One of the most debated topics I see within the Church is if and how we can hear the heavenly voice of God speaking to us. There are so many different answers given to this question, but there is one unanimous answer we can and should all agree on. God speaks to us through His Word.
Throughout this entire study series, we have learned many incredibly important reasons to be constantly diving deep into God’s Word. Scripture reinforces again and again that Christ is superior to all things because He is our righteous Creator, Sustainer, Controller, Provider, and Judge. We also strengthen our personal relationship and ability to recognize His voice and work through accepting Jesus and His salvation, and placing Him as superior over our lives, entering His rest, repenting of our sins, and acknowledging the beautiful gift of God’s grace by which we are offered all of these.
Each of these steps is vital to our personal relationships with Jesus, and to our ability to hear the Heavenly voice. Through recognizing Him in our lives we are better able to learn, grow, and discern His path and callings for us. It is also our individual responsibility to learn to recognize and obey His voice.
We have each been called into a mission for the betterment of the Kingdom and each person has been called to their unique tasks. We must follow Christ no matter the difficulty, no matter the struggle, no matter the sacrifice. Wherever He calls, wherever He leads, there we must go.
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
So, how do we hear the Heavenly voice? The first step is to put Christ in His rightful place in our lives. Christ’s rightful place is the most superior position in our lives, our top priority and focus, our go-to, our trusted Lord and Saviour, our Good Shepherd. When we put Him first, we have our hearts set on Him and live intentionally for Him, in love and obedience. He is our example and we strive to live as Christ and chase after Him above all else.
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
“We are all called to come to Him, enter into the blessing of a relationship with our Creator, and place Him in His rightful place as righteous ruler of our lives. Through this, we will find rest for our souls and be made whole with His love. Come to the life-giving waters and drink. Refresh your spirit and be made whole in Him who died to save you and rose again as our Holy and righteous Lord.” (Superiority)
Don’t Reject Your Salvation
Our second step is one of action. We are to accept the salvation that God has provided to us through our faith and trust in Jesus. God gives each of us a personal mission and instructions for how we are to rely on Him in all things and not allow for the world to pull us away, causing us to drift from Christ and neglect our salvation. Having a strong prayer life, constant heartfelt time in His Word, and learning to grow with His people in fellowship is how we should spend every day. We must intentionally seek to learn and grow in becoming more like Him.
‘For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” ‘
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
We are called to “pick up our cross and follow after Christ” (Luke 14:26-28), meaning we must follow Christ in all things, knowing that there will be a personal cost paid sometimes but no matter how hard it gets we must continue on in faith, following Him no matter what, no matter how hard it gets, no matter who we lose in order to gain a relationship with Him who is greater than and Ruler of all things. (Salvation)
Don’t Reject Christ
While we take action, to hear the heavenly voice we need to ensure that our eyes are on Christ at all times and that in all ways we emulate Him. Christ came, not to condemn the world, but to save it and we must learn to treat those who may think or behave differently with the same love, mercy, and compassion that Christ has shown us. It is not a simple phrase to be said but rather an action of love that calls us to fellowship with others.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Jesus sets the example for us. He fellowshipped with His followers daily. He taught them, loved them, was patient with them, and Jesus approached different people in unique ways that spoke to them and drew them near to Him and the Father. When questions were asked, He didn’t scream at them, point fingers, call names, act cruelly, or even try to force people to believe Him – even in His anger, He acted righteously and justly, and His anger was always as a reaction to sin. (Christ)
Don’t Reject Christ’s Rest
While we diligently seek Him, we need to be recognizing and resting in all the ways which Christ has shown us, and to listen to His heavenly voice. Learning to discipline yourself also means learning to stay when God says to wait. This is not an inactive time but rather a diligent and earnest time spent seeking Him through prayer and through His word. We need to rest in Him and stay in His perfect peace even when life is filled with storms and stay focused on His path. We need to trust that when God calls us to be still, that it is what is best and is worth the time, worth the correction, and worth the painful process.
‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.’
