Keeping His Word

At one point Jesus was teaching and a woman, probably amazed by the wisdom from this Man screamed in the midst of the crowd blessing the womb that carried Jesus and the breast that nursed Him. Listen to what the Lord said; “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word and keep it,” (Luke 11:28).

We have seen in the previous post that we communicate with our Lord best through His word. There is no point in hearing or reading the word and then fail to do as it says. Keeping the word does not only mean preserving it but it means also obeying it – doing as it says.

Failing to do the word of God is simply failing to walk in the light. We are still in darkness and because there is no darkness in the Lord therefore we are not worthy to fellowship with Him.

The Master Himself rebuked the multitudes, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Jesus went on to illustrate that failing to keep his word is like setting yourself for destruction.

He likened someone who obeys his word to a man building a house, who digs down and lays the foundation on a rock. When a flood comes the house is not swept away because it has a rock solid foundation. However, the one who hears the word and do not do anything is like a man who builds a house without a foundation and is easily swept off by the flood and left in great damage.

What a vast difference! The word of the Lord is the solid foundation of our relationship with God. When we obey the word of the Lord we are safe because no matter what comes our way we shall remain unshaken and strong. More than that, God is pleased with us and his love is complete in us. “But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him,” (1 John 2:5).

Our desire is to be in Him all the time and the only way is to keep His word. There is no fellowship without love. That is why in order to know that we are truly in fellowship with Him we need to be perfected (matured) in love and this comes by keeping His word. Keeping His word means being obedient to His commands and the greatest commandment is that we should love one another as the Lord loved us. Jesus says that if we keep this word He will know that we are His disciples.

So basically this is the deal that Jesus puts on the table; ‘You keep my word I know that you are my disciple and you know that you are in Me.’ 

That is the assurance we have to say truly our fellowship is with the Lord. We are all God’s children as Christians and if we love one another we are demonstrating our love for Him. That is why Jesus said if we love Him we will keep His commandments.

Living In Christ

Last week we said earthly success is nothing without Jesus Christ. Being saved is not only to save us from destruction but it is about taking our right positions with God. The Word of God says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them,” (Ephesians 2:10).

Being ‘workmanship’ means that we are a product or an artwork that God made for a specific purpose. We were made to do the works that God predestined for us to walk in them. God preordained us to walk in light and we were actually wasting our time and His time whilst we were walking in darkness.

What is also important to note is that we were created in Christ Jesus. In Him we live, move and have our being. We cannot do the good works that God prepared for us without being in Christ. Revered Chinese preacher Watchman Nee once said;

“Outside of Christ, I am only a sinner;  but in Christ, I am saved. Outside of Christ, I am empty ; in Christ, I am full. Outside of Christ, I am weak; in Christ, I am strong. Outside of Christ, I cannot; in Christ, I am more than able. Outside of Christ, I have been defeated; in Christ, I am already victorious. How meaningful are the words, “in Christ.”

We have to understand that we cannot have fellowship with God seated and folding our arms. Fellowship has to do with a close relationship that is developed by sharing in a common cause or engagement. You can get to experience God’s presence in the process of doing good works.

God has created each one of us for a purpose. Our Master expects us to be the useful vessel that is prepared for the honorable use. That does not mean we are sinless. Only Jesus Christ has and will ever live without sin. There will be times that we will slip out of the way and the enemy cannot wait for that moment to accuse and condemn us. But thank God we have an Advocate with the Father, the Lord of righteousness Jesus Christ.

When it happens that we fall into sin, we should not turn our backs on God, instead we should turn back to Him. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” (1 John 1:9).

When we confess our sins we are actually declaring that we belong to God. Through Jesus Christ we are shifting positions – from the devil’s presence (darkness) to the presence of the Lord (light). We begin to walk as children of light, acceptable and pleasing to our God.

The Word of God clearly instructs us, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done in secret,” (Ephesians 5:11-12).

There is no point in us to go searching for what is in the dark. Instead we should dwell in the presence of the Lord. Like Mary, the sister to Martha, we should come and sit at the feet of Jesus to hear His Word. The Word will expose whatever is on the dark because, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path,” (Psalm 119:105).

The whole purpose of being in fellowship is to know each other better and foster better communication. What better way to communicate to our God than through His Word. This is where we find what we can expect from our loving Father and what He expects from us. And all we do with our Lord is done in the open and in light. In him there is no darkness at all! 

Join us next week as we talk about the blessings of keeping His word.

Don't Be Fooled By Your Earthly Success

People often wonder why the sinful seem to prosper than Christians. As a child of God you are struggling, whatever you do does not seem to be coming up alright. When you look the next person who does not even know the door to a church building he or she is making it big. That often distresses the children of God. Why non-believers seem to be successful?

This is the same question that bothered David at some point. He said, “When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me – until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end. Surely you set them in slippery places, you cast them to destruction,” (Psalm 73:16-18).

David could not find an answer until he went into the presence of the Lord. When he finally got hold of this secret his mood changed for the better and committed himself to draw near to God. The fellowship with God gave him the joy, knowing that God will hold his hand and guide him through.

The enemy has blinded people of the world to think that they are succeeding because of their efforts and there ‘aint nothing stopping them’ to take on the world. They will never see that they are headed for destruction because they are walking in darkness.

The good news is that Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God is life. God so loved the world that He sacrificed His son to save us from destruction. “But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us,” (Romans 5:8).

Jesus declared Himself as the light of the world (John 8:12) and whoever will follow Him shall not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. Later in his life John writes, “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all,” (1 John 1:5).

We cannot continue to walk in darkness and claim we are also in fellowship with God. To walk in darkness simply means living a sinful life. We have a commandment from God to repent from our sins. It is true that we have a sinful nature as human beings, which is the work of the devil but Christ was manifested to destroy the works of the devil. 

It is impossible to have fellowship with God whilst you are still in darkness and thus it is impossible to have fullness of joy whilst you are still walking in darkness. The challenge is that the things that pertains to God are spiritual and without the Spirit of God you cannot fully grasp them. 

You have to accept Christ as your Saviour and by the grace of God, through your faith you will be saved. You have to believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord.  Don’t be fooled by your earthly success, it is worth nothing without Jesus! Join us next week as we get to understand the goodness of 'Living in Christ'.