Each time the brothers gather on the first Sundays I am stirred by the subject at hand. This morning, we finished up on "The Purpose Driven Life," discussing the commissions a believer is asked to perform by Christ. Mainly, the topic centered on spreading the Gospel and bringing back to the LORD His lost sheep.
I have always been impressed by the genuine love and caring -- often at great personal peril and sacrifice -- exhibited by Christians throughout the ages, how dedicated they are to the missionary work. And the torch continues to be carried on in the churches today that love Christ.
I have also heard in some circles that in accepting Christ Jesus into our hearts we are guarantees salvation; but it is our work (or fruit) from that point forward that determines our ultimate reward upon final judgment.
I feel that such belief when applied to our great calling leads to much stress and deviation from the "rest" Christ sacrificed His life to redeem for us. From the brief group discussion (and other similar conversations), there is a common theme of believers who find themselves struggling with their strength, faith, priority, knowledge and individual gift to do God's work up to a standard they deem worthy of a true disciple.
What I am offering may be controversial, but I believe that when Jesus was brutally beaten, nailed to the cross and died of a most painful death, he paid in full ALL the blessings our heavenly Father has in store for us. Nothing more can we earn by our effort and performance. A lowly person like me who has done nothing of significance has the same standing in Christ as giants of the faith like Paul and Peter, not through the same influence and fruitfulness for which I have none, but by the strength of a simple faith that Christ is my savior. For it is only faith and complete dependence on Him that pleases God, and He is assured that fruits born of faith is the sweetest.
God gave each one of us different gifts and burdens; the only measure of equal is our hearts. One who does the most work is not placed in front of the line of blessing and healing...nor the most eloquent of words, angelic of voice, and so on. When one worships Him, and offers himself or herself to the LORD in the name of Christ, God's embrace is complete and boundless. For that is the only way we acknowledge His sacrifice for us, that not one ounce of our effort is worthy but only He is.
Instead of earning more blessings, the Holy Spirit living in us bears fruits in our being joy, peace and love that are the most fragrant offerings we have for Him. And it is in our love and gratitude that we naturally and insistently want to please Him no matter the obstacle and circumstance. We may keep and compare records over fear or vanity, but God does not but only sees our hearts; so focus on Jesus Christ and His finished work for us on the cross, and not on how much work we need to do for Him.
For the more His love is revealed to us, and how our love for Him is stirred, the more willingness and strength we have to offer our time, effort and resources to follow His great commission!
James
I have always been impressed by the genuine love and caring -- often at great personal peril and sacrifice -- exhibited by Christians throughout the ages, how dedicated they are to the missionary work. And the torch continues to be carried on in the churches today that love Christ.
I have also heard in some circles that in accepting Christ Jesus into our hearts we are guarantees salvation; but it is our work (or fruit) from that point forward that determines our ultimate reward upon final judgment.
I feel that such belief when applied to our great calling leads to much stress and deviation from the "rest" Christ sacrificed His life to redeem for us. From the brief group discussion (and other similar conversations), there is a common theme of believers who find themselves struggling with their strength, faith, priority, knowledge and individual gift to do God's work up to a standard they deem worthy of a true disciple.
What I am offering may be controversial, but I believe that when Jesus was brutally beaten, nailed to the cross and died of a most painful death, he paid in full ALL the blessings our heavenly Father has in store for us. Nothing more can we earn by our effort and performance. A lowly person like me who has done nothing of significance has the same standing in Christ as giants of the faith like Paul and Peter, not through the same influence and fruitfulness for which I have none, but by the strength of a simple faith that Christ is my savior. For it is only faith and complete dependence on Him that pleases God, and He is assured that fruits born of faith is the sweetest.
God gave each one of us different gifts and burdens; the only measure of equal is our hearts. One who does the most work is not placed in front of the line of blessing and healing...nor the most eloquent of words, angelic of voice, and so on. When one worships Him, and offers himself or herself to the LORD in the name of Christ, God's embrace is complete and boundless. For that is the only way we acknowledge His sacrifice for us, that not one ounce of our effort is worthy but only He is.
Instead of earning more blessings, the Holy Spirit living in us bears fruits in our being joy, peace and love that are the most fragrant offerings we have for Him. And it is in our love and gratitude that we naturally and insistently want to please Him no matter the obstacle and circumstance. We may keep and compare records over fear or vanity, but God does not but only sees our hearts; so focus on Jesus Christ and His finished work for us on the cross, and not on how much work we need to do for Him.
For the more His love is revealed to us, and how our love for Him is stirred, the more willingness and strength we have to offer our time, effort and resources to follow His great commission!
James
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