On Fire and Ready for Game Time
So many new Christians start out fired up and pumped up for Jesus. We start out with a passion and desire to introduce as many people to Jesus as we can. After all, we've found the greatest gift known to man -- the gift of Jesus. Sadly, along the way we become discouraged and lose some of that fire. Whether it be because life has extinguished our fire with its many demands and problems and obstacles, or whether it be because people have convinced us (or we've convinced ourselves) that "too much" Jesus is not a good thing...wouldn't want to offend anyone.
"...you must live in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ, as citizens of heaven." -Philippians 1:27 NLT
"Or don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body." -1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT
"For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes--Jews first and also Gentiles. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, 'It is through faith that a righteous person has life.' " -Romans 1:16-17 NLT
You see, we are cheating people out of their opportunity for salvation when we allow our fire to die out. The story of Christ being that we are to share is the very thing that will draw others to God....the very thing that drew us to God. If we aren't sharing it, we are basically living in sin because we have a specific command from Christ:
"I (Jesus) have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations... Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
So not only are we to take the news of Christ to the people, but we are to train (disciple) them in how to live and how to obey Christ. We simply teach them what we ourselves have learned.
We don't want to be in this situation, and we don't want to leave other people in this situation:
There is a football team in the locker room preparing for the game, receiving information from the coach. They're getting excited, getting pumped up to play. They run down the tunnel and out to the field. They get to the field and they are not wearing pads or helmets. They've forgotten the plays and diagrams they've just seen on the board in the locker room. They are on the field confused and lost as to what to do, how to beat the other team. They lose the game and can't figure out why.
When we let Jesus into our hearts, the Holy Spirit is free to give us the instruction we need to make it through life and live out the commands of Jesus. Don't be like that team, losing battles in life left and right without ever really understanding why. We have a real enemy, satan, who wants to destroy us...by any means necessary. But he has ALREADY been defeated by Jesus when he hung on the cross for us. All we have to do is live in that victory!
Don't lose your fire! Don't stop pursuing the Christ who saved you from death!
"...you must live in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ, as citizens of heaven." -Philippians 1:27 NLT
"Or don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body." -1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT
"For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes--Jews first and also Gentiles. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, 'It is through faith that a righteous person has life.' " -Romans 1:16-17 NLT
You see, we are cheating people out of their opportunity for salvation when we allow our fire to die out. The story of Christ being that we are to share is the very thing that will draw others to God....the very thing that drew us to God. If we aren't sharing it, we are basically living in sin because we have a specific command from Christ:
"I (Jesus) have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations... Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
So not only are we to take the news of Christ to the people, but we are to train (disciple) them in how to live and how to obey Christ. We simply teach them what we ourselves have learned.
We don't want to be in this situation, and we don't want to leave other people in this situation:
There is a football team in the locker room preparing for the game, receiving information from the coach. They're getting excited, getting pumped up to play. They run down the tunnel and out to the field. They get to the field and they are not wearing pads or helmets. They've forgotten the plays and diagrams they've just seen on the board in the locker room. They are on the field confused and lost as to what to do, how to beat the other team. They lose the game and can't figure out why.
When we let Jesus into our hearts, the Holy Spirit is free to give us the instruction we need to make it through life and live out the commands of Jesus. Don't be like that team, losing battles in life left and right without ever really understanding why. We have a real enemy, satan, who wants to destroy us...by any means necessary. But he has ALREADY been defeated by Jesus when he hung on the cross for us. All we have to do is live in that victory!
Don't lose your fire! Don't stop pursuing the Christ who saved you from death!
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