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
He calls on us to come to Him, bring our burdens, cares, worries, concerns and questions to Him so that He will give us His rest in return. He wants to lighten our load. He wants us to trust Him with our problems and praises. He wants us to give Him our sins and our shame and replace them with peace and rejuvenation through His forgiveness and salvation. We are not good on our own, and we need to intentionally come back to Him over and over again to be restored, to clean out the gunk in our hearts, chip away the hardened spots, and soften us once again to His will and love. (Christ’s Rest)
Don’t Sin Willingly
Sin – a three-letter word. Sin is to miss the mark, and 1 John 5:17 says all wrongdoing is sin. We must recognize what God commands of us and we learn this by spending time in fervent prayer and in studious time spent in His word. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, says Romans 3:23. Humans caused sin to enter the world but God has made the Way for us to be reconciled to Him and that is through Christ Jesus and Christ alone. Through this redemption, we are able to hear His heavenly voice, and by His power resist sin and temptation.
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
‘because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ‘
‘Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”’
Throughout scripture, we are given many further instructions in how to live the way God expects us to, primarily being called to live as Christ as our example. If we love God the way He calls us to, accept His Son and His salvation, truly repent of our sin, and commit to live our lives for Him, God will forgive us and bless us with the gift of His Spirit. We are washed clean of our sins and the power it once had over us is broken, and His Spirit dwells in us to serve as a guide in living according to the will of God. (Don’t Sin Willingly)
Pin me for later!
Don’t Reject God’s Grace
It is important that we know and understand that while we are sinners who deserve punishment for our sins, we were created by God, for God, and we constantly sin against Him. God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). He sent His Son to take our place and the punishment that we deserved because of His great love and His desire to have us restored to Him. This is the grace of God.
The grace of God can be defined by several different aspects of who He is and what He does and provides for us. His grace is His favor, kindness, and friendship offered to us, as well as His forgiving mercy. He displays His grace through the gifts He gives to us, which include His call for us to display Christ’s virtues and bear His good fruit. God also displays his grace through giving us His Law and then fulfilling the Law through the gospel of Christ.
Learning to recognize His heavenly voice and appreciate the grace of God is a vital part of learning to recognize the Heavenly voice. It is by His grace that we have the opportunity to receive His gift of salvation, and then receive the Holy Spirit and be guided by the Heavenly voice.
“O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
‘yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
In all these things, God speaks to us. In all these mercies and grace, God speaks to us. We must open our hearts to Him, accept His Son and the salvation He died to give us, and through this we come into relationship with our Heavenly Father, receive His Holy Spirit, and are guided by the Heavenly voice in our lives. It can be challenging to understand what it means for God to speak to us, but through building a personal relationship with Him with Christ as your focus and foundation we begin to recognize His voice and work in our lives and the world around us.
Hearing the Heavenly voice is a personal experience, unique to each person and their relationship with God. To hear Him better, to recognize Him, spend time with Him in earnest prayer and fervent study of His Word, as well as in fellowship with His people, and you will begin to experience Him, His love and grace, on a new and growing level every day.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
The grace of God is something that will never fully be grasped and understood by human beings, but God shares with us throughout His Word what it is and how we receive it. There are some important factors to consider, several of which are defined by Easton’s Bible Dictionary.
What is Grace?
One of the most important facts we must come to accept in this life is that each and every one of us are sinners who deserve punishment for our sins. We were created by God, for God, and we constantly dishonor and disobey Him.
While this is most certainly true, God still loves us so much that He sent His Son to take our punishment and die for our sins so that we could be forgiven and be free of the power of sin and eternal separation from Him. He literally sent His Son to die in our place so we can be restored to Him, through His resurrection. This is the grace of God.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
Because of His grace, we are offered salvation, through which we can rest in the favor of God and be counted as His friends and children. His grace is not because of anything we could do or earn, but purely because of the works done by Christ because of the mighty grace of God. God favors us with His kindness and friendship, and in so doing gives us grace to reconcile us to Him.
“O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.
Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die.
No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
God’s grace is also His forgiving mercy. This speaks to His loving-kindness which steps in on our behalf through the sacrifice and fulfillment of the Law in Jesus, and awards us salvation through His blood. God exerts His holy influence on us to turn us to Christ and increase our faith, love, knowledge and Christian virtues. Through His forgiving mercy we receive grace. We do not receive His grace by our own works, but the works of Christ.
But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. Romans 11:6 ESV
Strong’s G5485 – charis – of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:4-10 ESV
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16 ESV
Pin me for later!
The gospel versus the law
In Galatians we see that believers were under immense pressure from legalistic Jews who rejected the gospel of grace and clung to the Mosaic Law for their salvation. Paul then took the opportunity to explain to the Galatians the differences between grace and the Law of Moses, and their approaches to God.
