A testimony to the saving grace of Jesus Christ. He is no respecter of a person's lineage, level of education, social status, financial status or anything else with which this world defines an individual. The Bible says that ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is pardon for ALL in the blood of Jesus Christ and ALL are given the privilege of sons & daughters of the Most High God. Through Jesus we are heirs to all the promises in the living Bible.
I was on my knees one evening not knowing how to pray or what to pray for. This was because the year had been one of the biggest challenge in my Christian walk. God commands his people to be holy for He said He is holy. And as I was on my knees I knew I had been failing.
As I was on my knees not knowing how to pray for holiness, God reminded what I’d been doing about my diabetes. How regimented I was becoming about monitoring it. And making the necessary adjustments in my diet to bring it in control or keep it in control.
This year I also had my physical and the results were not pretty. As a result I decided to take more control of my diet starting late October and started tracking my blood glucose level before and after every meal, to see the effect of what I ate each time. Based on the results I adjusted what I ate and drank. I also started researching about various diets that would help me control my diabetes, yet retain muscle. Through trial and error figure out that which works for me to get the results I desired. I did not want to take meds.
Holiness similarly is something that an individual has to continually check and see where they stand. If something is not right, make the right adjustments or corrections. Feed on God’s word regularly so that you know what’s right and what’s wrong. Be in communication with God, through prayer, so that your mind is in tune with Godly things. Keep at it - check yourself continually. See where you are going off course. Adjust your thoughts and desires. Control your passions. God’s word says pray always so that it becomes second nature. And, you will be able as Christ to overcome the desires of the eye, the flesh and pride. Christ said since he’s overcome the world, we shall too. He’s a man of his word! So, help me God.
For the past several months life's been teaching me who I am and what I am not as a person, and a little more understanding of Christ my savior. Stumbling along on this christian walk, I feel weighed down with my lack of faithfulness in my relationship with a God to whom I owe it all and for all that he has done for me, I come up short in my gratitude to him. My testimony is flawed. Though I want to love this Christ with my whole being, I find myself wanting many a times in my daily walk. I find it hard to be faithful to a God whom I have not seen with my eyes, touched with my hands, nor spoken to and heard from in a human voice. Even so, I have felt his presence time and again, have heard his counsel through the Bible, and have been led down life's pathways not knowing where I was headed, only to look back and see with amazement that I have been mysteriously led along a path unchartered, yet to the right destination. In circumstances beyond my ability to control, my experiences have led me to feel the presence of this omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, sovereign being who has guided me through all aspects of my life - the good times, the bad times and the ugly times.
What does it mean to really love God. To really love God, Christ says that you have to love him with all your heart, all your mind, all your strength and all your soul. And equally important, Christ says, that you love your neighbor as yourself. This, Christ says, is the first and foremostof God's commands. How does one love God with all of one's heart, all of one's mind, all of one's soul and all of one's strength? How can it be done in our daily walk as we face the daily, hourly challenges that life throws at us? The peaks and valleys of our lives, the carnal desires of our heart, the selfish desires, the lustful pleasures that the body craves - whether it's food, alcohol, drugs, sex, or whatever. The prideful desires for wealth, fame and prestige. These crowd God out of our hearts.
No matter, this seems to be the normal course for every man's life. Yet we can overcome these, and moment by moment fulfill the first and foremost command in the Bible to truly love God. This is where the three temptations of Christ and why he went through them makes sense. First, the three temptations of Christ - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the heart and man's pride that he overcame with God's word (God's commands in the Bible) and his relationship with Father God, are lessons for us to take to heart. The lessons of prayer, fasting and meditation on God's word. Secondly, how Christ loved his neighbor, not the pharisees and the religious right wingers, but the blind, the deaf, the lame, the cripple, the sick, the lepers, the prostitute, the destitute and the marginalized ones of society, showing them through his love and compassion, his way of life, the pathway to salvation. This is our roadmap on how to truly love God. Daily overcoming the temptations of life and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Loving your neighbor is not just loving your brother/sister at home or in the church, rather how do you show another, someone who doesn't know Christ, the pathway to salvation that you so dearly want for yourself.
