March 8, 2022 OUR AMBITION
2 Corinthians 5:4-10 “For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, in order that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord-for we walk by faith, not by sight-we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
Some observations from these scriptures: This body is our temporary dwelling; we are living in a ‘tent.’ While we live in this tent, we groan and are burdened because we know there is much for us than we are now experiencing in this mortal body. One day, this mortal body of ours, this tent, will be swallowed up by life. God prepared us for this purpose and He has given us the Spirit as a pledge that God will fulfill this purpose for us.
Because God has revealed His purpose for us, we can always be of good courage; we find encouragement because we can see from our ‘tents’ what God has prepared for us-we see where we are moving to-that gives us strength and energy for the present-for life in the tent.
If we are fearing death, it’s an indication we do not understand or believe that God has something far greater for us after the death of our mortal body. If we do believe what God says about this mortal body being swallowed up by life, we had rather be absent from the body and be home with the Lord. We all have a natural longing to be home-but this mortal body we live in is not out home. We can’t see with our physical eyes what God has for us; we walk by faith. If we live according to what we see with our eyes, we are blind to the things of God.
Because of this fantastic purpose God has for us, it is only natural that it will be our ambition to be pleasing to Him. Being connected to and joining in with the plans and the ways of God transforms our lives to the point that we want to live as unto Him-selfish ambition vanishes.
Finally, the reality that many believers overlook is that one day we will stand before Christ and will be recompensed for the things we have done in this life-whether good or bad. Many misunderstand grace; we are saved by grace, but grace is not a license to sin and we are not to take sin lightly. Jesus went about doing good. There are many admonitions in scripture for us to be about good works. We have been made righteous in Christ, and righteousness expresses itself through good works. James says that faith without works is a dead faith.
Romans 14:8 “If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”
1 Peter 3:13 “But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”
Blessings, Buddy
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