We receive grace through the works of Christ, and also through His works He fulfilled the Law of Moses. This does not mean that the Law is no longer relevant, but instead that the way it applies to us has evolved as we receive salvation through Christ and grace from God.
‘yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
There are specific Mosaic Laws that were very specific in detail to specific people in a specific time, and while the specific intentions are not relevant to us now because of the sacrifice of Christ, those Laws still provide wisdom for the current-day Christian life.
Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
Paul is telling us, as well as the original audience of Professing Jewish Christians, that if you remain under the Law and sever yourselves from Christ, then you are rejecting or “falling away” from grace. In other words, if you reject Christ to remain in the Law of Moses, you also reject Christ and the grace that comes from accepting His works and salvation.
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
As we have covered thus far, grace is a gift from God through the acceptance of the salvation offered to us in Christ. Through this gift of grace, God also provides each of us with special gifts in order to further His mission and plan while we remain in this life. Each individual is responsible for their overall call as a Christian as well as the unique individual callings God blesses them with.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
God provides us with different gifts to use within those responsibilities in order to help us fulfill the callings we’ve been given. Some of the primary gifts an individual can receive are classified as the gifts of divine wisdom, exhortation, special teaching abilities, extraordinary faith, and even the ability to give liberally. All Christians are called to have faith, mercy, and discernment, live generously, as well as help, teach and exhort one another.
But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ;
While God gives us these gifts out of His grace we must remember again that we could never earn them, we don’t deserve them, and we are called to use them for Him. Not everyone will share all the same gifts, or be called to use them all in the same ways. We must lean into His grace to discern how God calls us individually to use the blessings and gifts He’s given to each of us.
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
Through the grace of God and salvation of Christ, we are transformed by the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and begin to live more like Christ and less like the world. We are then set apart, different, and begin to display and grow in Christian virtues, also known more simply as the fruits of the Spirit. As we grow in faith we grow more fruits.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you — see that you excel in this act of grace also.
From the grace of God also comes the hope of what is to come. Once we accept Christ and receive God’s grace, we receive a promise of the hope of eternity with God. This is the glory that is coming – that on the day of ultimate salvation when we are face-to-face with our Savior, we will be glorified in His coming Kingdom.
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
The grace of God is a gift that none of us can earn, none of us deserve, and that we receive once we’ve accepted Christ and His works, as well as the salvation His works provide for us. His grace is a mark of His favor, kindness and friendship toward us, as well as a display of His forgiving mercy. Through His grace we are able to grow in faith and wisdom, begin to live out His callings for us using the gracious gifts we are given, and prepare for His coming glory. His grace is sufficient for all of our needs, and we are called to lean in and rely on His grace above all else.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Sin is to miss the mark, or to commit error against God. We commit sin when we disobey God, or go against His commands for us. In order to understand sin, we must recognize what God commands of us.
The first people, Adam and Eve, gave in to temptation, disobeying God’s command for them. This led to the Great Fall; the curse of sin and death on all of humanity. From then on, all of humanity has been enslaved to the power of sin.
‘Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. ‘
Thankfully, God created a plan to restore us to Him and defeat the power of sin over us. He gives us the choice to accept His plan – to choose for ourselves to love and obey Him, out of faith in who He is and the divine works He has done through Jesus and continues to do for us every day. Humans caused sin to enter the world, but God made the Way to be reconciled to Him. Salvation through acceptance of Jesus Christ is the only way for the power of sin to be defeated over us.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
‘because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ‘
God provides commands for us in how to live once we have accepted His free gift of salvation and He expects us to learn His commands and obey them. Again, to sin is to miss the mark and error against God, or to disobey His commands. In Exodus we see the ten commandments God gives us, and later in Matthew we see Jesus summarize these commands again, reiterating their continued relevance and importance in our lives.
‘“You shall have no other gods before Me.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
“You shall not murder.
“You shall not commit adultery.
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”’
In Matthew we see Jesus questioned about which commandment is the greatest, and He responds by essentially bringing the ten commandments together under the commandments to love God with your whole self, and love others. Not only are we called to love God and love people, but if we truly love Him we will also be obedient to all of His commandments.
‘Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”’
In failing to love the way He commands us to, we fall into a snowball effect of sin in other areas of our lives and other commands Christ gives us. We should strive to learn more about His Word, commands, instructions, and His love every day in order to better combat sin in our lives and truly rest in the salvation of Christ. When we fail to do this, we allow sin to creep into our lives and take hold, which is dangerous to our relationship with and faith in Christ, and the benefits thereof.