I find it encouraging that the man who wrote a good portion of the new testament in the Bible, apostle Paul, cries out to God to help him overcome a thorn in his flesh, that may have affected his christian walk; an infirmity, whatever that may be whether physical or mental the Bible does not say. In 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, we read Paul's writing,
"7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. "
God's answer to Paul's pleas was not by removing the "thorn in the flesh," but to let him know that his grace was sufficient to live with it and conquer it on a daily basis. A promise, that in good times, bad times and ugly times of our lives, God was not going to let go of us, but in our weak moments, his strength, his grace would keep us moving forward. Christ has a personal agenda for each of our lives. As the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-3), he takes a personal responsibility to make sure that we finish this journey of life victoriously. Christ's prayer in the book of John, chapter 17, for his disciples and all future believers is an attestation to this. The only one mentioned to be lost in this chapter was Judas Iscariot. Yet I believe he would have been pardoned if he had asked for God's forgiveness.
Each day in our life we will be faced with the same temptations that Christ faced. Some folks will be strong in dealing with some aspects of these temptations in life, but none is strong in all aspects of these temptations that each of us will face at one point or another in our lives. The hope that we have in Christ is that since he has overcome all temptations, his grace will be sufficient at our time of need. Ask God without any reservations, ask him bluntly (for no sugarcoating of our predicament in life is needed in front of an omniscient God) to help as you face your thorn(s) in the flesh. The bible says that it is very personal to God when it comes to his children, for his glory is what's at stake. It's personal to God when it comes to your life.
We need to be sincere in our asks to God each day, and know that there will be missteps and falls along the way, but you will find a God who keeps every promise he's ever made to mankind. He will keep us standing each day as we put our faith in him to help us with the thorn(s) in our flesh. As you face and overcome the temptations in your life on a daily basis, with God's grace, you will find yourself loving this God with more of your heart, more of your mind, more of your strength and more of your soul; and loving your neighbor as yourself.
May our prayers each day be the prayer of David, "Search me oh God and know my heart, test me and know my thoughts. Point out within me all that displeases you and lead me along the paths of everlasting life." - Psalms 139. And one day we will stand in front of him loving and worshipping him with all our heart, all our mind, all our strength and all our soul; and that neighbor you loved as yourself will be standing beside you. And His grace which is sufficient will make this happen!
Just my thoughts based on my Christian belief... As a Christian, the act of suicide/assisted death questions the "sovereignty" of God. It is the culmination of the thought that God is helpless in the individual's life. This action questions and diminishes the omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence of a sovereign God. The act of suicide (which is an individual and very personal decision) amounts to a denial of the sovereignty of God. This act seems to me the ultimate sin as the individual has denied God for who he is and rejected God's ultimate purpose for his/her life. What recourse is there when that life comes to an end? Times of great challenges will come in our lives. The Bible is peppered with characters like you and I, who've had times of great anxieties and fear, where they wanted their lives to end. The bible talks of prophets, powerful men of God who performed great miracles, and yet during times of disappointments in life, prayed to God to end their lives and wished their suffering would end right away. But God had a plan for them. It is as we journey through our darkest period we experience the sovereign God, if you put your trust in him. A God who is all capable in all circumstances. I would encourage you to put your trust in God, Jehovah, to see you through your situation. Read the Bible and pray. And your trust will not be misplaced. In the Bible in 1 Peter 5:7 we read apostle Peter encouraging us to "cast all our anxieties on Christ for he cares for us" and may we draw encouragement from Psalms 121 where the author writes...
