Embrace the Within no. 184

“For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without [regard to] the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged and condemned by the Law. For it is not those who merely hear the Law [as it is read aloud] who are just or righteous before God, but it is those who [actually] obey the Law who will be justified [Because of one’s personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior, God graciously credits His righteousness to the believer. Justification denotes a legal standing with God as designated only by God. God declares a believer to be acquitted or innocent, then designates the believer to be brought into right standing before Him][pronounced free of the guilt of sin and declared acceptable to Him]”(Romans 2:12-13 AMP).

I can’t just hear the Law. I have to obey the Law to be justified. It is great to know a lot of scripture. It is great to go to a church on the weekend. All that is great and good BUT none of that is going to make me obedient. Christianity requires a lot more than those things. Those things, as great as they are, are not examples of a change in me. I need to manifest a change in me to deny myself, take up His cross, and follow Him in obedience. None of those other things matter if I am not different.

I used to spend a lot of time worrying about the rules of being a Christian. I had a really legalistic approach to the faith. Is this okay? Is this a sin? What should I do in this situation? BUT Christianity is a relationship that involves me understanding The Christ enough to internalize the rules as not some list. I need to internalize the relationship as a way of living and not just some legal code. And I think a lot of us are content with saying things like, “Well The Bible doesn’t tell me I can’t do that” and focus more on our walk as a relationship.

I can’t have a solid relationship with whom I don’t understand. I need to get to know those people. I need to listen and hear and learn. Just because my friend never said I shouldn’t do something is not an endorsement of doing that thing. I don’t need to have everything spelled out for me in the terms of my relationship with someone like a contract. I don’t need any witnesses or a notary to have a relationship.

And I need, you need, we need, to stop treating Christianity like a contract. We need to move away from legalism and move into a relationship. And that means something a lot more difficult than a list. It means change. And that takes courage. Courage is choosing to change.

I pray that I move away from lists and move into a relationship with God. I pray that I listen, hear, and learn all that He has for me to understand. I pray that I obediently follow whatever He has for me to do. I pray that I deny myself, take up His cross, and follow Him obediently. I pray that my relationship with Him is an example for my home, my community, and my world.

Grace and Shalom to your home.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH

Embrace the Within no. 183

“He will pay back to each person according to his deeds [justly, as his deeds deserve]: to those who by persistence in doing good seek [unseen but certain heavenly] glory, honor, and immortality, [He will give the gift of] eternal life.

But for those who are selfishly ambitious and self-seeking and disobedient to the truth but responsive to wickedness, [there will be] wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and anguish [torturing confinement] for every human soul who does [or permits] evil, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, but glory and honor and inner peace [will be given] to everyone who habitually does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For God shows no partiality [no arbitrary favoritism; with Him one person is not more important than another]”(Romans 2:6-11 AMP).

I am important to God. You are important to God. We are all equally important to God. God is not partial to anyone, Jew or Gentile, man or woman, saved or unsaved. He loves us all. He will reward us with the judgment we deserve when we stand before Him. I am promised that His judgment will not be arbitrary or partial. His judgment will be according to my actions as I live this side of eternity.

If I persist in denying myself, taking up His cross, and following in obedience, then glory, honor, and eternal life are my gifts. If I am selfish and disobedient, then wrath, indignation, tribulation, and anguish are my gifts.

BUT how can a loving God give good things to one group of people and bad things to another group of people? Who said that wrath, indignation, tribulation, and anguish are bad things? That is your judgment on those things. For God, all things have a purpose. And His love does need for us to learn from our mistakes. BUT, unlike men, God is not going to be vindictive about our mistakes. God is not going out of His way to be mean and spiteful to us. He is giving us the gifts we deserve. There is no spite or malice in these rewards. HE is giving us what we earned because He loves us.

And He is the ultimate judge of my heart. He knows if I am serving Him obediently. He knows if I am being righteous. He knows if I am living as a reflection of His example portrayed through Jesus. Because knowing the Father is only possible through knowing Jesus, “'. . . no man knoweth the Sonne, but ye Father: neither knoweth any man ye Father, but the Sonne, and he to whom ye Sonne will reueile him” (Matthew 11:27 GNV). So I am going to spend a lot more time looking at how The Christ lived so that I can know God.

I pray that I live daily by the example provided by Jesus. I pray that my actions are a reflection of God through the example of His Son. I pray that through these actions I reflect His example to others. I pray that through this walk that I will be a better Ambassador of His Kingdom.

Grace and Shalom to your home.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH