I hope you read my previous teaching on the most important decision one can make in their life, and that is to accept Christ as their savior. If you have not read that teaching, please CLICK HERE to read it! As I continue my series on decision making as a Christian, I would like to discuss what our decisions in life truly reflect. Are you making decisions in your life that reflect God’s words and commandments? Are you walking in God’s plan or your plan in life? Are you deciding off sinful desires or what God desires for you? I really want you to evaluate yourself with those questions, being a follower of Christ does not mean you are 100 percent perfect all the time, but you should constantly be seeking the Lord to improve in your weakness.
Are you living your life to benefit yourself, or are you living your life to give glory to God? Are you only giving time to God for two hours on Sunday or are you spending time with the Lord daily? We live in challenging times when some people might have to work more than forty hours a week to pay their bills and put food on the table. You might be working long hours, raising children, or have a spouse. You might be a college student and working a job at the same time. Finding time for God can be a challenge at times. When I was in college, I was taking a full-time load of classes while working full-time in fast food. Later, I got an internship and managed to work at my internship during the week, and in fast food on the weekend, while still taking classes online and at night. It was not easy balancing that, along with making time for God. I probably could have made more time for God back then. But to anyone who is struggling to make time with God, assess how much time you spend on everything each day. Maybe there is something you can cut back on, or maybe you are oversleeping and can wake up earlier to read the Bible, read a devotion, pray, or worship.
Matthew 6:33 (WEB) tells us, “But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.”. Are you seeking God first, or are you seeking your own desires first? I don’t know about you, but I would rather seek God first, than my own desires. Once we are born again, we are new in the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV) tells us, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”. Additionally, Ezekiel 36:26 (KJV) tells us, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”. when we are born again, we should be living in the Spirit, and not of the flesh. The desires and works of the flesh lead to sin. Galatians 5:19-21 (NKJV) reminds us, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”. Many of these items listed are things this world deems as okay or the way to be. Are there any of these items from Galatians 5:19-21 that you are tolerating in your life? If you are allowing sin to run any part of your life, how can you expect the blessings of God to overflow in your life? God wants no one to be in sin, but because of Adam and Eve, we have free will. If you are falling short to an item listed in Galatians 5:19-21, seek the Lord and repent. Also get out of the habit of that sin, it might not be easy, it may involve having to get guidance from another Christian. As Christians, we must stick together and build each other up.
It might be difficult to get out of a sinful habit, maybe because the world views it as okay. As true followers of Christ, we should not be concerned about what the world thinks, we should be concerned about what the word of God says. 1 John 2:15(KJV) tells us, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”. Additionally, Romans 12:2 (ESV) reminds us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”. When you become less worldly and more like Christ, it is normal to expect the people of the world to turn against you because of your beliefs. Often this is when we can become tempted. With the culture war going on in not only America but the world, Christians are constantly having an agenda of sin pushed on them constantly. Christians in America are even being personally attacked for their beliefs. Some Christians are just accepting it as the way of the world. While yes, we are still to love one another, even the sinners, but why are people in the body of Christ, adapting to the sinful way of the world? I am about to say something extremely bold, but my Spirit is telling me it must be said, if the Body of Christ continues tolerating the world, the world will begin to dominate the body of Christ. As the saying goes, what we tolerate will dominate. Let’s start being more true followers of Christ in this year of 2019. The world might be against us, just like it was when Christ lived on earth. John 15:19(ESV) says, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”. We should not be jealous of what the sinful people of the world have, they should be jealous of what we have in Christ.
As followers of Christ, we are to lead by example in all we do. While yes it can be hard. There is a spiritual battle between evil and the body of Christ, that has been brewing for far too long. The body of Christ is having stronger opposition from evil. We don’t have to fight back physically, we must fight back individually and together in prayer and with the word of God. Hebrews 4:12 (KJV) reminds us, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”. Also, Matthews 24:14 (KJV) instructs us, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”. You might not be able to travel the world and teach the Gospel to everyone, but why not the people in your neighborhood or surrounding communities, or other parts of your own country? With the many advancements in technology, it is now more possible than ever before to reach more people with the Gospel. I challenge you to not only lead by example as a follower of Christ but spread the Gospel in as many ways as you can. Also, pray for our leadership in our country, and also for an end to the wickedness in our country and world.