December 18, 2017 WITHOUT BLAME
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24: “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”
We can thank God for the verses throughout the bible that keep our focus on the simplicity and comfort found in Christ. Even as believers who know the Lord, we can become overly burdened with life and lose sight of the fact that our part is to love and serve the God who rules and reigns. God has done all that is necessary for us to live life in peace and to be found without blame when He returns. The verses above address not just our spirit, but our soul and body as well. God, being our creator, understands and makes provision for the spirit, soul and body of man. When we understand who God is and who we are-His sons and daughters-life is not complicated. Life becomes complicated and burdensome when we stop being responders to God, and cease trusting in His love for us, and begin living according to our ways and our own human wisdom and understanding. In 2 Corinthians 11:3 Paul was concerned that some of the believers had turned away from pure, simple devotion to Christ: “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve, your minds might be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” It is not over-simplified to say that our call in life is to be devoted to Christ and live in such a way that our life is pleasing to Him. This is not saying that God is simple or that we are to be naïve or shallow in our thinking and in our quest to search out the deep things of God. God is omniscient and beyond human understanding, yet He sent His Son, who humbled Himself and gave His life that man might be saved and adopted into the family of God. One of the great elements of the salvation of man was that of man being saved from himself. Apart from God, man is lost, without hope, and on a downward spiral that leads to death-both spiritual and physical. The beauty of our salvation is that we no longer live as mere humans-we now live in the kingdom of God, and in His kingdom there is security, peace, confidence, purpose, and a absence of confusion, doubt, discord, and complications. The words that Jesus spoke while on earth, came from the Father, and the message was that life is found in Him. The words of Jesus were pure, easily understood, (for those who had ears to hear) refreshingly simple, life-giving, and made plain the path that leads to abundant life that is found in God’s kingdom. Jesus’ words and the life He lived brought the Kingdom God to the doorstep of man, and those who receive the message of Jesus are made new and are made a part of His kingdom, and in His kingdom, we live and reign with Him in life. Our overriding focus in life is now to live as the sons and daughters of God, pleasing Him in all we do-and the Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit in us, tells us the things that please Him-all we have to do is-do them! It’s that simple. How refreshing-just read the Scriptures and do what they say. God has set the stage; He has done all that needs to be done in order for us live in a way that pleases Him. The operative word for us is ‘DO.’
1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.”
Blessings,
Buddy
RSS Feed