Knowing
God personally is a vital part of a fulfilled life (Matthew 25:11). Sure, we
still have trials, but we trust Him implicitly through every one of them. Unless
we cause our tribulation by living according to our plans instead of His, He
plants a seed for a miracle in each issue that we experience.
If
we obey God's Word, we prove our love for Him, and His love is made complete in
us. If we say that we love Him, but do not obey Him, we prove that we are a liar
and the Truth is not in us (1 John 2:3-6). God renews our mind and daily
sanctifies our behavior.
There
is a big difference between Conviction and Conversion in a person's life. We
may have been convicted of our sin and prayed a prayer, but our life never
changes. Satanic strongholds in our life may keep us struggling with our walk
with the Lord.
We
may also be hindered because we do not have a personal relationship with Jesus
Christ. If we say that we are saved, but our life is not being transformed, we
were convicted, but not converted. Conversion starts our conformity into the
image of Christ.
Believing
is not enough. Demons believe and tremble, but they are not converted. There
are many examples of good people in the Bible who thought they were saved, but
they never had a relationship with God (Matthew 7:21, 25:11; Luke 6:46, 13:25).
One
way to tell if we are saved is because Born Again people may sin, but they
cannot live in habitual sin (1 John 2:3-6, James 1:12-16, 1 John 3:7-10).
Therefore, if we continue to live a sinful lifestyle, we still belong to Satan.
If
there is an unholy "soul tie" keeping us addicted to this sin, we are
giving Satan permission to wreak havoc in our life. God will save our soul, if
we completely surrender to Him and give Him every part of us to transform.
Prayer:
Father
God, remind us that we might fall into sin occasionally, but then our heart
would break and we would run from sin, because we would realize that we are
breaking Your heart as well (John 5:18-21). Remind us that sometimes habits,
people, places, things or even animals take Your place in our heart. We form an
unholy physical tie with them, as well as a possible “soul” tie with them in our
mind, choices and emotions.
Teach
us that when we continue to live in sin we dishonor our self and our family as
well as Your family. We also give the world the wrong impression of a Believer
(Ephesians 5:1-7, Hebrews 10:26-31, Romans 6:1-4). Teach us that if we are an
authentic Christian, we could walk away from sin - sometimes with the help of
counseling. Then, we can serve You, because the power of sin will be broken in
our life by the power of Christ's sacrifice on the Cross.
Thought
for the Day:
If
we are double-minded in our prayer for salvation and not sincere in our total
submission to Jesus, we will change nothing by praying a prayer, going to
church, serving in a ministry, talking to God, getting baptized, or even
tithing our income; these are just good works, and that does not get anyone
into heaven.
-
Ephesians 2:8; Romans 6:12-14, 7:13; Matthew 5:27-30
