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The Joy in being Small.

I'll have to admit, life can get pretty crazy at times and just when you feel you have a handle on things, it seems like life has given you a whole new set of problems. I can't complain right now, things are relatively calm in my life right now, but that doesn't mean that there is nothing that I worry about. In fact, for me, it is during these times of relative calmness that I find my self worrying the most. My health is fine, I'm eating well but as the years progress I find that I am developing an uncertainty about life that didn't exist in my 20's or 30's. Being a religious man, I find that sometimes even if you are not careful, you can let the mundane things in your everyday life transfer over into your faith. My faith began when I was 21, and I'm finding that as I age and maintain my faith, I am almost trying to play it safe and not take any risks for the sake of my beliefs.

I have always been very zealous for the things I believe in but in my 40's I am finding that I want things to be settled spiritually, when in fact they never are nor should be. If someone was to ask you if you found God, what would you answer them. In my 20's, my immediate answer would be "yes." But the fact that I even hesitate at this question now reveals to me that I have started to compartmentalize parts of my faith, and questions that I feel I need the answers to, no longer are being sought after by faith but through ignorance. When we don't know why things work the way they do, our first response is to run from them. As a Christian it is my job to provide answers to those of you who are suffering or are in pain, not to ease my conscience but yours. Jesus was not just an example to me, so I could live my faith in imitation of his teachings! He was and is much more to me than that. When I say that Jesus is my Saviour, I mean to say that he is saving me and has saved me from my sins. The whole point of Jesus dying on the cross wasn't so that I could just go to Heaven when I die, It was to sanctify me. I'll explain.

The bible teaches that we must be holy if we are to see God, (Hebrews 12:14 ESV) Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. This desire to live a holy life is unnatural in it's essence. The default position of most human beings is self glorification and self love. There is nothing wrong with loving yourself, but the desire for God must be the saints highest goal. Frankly, I am sick and tired of people filling the church of Christ with a half hearted attitude towards salvation. It is evident now that worldliness has invaded God's church. This comes from the attitude that I need my God and I need other things too, or to say it in a very different way, Jesus allows me to sin because He has forgiven me. I believe the number one sin in the church right now is self love and laziness. I don't really believe these people will make it, if they keep these kinds of attitudes up.

Someone will say, my salvation is my salvation and don't you dare tell me how to live my Christian life. I'm going to Heaven even if I have to break down those pearly gates to do it! Hey, if that is your attitude more power to you. I'm not trying to play God here, I think the Lord knows what I am trying to say, and I believe if he could speak through me, he would say something to the effect that he died for everyone. Also I believe that we cannot be indifferent to living a holy life. As I get older, holiness is looking much different than it did to me when I was younger. It's not that I have somehow lowered my standards, I think with age you get experience and you take things less seriously. Not to diminish the price that Christ paid for my redemption, but to see my salvation in an even more personal way, and definitely a more "practical way." The love of God should translate into all areas of life, not just the convenient ones. I think this is the lesson that God is teaching me now.

Practical holiness should lead to practical actions that are righteous, or in other words "faith without works is dead." We are justified by faith, and we are kept through faith ( 1 Peter 1:5 NASB) who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. This is why our faith is so important because with out our faith we will not be sanctified and that means we will not go to Heaven when we die. Can Christians loose their salvation? Salvation was paid for by Jesus Christ, and it is through faith in what he did for us, through his life, death, and resurrection that we are born again to new life. Salvation hasn't happened, it is happening right now, that is why we must say I am currently being saved, not I am saved (even though that is true.) Trying to keep your salvation is Jesus' job. My job is to keep my faith. This is Mike.
  

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