Powered By Blogger

Tuesday 11 March 2014

THE "PRIZE"

The Christian life was never promised as an easy way to live, instead the Word of God constantly reminds us that we must have a purpose and a plan because things will be difficult and Satan will attack when we least expect. But we never persevere without the promise of a prize - a promise God will keep! Here is our plan of how we can sustain our Christian life to win that prize.

THE PURPOSE: winning a race requires purpose and discipline which illustrates our Christian life (takes hard work), self-denial, and gruelling preparation. As Christians, we are running toward our heavenly reward and the essential disciplines of prayer, Bible study, and worship equip us to run with vigour and stamina. We should not merely observe from the grandstand, just turn out to jog a couple of laps each morning, but instead we must train diligently because our spiritual progress depends on it. At times we must even give up something good in order to do what God wants. Each and everyone's special duties determine the discipline and denial we must accept. Without a goal, discipline is nothing but self-punishment. With a goal of pleasing God, our denial seems like nothing compared to the eternal (incorruptible) reward that awaits us.

THE PLAN: In our Christian life we battle against "principalities and powers". To withstand their attacks, we must depend on God's strength and use every piece of His armour. These are not "flesh and blood" are demons over whom Satan has control. They are not mere fantasies, they are very real. As Christians we face a very powerful army whose goal is to defeat Christ's church. When we believe in Christ and join His church, these beings become our enemies, and they try every device to turn us away from Christ and back to sin. Although we are assured of victory, we must engage in the struggle until Christ comes, because Satan is constantly battling against all of us who are on the Lord's side. The supernatural power to defeat Satan has been provided for us by God in His Holy Spirit within us and His armour surrounding us.

THE PRIZE: We are free to choose between life and death and yet God has chosen us (we are His "elect"). This is a mystery our finite minds cannot easily grasp. But even if we do not completely understand it, we can still choose Jesus and be grateful that He has chosen us. God is faithful to us His children and although we may suffer great hardships here, He promise that someday we will live eternally with Him. It means we as believers will live in Christ’s' Kingdom, and share in the administration of that Kingdom. Are you facing hardships?? I edge you not to turn away from God because He has promised you and l a wonderful future with Him. Jesus will stay by our side even when we have endured so much that we seem to have no faith left. We may be faithless at times, but Jesus remains faithful to His promise to be with us always, "even unto the end of the World" and only one thing can break our communication with God. If we turn against Him and refuse His help!!!


By Enyonam Gbekle. All rights reserved 2014
 

No comments:

Post a Comment