The Author and Finisher of our Faith

The Author and Finisher of our Faith

Let us read Hebrews 12 verse 2. This scripture has been on my heart for a few days and I pondered on it quite a bit. This scripture first of all explains that Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. Let me explain this to you in a short story. An author writes a book, imagine that your life is the book and that the author is Jesus Christ.
The author writes what He please in the book, a story that is pleasing to Him, so Jesus also writes out our spiritual story or walk with Him, from the day we are saved to the day that we die.
An author orchestrates or brings together the events in the book, Jesus does the same with our lives, He decides what will go on in our lives, our goals, our plans, our way of life, it is all up to Him, just as the events of the story is all up to the Author.
First of all we must allow Him to write the story of our lives, we must be submissive to Him, for He won't write our life story if you refuse to submit to Him.
We as believers must allow Christ to write down every detail of our life story or in other words, we must allow Him to direct our every step in this earthly life.
Now it says in Hebrews 12 verse 2 that Jesus is also the finisher of our faith. This is very important, for just as an Author, when finished with His work, decides whether to publish His work or not, so Christ also must decide whether the story written is pleasing to Him or not. When we refuse to let Christ the Master Author write our life story and attempt to write it ourselves, then it will become a disaster!
It is like letting a five year old child write a novel! The work of a five year old child and the work of a skilled Author cannot be compared!
So Christ as the finisher of our faith must decide whether to spiritually publish our life story.
If it is written by Him, then it will be published, for He is assured that it is up to His Father in Heaven's standard!
By published, I mean, saved from eternal punishment and sent to Eternal Life with God in Heaven!
If it is not up to standard, then Christ will have to discard the story and throw it away!
Just as an Author has to discard a poor story that he has written, in favor of making a new one.
If a story is written by a five year old, then it will be way beyond repair, the whole story is mixed up and put in a way that a skilled Author will never write. His only option is to discard the story, as it is beyond repair.
So also Christ will not give you another chance once you are dead, your chance is here on earth. He has to make a righteous judgment, which is give you the reward  you deserve,
for He has said, " And Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work" (NKJV Revelations 22 verse 12)!
What can we do?
Let Jesus guide your every step for He no longer lives for the lusts of men, but for the Will of God (1 Peter 4 verse 2)! Jesus has never sinned and will never lead anyone into sin, so you can trust Him to direct your steps!
The Will of God is found in Bible alone, God desires that we must live our earthly lives as Jesus has lived His (1 John 2 verse 6).
The first message that Jesus preached was repentance of sin and belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Mark 1 verse 15)!
We must be sinless before our Lord, we must be like Him before The Father in Heaven!
Friends, if your life is not right with God, then go and confess your sins to a counselor and pray and trust God that you will not return to that sin (James 5 verse 16)!
We must put all our effort into staying free from the clutches of sin, we must be free from it in every area, in our dressing, speech, thoughts and actions!
If you desire to see Jesus Christ and abide with Him, then you must be Holy as He is Holy and purify yourself, just as He is pure (1 Peter 1 verse 15 to 16 and 1 John 3 verse 3) , for without holiness and purity, we will not see the face of God (Hebrews 12 verse 14 and Matthew 5 verse 8)!

