Do we as Christians owe anything? If so, who and what do we owe? What does the Bible say about owing?
Kalon Mitchell
The Power That We Choose
After Mr. Norbert Link’s last sermon on “God the Father Is the Highest, Part 2”, I have been thinking about the power that is God’s and how that power is a part of us who are true Christians.
We are alive at this moment because this is what He has foreordained. Everything in the world has led up to the moments that we are living. We would not be here if God hadn’t made sure that we would be (compare Isaiah 44:24; Isaiah 49:15; Psalm 71:6; Jeremiah 1:5; Galatians 1:15). God would not have spent so much time and effort in making sure of this fact just to have us fail our calling.
How we choose to live each day becomes a byproduct of our lives. We live each day, day by day, moment by moment. Who we set out to become is dictated by the things that we do or do not do (1 Peter 1:13-25).
If we choose to do so, we live with the Spirit of God! It emanates from the Father and Jesus Christ and is given to us to dwell within us and help us. And yet, what do we do with it? Does it stagnate within us? Does it live dynamically through us? How is it put to use in our lives?
We are the responsible party to make sure that we are making spiritual progress. Yes God is full of power and willing to share – but it is useless unless we are the willing participants, actively seeking Him. Growth happens when we are engaging the Spirit of God.
Hebrews 6:1 explains that as we continue on our path, and we are able to use more of God’s Spirit within our lives, in all the little details, it will hopefully lead to us sinning less and less: “Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection (maturity), not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.” This is something that takes spiritual maturity – growth. Paul encourages us in 1 Corinthians 14:20: “Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.”
The Father is the highest. He is perfect in all His ways, His thoughts, His actions – in everything! He does not and cannot sin because He has willed not to. It is from this mindset and this power that we draw upon His power and strength.
Hebrews 4:16 powerfully tells us to approach God’s throne with conviction, and makes clear that we can never ask God for TOO MUCH. It doesn’t tell us there is a limit with what we can approach God. It is not like we get a 10-ticket punch card per day, and then, that is it. NO, it says: “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” When we are in need, when we are in doubt, when we are facing a problem or series of problems, our ONLY way forward is to approach God and to pray—to pray without doubt (James 1:6-8), without reservation, and with sincere conviction (Luke 22:44), and to pray without ceasing.
To be close to God is on the one hand very easy to do. It takes consistent prayer, Bible study, meditation and forethought. It also takes planning and preparation. It takes a willingness and a want to stay in contact with Him.
On the other hand, we are facing the physical person – the person who should have died at baptism; we face the pressures of this world; and we face Satan and his demons. This is not an easy war! There are many, many battles to be fought and won. There are fights that we cannot and will not win, unless we are intimately involved in our relationship with God.
We must give over ourselves to God’s Spirit; that great power with which Christ holds the universe together and sustains all things. The same power that Christ used when He was here on this earth, and by which He did many miracles. This power is emanating and being spilled out from us towards others. We were called for a reason. We have God’s Spirit for a reason. Galatians 5:16-26 tells us we have a choice to walk according to the flesh – and all that it desires – or we learn to walk in the Spirit. To the degree that we learn how to walk in the Spirit, so will our power, influence and obedience grow. We will become more and more powerful as we become more and more obedient to God
Paul tells us that while it is our potential to become God beings, this process is actually in progress right now. We are to be using the power from God to become more and more spiritual. Not that we are Spirit yet, for that is our potential at Christ’s return; but rather, that we have the power now, dwelling within us. Romans 8:9-11 states: “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who [better, “which”] dwells in you.”
This entire chapter of Romans 8 really speaks to the power of God’s Spirit which we must allow to dwell in us. As we have heard in Mr. Link’s above-mentioned sermon, when we have the Spirit dwelling in us, we essentially have the Father and Christ dwelling in us. Christ tells us one of the most powerful things in John 14:23: “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.’” God the Father and Christ are living in us. That Truth is incredible to think about. If we really meditate on this, we will do everything in our power to overcome the part of us that fails.
This is all incredible information! What we choose to do with it is up to each of us. We cannot neglect this great power to which we have access. Now is our opportunity!
Shepherds and Sheep
Why does the Bible use Shepherds and Sheep extensively throughout its pages? What can we learn by studying what it says about these creatures and the people who were to tend them? How can we learn to become better in both regards so that God can use us perfectly in all ways?
Quiet Quitting Christianity
Quiet Quitting is a relatively new term in the marketplace that describes individuals who do just enough to get by. As Christians, do we fall into this category? If we do, how do we reverse and do better?
