God is not mocked and sin must be atoned for. What are you doing and where are you taking your sin for atonement? Because what He takes, He covers–what He covers, He redeems, what He redeems He changes, and what He changes He keeps for Himself with a movement of the Spirit that directs my steps to increase as His disciple and witness. So, I ask you again, “Are You Saved…Are You Really Saved?”
Author: Kyle Nees
The Counsel of the Rock
I recently found myself thinking of the failures of the past and felt shame…are you living under shame? Shame is a covering of the enemy to protect his domain and he will use it to wrap you in his plans and identify your life with failure. If you remain under its tutelage it will hinder or even destroy the plan of God for your life. Shame is a destroyer of confidence with God, unknowingly it seeks to wrap you in its garment to neutralize your purpose and steal away God’s plan for your life. I began seeing something about this shame and what I want to present this to you that shame is as counsel. Are you under its advisement? Are you hindered by doubts, fears, self-justification and feelings of inadequacy? These thoughts are nothing more than idolatry, they are worried about preserving your life according to your own self centered view. Think of it this way, these thoughts will lead you to fashion and shape life according to fears and not by faith. I like the illustration I heard recently that man molds with butter, but God molds with clay. They both are shaped to fit a useful ideal however, when the fires of opposition come, one melts, the other becomes hardened to a vessel fit for the Master’s use. Isaiah 42:17 confirms that shame is rooted in idolatry by saying those who trust in idols will be put to shame. Living under the counsel of shame upholds yesterday, it is old man thinking, self talk and self right living, but cannot provide the Grace necessary to walk uprightly, for it only skews my view of things. Seeing my world view, real or imagined, only hindered me from moving in what I knew to be God’s will for those who find their identity in Him. I began seeing my need for God’s presence because it magnifies my position in Christ, whose worth cannot be compared to my ideal which is idolatry and will counterfeit Christ but never produce His image. I need the Counsel of the Rock! Hebrews 12:1-2 says, ‘lay aside the sin that so easily entangles you’. This sin has been the obsession of your whole life, it has colored and clouded your thoughts with shame and it keeps you from finding the steadfast counsel of the Rock. Hebrews 12 continues by saying, ‘Fix your eyes on Jesus.’ He is the rock of your salvation, the perfecter of your faith. It is a faith cleft within the Rock to enable you to see yourself covered by the image of the son. There under His shadow will you find cleansing, covering and a counsel leading you to despise the covering of shame. Hebrews 12:2 says in effect let your life be molded in the image of one who endured the cross, by despising the shame in order to obtain His place in the presence of God.
All of You
The other day I awoke with a sense that the church had fallen into the trap of becoming a social services organization focused mainly on providing benefits for its members, when what we need is greater revival not greater benefits. The greater the awakening the better the revelation of the richness of our inheritance in Christ. The savior did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life a ransom for many. For the church to find it’s full voice like the first church in the book of Acts, its members must find the place of full investment. If you look at that first church you will get a picture of their devotion to what really mattered. It was a devotion to prayer and the word and a gathering for fellowship and service. I believe they were urged by the Spirit to service. Their motive for coming was not how me and my family could be served, but How God could use me and what I could bring for His use. As a friend of mine who does mission work in Peru said, ‘it is those few fish in your hand that the master multiplies with His word of blessing when you invest yourself in the feeding of others.’ I am grieved that too often people act as though their greatest contribution is their tithe. God sits on the treasuries of heaven and commands their release, but what He desires is you; all of you! I see people who need Jesus to touch them, but only on their terms; they will not have it any other way–it is serve me or nothing. I thought about the story of Naaman and Elisha in 2 Kings 5:9-11; there Naaman was angry at having to dip himself in a muddy river Jordan when there were better rivers where he lived. We need the savior’s touch, but He says, ‘devote yourself to My fellowship and serve Me..give up yourself and you will see My move’. The Holy Spirit will not move at your behest or by your dictates, but He moves when we invest ourselves and wait on His cause becoming energized by His power. Often I see people just sit in church as though they get nothing out of it. You may disagree with the message or not like the method of delivery, and the greatest preacher you ever heard may be somewhere else, but none of those things are the real issue. The real issue is our own heart in that we get out of it what we are willing to put into it. I am amazed at folks who come from time to time; they come with a pre-disposition; they have all the advice and can tell you how things are not what they should be and how better off they were at some other time. Yet, they contribute little or nothing and wonder why they get what they get. What about your investment in His kingdom? Will you be part of the work by serving with an attitude that believes Jesus can take your small fish and add His touch to feed many who without your service would otherwise have nothing to eat. To you He says, ‘invest yourself in my cause and believe I will use you…all of you!’
The Power of the Resurrection
Jesus is resurrection life. In the story of Lazarus, the point to Mary and Martha was not merely to bring them to an understanding of Jesus as savior and Lord. That they had already confessed. But that their experience could believe Him to be the savior for that day, that hour, that moment in order to resurrect their Lazarus. You see they loved their brother Lazarus, but Jesus loved him too. It is important that although Jesus knew what he had come to do and that the outcome would be to raise the dead, still He wept. Why? The word gives clear indication Jesus understood how it would all turn out. He wept over the condition of men’s souls and their faithlessness; He wept over their hardness to heart to believe; He wept over their grief and sorrow. I believe He wept in response over what the enemy meant for evil. All because Jesus is moved with compassion to care not just for Martha and Mary, but He cares for you. This familiar story makes a greater point of relevance to your life, that today, Jesus seeks to resurrect your Lazarus, but with power. Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead to bear much fruit as the word says, ‘bringing many souls to Jesus.’ Many more can be brought to the Savior by the power of His resurrection in what you thought was dead, or of what you had stop believing Him to do, touch or redeem. Do you realize Jesus has wept over your condition? He weeps for what the enemy has done and wants to redeem your dead condition to raise up a powerfully able witness to deliver men from their state of denial and unbelief. He waits for you to believe Him for today, saying to you like Martha, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Do you believe this? I am the power to raise you where I live and move to do the unbelievable’. Jesus commands new life to your current state of condition saying, ‘come forth as my living testimony, I will raise you up to bring many others to Me’. Read John 12:9-11 and see many were brought to Jesus all because He cares to resurrect those He’s wept for. He cares for you and says, ‘Just believe.’
GraceLife 