Jesus is God

Jesus is God!
Let us read John 8 verse 48 to 59.
In this passage, Jesus claims to be the God of Israel, the only true God. This claim was proven to be true, as He has risen from the dead.
Jesus claims to be the same God, who spoke to Moses through the burning bush (Exodus 3 verse 14). He claims to be the same God, who led Israel out of Egypt and into the promise land!
Though Jesus told the people that He is God, the same one they worship, they attempted to stone Him. Showing that they did not believe His testimony.
When He spoke the words of Life, they claimed that He was possessed and not a true jew, but a samaritan. (John 8 verse 48)
They declared that He was just a man, for only men can be possessed. They declared that He was under satan's control and that He was out of His mind.
By calling Him a samaritan, they were implying that He was of mixed descent, not a pure jew. For if Jesus was a samaritan, then He would not fall under King David's line, He would not therefore be the Messiah, for the Messiah was to be from David's line.
The words of the jews were very insulting, they attacked Jesus's claim to be God.
We read in Joshua chapter 24 verse 14 to 28, that Joshua gave the children of Israel a choice.
They could serve God or idols, the people insisted that they wanted to serve God, even though Joshua warned them that they were incapable of serving God, that their hearts were rebellious and wicked.
They continuously rebelled against God from that moment, until they were sent into exile, most of the old testament tells of their continuous rebellion.
And now when they rejected Jesus as God, they were rejecting God, the same God they had rejected again and again.
These passages made me think, don't we continuously rebel against God?
We think that it is okay to rebel against our Sovereign Lord, that He will always show us His grace.
When Israel rebelled against God, they suffered severely for it, they died from their sins, often dying horrible deaths in foreign lands.
They were given over to their sin and received the reward of sin, which is death (Romans 6 verse 23). This death happened spiritually first, as their hearts were hardened, then it took place physically too.
We also will face spiritual and physical death if we sow in the flesh and not in the spirit.
When we sin against God, we rebel against Him, we are claiming like the jews that God is truly not worth serving. We are dishonoring Him, just as the jews dishonored Jesus with their words and actions.
People often say, " I didn't know I was sinning." That is an absolute lie! If we are truly honest with ourselves, we know that we know right from wrong.
The Bible says that God's laws are written on the mind and heart of the believer. This means that we are now able to tell right from wrong, that the Holy Spirit of God tells us right from wrong.
We however, block out the voice of the Spirit in our minds, we choose to ignore God's voice and to commit sin.
This is what happened to the jews, they chose to ignore the words of Christ and to harden their hearts, that is why they were ready to stone their own God!
Hebrews 1 verse 3 (NIV) tells us that Jesus is the exact respesentation of God Himself.
It makes one think how the jews could not see that this is the same God they worshiped in the temple and synagogues.
The answer is that they did not have a personal relationship with God, it had become ritual to them, they had allowed sin to grow in their hearts.
Jesus told us in the parable of the sower that the worries of this world chokes God's Word in our Life and also that some people allow satan to take away the Word of God from their lives.
This is true of sin in a person's life, for when our lives are not right before God, we allow God's Word to die in our lives.
Once this is done, we are as good as sinners and unbelievers, we then have no fear or respect for God or His words.
The jews tried to stone Jesus, what have you done to Him?
Have you tried to change His Word to suit your lifestyle?
It is as good as stoning Him, when we compromise His Word!
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap eternal life (NKJV)"
What we sow is what we will reap. Think of this, when we plant a seed, maybe wheat or corn or something else, when the seed is fully grown into a plant and the crop is ready to harvest, do we go to the plant and find a different plant or vegetable than what we planted?
Of course not, what you sowed in the ground, is what you will harvest or reap from it.
Our lives on earth is like the time of sowing, we by our decisions and conduct (even our thoughts), choose what we are going to sow. We can live sinfully and thus sow a sinful crop or we can live for Christ and sow a godly crop.
On judgment day, we receive the fruit of our sowing on earth, if we sowed to the flesh, we receive death and banishment to Hell, if to the Holy Spirit, then Eternal Life with God.
We can even receive part of our crop, during our earthly life, for the one who sins against others, is at risk of being sinned against himself.
Friends, are our lives showing that Jesus is the true and only God?
Or does the world harden their hearts further, because our proclamation to be children of God and our lives don't meet up!
We say we are Christians, yet we live exactly like the world, most times even worse than the world!
Repent of these sins and turn to God, confess your sins and make right with Him, speak to a counselor, pray to God, do what it takes to return to Jesus and His grace.
Let us not be like the unbelieving jews and attempt to destroy the very God, we claim to serve, for hear now friends, we will not be held guiltless, but will be judged most severely.
Jesus told a parable about a evil servant and a faithful servant, He told how the faithful servant is the one who is found to be doing the will of God. The evil servant is the one who is found to be committing sin and shirking his responsibilities (Matthew
 24 verse 45 to 51)!
They each received their reward for their lives and so will we, therefore live for Christ and sow to the Spirit and not to satan.

Raising godly offspring

Pure Consciences Before The Lord!

Pure Consciences Before The Lord!

Let us read 2 Timothy 1 verse 3. We read in this verse that the apostle Paul thanked God and remembered Timothy in prayer at all times. Notice that Paul said " Whom I serve with a Pure Conscience (NKJV)" Some translation say a clear conscience. This passage made me think, what is a pure conscience? For Paul had even charged the deacons to hold the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience (1 Timothy 3 verse 9).

A Pure conscience is a heart that is at peace with God, you see, the Holy Spirit of God convicts us of sin (John 16 verse 7 and 8), when we harden our hearts and continue in sin, our heart is then not at peace with God, then our conscience is not pure either. When Paul thanked God and prayed, his conscience was clear with God, this means

that his life was right with our Lord Jesus Christ.

The question we should now ask is, are our hearts right with God? When you stand before God, is your conscience pure? Is your heart at complete peace or does the Spirit of Jesus convict you of your hidden sins? Jesus said that if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, then first go and reconcile with your brother, then come and offer your gift on the altar (Matthew 5 verse 23 to 24).

This can be applied to this situation about a clear conscience, bringing a gift to the altar, represents us coming before the Lord's throne of grace (to pray to or  to praise Him). Remembering our brother represents our unconfessed or unforgiven sins, we must first deal with our sins before praying to our Lord!

How can we pray to God with an impure conscience? But one may ask, "How do I make my conscience pure?" The answer is simple, by the blood of Jesus Christ! For the Word of God says that the blood of Christ can cleanse our conscience from dead works, so that we can serve the living God (Hebrews 9 verse 14). We need to understand that we cannot come before God with a tainted conscience and expect to be heard by Him. He is a Holy and Pure Lord, who requires us to live as He has lived (1 Peter 1 verse 15 to 16, 1 John 3 verse 3 and 1 John 2 verse 6).

Friends are we honoring God with our lives or are we coming before Him with filthy lives? The modern church says, " Come as you are!" This is partly true, yet not fully, we do come to Christ as we are, but once we receive Him as our Saviour, we certainly don't stay as we were!  Are we removing sin from our lives? 

One of the biggest things that I have noticed in nowadays Christian is dating and love relationships, especially amongst the youth. Paul told Timothy to "Flee youthful lusts (2 Timothy 2 verse 22)", But I notice that people nowadays have no problems spending time with and visiting a person of the opposite sex. You who are in relationships, you who are dating, tell me, are your thoughts always God honoring or do you continually stir up your youthful lusts by dating? How can you date and not feel a single emotion? You call it love, but it is clearly not God honoring! How do you honor God by thinking of a girl or boy?

Paul has told us to possess our own vessel in santification and honor, not in passion of lust like the heathen do (1 Thessalonians 4 to 5)! Tell me, are you treating your boyfriend or girlfriend as a brother or sister in Christ (2 Timothy 5 verse 1 to 2)? Are we considering other men and women as brothers and sisters in Christ or are we passionately lusting after them! We are called to be Holy, a Holy priesthood that offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ Jesus (1 Peter 2 verse 5)!

Peter urged the church to arm themselves with the same mind as Christ's, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so that he would not live for himself, but for the Will of God (1 Peter 4 verse 1 to 2)! Are we following God's Will or passionately lusting after others?

We are suppose to wait on God for our marriage partner, He alone will reveal the one He has set for us and us for them. Don't you trust God? If God chooses your spouse to be, would He not also create the love? Of course He will!

We read in Genesis 24 the story of how Abraham's servant was shown by God, who Isaac's bride would be! Isaac and Rebekah had no relationship before marriage and verse 67 of chapter 24 clearly states that Isaac loved Rebekah! This was a love created by God!

Trust God, if you keep your yourself pure and faithfully obey and wait upon Him, not trying to date or court someone, then He will bring you and the one He has chosen together in absolute purity! He will create the love between the two of you, it will require nothing but patience, obedience, purity and faith in God!

The choice is up to you, you can either marry in absolute purity and obedience(which is God's way) or in passion and lust, which is the way of the devil! Realise that God calls us to purity, even if we obey Him in all other areas and not in one, then we still sin, for we are disobeying God's Will. We are called to follow His Will in all things, for we now live for His Will, for we are no longer slaves to sin but to righteousness (Romans 6 verse 18).

Jesus Is Worth Far More!

I  felt  led  to  write  on  this  portion  of  scripture

Let  us  read  Matthew  13  verse  45  to  46:

“Again  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  a  merchant  seeking  beautiful  pearls,   who,  when  he  had  found  one  pearl  of  great  price,  went  and  sold  all  that  he  had  and  bought  it’’ (NKJV)

Now  a  parable  is  a  short  story  that  teaches  us  a  moral  lesson,  it  always  has  a  hidden  message,  the  things  and  characters  in  it,  are  often  symbolic  of  God  and  sin.  The  Pearl  of  great  price  is  symbolic  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  just  as  the  man  searched  for  beautiful  pearls,  so  do  our  hearts  search  for  God,  our  hearts  search  for  the  true  and  only  God.  We  see  that  when  the  merchant  had  found  the  pearl,  he  sold  everything  he  had  and  bought  it.  In  the  same  way,  we  must  part  with  our  sins  and  receive  the  free  gift  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ.  When  you  sell  something,  you  must  receive  something,  in the  same  way,  when  we  part  with  sin  and  turn  to  God,  we  must  receive  Jesus  Christ.  Once  something  is  sold,  it  can  only  be  yours  again,  if  you  buy  it  back  from  the  owner.  In  the  same  way,  when  we  confess  our  sins  to  Jesus  and  ask  for  His  forgiveness,  our  sins  are  taken  away  (1  John  1  verse  9).  When  we  continue  in  sin  after  receiving  Jesus,  we  spiritually  buy  back  our  sins,  all  of  the  old  desires  and  urges  return,  don’t  misunderstand  me,  Jesus  has  taken  away  our  previous  sins.  Satan  once  again  deceives  our  heart  in  the  same  way  as  before,  for  instance  if  your  weakness  was  stealing,  then  you  would  be  tempted  to  steal  and  if  you  continue  in  sin,  it  is  likely  that  you  will  fall  back  completely  into  your  old  sins  and  life,  therefor  we  spiritually  buy  back  our  sins.  We  must  understand  that  Jesus  is  worth  far  more  than  we  can  ever  imagine,  we  must  deny  our  ourselves  and  follow  Him (Mark  8  verse  34).  That  means  that  we  must  deny  our  fleshy  desires,  it  also  means  that  we  must  deny  everything  that  hinders  our  walk  with  God .  Understand  that  if   you  lower  God’s  standards  in  order  to  please  others,  (especially  how  some  parents  lower  God’s  standards  in  order  not  to  displease  their  children)  we  are  not  worthy  of  Christ,  for  we  are  considering  others  of  more  value  than  Christ  and  this  is  a  sin( Matthew  10  verse  37).  We  must  understand  that  there  is  no  place  for  sin  in  the  life  of  a  believer  of  Jesus  Christ,  God  is  Holy  and  calls  us  to  be  Holy  in  all  that  we  do( 1 Peter 1 verse  15  to  16).  We  cannot  continue  in  sin  and  expect  God  to  overlook  it,  we  must  stop  sinning,  confess  our  sins  to  God  and  forsake  them,  only  then  can  we  expect  to  live  for  God,  by  sinning   after  being  saved,  we  trample  Jesus  and  His  grace  and  one  who  does  this  will  be  judged  and  will  not  receive  any  mercy( Hebrews  10  verse  26  to  29).  Be  honest  with  your  self,  do  you  love  your  children  more  than  God?  Do  you  love  your  wife  or  husband  more  than  our  Lord?  Or  do  you  love  the  praise  of  men  more  than  Jesus  Christ?.  The  easiest  way  to  find  out  is,  when  you  are  with  these  people,  are  you  quick  to  dilute  God’s  standards.  Do  you  make  leeway  for  them,  saying  ‘oh  they  aren’t  really  sinning  or  we  must  give  them  time  to  change(  when  you  know  they  aren’t  changing  at  all  and  you  know  you  can  stop  them  from  doing  that  sin).’  Jesus  is  worth  far  more  than  any  human  being( or  anything  for  that  matter),  if  you  forsake  Him  before  men,  He  will  forsake  you  before  God( Matthew  10  verse  33).  Bear  in  mind,  God  is  the  one  who  saves  our  lives,  not  anyone  else,  He  will  not  dilute  His  standards  for  you  or  anyone  else,  for  He  is  a  just  God.  Therefor  friends,  confess  your  sins  to  Him  and  ask  humbly  for  His  forgiveness.  Do  not  let  anyone  or  thing  become  more  important  to  you  than  God.   I  remember  a  time  when  I  got  saved,  I  used  to  play  video  games, (  bear  in  mind,  there  was  nothing  morally  wrong  with  the  games  I  played),  one  day  God  spoke  into  my  heart  explaining  to  me  that  video  games  had  become  an  idol  in  my  life.  I  naturally  denied  it  at  first,  but  God  showed  me  that  everything  in  my  life  revolved  around  video  games,  it  took  up  most  of  my  free  time  and  thoughts  and   even   my  conversation.  I  immediately  stopped  playing  video  games  and  today  I  am  a  much  better  person  because  of  it.  Is  there  anything  in  your  life  that  is  an  idol?  Ask  yourself  something,  what  thing  or  person  takes  up  most  of  your  thoughts,  conversation  or  time?  If  the  answer  isn’t   God,  then  that  person  or  thing  has  become  an  idol  in  your  life.  Please  friends,  I  plead  with  you  in  the  words  of  the  apostle  John, “  Little  children,  keep  yourselves  from  idols, Amen” (  1  John  5  verse  21  NKJV).  So  examine  your  life  closely  and  remove  all  sin  from  it  and  if  you  don’t  know  in  what  area  you  are  sinning,  then  ask  God  and  He  will  show  you,  it  may  not  even  be  something  obviously  sinful  or  even  wrong,  but  making  something  good  into  an  idol  is  a  sin.  Remember  Jesus  is  worth  far  more!  

