Living Fearless

 Matt 26:35
Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee.

Bold words from the mouth of Peter. I believe he meant it with all of his heart. That was Peter’s personality. He was not afraid to step out. He was the one who stepped out of the boat into the water when Jesus called out to Him. He was the one who drew out his sword and whacked off the ear of Malchus, a servant of the high priest. Impetuous, acting quickly and without thought or care of the consequences. Here he is again, in the heat of the moment, speaking out without really thinking. Jesus, who knows our hearts better than we do, looks at Peter with a heart of compassion and says, “Peter, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me three times”. What a blow that must have been for Peter, but when the rubber hit the road, Peter gave in to his fears. Our humanity is so prone towards self-preservation. When the going gets tough, we take the road of least resistance. This proneness is made more evident without the help of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. We see a different Peter after Pentecost. Peter at Pentecost experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in His fullness.  (Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost…Acts 4:8)   Filled with the fire of God, Peter’s fear was gone as he spoke with boldness about Jesus. As newborn Christians, we have become a follower of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is with us, guiding us into all truth. The Holy Spirit will lead us to a place of full surrender. To a place where we give everything to God and allow the Holy Spirit to remove the proneness to sin. Being filled with the Holy Spirit does not dehumanize us, but it does empower us to live victorious and fearless where we are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we are tempted to fear, we can stand up to our adversary and truly say, "Though I should die, I will not forsake my God.”

Jesus is Praying for Us

 Luke 22:32
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not...

Jesus, speaking to Peter, knew that Peter would deny Him when the going got tough. But he also knew that Peter had a tender heart and a desire to serve Him. The fullness of the Holy Spirit and the work He was to do had yet to be released. Jesus said, when the Holy Spirit comes, He will purify, fill, and empower the followers of Jesus to be a witness that would turn the world upside down. As determined as Peter was, fear gripped his heart, and he feared for his life when the pressure was on. Jesus knew that Peter would “drop the ball” and his faith would falter. Our humanity, without the grace of God, is so prone to fail. Jesus prayed for Peter that even in times when trails come, and we fail, that we do not have to quit and give up. Jesus, who sits at the right hand of God, is interceding for us even now. When Satan is doing all he can to shake us up and cause us to cast our faith away, Jesus is praying that we hold on and trust God who will find a way of escape. We sometimes come through the battle beaten up and sometimes wounded, but our faith in Jesus can remain true. It is good to have friends pray for us, and we are encouraged that our brothers and sisters in the Lord are praying, but to know that Jesus is praying for us, and His prayers are sure to reach the throne of God. If the cock crows in your life, don’t give up; turn to Jesus, who is praying that your faith will not fail.

God of all Grace

 1 Peter 5:10
But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

It is God, and God alone, by His grace, that we are made children of God. In our humanity we are weak and incapable of living a life that is perfect, a life that is able to overcome the attacks of Satan as he seeks to destroy our faith and standing with God. Suffering comes with the territory of trying to live a godly life. But, through it, we are made stronger and become rooted and grounded in Christ. Peter says that the God of all grace is able to make us perfect. The word "perfect" is translated from Greek to mean “equip or adjust us.” In our humanity we are not equipped to handle the trails that we must face. God is refining our faith as we go through suffering and hard times. His purpose is to make us strong in the face of adversity. His desire is that we become established in Christ at a place where we don’t have to fear Satan and his attacks. We can trust and have faith in Christ to resist the temptations that we face in our lives each day. Temptation to put our trust in the flesh, temptation to cast our faith away, and think that God does not care about our situation, our suffering. He is the God of all grace, and we can believe He is able to do all that He has promised to do for His glory and our good.

Not Ashamed

 2 Tim 1:12
Nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Paul, knowing that his time on earth would be coming to an end, admonished believers to hold fast to their faith. Stand up and not be ashamed of what they believe to be God’s truth and salvation to man. Times have changed, but the message is still the same. Jesus came to save sinners. All of humanity is lost in sin, born with the Sin nature, in need of forgiveness. I had a friend who believed that men are basically good and just needed to be trained and surrounded by a good environment. This thinking is contrary to the teaching of the Bible. Paul writes in the book of Romans that ALL are born sinners and must come to God for salvation. This is the message given to us by Jesus. We need not be ashamed, for the answer is found in Christ. Accepting Jesus as our savior means that we have confessed our sins, turned away in repentance. He is then faithful to save us from being lost for eternity. This truth is sealed in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. As we commit our hearts to Christ, take up our cross and follow Him, He has promised to keep us by His grace and to hold steadfast the commitment we made the day we gave our heart to Him.