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Throughout scripture, we are given many further instructions in how to live the way God expects us to, primarily being called to live as Christ as our example. If we love God the way He calls us to, accept His Son and His salvation, truly repent of our sin, and commit to living our lives for Him, God will forgive us and bless us with the gift of His Spirit. We are washed clean of our sins and the power it once had over us is broken, and His Spirit dwells in us to serve as a guide in living according to the will of God.
And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.
‘Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.’
From the moment someone is saved sin now becomes a choice as you are no longer enslaved to it. We are then called to lean into the power of Christ, grow a fruitful, personal relationship with Jesus out of our love for Him, and allow the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to help us fight off temptation and sin in our lives.
‘Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. ‘
It is vital that we understand what love means to God in order to fully understand what He is commanding us to do, and how to fight sin. If we do not understand God’s definition of love, we are missing the point and missing the mark. If there is no love as He defines for us, life and faith are empty. God gives us His definition of love in 1 Corinthians. In Galatians 5, we see the fruit of the Spirit that is displayed in us as evidence of a true faith out of love.
‘If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ‘
‘For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.’
God has called us to love Him, obey Him out of that love, love people, and also defines what kind of love He is calling us to. He also goes on to explain another part of loving people is to help others not fall into sin, and to come alongside one another, exhorting one another to love and good works.
‘Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. ‘
In loving people, we are called to fellowship with other believers, and be learning and growing in faith all the time in order to strengthen ourselves and the Body of Christ against the temptations of sin and in our understanding and knowledge of the Truth. We have a responsibility to, in God’s love, meet together, speak up when we see a sibling in Christ going astray, and encourage them to stand firm in faith.
‘If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. ‘
‘Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. ‘
We should be spending time in prayer and God’s Word daily, both personally as well as with others in the Body, in order to strengthen our relationship with God, and combat sin. The more we seek with our whole self to learn more of God and His word, the stronger we become against sin. As we grow stronger, there will be increasing evidence of our faith inherently in our lives as we produce more fruit of the Spirit in our relationships.
By this it is evident who are the children ofGod, and who are the children ofthe devil: whoever does not practice righteousness isnotofGod, nor isthe one who does notlove his brother.
‘For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ‘
‘for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.’
We have a responsibility to hear God’s truth ourselves and accept it, and then to share it with others. He tells us that if we love Him, we will obey Him. If we obey Him out of love, we will produce His love and fruits in our lives as evidence that we are His. If we do not love as He calls, all that we do is for nothing. We can speak all the truth of scripture, but if it is not done in love there is nothing to gain – it is empty, fruitless, and unhelpful.
If we do not walk in the love of the Lord and others, we are guilty of sin against God and this will trickle into further areas of our lives. First comes the love of God, then love of people, and through this love, we are able to grow in faith, learn to combat sin better, and bear His good fruits with the world.
This week’s study came at a time I really needed the reminder of the importance of rest. As a parent, during this pandemic especially, the concept of rest seems remote and unreachable all too often, and really as a human being living in a broken world, it feels much the same on a larger scale. I personally have worked hard to keep my Sabbath day full of rest and worship and use it to study and learn more about God with my family. This week, though, the temptations of the to-do list won and we ended our Sabbath drained, having had no real rest at all.
‘And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. ‘
Taking a Sabbath rest is about resting with God, and dedicating time to worshipping, honoring, and focusing on Him. It is not only vital to our relationship with Him, but also a command from God who set the example for us in the days of Creation. On the seventh day God rested from all the work He had done the previous six days.
Also noteworthy is that while God was resting, this seems to be when Adam and Eve committed the first sin that resulted in all of humanity being cursed by the Fall. God is all-knowing, so He knew what would happen ahead of time but He took His rest, came back, and handled the problems that occurred while He was resting. Upon returning to work He implemented the necessary disciplines and made a long-term plan to fix the problem.
As someone who can be classified often as a workaholic, taking a break from the work knowing things will pile up, some things may go wrong, and I will likely return to some kind of problem leaves me thinking “why on earth would I take a break knowing things will go wrong?” Simple – God knows every problem that will ever occur and is in control of it all.
He has a plan, and even the problems we face in our work, as well as life in general, will be used for good. I’ve found that many of the problems I face are used to strengthen me and strengthen my trust in God. If I do not take the needed time to rest, though, I am less likely to see this and I will be less effective for God and the work He has given me to do.
