Old Things Have Passed Away, Have All Things Become New?
Where do I begin. Life has had it's share of ups and downs, with both surprises and expectations, joy and misery, victory and defeat... all of which I'm sure we can attest to in our own lives. Our experiences often seem so fresh, so real, so personal, yet in reality there is nothing new under the sun. Depsite 23 years of life experience, I was utterly lost, for it wasn't until Jesus Christ came into my life that I truly understood my purpose. But even after the Father drew me to His Son and sent His Holy Spirit to regenerate me, I continued to walk according to the nature of the old man that lived in this body from 1980-2003. That nature is one of pride, which breeds sexual immorality, envy, hatred, idolatry and deceit. I found myself as Paul descibed in Romans 7, a wretched man, doing those things that I hate, while the things that are good I find myself not doing. Like so many Christians today, I was living an imbalanced life. On one hand, speaking about the goodness of God and how wonderful it is to walk in the Spirit. One the other hand, still bound by the lusts of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, unwilling to fully submit my all to God. It was almost as if submitting everything to God was too difficult. I would read scripture telling me: "A false balance is an abomination before God", "mortify the deeds of the flesh by the power of the Spirit", "Submit yourself to God, resist the devil and he will flee", "there is no temptation that is uncommon to man...God will provide a way of escape" on and on it went. I found myself studying scripture, understanding the Word of God, but I failed to apply the Word to my own life. I could give wise counsel to others, but when it came down to taking that counsel myself - I failed. I struggled with depression, anxiety, lust, doubt and envy - all after God saved me, all after God spoke to me personally and prophetically, all after God performed His Word in my life.
"Before we were saved we were unable to overcome sin, now that we are in Christ we have the power to choose not to sin." - R.C. Sproul
(paraphrase from his book Chosen By God)
"Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh"
One thing I can say is that these past 4 years being in Christ have been a journey, and I have learned some valuable lessons:
1. Stay in position. My pastor and spiritual father makes it a point to instruct each of his sons to stay in position, no matter what. Staying in position means to continue in the Spirit where God has placed you. This requires action on our part. We must actively apply the Word of God to our life so that we can walk in the Spirit, quoting rapper Timothy Brindle "we can stay filled with the Spirit by prayer and scripture reading." The only way to mortify (or put to death) the deeds of the flesh is by the power of the Holy Spirit. No matter how many firey darts the enemy throws our way, we must stand and not be moved. Pastor John Piper once said that "we always walk in accordance to our strongest desires." If we truly desired Jesus Christ, our actions would show that desire and we would walk accordingly.
2. Be patient. Time and time again I've seen promises in God's Word manifested in my life. He has yet to promise me something that He either doesn't bring to pass or confirm that He will bring to pass. Sometimes we can get so caught up in the visible world that we neglect what is going on in the invisible world. I've come to realize that what we see and how we feel in the natural realm is not always accurate - but God's Word is. Grass withers, flowers fade, but the Word of the LORD endures forever. We must let patience have it's perfect work in us so that we can be complete, wanting nothing.
3. Exercise your faith. "Only Believe" is a short yet profound quote by Smith Wigglesworth. My spiritual father often reminds me of the faith I placed in God uniting me with my wife, and has said that if I just use that same faith in every other area of my life that I would be amazed in what God would do. When we first met we became good friends, and although the LORD told me she was my wife, she didn't know I was her husband. For 2 years I held on to God's Word despite how things looked or how I felt, until finally God revealed His will for us to be married, and I will soon be "officially" engaged and married to a wonderful woman of God. If we "only believe" what God has spoken to us in His written Word, what He has revealed to some of us personally and prophetically, and not waver, we will be like Abraham and receive the promise. I use the word exercise because God has given each man a measure of faith, and as we operate in that measure of faith he will give us more, taking us from faith to faith. Anything not done by faith is sin, and faith is the only thing that pleases God. Only Believe. Put all of your faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ and watch God make the impossible possible.
4. Be aware of your environment. Although we are in the world, we are told not to be of the world. John warns us of the spirit of the world and likens it to the spirit of the antichrist. He tells us to believe not every spirit, but to test it to see if it be of God. God has given every Christian discernment through the indwelt power of the Holy Spirit. With this discerment we must guard ourselves from any and every influence that would distract us from the will of God for our lives. Sometimes these influences are avoidable, sometimes they are not. We must do whatever we can not to succumb to these seducing spirits. The Bible says that they will come to seduce people away from the faith, even the very elect if it were possible. We have to be careful what we allow into the gates of our soul: our eyes and our ears. Everything we take in should be edifying and Christ glorifying and we should avoid worldly influences as much as possible.
5. Examine yourself. Paul told us to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. Peter told us to make our calling and election sure. John said that we know we are His if we keep His commandments. The Bible also instructs us to judge ourselves and confess our sins daily, we must identify areas where we have fallen short and ask God to conform us to the image of His son. When we remind ourselves how depraved we really are in light of God's perfection, we should react by humbling ourselves before the LORD and working towards overcoming those areas by the power of the Holy Spirit.
6. Rejoice. When we face temptations, when we struggle, when we are in pain, when we are persecuted, we must always remember to rejoice! The joy of the LORD is our strength, and we must keep a praise on our lips and our hearts must stay meditated on His Word.
7. Persevere. The true test of a Christian is one who perseveres. It is not how one begins a race, but how one finishes that matters. God has given us the strength to persevere. We already have the victory in the finished work of Jesus Christ, and as we endure till the end God has laid up immeasurable treasues in heaven for us as overcomers.
No comments:
Post a Comment