In
the beginning when God created mankind on the 6th day He breathed in
him the breath of life. That "breath of life" was the soul of man,
that spirit that would live forever, whether in heaven or hell. That spirit of
man which indwells in every single one of us is that part of us that knows right
from wrong, good from bad and makes decisions based on that knowledge. Those of
us who have been born again and saved by the blood of our Lord Jesus the Christ
have the responsibility of making decisions based upon the will of the One Whom
we serve in heaven above. Psalm 16:5 the psalmist says, "The Lord is the
portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot." He
knew where his trust and his spirit lay, because of his relationship to his God
above, and he made decisions based upon the will of God. That's why he said in
Psalm 119:7, "I will praise thee with uprightness of heart," and in
the next verse he says, "I will keep thy statutes." The spirit within
David, King of Israel, trusted in God and knew that whatever would come to pass
would be the right thing if done for the glory of God. Therefore, with that
mindset he endured trials of persecution and affliction for his God and so
should we.
Is it
easy to do the right thing every moment of every day? Is it convenient to
sacrifice one's time, talent or resources for the betterment of someone else
with every opportunity? Does the light of understanding always seem to shine
brightest when making a tough decision? The answer is an obvious, no! Carrying
on, pushing forward, striving for or persevering for our Lord and Savior are
not always convenient or pleasant for us. But, it does show our love for the
Savior and others whom we deem important. We show others by carrying forth the
gospel of Jesus the Christ, the love that God showed us 2000 years ago by
giving, sacrificing and diligently seeking the lost. Does the world always
accept the gospel? Is the Christian always treated with respect as he lives
forth with a life that is pleasing to God? The answer again, is no! But these
things are to be expected. For Jesus tells his disciples in John 15:18,
"If the world hates you, ye know that it hated me before it hated
you." The spirit that is within us is that life, that conscious man,
knowledgeable of truth and desirous to achieve the best for Him Who first loved
us. With this eternal man we are commanded to decide every day to strive, by the Holy Spirit, to obey the will of
God. So even though we are hated and abused we should not quit. Yet obstacles,
more than occasionally, tend to influence our decisions of continuity.
Obstacles such as the fear of man seem to influence our decisions. We tend to
choose to want to please man more whom we see, than Him Whom we do not see. We
don't fully realize that the fear of man brings trouble, heartache, disaster
and discipline. Like the Preacher said in Proverbs 29:25, "The fear of man
bringeth a snare..." If our goal is to try and please our friend or family
member contrary to the word of God then we will bring nothing but confusion, at
the least, to our attention. Yet he also says in 13:4, "The soul of the
diligent shall be made fat." In simple terms, these words refer to the
spirit of man, in Christ Jesus, obtaining everything he needs and being more
than satisfied because he has decided to follow the commandments of Christ
perpetually. Yet, being challenged to consistently fear God rather than man
(Acts 5:29) brings with it obstacles such as serving yourself rather than
others. King Solomon, the Preacher, has also mentioned this when referring to
the sluggard. In the first part of Proverbs 13:4 he says, "The soul of the
sluggard desireth, and hath nothing:" In being sluggish or passive the
Christian himself wants to be served instead of serving. Therefore, in 20:4 we’re
told what happens to him who does not wish to work when the writer says that
the sluggard shall be reduced to "beg in harvest."
We must
have the mind of Christ as Paul speaks of in Philippians 2 if we are to carry
on in this life pleasing our Father above. In this passage Paul points out some
key characteristics of what is referred to as "the mind of Christ."
And if we heed these characteristics our spirit will be more encouraged and
enlightened so that we, by the Holy Spirit, may be strengthened as we are
guided day by day. The first characteristic of which we find in this passage is
found in verse six, "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God:" Now, I do not want to say in any way that we are
equal with Jesus the Christ, so please, please, do not misunderstand me. What I
want to point out is that He knew Who He was in His Father. If we wish
to continue day after day for our Lord Jehovah we must understand that we are not only children of the King
but we are eternally saved by the shed blood of our King. That truth carries
with it much more than this blog is even remotely able to contain. But in a
sentence or two that truth, for the purpose of this blog, means that we have the
everlasting presence of the One Who created the universe. All we have to do is
call on Him and He will give us the wisdom, understanding and knowledge we need
to serve Him. It may be by people or it may be by programs or it may be by some
other circumstances. God gives to us what we need through different means
whether tangible or intangible, animate or inanimate. But please, do not think
of God as a genie in a bottle, "What three wishes do you desire of
me!" His blood was shed for us so that we might have a life of
fulfillment, joy and everlasting fellowship not a life of everything we ever
wanted on this sin-cursed earth.
A
second characteristic involved in our perseverance for the Savior is that of servant
hood. When Christ was in the upper room with His disciples the night before his
crucifixion He washed the disciple’s feet. Jesus said to the 12 gathered around
Him that if they were to be counted great in the Kingdom of God they must be a servant
to others. So as he washed their feet, which was one of the most humbling tasks
back then, He said that they should do so unto others. We must realize that we
are not here on this earth to serve ourselves, but rather God Himself. Times
will get tough and there will be days when nothing will be pleasant but if we
realize that it is God Whom we are serving our struggles are seen in a
different light. Those times through which we push will not become easier but become
bearable because we realize the reason for which we are enduring certain
hardships.
Another
characteristic involved in our ability to consistently press forward is that of
humility. Philippians 2 says that Jesus humbled Himself. We will not ever be
able to do everything we need to do at all times on our own. We all need help
at times. The fact that we have frail bodies is evidence of that very fact. That
we cannot all run the mile, climb the hill, figure out a certain solution or determine
what the best track is for our children should keep us sensible enough to know
that if we do not ask for help things can/will become tougher. God wishes for
us to rely upon Him for all our needs (Matt. 11:28-30). Therefore, if we will
call on Him and ask Him for what we need He has promised to provide (Jer. 33:3;
Phil. 4:19).
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