God's Gracious Love

"He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32, ESV)

This declarative statement about what God has already done for us also interrogates every doubt one may harbour as to God's willingness or ability to meet any of our needs.

In other words, our scripture text compels or challenges the believer to carefully consider the reality of their new creation status in Christ, how gracious God has been and how much more gracious He can be.

Beloved, rest assured that God withholds no good thing from those who do what is right (see Psalm 84:11).

FIVE SIMPLE RULES – Part 3

Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.  And do everything with love.. (1 Cor 16:13-14, NLT)

The third of our five simple rules to a victorious Christian life is “Be Courageous”. It is a fitting progression from the first two – “Be Watchful” and “Stand Firm in the Faith”. To do either of these first two things successfully, we have to be courageous.

RULE #3: BE COURAGEOUS
There are very few certainties in life, just a handful of things we can really be sure of. For the most part therefore you will need to make constant recourse to courage in other to successfully navigate your way through life.

Courage is defined in the Webster’s Dictionary as “the quality of mind which enables people to encounter danger and difficulties with firmness or without fear”. It involves acting with resolve and boldness.

Fear, especially fear of failure, has always been the most significant barrier to success in any endeavour. There is no shortage of the challenge to courage in the scriptures. But it is worth pointing out that the presence of courage does not imply the absence of fear.

 “If we’re growing", said John Maxwell, "we’re always going to be out of our comfort zone”. This means that the fear factor will always present. However, the thing that sets the courageous person apart from the rest is the fact that he or she does not allow fear to influence or dictate the step he or she is going to take next. Indeed, someone (I’m not sure who) has described courage as “being one step ahead of fear”.

The believer has not received the spirit of fear or a cowardly spirit, as we discover from 2 Timothy 2:7. On the contrary, what we have received is the spirit that emboldens or gives courage. We find then that this call to live a courageous life is not an impossible challenge: God has given Christian the capacity and grace to fully satisfy this third rule of a victorious Christian life: “Be Courageous”!

By the effectual working of the same grace that enables us to approach the Father boldly (Heb 4:16), we can face up to our fears, resist them, gain mastery over them and grow in confidence to live faithful moral and spiritual lives. We have need of courage to resist our adversary the devil, to overcome his trials and temptations, to keep our ground, boldly defend truth and contend earnestly for the faith.

It’s in the nature of God’s call upon us as His workmanship, His ambassadors and His vessels that we develop a different attitude, one that expects the demonstration of the spirit and the victorious power of God in every opposition, and not one that is harassed into capitulation by the storms of life and by Satan and his host of wicked spirits.

Christian courage flows from a sense of devotion (1 Chronicles 28:2) and  of duty (Joshua 1:9) to God. It is a life of faith established on the promise of God’s abiding presence (Hebrews 13:5-6). The promise of God’s presence belongs to all believers. It is an assurance given by God to neutralize fear and provoke courage in the heart of His people! "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world" (1John 4:4)

Your courage will grow as you learn to take God at His word! (1 Samuel 30:6, KJV). Look to Him as the ever-present helper who is always there with you as you navigate life’s challenges and walk the path that your obedience to His word has led you to tread.

May the Lord fill you with grace to run with courage the race that is set before you!

FIVE SIMPLE RULES - Part 2

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love. (1 Corinthians 16:13-14, NIV)

In the first part of this post we recognized our urgent need to be watchful and alert to the activities of the devil, the one revealed in the bible as our adversary, the enemy of our soul.

Now we turn our attention to the second pre-requisite of a victorious Christian life we identify in the text as “Stand firm in the faith”.

RULE #2: STAND FIRM IN THE FAITH

The thrust of Satan’s scheme against a Christian hinges on a plot to destabilize, discourage and derail your trust in God, but God wants you to stand firm in the face of wayward winds that blow against your Christian beliefs and witness.

As a principle of victorious Christian living, to stand firm in the faith requires that a believer be steadfast in holding and defending the truth of the gospel. It is a challenge to be a faithful doer of the Word, affirming the truth of God’s Word in all circumstances; and refusing to give up “the ground of truth” despite challenges that press us to the contrary. It is a call to firmly maintain and hold on to our personal confidence in God.

A central proposition of our Christian faith teaches that: “...anyone who comes to [God] must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrew 11:6, NIV).

What we know and believe about God, our conviction that God is who He says He is and He will do what He says He will do, is based on His self revelation as we diligently search for Him. But the enemy of your faith does not want you to abide in the truth.

The devil is a thief, and is intent on undermining your confidence in God. He is always working to get you to doubt what you believe about God and about Jesus Christ.

He planted a seed of doubt in Eve’s mind with the question: “Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?” (Genesis 3:1), and with that, he derailed her trust in God. Apostle Paul saw that danger in the Corinthian church (a danger which is still as real, if not more, among contemporary believers) and warned:

“I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” (2 Corinthians 11:3–4, NIV)

A victorious Christian comes up against the wisdom of the world, the lies and deceptions, but refuses to succumb to their influence. He keeps his ground and sticks with God’s revelation. He knows and is sure of the One in whom he has believed, and refuses to be moved from his convictions.

There are many voices, but only one is the voice of the “good shepherd”; there are many words but only the word of one is the truth. The word of God is truth (John 17:17), but the voice of the stranger is the voice of a lying spirit.

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons (1 Tim 4:1, ESV)

It is the will of God that you keep standing firm in the faith and not pay attention to deceitful spirits. God has given you the Spirit of truth by whose effectual working you are able to understand the truth and distinguish it from the falsehood of false teachers.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. (1Co 15:1-2 ESV)

You have the grace to stand firm and live a victorious Christian life. By faith alone you enter into that grace wherein you have been called by God to stand firm! (Rom 5:2). The greater One who is resident in you (1 John 4:4) enables you by His empowering presence to firmly stand in defence of your Christian faith with unwavering confidence.

You have not believed in vain: God exists and He rewards...! Keep standing firm in your faith!