And the Lord said to Moses, “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord . Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”
Many of the rules that have been named for the Sabbath were from man, not from God, and the intention of the Sabbath is often missed. God gave the Israelites the command to keep the Sabbath holy. The intentions of the various boundaries God laid out were to help us put work aside and focus on God as our priority, allowing us to enter into His rest and grow in our faith and relationship with Him.
When we prioritize relational and spiritual growth with our Heavenly Father we are refilled, refreshed, and restored by and to Him – we get the rest for our souls that we need in order to do His work and remain focused on Him, clinging to Him as our anchor in all things.
Much like the Israelites, and similar to the threat of death Adam and Eve faced with eating from the tree of knowledge, if we choose not to prioritize our rest with God we will drift from Him, lose focus, and eventually experience the spiritual death that comes with separation from God. If God is truly our priority, we truly trust Him, we will rest in Him cling to Him so that we can be more effective in the work He has given us.
And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
God knows we need to be refreshed and He also wants us to understand that He’s the only way to find rest for our souls, one of the many blessings we receive with the incredible gift of salvation. When I first came into my relationship with Christ I instantly experienced an insane peace that was far beyond my understanding, but I have learned that in order for that peace to be constant it takes work. Just as a relationship takes intention, communication, and time – so does our relationship with Jesus and the benefits of that relationship.
Pin me for later!
Sometimes we need to hand over to Him what we think we need to be doing and rest in what He says we should be doing. God gives each of us a calling, our designated work to do. Learning to discipline myself in coming back to the Lord over and over again as my source of instruction, life and sustenance has helped me to learn what He has called me to, and to recognize His voice and work, presence, and will for my life.
Constantly resting with God allows me to be reminded of and refocused on His right path for me. It helps me to stay the course of the work He has given me rather than getting caught in the trap thinking I need to do more than I am called to. We need to rest in Him and stay in His perfect peace even while life is filled with tornados and roller coasters, and stay focused on His path in the midst of it all.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
He calls on us to come to Him, bring our burdens, cares, worries, concerns and questions to Him so that He will give us His rest in return. He wants to lighten our load. He wants us to trust Him with our problems and praises. He wants us to give Him our sins and our shame and replace them with peace and rejuvenation through His forgiveness and salvation. We are not good on our own, and we need to intentionally come back to Him over and over again to be restored, to clean out the gunk in our hearts, chip away the hardened spots, and soften us once again to His will and love.
I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.
‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.’
He is our Shepherd, and He will lead us to still waters – but we have to choose to come, drink, and be restored. We must choose to trust and obey Him out of love, and reap the benefits of an obedient relationship with Him rather than allow our hearts to become hardened against Him, rebel, and fail to enter His beautiful gift of rest that can only be found with Him.
We can trust that if God calls on us to rest in Him, which He does, that it is for our good and it is worth the time, worth the benefits, and worth any problems that may come about during our rest, worth any correction and realignment, worth the painful softening process. If God calls us to it, He will provide for us to it, through it, and after it.
Are you trusting that God will sustain and restore you while you rest?
Are you valuing God enough to make time for Him daily, and for His Sabbath? If rest is not a priority in your life, then you will quickly become deflated. Come to the Lord and let Him refill you; let Him sustain you. Trust God with your work, your rest, your provisions, as well as with any problems you face. He will always be with you, but you must take the time to rest in Him and strengthen your relationship and reliance on Him regularly. That is where true rest can be found.
Satan’s attacks can come from anywhere, at any time. They come so suddenly sometimes it can be challenging to take the hit and remain standing, and especially difficult to be unmoved by his attacks of doubt and temptation. He is a ruthless enemy, but fortunately for us we have a beautiful gift called Salvation that frees us from Satan’s power. Scripture has clear instructions as to why we should not reject Christ, but accept Him and this incredible gift.
When we give ourselves over to Christ and accept His salvation we then commit to intentionally living as Christ better and better every day. Through Scripture, we learn so much about how to do this, and one essential responsibility we have to help hold us accountable to living as Christ is fellowship with other Christians.
That is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
Sometimes Satan will penetrate our hearts and breed seeds of doubt and malice within us that lead us away from being an example of Christ, and sometimes we wander away from believers in our hearts and often in our lives entirely. When we wander from God’s people we are more likely to wander from God Himself.