No Fellowship with Sin

We  live  in  such  a  sinful  world  and  it  is  often  difficult  to  pick  good  company,  but  it  is  vital  that  we  pick  godly  company  and  not  just  anyone.  I  speak  of  the  company  that  is  the  closest  to  you(such  as  friends,  family  or  coworkers),  we  inevitably  spend  a  lot  of  time  with  people,  it  is  therefor  necessary  to  spend  that  time  with  those  who  uplift  us  in  God,  but  we  are  also  called  to  spread  the  gospel  amongst  the  ungodly,  what  is  important  is  that  our  company  doesn't  change  our  way  of  life  in  God,  that  it  doesn't  lower  God's  standards. 

Let  us  read  2  Corinthians  6  verse  15,  this  scripture  explains  to  us  that  we  should  not  have  fellowship  with  satan  followers.  Paul  explains  that  there  is  no  harmony  between  Jesus  and  satan(Belial),  Jesus  is  the  living  Word  of  God,  he  has  never  sinned  and  never  will  for  He  is  the  True  light  and  gives  light  to  all  men( John  1  verse  9).  Jesus  is  fully  obedient  to  God  the  Father,  He  does  exactly  what  the  Father  wills.  Satan,  however  is  a  created  being,  there  is  no  light  in  him  as  he  has  been  a  liar  and  murderer  from  the  beginning( John  8  verse  44). Paul  says  in  1  Timothy  1  verse  8  to  11: 

We  know  that  the  law  is  good  if  one  uses  it  properly.  We  also  know  that  law  is  made  not  for  the  righteous  but  for  lawbreakers  and  rebels,  the  ungodly  and  sinful,  the  unholy  and  irreligious;  for  those  who  kill  their  fathers  and  mothers,  for  murderers,  for  adulterers  and  perverts,  for  slave  traders  and  liars  and  perjurers  and  for  whatever  else  is  contrary  to  sound  doctrine  that  conforms  to  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God,  which  he  entrusted  to  me.

