The past few days have been emotional for many reasons, roommate stresses and ALOT of financial stresses. So, going into this class I was feeling down and just wanted to kind of hide myself, and wanted to be forgotten... as I feel I should be forgotten some days :)
Any who...The instructor of the class explained at the beginning of class that he suffers from mini strokes time to time and had just suffered from one a few hours before class and was struggling to remember the lesson let alone the names of the people in class (names are really important to him as AtOneMent is his focus). So he came around and introduced and re-introduced himself to everyone in the class. I have only introduced myself to him one time and I knew he would not remember who I was...but when he got to my row...sure enough...He knew me...by first and last name. Well, that started the frog in my throat and the holding back of tears.
The lesson was on The Fall of Adam and Eve. I am going to share with you what I got out of the class tonight. I am not going to go into the doctrine of it...that is just too much for me right now...but I will tell you what I felt.
During this class it was asked, "When God calls for you, do you know His voice well enough to recognize His voice?" It got me thinking, when Eve was in the garden and the serpent beguiled her, he did tell her the truth...mostly...it sounded right. I think Satan tells the truth mingled with lies to us to catch us in his trap....I know I have been caught in his trap many times. I want to know my Masters voice, I want to not doubt whether or not the voice that calls to me is my Masters or if it is not.
So...How do I prepare to recognize His call?
I need to STUDY the scriptures, not just read them. I need to go to institute and listen, not just go to go. I need to pray and really listen when I ask for His assistance. I need to be obedient...I know the gospel life...I just need to live it and not doubt it. Its time to do, its time to act...these are the final days, and our Master will be calling out to His faithful servants...Will you recognize His call when He calls you? Or will you be deceived by the serpent and his call to you? It will sound similar, this I know, but the consequence of following the right call by the Master is so great, and the reward! Oh the sweet reward when we recognize our Fathers call!
One more thing...When Adam fell...God didn't say, "Well, you can't stay in the Garden anymore....get out and good luck!"...He showed Adam the way back! When we ourselves fall, and we separate ourselves from God, God is always there waiting for us to turn back to Him...He is a loving, caring God who will never leave room for us to fail, and the tools to get back are here for us...He wants us back with Him!
Just some encouragement:
ReplyDeleteJohn 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
Just think about that, ponder that. All things were made through Him - Jesus (the Word)... And without Him nothing was made that was made.
Colossians 1:13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
We were created through Jesus, and for Jesus...
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus seeing the Joy of restoring you, restoring me, and all who repent and put their faith in Him alone... He endured the cross!!! So that when we fail, so that when we fall short, and we are ensnared by sin... We can get back up... we can rise again, because of the FAITH that he has written in our hearts, because of the strength that he causes within us when we are weak! So that we can run this race with His endurance.
Phillipians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
But here's the kicker... What have you and I done to deserve all this??? What do we do to repay for such a great service?......... NOTHING!!!
Ephesians 2:8 For by GRACE you have been saved through FAITH, and that NOT OF YOURSELVES; it is the GIFT of God,
9 NOT OF WORKS, lest anyone should boast.
Jesus didn't say I paid for your sins, now pay me back! He said I am the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. None shall come to the Father except through ME. He also says that the TRUTH shall set you free.
So if you are made FREE by Jesus, you are FREE INDEED!!!
to be cont'd
the cont'd
ReplyDeleteAnd the awesome promise that HE has given us... (not of works lest any man should boast.... Not of our works... not of ourselves) But that HE is the author and finisher of our faith! Our works that we WILL do are not a requirement... they are out of RESPONSE to what Jesus did for you on the cross!!! Out of RESPONSE to the LOVE he causes us to have for HIM for WHAT JESUS DID FOR US!!! If you LOVE ME, you will keep my commandments. Do you love him? Do you KNOW Jesus well enough PERSONALLY that you can truly say at from the bottom of your heart and cry out with every bone of your body "JESUS I LOVE YOU!!!"? Only then will you KEEP his commandments! But only when you realize what he did for you, and truly SEEK FORGIVENESS with all that you have and will all your heart and all that your are and REPENT - which is to TURN completely from your sins and go in the opposite direction of them, to cut them off... To make no room for them any longer....... To take up your Cross Daily (dying to the desires of the flesh) and walking towards Jesus, and away from the world.
Jesus said if you LOVE ME, you will keep my commandments. With such a love he also said that One must HATE his Father, mother, brother, and sister more than Him. Not to be confused, he is not saying to hate them... but to LOVE HIM more than you love them.
How many of us will hear the story of Christ, and hear the requirement "If you believe in him, if you trust in him.... You will be saved." And from that moment make the statement, or cause themselves to make the cliche in their minds... "Oh, yeah, I believe, or I trust in Jesus." But FAIL to understand the depth and sincerity that is lacking within themselves. FAIL to recognize the IMPORTANCE of the RELATIONSHIP that Jesus was calling them too. A man can consider himself a Christian, and daily or weekly go to the bar and fornicate, yet he still considers himself a Christian because he has this faulty belief within himself that he is saved from his sinfulness............. What wrath awaits him? How HORRID the wrath that awaits him!!! Children I plead with you!!! Seek the face of HIM who SAVES!!! Are you saved from that day of wrath? Are you redeemed from the clutches of Hell? Is there a place prepared for you in the Kingdom of the Father? And are you sure of it? If there is ANY slightest doubt... you best get some Assurance!!! Insurance is great, but it doesn't cover everything.... But ASSURANCE covers everything!!! Don't just be in Good Hands... be in HIS hands!!!
Don't be fooled by a one liner and hinge your faith upon it... SEEK ye first the KINGDOM of GOD, and all these things will be added unto you. Faith, assurance, SALVATION!!! All these can be found in one person, JESUS! But until you know him, you cannot have faith in him... until you know him he cannot assure you, and unless you know him, you have not his salvation.
Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'
23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
Thank you so much for your encouragement....I did get so much out of what you shared...and I love the verses you shared from Matthew, I have always liked those verses. I needed the reminder thank you. I am far from perfect, but I know what God the Father and His Son are seeking from us as Gods Children. I agree that it is not enough to say that "We are Saved", I believe that "Being Saved" is when we full heartedly turn to Christ and accept His Atonement, and you have to understand what the Atonement is to accept it into your heart...and when you accept it...you become like Him. I know I want to become more like Christ...have more Charity, experience that pure love towards my brothers and sisters here on earth. Something else I realized in class last night is that when we listen to Satan we are seperating ourselves from God...we turn our back on Him...and that causes a seperation. I love breaking the word atonement into At- One- Ment...when we accept the atonement into our lives...we become AT-ONE with Christ.
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