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Christ sets a clear example of how to be in relationship with fellow believers as well as how to hold one another accountable to our shared mission and relationship. Christ teaches that through our faith we should produce fruit in our lives that bring us and others closer to God and strengthens our faith in Him. To bear good fruit we must be filled with love for all people and above all for God, but not just any love – the true meaning of love and how we are called to love according to God.
‘ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. ‘
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Look through social media at any given moment and you will be overwhelmed with harsh words and opinions about how we should worship, how to fellowship theological hotpoints, and overall toxic behavior from Christians to other Christians. We’re living in a time where Christians are tearing each other apart rather than building each other up, and it leaves me thinking no wonder our world feels so dark and broken – people who have entrusted themselves to the care and guidance of Christ and His power that defeated sin are giving power back to sin. Their hearts are becoming hardened and they are drifting from the true power of salvation, and toward rejection of Christ Himself.
Pin me for later!
But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
In the book of Hebrews Christians are reminded of the importance of clinging to Christ and His example, as well as His power over sin. As we move forward in this suffering world it is harder and harder to remember that in order to cling to Christ and not reject Him and His power in our lives we must have healthy fellowship on a regular basis. This is an often sidelined responsibility in the daily life of a Christian, and when we reject or abuse fellowship with Christians we are rejecting Christ as well.
That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
He fellowshipped with His followers daily. He taught them, loved them, was patient with them, and Jesus approached different people in unique ways that spoke to them and drew them near to Him and the Father. When questions were asked, He didn’t scream at them, point fingers, call names, act cruelly, or even try to force people to believe Him – even in His anger, He acted righteously and justly, and His anger was always as a reaction to sin.
He calls on us to treat one another in the same manner, encouraging each other and building one another up. We are called to stir fellow followers up into love and good works, not division and toxicity. We are taught to have fruitful conversations, not those that stir up strife.
Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Throughout our relationship with Christ, we should live with every intention of growing in our faith, learning more about Christ and the example He sets for us and applying it every day. The Word of God is our instruction manual and from it we should be transformed daily. Throughout His Word we see constant examples and lessons of how to treat our Christ family, bearing with one another in all things, and we learn how Christ calls on us to encourage each other and hold one another accountable with and to love, gentleness, and patience. We need to seek His example more deeply and check ourselves against the example of Christ daily to ensure we are ourselves living by His example as well as encouraging others to do likewise.
Grow closer in relationship with God’s people as you grow closer in example to His Son. Don’t fall into the trap Satan has set for you, causing your heart to become hard and your treatment of your Christ family to be damaging. Keep your heart burning for Christ, yearning to learn more every day, and seek out His love, example, and wisdom in your relationships with His people.
Choosing Christ isn’t always easy, but once we’ve chosen to accept Him, believe in Him, and live for Him we begin the journey into understanding this gift of salvation we’ve just received and its benefits. God provides us with wisdom to help us understand what salvation is, why we need it, why we should want it, and how to apply it.
What is salvation?
In the Old Testament there is a Hebrew verb “yasha” translated salvation which means help, deliver or save, and the noun version means preservation from danger or suffering. In the New Testament we find the Greek “soteria” which means deliverance, and is related to the personal, spiritual deliverance through repentance and faith in Christ.
Salvation: Personal, spiritual deliverance from sin and death; rescued from the danger of eternal separation from God
‘And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” ‘ Acts 4:12 ESV
‘For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” ‘ Romans 10:13 ESV
How does salvation occur?
Salvation occurs when we repent and place our full trust and saving faith in Jesus and begin to experience the blessings of salvation. When we do this, we are justified and regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
Repentance: A radical change from living in sin to living in Christ
‘“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” ‘
‘because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ‘
Regeneration: Holy Spirit indwelling repentant sinners and breathing eternal life into their soul, making them new in Christ
‘ And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— ‘
When we put our full faith in Christ, believe in His life, death, and resurrection, and place our full trust at His feet we have saving faith; the faith that leads to salvation. Saving faith happens when we not only trust Him, but we believe in who He is and His works, and live in a way that displays our faith, and honors Him and this gift of salvation, fully intent on setting Him as the priority in our lives and as the superior example for ourselves. Obedience to Him should be a result of our love and belief that He is the Way, Truth, and Life.
Putting our saving faith in Christ brings us into a relationship with Him, which also gives us a personal relationship and connection with our Heavenly Father who blesses us with the gift of His Spirit to guide us and change us to be more like Christ.
