Standing Up for Your Rights as a Christian

In this age of protest and broad rights, I find it strange and disheartening that so few stand up for Jesus. 

We have groups standing up for the rights of gays, transgender, abortion, foreigners, and anything else you can think of, but not so much for our Savior.

All this passion for earthly devices can be distracting and leaves little room for devotion to Jesus.

You have to ask yourself: 

What really matters in this world? What is the most important thing to me?

Above all else, beyond the hoopla of the stage, beyond the 15 minute Twitter fame, beyond the thrill of rebellion and the freedom of saying anything you like and acting as if it were wise and noble and progressive, lies the one true reason we all exist, the purpose and meaning of our lives: our relationship with Jesus Christ, which serves to glorify Almighty God.

So why is all this passion being wasted on slogans and jargon, which serve no purpose other than to briefly glorify those sloganeering?

According to the Word of God, all we do should ‘be done as to the Lord’ (Colossians 3:17) and not to men. If therefore our actions are in light of service to the Almighty, what manner of people ought we to be in His sight? Will you stand up for Jesus and honor Him with your works? Will you remember to let your light so shine among men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven? (Matthew 5:16)

Remember that those without sit in darkness. The light you bear when you are near them must shine, or their current darkness may continue unabated.

You are an ambassador of Christ. Live as such. Let His promises of love and hope, peace and joy fill you up until you cannot help but shine! Jesus went about teaching and healing and admonishing. When He went up to heaven, His disciples received the Holy Spirit, and then they too went about teaching and healing and admonishing. It must be so today. The world has changed but its desperate need for the light of Christ has not. And His call and promise on our lives has not changed either.

We are called to ‘come out from among them and be separate’ (2 Corinthians 6:17). This means we do not allow ourselves to be influenced--and thereby corrupted—by the world. Rather, Christians are to be different, devoted to Christ, unmoved by the world.

We are also called to ‘go ye into all the world and preach the gospel unto every creature’ (Mark 16:15). This means we share the light we have been given, spreading the good news of salvation, with teaching and healing and admonishments—signs and wonders (Mark 16:16-20).

 Remember this also: ‘He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, but he who sows bountifully, will reap bountifully’ (2 Corinthians 9:6-10). You will be amazed, if you allow Him to guide you in loving your neighbors, just how rewarding it is to walk with God in the light.

Those who do not know Jesus are not afraid to stand up for what they do believe in. Will you do the same for your savior?

This is how we stand up for Jesus.

May He bless you and strengthen you and keep you always. Amen  

The Joy and Freedom of Abiding in His Forgiveness

Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Most of us have that one down, though at times it can be difficult to forgive certain transgressions done against us or our loved ones. 

What is often overlooked in the Lord's Prayer is the necessity of forgiving ourselves.

Many of us have trouble forgiving ourselves, getting over our sin and shame. It can be quite a trial. We must remember that sin and shame and guilt have the power to keep us from receiving God's blessings and guidance.

There is good news!

 

The Lord is ready to forgive. 

He wants to forgive you all your sins, and will do so the moment you confess and repent. Psalm 103:8 says 'The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy.' 

Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted.' (2 Corinthians 7:10)

So experience that godly sorrow, let it lead you to repentance. Confess your sins to God and He will forgive you, leading to salvation. 

The moment you repent, you receive His forgiveness. Even for the same sin, committed over and over again, if you are truly penitent and confess it before God, genuinely seeking His grace to help overcome that weakness of the flesh, He will forgive it--seven times seventy-seven!

At that point, you receive His grace, you must receive it to free you of your guilt and shame, for He has wiped it out: 'As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us' (Psalm 103:12).

Do not dwell on your sins, your shame, your guilty conscience; do not let these things rule over you. If you do not release them to God and receive His grace, they will have power over you to keep you in bondage to the evil one.

Sin is bondage

Forgiveness is freedom

You must not allow yourself to be a slave to the flesh, to these fleshly experiences. You have confessed and repented, you are forgiven. Know it! Receive it! God does not hold it against you. If you allow yourself to dwell in guilt and shame when God has forgiven, then you will never advance in your walk with God. Colossians 1:10 warns against a stagnate faith, advising us to increase our knowledge of God. Do this by:

• Acknowledging your godly sorrow
• Repenting
• Confessing before God
• Accepting His forgiveness
• Moving forward in your walk with Him

 If you dwell on your shortcomings instead of on the merciful grace of God’s forgiveness, then you are still letting the flesh rule over you.This is a doorway for the devil to taunt you. He will tell you that you are not good enough to be forgiven, that God cannot forgive such a sinner, and that you will just fail again. Leave it all at the cross; there is room at the cross. He died for you. He lives for you. Abide in this truth and let your mind and heart and spirit abide in the mercies of our everlasting heavenly Father. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Take joy in this truth, my fellow believers. You can have joy again, and you can have the peace of the Lord, which is unlike anything this world can offer. John 14:27. See also Romans 8:1