Notice  that  I  highlighted  two  points  in  the  scripture  above,  those  who  sin  break  God’s  law,  thus  not  following  God’s  will,  but  following  their  own  will. Satan  is  a  liar  and  murderer  and  therefor  a  lawbreaker,  he  does  not  obey  God’s  will,  he  is  disobedient  to  God.  He  sinned  in  the  beginning  and  continues  to  sin,  by  accusing  the  children  of  God  day  and  night( Revelations  12  verse  10). 

Jesus  and  satan  are  the  exact  opposite  of  each  other,  Jesus  was  never  created,  but  simply  IS,  because  He  is  God,  satan  was  created (Ezekiel  28  verse  13)  and  isn’t  God.  Jesus  is  light,  satan  is  darkness,  Jesus  is  perfectly  obedient  to  God,  satan  has  never  been  obedient  to  God  since  his   rebellion.  Jesus  came  to  save  lives( John  3  verse  16),  satan  seeks  to  kill  and  destroy  life (  John  10  verse  10  and  1  Peter  5  verse  8).  When  we  live  in  the  sinful  nature,  we  have  our  minds  set  on  what  satan  desires,  but  when  we  live  in  the  Spirit,  we  have  our  mind  set  on  what  God  desires( Romans  8  verse  5  to  8).  Friends,  we  must  understand  that  we  can  have  no  fellowship  with  those  who  live  for  satan,  we  have  to  distance  ourselves  from  them,  for  the  Spirit  of  God  in  us  envies  greatly,  for  friendship  with  the  world  is  hatred  towards  God(  James  4  verse  4  to  5). 

We  really  must  understand  that  the  company  we  keep  can  affect  us  greatly,  we  leave  ourselves  open  to  temptation  and  sin,  bad  company  corrupts  our  godly  character (1  Corinthians  15  verse  33).  God  has  commanded  us  to  be  separate  from  sinners,  because  He  dwells  in  us (  2  Corinthians  6  verse  16  to  17).  We  must  influence  the  sinners,  not   the  other  way  around,  we  must  exercise  caution  when  spending  time  with  those  who  are  not  right,  we  must  make  sure  that  we  try  to  lead  them  to  Christ.  We  must  examine  our  friendships  and  see  whether  we  are  witnessing  for  Christ  or  fulfilling  some  ungodly  desires.  Since  we  live  by  the  Spirit  and  they  by  the  sinful  nature,  there  is  bound  to  be  conflict  of  some  sort,  we  must  not  dilute  God’s  standards  when  we  are  in  their  company (or  at  any  time).  We  must  strive  to  keep  God’s  commands  and  standards,  regardless  of  who  we  are  with,  whether  it  is  favorable  or  not.  Examine  the  company  you  keep,  if  you  don’t  bring  honor  to  God  by  that  company,  then  part  from  them  ( unless  you  are  changing  them  by  witnessing  about  Christ).  Please  understand  that  many  people  have  fallen(spiritually)  because  of  their  bad  company,  how  many  countless  Christians  become  lax  because  of  their  bad  company.  It  is  sad  to  even  think  of  how  many  Christians  filled  with  God’s  fire  have  burnt  out  because  of  their  company,  their  fire  for  God  has  been  put  out,  because  they  try  to  please  man  rather  than  God.  Please  examine  your  intentions  for  the  company  you  keep,  is  it  to  save  them  or  to  just  be  with  them?  To  be  a  light  for  God  or  to  get  in  with  the  group?  Are  you  changing  them  or  are  they  changing  you?  It  is  better  to  have  no  friends  and  be  right  with  God  than  to  have  all  the  friends  in  the  world  and  forfeit  you  salvation  because  of  you  tolerance  of  sin  and  lax  standards.  Pray  to  God  and  ask  Him  if  you  are  friends  with  the  right  people,  if  this  is  His  doing  or  yours.  Please  beware  of  bad  company!

Life or Death!