Why do we need salvation?
Once we repent and are justified and regenerated, we then go through the life-long process of being made holy, being gradually made whole and complete in Christ. We are called to “pick up our cross and follow after Christ” (Luke 14:26-28), meaning we must follow Christ in all things, knowing that there will be a personal cost paid sometimes but no matter how hard it gets we must continue on in faith, following Him no matter what, no matter how hard it gets, no matter who we lose in order to gain a relationship with Him who is greater than and Ruler of all things.
Sanctification: The process of spiritual growth and development by which we are purified of sins and transformed to become more like Christ, holy and complete
‘So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. ‘
‘“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? ‘
We need salvation because it is the only way to be saved from our fate of spiritual death from our sins and being eternally separated from God. If God is good and God is love then being eternally separated from Him is to be eternally separated from love and goodness. We were created to be in a relationship with Him and because sin entered the world God prepared a way to bring us back to Him. A relationship with God is the only way to be made complete, fill the voids humans experience on their own, find our purpose and the meaning for our lives, and rest in His love and goodness. In order to live a truly satisfying life, we must come into this relationship through saving faith, love, and devotion to living for Him.
‘But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. ‘
Salvation is the only way to be made right with God and is only possible through the way He provided in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus was God’s chosen way of saving us, but He also gives us the choice to accept His way to Him. God did not want to force us into this relationship, instead, He wants us to choose Him out of love and gratitude to Him for all that He has done and continues to do for us.
When we’ve made this commitment to live as Christ, giving our lives fully to God, something incredible happens. We are restored to God and freed from slavery to sin, no longer under the power of sin which leads to spiritual death. Sin’s power over us and our lives is dead and we are given God’s own armor to fight against Satan and his lies. We cannot fight sin on our own, but only through the saving power of Christ.
God breathes His life into us, washing us clean from our sin in the blood of Jesus the holy and perfect sacrifice, and fills us with His Spirit, blessing us with His power, love, armor, protection, provision and promises. In accepting and believing in His Son we open the door to all that God wants to bless us with and we gain a new identity as His child. These blessings are part of the sanctification process and prepare us for the day of glorification, when we will get to be face-to-face with our Lord and Savior, having been made holy and complete in Him.
Glorification: The ultimate salvation that occurs when we are face-to-face with our Savior in His coming Kingdom.
‘For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. ‘
‘who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ‘
Once we begin the sanctification process we are transformed from our former self and made to be more like Christ. We should then seek God and His Word for instructions, wisdom, and relational growth. Through prayer and scripture, we get to learn more about who He is, who He calls us to be, and how we’re called to live. We are designed not only for relationship with Him but also with others in the family and body of Christ. We should spend time with God and in His word, and we should also spend time in fellowship with His people. By these means we get to come closer to Him, learn how to live better, learn to recognize God speaking and working in our lives, and also learn how to share His truth better, further, and deeper so as to grow the body of Christ for the glory of God.
God will give us each a personal mission as well as instruct us in how Christ-followers are supposed to live. We are not intended to do this alone and must always rely on God’s truth and fellowship to help us cling to our faith and not let the world pull us away, causing us to drift from Christ and neglect this gift of salvation. Anchor yourself in Christ through a strong prayer life, constant heartfelt time in His Word, and learning and growing with His people. We should spend time with Him every single day fully intent on learning to be more like Him all the time, and apply what we learn as we learn it.
‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ‘
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
Salvation is our personal, spiritual deliverance from sin through repentance and saving faith in Jesus. We are justified through our salvation, which is to be made right with God due to our faith and regenerated by receiving the Holy Spirit who gives life to our soul. God then sanctifies us, working in us to become more like Christ every day until the day of glorification when we are completed, standing face to face with Jesus in His coming Kingdom.
Salvation is needed because it is and the only way to be saved from our fate of eternal separation from God and enter into this personal relationship with Him, receiving the sanctification and glorification that is promised. God wants us to choose His salvation because we love Him and are grateful for what He has done for our sake. We are called to live faithfully to Him, fully intent on honoring and glorifying Him and becoming more like Him all the time. Our belief in Him is to be displayed in the way we live, bearing the fruit of the Spirit in all things, sharing the truth of the gospel with others, and growing the body of Christ.