The Lust of The Flesh

 Gal 5:16
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 

As a student of the word, I endeavor to find the meaning and application of scripture. Much has been written about the life of a Christian and what that looks like in this present world. We live in a different time and culture when we compare our present world to the days of the early church, but humanity has not changed. The lust of the flesh (to satisfy our human desires) is still present in each one of us. The fulfillment of this lust may manifest itself differently in each person. Self and gratifying its wants is at the core of fulfilling the lust of the flesh. The question boils down to this entity called “self”. As long as we live, we will never escape the humanity of our fallen nature. But we have been given the means to take ourselves off the throne of our hearts and put the Holy Spirit in its place. The work of entire sanctification, where our hearts are made holy by the power of the Holy Spirit, not our humanity, but our heart.  He provides the power in which we can allow the Holy Spirit to live and leads us into a walk that fulfills God’s plan for our life. The fulfillment of God’s plan is to love as Christ loved. This is made possible when we allow and choose the Holy Spirit to take control of daily actions and reactions. I believe it is possible to live a sinless life where the lust of the flesh is not fulfilled. As long as we walk in the Spirit, scripture says selfish lust will NOT be fulfilled. We still live in a vessel of clay, subject to shortcomings and imperfection. Mistakes will happen, and we still face temptations, but if we choose to let God have His way in our lives each day, His Spirit will give us the power to be what He desires us to be.

Be Still and Know

 Psalm 46:10
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations,  I will be exalted in the earth!”

God is in control! We often find ourselves fretting over many things, and truth be told, many of the things we fret over are created in our imagination. That is not to say that there can be some pretty big things in our lives that can cause us to be concerned about. Human nature is to seek solutions, so we run about looking for ways to solve what unsettles us. The old saying, “The Lord helps them, that helps themselves.” has some merit to it, but there are times and situations where God is the only one that can make it happen, He desires that we stop trying to work it out through human manipulation, and trust Him to do the work. Let God be God, He is the mighty God, the first and the last, and things often happen to give God the opportunity to step in and take control that His name will be glorified and be exalted.  God says, “Be still, and watch me work.” He is able, praise Him, and exalt His Name!      

Not By Our Works

 Titus 3:4,5
But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared,  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.

It is a marvel to think that a holy God would consider dwelling with sinful humanity is beyond my comprehension. Man is inherently influenced toward selfishness. There is a part of man that desires to do good and will manifest this goodness through acts of mercy and human compassion. Humanity has the capacity to love, born from being made in the image of God. Civilization has worked to cultivate this goodness, creating laws and statues to help govern the behavior of people to act civilized. The influence of religious organizations has contributed to this influence by teaching us to be kind to each other. Jesus Himself, in the Sermon on the Mount taught us to love your neighbor as yourself. But being good is not enough, for all have sinned and come short of redemption. Our good works come short of meeting the requirement for atonement for sin. But God, in His tender mercy and love sent His Son to pay the price for our redemption. He died on the cross, the sinless One, the lamb of God who is able to take away the sins of the world paid the debt that was ours. Through His death and resurrection we now can have new life, The Holy Spirit is given to us, purifying our hearts by faith. The world is filled with good people doing their best, and only God knows the heart of man, but salvation does not come by good works that we have done, but by faith in the One who is able to save us to the utmost.

Through Faith

 Heb. 11:33,34
...who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,  quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 

Men and women of the Bible were just ordinary people. They were human beings that faced  the daily struggles of life. They were really no different from you and me. It was their faith in a big God that made them extraordinary. They refused to give in and quit even when faced with imprisonment and death. They were not perfect and their humanity sometimes failed them, but through faith they were able to overcome their human weakness and were made strong by the power of God. They allowed God to work through them, and God was glorified in them. We live our lives each day doing ordinary things that appear to have insignificant impact, but God honors those who dare to believe Him. Like the father of the son with the unclean spirit we pray, “I believe, help my unbelief.” In the face of what seems impossible, Jesus says, “If you can! All things are possible for one who believes.” Have faith, trust God to do the impossible. He did it then, He can do it again!

