Most of humanity does not know Jesus as the Christ,
nor do they care at all about Godly principles. Hypocrisy in the lives of so
called Christians exacerbates this problem.
If unbelievers see no distinction in their daily
walk with that of a professing Believer, this disillusions them. They want
nothing to do with Christ or with us.
We have a problem with our connection to the Vine
(John 15:5). We may even have a false hope of Heaven, because we never truly
repented or made Jesus the Lord of our life.
If, however, we are grafted into the Vine, their
reason for rejecting His truth may be that we are hiding His light within us
and they cannot see it (Matthew 5:15-16).
Once we surrender our identity over to the Ruler of
the universe, God makes a huge difference in our habits, language, personality
and interests.
When we fully submit to God for Him to use as He
pleases (Isaiah 29:16), our life takes on the character of Christ. This is when
people see us as authentic Christians. We are a manifestation of God on the earth.
We have God’s peace in trouble, His perseverance in
trials, His love for our persecutors and His joy during periods of grief.
They see us exhibiting patience in trying times,
using self-control when others give in to debauchery, displaying meekness
rather than having a haughty attitude, relating to others with kindness and
basing our life and decisions on faith in our faithful God.
We lay down our preferences and care about the needs
of others over our own agenda, without compromising who we are in Christ.
Others see truth and reality in our lives. We are
capable of this behavior, not because we are exemplary human beings, but
because of God's Holy Spirit within us (Galatians 5:16:25).
This is when other people want for themselves what
we have within us.
Prayer:
Father God, Jesus prayed that no one would snatch us
out of Your hand. You are greater than all, and we are perfectly safe in Your
everlasting arms (John 10:28-29). Fill us completely full of Your Spirit and
keep us as the apple of Your eye (Ephesians 3:16-19; Psalm 17:8).
Draw us close to You and never let us go. Your
unfailing love is our priceless treasure and we run to the refuge of the shadow
of Your wings (Psalm 36:7). When we draw near to You, and resist Satan's efforts to
sidetrack us, he has to flee from Your presence within us.
Thought for the Day:
The Holy Spirit is our source of power; and we can ask
Him to manifest Himself in and through us all the days of our life; so that others
see Christ in us.