Our Opportunity for Community
We who are in the church of God are placed here by God for a reason. We have to adhere to this and understand, why God has placed us where He has within the body of Christ. We have the opportunity to serve and help each other in this calling, while we are also working on fullfilling our commission to preach the Gospel.
Deep Dive On the Meaning of Christ’s Prayer Outline
Christ taught the disciples how to pray. What did He mean with each of the points He laid out? How do we think about these things in our prayers? How will what He mentioned affect how we pray?
Framing the Feast Properly
As we attend the Feast we are memorializing the time that God has commanded for us to keep! As we observe these days, we look back at the past and evaluate it, based on the framework of God’s Word. Then we make the effort to set our sights on the future and apply what we learn, as we progress in our calling.
Growth Beginns at the Edge of Your Comfort Zone
We are all used to our comfort zones. But this is not where we grow – physically or spiritually. God wants us to be uncomfortable so that we can learn to rely on Him in our lives. It is when we are uncomfortable that we can grow so that we can accomplish what it is that God wants from us.
Do Simple Better
How we live our lives is the most important part of our lives. We all take on as much as we can, so that we feel productive and useful. In our pursuit, though, we can lose sight of the important things. If we try and do simple better, our lives will be better for it. Let us not lose the proper focus we need.
Our Checklist
When I get a lot of things to do—like packing for a trip or tasks at work starting to pile up—one of the best ways for me to deal with such situations is to create a list of the things that I can check off and stop worrying about as I accomplish them. It is quite helpful to see the things that need doing and be able to prioritize and make plans for what needs to be done.
Our Christian lives can in a way also be viewed as lives with checklists. We can line up our spiritual priorities and start to execute them. But the one thing about Christianity is that it is not “a one time and done” occurrence. We have to constantly be re-evaluating and re-looking at our lives and everything that we do, all the while keeping hold of the things we know and holding on to them tightly.
Paul says that we are to be consistently looking at all areas of our lives with a spiritual checklist in mind to see how we are doing. Notice 2 Corinthians 13:5: “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.”
Nothing stays the same! As children, we continue to grow and to learn more and more. As we get older, our bodies start to change. As adults, life never is the same— it is always changing. There are always new challenges. Recently, it has seemed that the challenges are coming with faster speed—and more of them at the same time! There is no sign of them slowing down either!
What we may have had to check off as a younger Christian may not be the same as what we have to concentrate on now! But that is a good thing. We are to be maturing and growing in the use of God’s Spirit in our lives. 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 says: “Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”
So what does our checklist look like now? What is on there that we are working towards?
Thankfully, God the Father and Jesus Christ do not change. So, the checklist, from their standpoint, doesn’t change, either.
Numbers 23:19 tells us: “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” When we have the understanding that He is the same “yesterday, today and forever,” then there is a good baseline that we can grow from.
I have always found this truth extremely helpful: God doesn’t change. What He has said applies to everyone—for all times. Yes, the world is different now from thousands of years ago. But none of that really matters. The same principles and laws still govern all of us.
This truth allows all of us to be unique and have differences, and yet, all are still on the same playing field. Just because someone is ordained doesn’t mean that someone who is not is not as important to God. There is no favoritism with God. It is all based upon how well we are following our checklists and remaining close to God and allowing Him to lead us through this life.
Our Christian lives can be varied from individual to individual. Not everyone is doing the same job or has the same gifts. But how important all those jobs are! God is looking at how well we are each growing in our individual ways. Remember the widow with the two mites, the smallest amount of money, yet she gave it and Christ said she was more blessed because she gave all she had. Maybe it can feel at times that we aren’t doing enough, or that there is something more which we must do. This may be so, but the reality is that we should go back to our spiritual checklists and make sure that we are hitting all of our boxes and then, if we are, see about adding some new ones to help us to continue to grow in the “grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).
There are many Scriptures that can give us a good checklist of areas to be looking at. It would be a good idea to search the Bible and come up with a list to look at. The Ten Commandments is a great starting place. It really regulates the fundamental basics for us. Another great place is Romans 12. There are so many additional places to look at. But if we are not looking and studying and making sure that we are checking off those important and essential requirements which are listed in those and other Scriptures, then we will just drift through life, without having a concrete baseline. If we are not attentive, then, as it says in Matthew 24:12, our love could grow cold. We need to make sure that we are hitting all of the marks.