The  choice  of  life  or  death  has  been  presented  to  man  from  the  beginning  of  time.  Adam and  Eve  were  presented  this  choice  in  the  garden  of  Eden.  They  defiantly  chose  death  over life,  by  eating  the  fruit  from  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil.  Unfortunately,  their  descendants  (mankind)  made  the  same  mistake  over  and  over  again. We  can  see  the results  in  this  sinful  world  of  choosing  death,  each  and  every  one  of  us  has  sinned  and fallen  short  of  the  glory  of  God (Romans 3 v 23).  Praise  be  to  God  that  we  can  be  redeemed through  the  sacrifice  of  His  only  begotten  son  Jesus  Christ,  we  have  now,  a  choice  to choose  life  through  Christ  or  Death!

Life  or  Death!

“Further  more,  tell  the  people, ‘ This  is  what  the  Lord  says:  See,  I  am  setting  before  you  the  way  of  life  and  the  way  of  death. (Jeremiah  21  verse  8)

King  Zedekiah  had  sent  word  to  Jeremiah,  to  enquire  of  God  for  him ,  for  the  Babylonians  were  besieging  the  city  of  Jerusalem.  He  hoped  that  God  would  miraculously  save  them  from  their  enemies  as  God  had  done  in  the  past( Jeremiah 21 verse 1 to 2).  Zedekiah  and  Israel  just  wanted  to  be  saved  from  their  enemies  so  they  could  continue  in  their  sins.  They  had  no  intention  of  repenting  and  turning  to  God,  they  simply  wanted  the divine help,  but  not  the  God  who  could  give  it.  God  spoke  against  this  request  and  said  that  He  would  strengthen  their  enemies  as  they  were  sent  by  Him  to  punish  Israel  for  it’s  sins.  He  told  them  if  they  surrendered  to  the  Babylonians  they  would  live,  if  they  didn’t  they  would  die(  Jeremiah 21 verse 9).  If  they  surrendered  they  would  be  obeying  God,  but  they  chose  to  disobey  God  rather  than  obeying  Him.  They  still  held  on  to  their  pride,  thinking  they  could  save  themselves.

Several  hundred  years  before  this  incident,  the  same  offer  of  life  or  death  was  offered  to  the  Israelites.  God  had  told  them  through  Moses  to choose  life  by  obeying  His  commands,  as  disobeying  would  result  in  ultimate  death ( Deut 30 verse 19 to 20).  The  Israelites  stubbornly  continued  in  their  sins  even  though  they  had  accepted  God’s  covenant  at  the  time  of  Moses.  They  stubbornly  continued  to  choose  death  over  life.

What  exactly  is  life?  The  old  testament  says  that  God  was  Israel’s  Life ( Deut  30 verse  20 ),  some  wonder  what  does  that  have  to  do  with  us  Christians?  Well  Colossians  3  verse  3  to  4  says  that  Christ  is  our  Life.  Ultimately  we  have  to  choose  between  Christ  and  death,  we  cannot  sit  on  the  fence,  if  we  choose  Christ  we  have  to  live  for  Him.  For  we  cannot  say  we  have  Christ  in  our  life  if  we  don’t  obey  His  commands (  1  John  2  verse  3  to  4 ).

God  says  in  Hebrews  3  verse  7,  Today  if  you  hear  his  voice,  do  not  harden  your  hearts! Do  we  choose  to  submit  to  God  and  obey  him?  Or  do  we  choose  to  harden  our  hearts.

Pharaoh  had  hardened  his  heart  several  times ( Exodus 7 verse 22,  8  verse 15,19, 32) .  He  had  several  opportunities  to  repent  and  obey  God’s  command  to  release  the  Israelites.  He  kept  on  playing  with  God  by  repenting  and  then  hardening  his  heart,  until  his  kingdom  was  ultimately  ruined.

We  should  choose  Life,  for  as  we  see  with  Pharaoh’s  example  the  cost  of  playing  with  death  is  too  high.  God  doesn’t  play  around  you’re  either  completely  for  Him  or  not  at  all.

Choose  Life!