Embrace the Within no. 163

“Wherefore my beloued, as ye haue alwayes obeyed me, not as in my presence only, but now much more in mine absence, so make an end of your owne saluation with feare and trembling.”

Philippians 2:12 GNV

What happens when we lose fear and trembling? We think we have already achieved Heaven. So we no longer work for the Lord. We get content. We get lazy. We get in a rut. And I see a lot of folks that get saved and stop working. And I totally understand why they stop working. Because constantly working out your salvation with fear and trembling is a lot of work. And it is much easier to accept that you are saved and just stop right there. Works don’t get you saved, so why worry about works? I mean why worry about working anything else out once you find Christ. There is nothing more you need in a relationship with God.

It may sound absurd BUT that is the idea I see floated around a lot on the internet by folks professing Christ. There is no need to work anything out on this side of eternity. There is no need to do anything but ask for forgiveness. Once I get saved, I am good. I have all my bases covered and I don’t need to do anything else. So, what was the point of getting saved?

It’s a prevalent part of human life, selfishness, that stands behind this way of thinking. Selfishness is the problem I see when folks make this decision for their relationship with Christ. Because Christianity isn’t just a religion, it is a relationship. And how am I going to have a relationship with God if I ask Him to forgive me and then just go about my business? I can’t because I don’t want to have a relationship. I want to put God in a list and check Him off. I got saved and I’m good so let me just check that off the list and go about my worldly business. It’s absurd.

Selfishness is not just a problem for the heathens. Selfishness is a problem with folks in the church as well. Selfishness is my problem too. There are many times I want God to conform to my expectations. There are many times I want to put God into some terms that make life easier for me. There are many times I want life to be easy BUT I understand that working on a relationship is tough. I get really worried about folks that won’t have a relationship with their Creator because that is all He wants. That is why He made us in the first place. He could have done anything and He chose to create me. I think oftentimes we lose sight of just how important and special that makes my relationship with Him. And how I shouldn’t want to put limitations on that relationship. I should want that relationship to be the best that it can be.

We wonder why we have problems in churches? We wonder why we have problems in schools? We wonder why we have problems in marriages? We wonder why we have problems in homes? We wonder why we have problems in our community? We wonder why we have problems in our world? We wonder why we have problems in our lives? We are selfish. I am selfish. You are selfish. And rather than work out our relationships with fear and trembling, rather than becoming more like Christ, rather than working on being filled with the Spirit, I decide to stop.

“But the fruite of the Spirit is loue, ioye, peace, long suffering, gentlenes, goodnes, fayth, Meekenesse, temperancie: against such there is no lawe” (Galatians 5:22-23).

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. 162

“So then, being always filled with good courage and confident hope, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight [living our lives in a manner consistent with our confident belief in God’s promises]— we are [as I was saying] of good courage and confident hope, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore, whether we are at home [on earth] or away from home [and with Him], it is our [constant] ambition to be pleasing to Him. For we [believers will be called to account and] must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be repaid for what has been done in the body, whether good or bad [that is, each will be held responsible for his actions, purposes, goals, motives—the use or misuse of his time, opportunities and abilities].”

2 Corinthians 5:6-10 AMP

Courage and hope are important parts of my walk in the Way of the Lord. It takes good courage to know that I am going to need to change a lot more and to make those changes. Courage is choosing to change. It takes confident hope to understand that those changes are not going to be my doing. I need hope in the Lord to help me become the image He wants.

When I first began this walk almost three years ago this month, I had to step out from the rut I was in. The rut was well worn and comfortable. The rut was safe and secure. The rut was home. BUT if anything about my life was going to get better. If anything in my life was going to be abundant and healthy, then I had to drag myself out of that rut. And that took a transformative change in the way I live daily. I changed my diet, my routine, my focus, my self, my yard, and none of that was easy and it doesn’t get easy. It is difficult to get physically healthy. It is difficult to get mentally healthy. It is even more difficult to get spiritually healthy. And all those things are compounded by the rut we create each day. Good courage in the promise and consistency of the Lord is my light through this ongoing change.

When I first began this walk almost three years ago this month, I had little hope that anything was ever going to get better in this world for me or my family. I was afraid that we were going to starve because of the supply chain and my reliance on humanity. Over the course of this journey, I have learned to keep my hope in how the Lord directs me to act and what He has to say. I have often failed in accomplishing things, my first attempt at a garden was a colossal failure, BUT I listened to what I needed to learn from Him and kept confident hope that He was going to provide the Way. Confident hope in Him allows me to move forward despite and in spite of the overwhelming fear and despair in the world.

Good courage and confident hope are what have allowed me to walk this path for nearly three years. I did not have a lot of either of those qualities when I began this journey and I still have a long way to go in my growth as a person. BUT I am not afraid anymore. And three years ago, I was afraid. I was worried. I was unhealthy. I was a mess. And even though I am still a mess today, I no longer fear. I no longer worry. I no longer am unhealthy. And that gives me confident hope that if any of us have the slightest bit of courage to choose to change, then we can all grow in good courage and confident hope through Him.

There are so many things that can get me and you off track. And that's all a diversion from what's really important. And what is really important is that God wants to have a relationship with me and you. And working on that is a lot more important than worrying about whatever else is happening in the world.

So, you can worry about all the other things you don't control OR you can take control of your relationship with Him?

That is your choice. And the choice He freely gives you.

Grace and Shalom to your home.

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

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH