This week, Michael writes
that a child of God is not one who has everything together. The people of
God still struggle with the sin nature of the flesh that we inherited from
Adam. Men and women of God need to swap their own self esteem for Christ
esteem. He gracefully breaks us so that He can lift up our heads. We're
broken by God's grace so that He can forgive us when we repent. Grace and
mercy are not because of what we've done, but because of what the Lord did on
our behalf when He became the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf.
In 1 Peter 2:9 it says, “But you
are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people;
that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness
into His marvelous light:” Today, we're a chosen generation to make an impact
to influence our world for Christ. Our country's cultural mindset has
changed over the last 50 years. The change has been gradual as the cultural
erosion has progressed.
- We're a royal priesthood. The priest is the
one who speaks to God on behalf of the people. The priest ministers
the love and light of Christ in a world of darkness. This is our
calling of God.
- We’re a holy nation because our citizenship is
in heaven. Holy men and women have been made holy at salvation ... they
have been set apart for God's purpose through the supreme payment of the
blood of Christ. Our priestly ministry is a blessing. Our calling is
to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel.
- We're peculiar people. We're not normal ... we're unusual according to the world's standards. To follow Christ, we must deny ourselves to follow Him. If any man or woman is in Christ their a new creature .... called out of darkness into His marvelous light. Our purpose is to reflect and demonstrate the nature of Jesus Christ others. The enemy (the flesh, the God-rejecting world system and the devil) will tell us that we're a failure and that we're hypocrites for professing the standard of Christ. However, the Word of God is truth. According to the truth of the Word, it is God who works in you to will and to do of His good pleasure.
Most people think that they
need to seek retribution and to retaliate against those who have violated their
"rights." However, Jesus said "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God." Therefore, recompense to no man evil for
evil ... be not overcome with evil but overcome evil with good. people are
comfortable in the "shallow end of the pool." However, Jesus
says to come unto me all you who are
weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. He bids us, forsake yourself and come unto me. To
follow our Lord, we must leave the comfort of the shallow end to come and join
with him at the deep end of the pool called life.
Children of God are
"outliers" from the world. We're different because we're
sanctified ... separated according to the purpose intended by the designer.
Life is too short and the stakes are too high to live mediocre lives. Our
challenge is to live a life that's extraordinary, set apart for the vocation
wherewith we have been called.
Let's continue Michael's message on "Our Call" in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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