“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?”
Tag: disciple
The Living Word
To my children I often feel compelled to ask, ‘have you been in the word today, or even lately?’ That is a good question to ask yourself. You may say sure, I listened to the greatest radio preacher on the way to work today, or I am reading the latest, greatest Christian book, or I was in church just yesterday and the pastor was talking about the word. Anything remotely similar to those responses, really misses the point of the question. I mean, no doubt the radio preacher, the Christian author, or the pastor all base their life and message on the word. But, are you spending time in the word of God for yourself, or are you for the most part a ‘word-less Christian’? You’ve made a commitment, but have done little to build upon it. Have you become, according to the book of James, ‘a forgetful hearer, but not a doer of the word.’ Do something to change that this year by committing to spend time daily in the word of God. Look for the word to move you, to speak to you, to change your thinking by hearing and doing what God says. The Bible says God’s word is ‘living and active’. It states that this word is further able to cut right to the heart to produce a testimony of Jesus. It was for this reason the Apostle Paul could say, ‘for me to live is Christ….’ The heavenly Father desires for His children to be His living witnesses. You simply cannot do that without this ‘living Word’. Or said another way, you cannot be His disciple without living in this word. Your faith depends on this word, without it you will not be able to stand in these days. So activate your Christian life today by looking with expectation for the move of God through His living word.
The Witness of My Love
The way you love is a witness about what and who you will follow, and it will surely dictate who you serve. Jesus said, “by this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Love for others is the test of true disciples. It is this distinct quality that redeems men and promotes a witness that speaks louder than mere words. This past week, I felt as though the Lord was revealing to me the true marks of His discipleship. His disciple is a follower; he is led by the Spirit of God to become the example of Jesus by loving others through difficult and trying situations. Jesus commands this love by saying, ‘love as I loved you, follow me.’ ‘I loved you when you were far off, even haters of God, so I loved you and say love others like that.’ Second, His disciple is a fisher of men, a rescuer of souls in danger. He looks by the Spirit of God for ways to forgive and so redeem what would otherwise be lost. Third, he is a finisher. It’s not just that he is one who endures all things to the end, but that he, by wisdom, seeks to finish the work of God in the lives of others like a skillful carpenter would carefully adorn the inside of a large house making it possible for others to find life and living there. It is to complete the work that Jesus birthed in others through much prayer by learning to love instead of loving to hate. Jesus is calling you as His disciple to a love relationship thereby saying, ‘why not begin to pray that your closest relationships be marked by My love?’ Why not pray for those places where loving is hard? ‘Come, develop my character of love, because I have loved you through some difficult times so you could be, as My disciple, the witness of My love.’
GraceLife 