Verisimiltude

Everyone believes in God.

Even people who deny Him have to believe in Him in order to do so.  (James 2:19)  Man cannot ignore our Creator.  We try desperately, filling our minds with things that are not of Him, but we are in fact owned and fabricated for The Almighty's purpose.  (Psalm 139:14)  If we are His through Christ Jesus we are a New Creation desiring to obey Our King wholeheartedly despite the pull of our flesh and other influences.  (2 Corinthians 5:17)  By His power we are able to deny ourselves, however difficult it is, and boy is it ever difficult.  It's a battle my dear, and we must be alert because the enemy is unrelenting, chipping away at our sanctification process. (1 Peter 5:8)

Being a New Creation comes at a price.  To die for the name of the Anointed One would be an honour fit for those whom God called, and I am not talking about those crazies who sacrifice themselves, or kill others 'on behalf of or for Allah'.   At this point in my life, I think I am pretty safe, my Country is not at war, and because of this I can be very lazy at times.  Theoretically I have been stoned by others, or crucified by beings who at one time claimed to love me, but this no way compares to the men and women killed for the sake of The Messiah!  As He lived and died, so must I.  As He increases as the Ruler of my heart, I decrease and submit to His Ministry, knowing that My Master has it covered and this existence is about His Majesty. (John 3:30)

Being a New Creation in Christ Jesus, having this personal, deep, real relationship with my Heavenly Father is astounding and certainly what most people desire, because truly we want to be fulfilled, it's how we are wired.  Most reasonable people like and accept the fact that God does stuff for them.  Human beings enjoy claiming Jesus died for them, that they are super special, chosen, the elect, and that this indeed gives them some sort of power over everyone else.  However, if our actions say, "I can do whatever seems right to me,' or; Picture sitting back with our feet up on the desk, hands behind our head in relax mode because we have our ticket to Heaven.  We think to self, 'what happens now doesn't matter in the end, because of Jesus we are forgiven no matter what'.  Others still, practice a religion that was only given to point to the need of a Messiah, and claiming their obedience to the Mosaic Law will indeed show their love and heart for God.

These are just not true.

We are forgetting that there will be a final Judgment Day.

The Holiness of God requires Judgement.  When His Perfect Wrath is poured out is up to Him, but it has happened, is happening, and will happen until Jesus returns.  Notice I say when, not if.  According to Scripture, and history, God cursed the Earth, and we reap the consequences of our sin constantly.  Earthquakes, Broken Relationships,Tsunamis, Starvation, Plague, Flooding...War.  So much death tied to these things, man is the cause of it all, and yet we fail to own this truth. 

 (Genesis 3:17, 5:29)

Why is it so shocking to us about how we behave when we have been given over to ourselves?  Why is the world flabbergasted when humanity reveals its ugliness, destroys, or looks out for #1?  Why do we recognize evil in others, happily pointing it out but not look inward at the same time?

(Romans 8:18-25)

We all have the same disease, and even those redeemed by The Blood of Christ, and belong to His Body suffer from it, except they should be careful not to be consumed by it.

(Galatians 5:15)

Man has no power over other men, that is why certain souls resort to brute force, manipulation, and other petty tactics to perhaps sway another creature to do what they want.  A Christian can fall into this pattern as well, our curse being that we still want our own way, even after God replaces our heart of stone to one of life! But maybe the tactics we know aren't what we should be practicing, indeed if what we are doing is causing harm, maybe we should stop, repent, turn to God, and move on, forgiving much because we ourselves have been washed clean from our unrighteousness.

Is the Christian life about what God does for us? 

Could it be that our life is about God being God, and God glorifying Himself with our existence?  Would it be so difficult to see an individual as insignificant compared to the group or body God has set up, which is tangible evidence of Our Saviour?  Understand what I am saying carefully, because as a single creature with my own conscience and in communion with God through Jesus Christ, what God is doing 'to me' is important.  God is using me at this point to serve Him as a wife, mother, teacher, a student Of The Word, and a friend.  I am also a daughter, a sister (in law), an aunt and a writer but those all come secondary in this season of my life.

The most terrifying crowd I can think of are those who claim to know God, who put on the piety, who are full of knowledge of God's Word and even show up to a Church once in a while to display they are indeed being changed by Our Heavenly Father.  These people look the part, they write with such reverence for Christ, they 'appear' to be of the redeemed type, but these are the people Scripture warns us about.  These are the ravenous wolves, the vipers, analogous to the snake in the Garden of Eden, saying, "You won't surely die."

These are all part of The Designer's Plan, and I have been thrown to my knees, begging for mercy before the Throne, humbled by the reminder of Christ's Spiritual Care of God's people and the particular way this is accomplished.

I have spoken about The Fruit of The Holy Spirit before, and how one can tell where the heart is by an action, daily life, or when met with a fork in the road:  i.e. God Alone, or 'keep the peace'.  It's not always that black and white, but in my meager experience if it's not of God then it's of Not God, and that equals Hell.  (1 Corinthians 10:13) Does a mortal scuttle away or draw near when the figurative light is turned on?  My Master has graciously rescued me from evil, drawing me closer to Himself, poking holes in the dark veil shining on my heart and will continue to do so until that day I am witness to His Full Deity, and if you belong to Him He is doing the same to you, Praise His Holy Name!! It will hurt, but it will be worth the pain and agony, trust me.  (Matthew 6:34)

Until I die, Lord willing, I will serve Him according to His Word, and I am very thankful for the man God has placed over me to guide our family, but saying that, it is not the security of my marriage that brings me joy.  It's the knowledge that peace with God (Christ Jesus) comes before everything else, and it's getting easier to see what I may be putting before The Lord that would allow me to lose sleep and bring judgement upon myself.  Psalm 118:24 says "This is the day that The LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!" 

Indeed I am.