Hebrews 12:1 says, “WHEREFORE seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily
beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”
This week, Michael writes that only Israel
and America declare themselves to have been created by God. We look to
the witness of the believers who have gone before us. They have given us
an example of revival in service to the Lord. God places opportunities in front
of each man and woman to serve Him from a heart of love. The first step to
serving God is to acknowledge that "in my own flesh dwells no good
thing." Humility is the requirement to serve God.
Psalm
16:2 says, "I have no good
in me apart from you Lord."
To stand firm
in the freedom that we have in Christ, according to Galatians 5:22, we must
defend the freedom. The freedom is the grace and mercy to serve Him by
serving His people from a heart of love. Real grace is not to dwell on our
shortcomings, but to move in light of the freedom wherewith He has set us
free. We've been saved by grace. However without working for the Lord, faith
is dead and of no effect. Only use not freedom as an occasion to sin, but in
love serve one another. The grace we have been given is so that we can accomplish
that which He has called us to do. For by
grace are ye saved through faith, not of works lest any man should boast.
For we are His workmanship, (His magnum opus), created in Christ Jesus unto
good works which He hath foreordained that we should walk in it.
Legalism is
contrary to the grace of God. Legalism is "the law of sin and
death" and is the consequence of sin. Legalism demands performance
and results in guilt for failure to perform according to the law. Legalism
is the result of the bondage of the flesh and of the sin nature. Any law
that requires "perfecting the flesh" results in the bondage of
legalism. Fear, guilt, pride, and shame are the types of bondage the
adversary uses to enslave people.
James 1:20-22
says “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay
apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness
the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.” “But be ye doers of the
word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
Meekness is
the key to receiving the engrafted word. Meekness is to place ourselves in
a position that we acknowledge that God knows more than we do. Meekness is
strength with quietness and confidence in the power of God. The engrafted
word is grafted into the living branch and the life source of the word will
flow through believers who are grafted into the living Word. As Jesus
said, “I am the vine and you are the
branches”. Jesus Christ himself is the Word of God and the meaning of
the Word. What is the gospel message, the good news of Christ? Jesus
said in Matthew 4:17 “From that
time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand.”
How close is
the Kingdom of Heaven? It's "at hand." Kingdoms move when
the king moves. Kingdoms move either to conquer or to make war. Jesus'
kingdom moved to make war against the powers of darkness. According to 1
John 3:10, Jesus came to destroy the world of the devil. The “good
news” is the message of repentance: to turn your hearts from darkness unto
the light of the good news of the grace, mercy and deliverance of God.
May our
prayer be, "I was crucified with
Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ. Christ liveth in me and
the life that I now live I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and
gave himself for me. As Pastor Chuck Smith once said, "The world
has yet to see what God can do with a person who is totally surrendered to
Him." O Lord, let me be that person.
May God
richly bless you!
Your
brother in Christ, Michael
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