‘ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ‘
The book of Hebrews is packed full of tough but necessary lessons and reminders all Christians need to absorb. This Warning Signs series is dedicated to Christians who currently have a relationship with Christ, and walks us through some essential warnings we must heed in this relationship.
Imagine yourself an orphan. You do not know your parents, but you know you have them and you long to know them. You walk through life trying to brush it off fearing that if you seek them they will reject you, you won’t actually find them, or maybe knowing life will be different if you find them. Still, you long for them, knowing deep down they exist, but fearing what will happen if you seek them you keep going through life feeling incomplete.
We are all born with this same natural, hard-wired desire to seek and know our Creator. We long for Him, but so often we fear what will happen if we look for answers. We often acknowledge it as seeking “the meaning of life”, “my purpose”, “my calling” or even “filling the void” without realizing what we are really seeking is God; the only one who can make us whole. We were made for a relationship with Him and nothing in the world is preventing us from seeking God out and spending time with Him, except maybe our own fear of the unknowns that may come from finding the truth.
‘For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. ‘
God’s fingerprints are everywhere. He is the righteous Creator of all things, and we are connected with all of His creations through our relationship with Him. In His righteousness, the attribute of God by which He does what is right and in accordance with His law and character, He can do no wrong. He is good all the time, knows all, and is an eternal, balanced and perfect judge.
He also gives us ample opportunities through His divine guidance in our lives as well as through His Son, the image of Himself, to know Him, and to satisfy that desire we are hard-wired with to fill the void that can only be filled by a relationship with Him.
‘Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. ‘
Not only is God righteous, but to see the Son is to see the Father. God created all things through Jesus, the Controller, and Sustainer of everything. Christ is superior to all things, heir of all things, the brightness and glory of God, and is God. Accepting the Son and His Holy sacrifice for our sakes is how we enter into a relationship with the Father.
Pin me for later!
‘He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ‘
‘For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. ‘
Before God sent the image of Himself to us He would speak to specific people at different times and in a variety of ways. Now, we get to have a direct line of communication with God through Jesus. In knowing Jesus we also know God, and in accepting Jesus we also enter into a relationship with God and receive His Spirit.
We begin to learn and grow in relationship with all 3 Persons of the united Godhead; God the Son, God the Father, God the Spirit. We learn how to hear Him and through relational growth, we begin to see Him showing up and working in our lives and the world around us.
‘For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.’
‘My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” ‘
Through accepting Christ we are made right with God and He fills the void we feel before choosing to seek and know Him. With this we have credited His righteousness and called to live in a manner worthy of Christ’s Holy sacrifice, striving to live as Christ, bear the fruit of His Spirit, and seek God every single day.
We are made whole in this newfound relationship and begin to learn the purpose for our existence, the meaning of life, which can only be found within this relationship. We can never really be worthy of this sacrifice, but we are called to try our best, living every day fully intent on living by God’s law and steering clear of lawlessness and sin.
‘Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. ‘
Living with the wholehearted intent to do what is right according to God’s law places Christ rightly as the superior Lord over our lives, which as ironic as it sounds, is where true freedom, contentment, and comfort are found. Acknowledging Him as number one in all things is to accept His superiority and control, as well as His role as Sustainer and Provider. With this acknowledgment should come trust in His righteousness, knowing however He guides and provides we can trust Him to protect and sustain us through all of life’s struggles. We can count on Him to keep His promises, have faith that He is bigger than anything and everything ever created and that He is working all things out for good even when it doesn’t seem good.
‘And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ‘
Christ is superior to all things because He is our righteous Creator, Sustainer, Controller, Provider and Judge. To see Christ is to see God Himself and to truly enter into that relationship is to prioritize His law in our lives out of faith, trust, and love for Him and all He has done and will ever do for us. We are given a natural longing to seek and know Him, and when we choose not to we, therefore, reject Him.
We are all called to come to Him, enter into the blessing of a relationship with our Creator, and place Him in His rightful place as righteous ruler of our lives. Through this, we will find rest for our souls and be made whole with His love. Come to the life-giving waters and drink. Refresh your spirit and be made whole in Him who died to save you and rose again as our Holy and righteous Lord.
‘Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ‘
‘ The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. ‘
‘For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ‘
I am a wife, mom, writer, crafter, and above all, a Child of God. I love to study the Bible, fellowship with other Christians, and serve God. I am thrilled to invite you to join me in seeking to satisfy our thirsty souls with the Living Water of Christ, which is what Water On Thirsty Land is here to do.
