Chris' Christian Blog

January 29, 2018

"January 29, 2018" 

"Prompt: What is your favorite song? Why? Does this song motivate you? Does it bring back memories?"

My favorite song is the hymn "Just as I am". It's my favorite because it reminds me of my Savior who loves me Just as I am. He doesn't demand me to change before He'll have anything to do with me. Rather He changes me to be more like an image of Him by changing my heart and washing away the impurities that make me hideous to Him. Is it any wonder that the world never accepts us just as we are? Even God changes us but God's changes are growth for us. The world demands that we conform to an image that nobody is capable of meeting because even the world realizes that we are flawed. The world recognizes the destruction brought on by sin but the world has no real remedy. The world requires that we be perfect and only one has ever been sinless. That one is Jesus Christ. He was born without sin. He was not made subject to sin by the weakness passed down to all humans by Adam. He grew into adulthood and though He too was tempted He never sinned. Then for all His perfection we killed Him. Now the world demands that we all be perfect as He was perfect but none of us are capable of doing so. We let the world down but we never let God down because God has no such expectation of us. God asks that we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that God raised Jesus from the dead. If we do that then we are saved. We remain saved in spite of the sin that continues to entangle and haunt us. When we do sin we simply confess it and God washes us clean. The world demands that everybody be perfect. When we become Christians the world tightens those demands on us and demands that we keep the Law and be sinless. It believes we remain Christians by total adherence to the Ten Commandments and why should it not believe this. The same demands have been being made of Christians since the dawn of the church. (See the writings of Paul such as Galatians 1, Colossians 2, and the writings to Timothy.), The accuser, Satan, knows that the law is impossible for humans to keep. It was never meant to bring people to God but merely to tell us what was sinful. It instructs but does not save. Therefore Satan tells the world that we must keep the law to pervert the gospel of Jesus Christ. If he does so then it only stands to reason that the world, which is his domain, would do the same. Christians are particularly vulnerable to these attacks because he singles us out as people who he expects to keep the law, so his domain does the same. We4 don't keep the law. We strive to serve Jesus Christ who in turn keeps the law in us as long as we are surrendered to Him. We still make mistakes. Being a Christian does not obligate us to the law and we will still find ourselves in violation of its commandments.



"Prompt: “Your calling is more powerful than your resume,” says Tama J. Kieves in the January 12, 2018 issue of Signature. In what ways can you imagine your writing to be more powerful than your resume?"

My writing is more powerful than my resume because I often write sermons about Jesus Christ. God says that His word will not come back void, Isaiah 55:11. That tells me that anytime I preach God's word somebody is going to read it and be positively affected by it. They may not become Christians because God grants them freewill but His word will change them in some positive way. I wholeheartedly believe that. Thus I am going to do my best to answer every blog prompt and take every opportunity to preach God's word. I have been praying for world wide revival and I believe that it is going to happen. However revival has to start with me. If I am on fire for God people will respond to it. I pray that I make enemies doing so because all of my brothers and sisters who effectively preached God's word were persecuted or killed for doing so. If nobody says anything bad about me it means my Christianity is not showing! I want the world to hate me because the world is the enemy of God. It hates Him so it only stands to reason that it should hate me as I represent Him! I'm not here to make friends with the devil and his world. I am here to preach God's word and destroy the strongholds of Satan in the process. Jesus did not come to bring peace but a sword. Matthew 10: 34. If my Master came to bring troubles to the world then I should be rattling cages as well! I am not here to please anybody but Jesus Christ. Therefore my writing will preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I pray Satan hates me for doing so!

Father I come to your throne of grace asking that you empower my words. I ask that no sermon I preach come back void. The world hated Jesus therefore I pray that the world hates me. Allow me to sow holy conflict wherever I go. Allow sinners to hear your words coming from my mouth and allow them to be pricked in their hearts. Allow the consciences to burn them and disturb them so badly that they shout "Brother what shall I do?"

Allow my answer to be the answer given by my brother Peter who told the Jews on Pentecost "Repent everyone of you and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins!"

I ask this in the name of your Son and my Master Jesus Christ. Amen.