"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but nowmuch more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it isGod who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." -Philippians 2:12-13, NIVI think sometimes we miss it. We view our faith in the context of a list of dos and dont's, whenwe should view it in the context of a relationship with Christ. Jesus came to restore our brokenrelationship with God. Before the relationship was broken Adam and Eve walked with God inthe Garden of Eden. Can you imagine what it would have been like to literally walk with God?I sometimes get mad at so called "Emergents", they say "because Christianity is about arelationship with Christ, we can cast off moral restraints". They forget that Jude wrote "They aregodless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny JesusChrist our only Sovereign and Lord." (V. 4, NIV). When men like Brian McLaren won't affirmthat Jesus is the only means of Salvation, they are in effect denying the supremacy andsufficiency of Christ.So there are these two extremes, one that emphasizes works and the other that emphasizesrelationship. How do we reconcile the two? This is the way I view it: Because I love God, Ihate sin. It's not a strange concept, because we love life we hate genocide. Because we love justice we hate thievery. If you're dating, you hate those things that offend your girlfriend or boyfriend. Because we are in a relationship with God, we hate sin. Keep in mind though, that just because we hate a sin doesn't mean we hate the people that commit those sins. If that werethe case there would be no hope for us. But because God loves us as people He hates thosethings that ultimately harm us. Because I love thieves, I hate the fact that what they doultimately harms them. It's like a child about to stick a key in a power socket, any good parentwould prohibit that because they love that child.The best thing about this relationship is God's love and grace empowers us to live victoriouslyover sin and to act according to His will. The closer we are to God, the more He will work in usand the more we will look like Jesus. As we spend more time with God, we will inevitablyspend less time sinning and more time doing what God wants us to do.Practically, what does this look like?
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Prayer:
I think one of the most spiritually enriching practices is prayer, communicatingwith God. We can talk with God about any hurt, any pain, any situation or circumstance.We also thank Him for all the good things He's given us. We adore Him for Hisgreatness, His love, His omniscience, His amazing love for us. We confess and turn awayfrom our sins, knowing that "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and willforgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (I John 1:9, NIV). We pleadwith God, we ask Him to take care of our needs. We pray that He will give us spiritualchildren that we can disciple in the faith. We pray that, above all, His will is done as HisKingdom comes. Of course, the more we pray the more our will aligns with His; it's notabout convincing God to do our will, but allowing His Spirit to convince us to do Hiswill.
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Time in the Word:
We have to spend time in God's Word. "All Scripture is God- breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so
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