Grieve Not

Eph. 4:30
And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Distressing, or causing  the Holy Spirit to be sad happens when we do something or say something that is contrary to the nature of God. Our renewed vessel was made to bring honor to His Name. When we say things that hurt or demean others, we grieve the Holy Spirit. When we allow bitterness, anger, and evil speaking to dwell in our vessel of clay, the Holy Spirit will not abide. He will depart from us if we don’t take action. It is true that a vessel that is fully consecrated and sanctified to God will be sensitive to the checks of the Holy Spirit, and will guard against things that will grieve Him. But Satan is out to destroy what God has made new, and will bring temptations that will play with our emotions and humanity. We are still human, and subject to the temptations of the flesh. We are admonished to put off any behavior or actions that would cause the Holy Spirit to depart. God will never leave us or forsake us, but His Spirit cannot abide where sin abides. He will continue to deal with us and call us back to Him.

Two Edge Sword

 2 Kings 22:11

 Now when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.

God’s word is like a mirror, (James 1:23) it reveals our sinful condition. People are quick to hold on to the comforting truths that God’s word provide when going through tough times. His word is an inspiration and brings hope and purpose in life. But, His word is like a two edged sword, (Hebrews 4:12) it also reveals the darkness of our heart, how all have sinned and come short of God’s will. When King Josiah heard the word of God read, he was struck with conviction, the word had revealed the sin in Judah, and he was responsible to do something about it. Like Josiah, we can open our hearts to God’s truth, walk in the light He reveals to us. Repent and cast away every sin that so easily beset us, and serve Him with a humble heart. For humility brings us the grace of God, that give us hope to live today and all our tomorrows. 

The Sinless Life

1 John3:6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

The teaching of John Wesley concerning the life of holiness is that Christians do not sin if they are living and abiding in Christ. The doctrine taught by Wesley is founded on Biblical teaching given to us by the Apostle John. Sin, a known transgression against the known will of God, a refusal to do what is right and a total disregard to the commandments of God. The desire or temptation to sin is not  a transgression. Humanity with all of its short comings will fail in judgement and may not always rise to occasion or expectations of others. The flesh is subject to illness, which weakens the body and mind to not always act and think correctly. The sinless life is made possible when one totaling yields themselves in full surrender, allowing the Holy Spirit to take full control of their heart and life. John Wesley called this Christian perfection, or the work of sanctification. The sinless life is for us all today, if we trust and truly pray for the fullness of His blessing to fill our hearts.

I Cried Unto Thee

Psalm 141 :1 “Lord, I cry unto Thee! Make haste unto me! Give ear unto my voice when I cry unto Thee.”-

In desperation and when facing difficult situations, we often will fall on our knees, or lift up our heads toward heaven and ask God to hear our prayers. Crying out in prayer in not just a casual conversation as we talk with God. A prayer that cries out is packed with a lot of emotion and sincerity. It implies that we are in need of immediate help and need God to answer in some way. There are times that we need to cry out for help. Satan is out to devour and destroy. In time of temptation, we are tempted to say things that may be unkind. We cry out and ask God to keep our heart tender and compassionate. The temptation to do wrong is not beyond a Christian who is fully surrendered to the will of God and filled with the Holy Spirit. We are human and subject to the limitation of this human body. We cannot make it on our own. We need His help. “Lord, I cry unto Thee! Make haste unto me! Give ear unto my voice when I cry unto Thee for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

The Chastening of the Lord

Heb 12:5b, 6a ““My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth”-

We all live in vessels made of clay, subject to human frailties and bodies that are imperfect. We are quick to jump to conclusions and make imperfect judgments. We have habits from a life of sin that often lead us to make wrong decisions in life. We seek to love God and do his will, but sometimes come short. In prayer, the Lord speaks to us and disciplines us for our lack of falling short. God desires us to live a life of holiness, one that is righteous and pleasing to Him. He knows us better than anyone else and knows are weakness and areas that we need to work on. If we are dealing with sin, we need to confess it to Him and continue to walk in obedience. But, God also want to make up better Christians, and that often requires us to learn hard lessons and a willingness to admit that we can make mistakes that can affect our spiritual life.

Teach Me

Psalm 143:10 “ Teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God. Thy Spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.”-

Learning is a process that a requires time. Some people learn stuff faster than others, depending on their love and motivation to learn. If we keep an open heart to truth. As a baby learns to walk, God will teach us to walk in uprightness. God is patient with those who have a desire to learn and do what is right. He knows our heart and He knows our humanist and our short comings. He understands our struggles, and desires to teach us how to overcome in times of adversity.