May they see Evidence of Christ in us
You were first His was our title for our last writing, today we will talk about how to live with Him being first in our hearts, minds, and actions.
1 Peter 2:11-12 “Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul. Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits.”
If He loved us first, created us first, thought of us first, planned our future first, how do we not commit our whole selves to him first? Why do we think anything we do in our own strength will flourish if He is not the reason we do what He asks us to do, the things that are already written in His love letter to us.
Currently, as you can see this is being written in the season of Advent, Christmas! We celebrate the coming King, the one who came down from perfection, to die on the cross for our sins, that we may be set free, that we may live our lives here on earth filled with hope in knowing that this place is not our home and that we await being in the presence of God, where streetlights won’t even be a thing, can you imagine that right now? No streetlights, that’s crazy!
THIS IS WHAT WE ARE AWAITING, PERFECTION HIMSELF!
But until then we are recruiting. Recruiting to make Heaven Crowded. Which is what we are called to, to make Jesus known in every space we enter, whether that looks like the gym, car-line, the cafeteria, check-out line, our kids games, etc. Where you are right now is where GOD has placed you to make him known through sharing what He has done for you, where he has taken you out of and where you are now.
BUT, THERE IS A BIG BUT.
If we aren't living our life in such a way where we are putting God first in all we do then how are we too share the gospel to others in a way where they know what is coming out of our mouth we are actually putting it in to practice ourselves. They see evidence.
It says, “Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul.”Ask yourself for real, am I living as a stranger, exile here? Or am I living like this is it? Do you really believe that this is your best life now? Or that the kingdom of God is not really happening, like yo it’s been 3,000 years, he said, “I’m Coming Soon,” that many years ago! The beautiful thing about our God is that he is gracious, kind and patient to wait for all to come to repentance and believe in him.
HOW WE LIVE HERE ON EARTH WILL SHOW WHO WE ARE LOYAL TOO.
HOW ARE WE WALKING DIFFERENT COMPARED TO HOW THE WORLD IS WALKING? DO OUR LIVES TURN HEADS? DO OTHERS COME TO THE LIGHT BY HOW WE SHOW UP?
“You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”Matthew 5:14-16
Why do we hide? Why would we want to be kept in the dark from something so beautiful, something so eternal, something that can change our whole life in a way that world can never do? If we have truly been transformed by the love and grace of God, then why do we remain fearful, why are we scared to come out and share? If our lives are different, then we will come out of hiding, be vulnerable first in such a way that the world doesn’t. We are human so yes, we still sin but its different, when we as believers sin, if the Holy Spirit is indeed in us, we are convicted and our number one thing is to repent, confess, even bring someone in on the confession like James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.” So, the question now is are we abstaining, because if we are then there should be a joy to go out? If we are not abstaining then it is time to go to the throne room and ask the Father for his grace. He will not turn away those that come humble before knowing that they are in need of his forgiveness.
There will always be temptations here on earth, the question is will we fall prey to them. We will allow them to lure us in and then lead us to compromise on what we know is the truth, on what we know is the way you should go. One verse I continually go back to is 1 John 5:3-4, “For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden, because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.” Deuteronomy 30:11, “This command that I give you today is certainly not too difficult or beyond your reach…but the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it. See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity. For I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways , and to keep his commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and multiply, and the Lord your God may bless you in the land you are entering to possess…” If you keep reading it says if you don’t listen, if your heart strays away, you will perish, you will die, and your days will not last in what you are about to enter.
We have been given everything we need to abstain. The Spirit of the living God has been given to us, that we may love God and have self-control. There will always be something that will try to get our attention away from following God. But we have the victorious power of God within us to help us abstain, to help us overcome the grip that Satan wants over our lives.
With the help from the Spirit of God we are able to conduct ourselves in such a way that those living their lives apart from God will see our love for God, our love for the hope set before us.
“Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness as you wait for the day of God and hasten its coming. Because of that day, the heavens will be dissolved with fire and the elements will melt with heat. But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” — 2 Peter 3:11-13
My prayer is that as my husband and I raise our four girls and Lord willing our little boy that is on the way, they would see that daddy and mommy choose to live their lives to an audience of one.
Audience of one, what does that even mean?
If we are clearly told in God’s word to love God with all our heart, mind, strength and soul and love our neighbor as ourself. Then the way we live for audience of One, which is Christ, is by simply that, loving him and others, by remaining steadfast in the Christ, abiding in Him, knowing that if we remain in Him, He has already clothed us with everything we need to honor Him with our lives and show those who enter our spaces who he is.
Will you be seen as someone who is seen as someone who is waiting for the day of God? Will you be seen as someone who is choosing to walk in holy conduct and godliness? If you are unsure of the answer to those questions, I urge you to pray and sit with the Lord. He is waiting for us all to come to him humbly and surrender to His will for our lives. We are awaiting to dwell in the fullness of righteousness, may we walk worthy of it.
Today I was sitting in Revelation 3, and the verse I was on was 10 which says, “Because you have kept my command to endure, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is going to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth.” How this encouraged me was in this way, if I truly believe in the Lord Jesus and that my life has been redeemed, set free, and that now I can rest in the gift of hope that this is not my eternal resting place but in eternity with Him, then I can live confident that His Spirit is in me, that he has sealed me until the day he takes me home or the trumpet sounds and the Savior returns for his bride, I can endure and persevere here, that no matter what the circumstances look like He is graciously walking with me and I can lean on Him and his strength.
John 15:4-6 “Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”
The title section of 1 Peter 2:11-12 is “A Call to Good Works.”
Here some other verses for reference on Good Works:
Matthew 5:!6
Colossians 3:23-24
Titus 2:14
Hebrews 13:16
Galatians 6:9-10
Ephesians 2:10
1 Timothy 6:17-18
Proverbs 3:27-28
Matthew 25:40
2 Corinthians 5:10
What do all these have in common?
The only way to walk in love and doing good works, is by remaining in the Good One Himself. We can do nothing good apart from him. We pat our backs after doing a good deed, but is it what God wanted us to do in that moment, was it actually done from the joy of our salvation and the desire for the person across to see God’s love for them, or for them seeing what we did and praising us? At the end of the day, the Lord knows the motivation of our heart and He will either burn it up or it will last.
May we remain strangers of this land. May we abstain from sin and lusts that keep us from being one with God and being able to be one with each other, and even being compassionate and welcoming to those who are not one with God or us yet. May we conduct ourselves in a way where the world sees the light of Christ in us and desire to live in His light and way, THAT THEN THEY MAY HASTEN THE DAY OF THE LORD!