1I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; 8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
Anthony Bourdain’s suicide made me think. Here was someone who in my mind had the life he wanted to live, the way I would want it for myself. A job he loved, traveled the world, explored new sights, culture, cuisine, interesting lives, an amazing life, had more money than one would need, always surrounded by beautiful and famous people. People wanted to be around him, his life seemingly free of the day to day pressures, yet there was that darkest hour, where everything seemed meaningless that he took his own life!
The news of Mr. Bourdain’s suicide reached me at a time when my own mind was asking God why some had everything in life, while I was struggling under the pressures of work and day to day life. Anthony came every Sunday in to my life through his CNN show and I looked forward to his unique story telling style of bringing every day lives of common and uncommon people from around the globe, that I will never get to travel. In his travels, he seemed to fit with ease in to his surroundings, people of all walks of life, and people seemed to take to him, as I did, for his unassuming mannerisms. Yet there were those dark rooms in the deep of his mind that no one around him knew of, that he finally gave up on a life that seemed to have it all. Yes, he had spoken openly of missteps in life, but which one of us haven’t had them. He had moved on, seemingly, gaining wisdom and strength from those missteps and made an amazingly successful career as a world famous chef, writer and TV show personality. I wondered what went wrong. Why did you do it Anthony, my mind questioned, as if he was standing in front of me.
My thoughts wandered to David, the boy, the army commander, the king who faced seemingly insurmountable challenges that would lead any man to madness or if sane, take one’s life just to get away from the demons that chased him day and night. Constantly his life was under threat from Saul. He was paid with accusations, threats and continuous attempts on his life for his unwavering loyalty to his king and family. Yet he writes only of the goodness of God in Psalms 23. The Bible says God has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. David, the hunted dog, had one thing going for him - FAITH in a God who anointed him the king of Israel at a time when his own family and others discounted him as a naive, inexperienced young man. So in his old age, towards the end of his life, when he looked back upon his life's journey, he saw God’s righteous right hand that upheld him in the darkest hours of his life and he said, “The Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not want...”
I pray that God will give us faith in our darkest hours and know that he's got us covered.
and LORD ( The Great I Am !) you have been my... Courage Hope Strength Strong tower the Cave I hide in Confidence Sight when I can’t see ahead Strength in my weakness Healer Counselor Teacher Master Constant companion Provider Guide Light Wisdom Knowledge Understanding Skill Comforter Encourager Advocate Defender Promoter Peace Blessor !!! His covenant promise has been my refuge... God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. So God has given us both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie, Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to his promise with confidence This confidence is like a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain of heaven into God's inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the line of Melchizedek. - Hebrews 6:17-20
Are we Cadaver Christians - presenting a decorated external appearance to the world, but dead and decaying inside, or living daily by the Holy Spirit's power? Apostle Paul advises us in Galatians 5:16-24 that all throughout our life we will continue to face conflicts, but what choices are we going to make. As we make the right choices, Holy Spirit will strengthen us and transform us.
Paul teaches us to live according to our new life [born again] in the Holy Spirit. Then we won't be doing what our sinful nature craves. The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict. But when we are directed by the Holy Spirit, we are no longer subject to the law [this is not a rejection of the law, rather an emphasis that when we are born again, Christ's Holy Spirit will enable us to live according to the law under his grace and mercy].
When we follow the desires of our sinful nature, our lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in our own little group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin. Let me tell you again, as I have before , that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce these fruits in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law [reaffirming the parenthetical note earlier]. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to this cross and crucified them there. If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or irritate one another, or be jealous of one another. Galatians 5:16-24.
Are we alone in this struggle? The man whose heart the Bible says was fashioned after God's own heart, king David, pleads with God, "How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep me from deliberate sins! Don't let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin. May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and redeemer." Psalms 19:12-14.
God's not going to abandon us in our daily conflicts and struggles and Paul assures us, in Philippians 1:6 - And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again.So let us not be cadaver Christians, but examine ourselves, ask God to help us in this walk to live in the power of his Holy Spirit.
