Q: Sometimes when we go through trials and tribulation we just want Jesus to "Hold Us" in His arm to let us know that everything will be alright...if that is you just call on Jesus and say Father, "HOLD ME".
A: I don't like to think of it as "HOLD ME", but "IN ME." "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives IN ME (Gal 2:20)." "To this end I labor, struggling with all HIS ENERGY, which so powerfully works IN ME (Col 1:29)." The Christian life cannot be lived by us. It can only be lived through us by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Romans 7 is probably the greatest chapter on the Christian life. The Apostle Paul, who wrote two thirds of the New Covenant, admitted his struggle with sin. What was his conclusion? "Thanks be to God—THROUGH Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 7:25)!" We don't live to be more "Christlike" or to be "better" Christians. We completely rest from our works of trying to be like God and allow God to live His life through us. Jesus doesn't hold me up in this life, He is my life. He is "able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy (Jd 1:24)." Now that's encouraging! All Him and none of me.
Q: What does it mean to have the "keys" to the kingdom of God?
A: The "keys to the Kingdom" were given to Peter, and the Apostles, more so than to believers in general. But, the Kingdom of God is within every believer in the form of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The "dominion" that the "King" resides in and rules over is our body. That is why Christians are called the Body of Christ and why our body is referred to as the "temple of the Holy Spirit." The access we have to God is due to the fact that Jesus' death on the cross purchased "eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12)," which took away our sins from the eyes of God forever. Our sins which once separated us from God are no longer an issue between He and us. "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Heb. 4:16)." We no longer need a key to unlock the door to God because we are already in His presence. We now have an inheritance at our disposal which can never be taken away. Do you believe this?
Q: What is God's will, and how do you know you are walking in it?
A: God's will is a description of the inheritance we have received as a result of the death of Jesus Christ. "[A] will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living (Heb.9:17)." Contrary to popular belief, the New Covenant began after the death of Jesus Christ, not at His birth. A will contains what a dead person desires to pass on to those who are still living. God's will is not about who we marry, where we live, what we eat, what job we have or what happens tomorrow. God's will is that we be thankful in all things, that all should come to repentance and that believers discover what it is He has given us through our faith in Christ. In Christ, we are redeemed, totally forgiven, totally sanctified, totally justified, at peace with God, have eternal life, are holy, blameless, righteous children of God. You know you are in God's will when you are engaging the world in accordance with what you have and not in hopes of what you wish to get.
Q: When we give our life to Christ, He then calls us "righteous"....What does that mean?
A: Being righteous means "without guilt or sin." Before a perfectly holy and righteous God we have no righteousness of our own. As Isaiah said, "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags (Isa 64:6)." Before Christ we stand guilty of ungodliness and are spiritually dead in sin. After coming to Christ we have His righteousness imputed to us as a free gift."For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God (1 Ptr 3:18)." There are only two kinds of righteousness, self-righteousness and God's righteousness. Which one do you want? All our good deeds and religious acts amount to nothing before God. It is only through our recognition that "There is no one righteous, not even one (Rom 3:10)," that we begin to understand the magnitude of what Jesus Christ did for us. It may be cliche', but it is true that "Jesus did for us what we could not do for ourselves." All we can do is live a life in thankfulness to Him for His selfless act of love.
Q: Why when 9 \ 11 comes we "act" like we are "unified" as a country but can't stand each other the rest of the 364 days of the year? Why is that?
A: 9/11 was an emotional event for the country and, specifically, for those directly effected by the attack. And emotional events can often bring people together as they focus on getting through difficult times. However, our emotions change by the moment. Therefore, the "unified" America we witnessed only lasted temporarily. Our emotions are governed by what we think. And what we think is governed by what we believe. And what we believe is driven by what we place faith in. And what people place faith in varies by the individual. Thus, you have the lack of a sustained unity amongst people. As a Christian, I have faith in Jesus Christ. He said He was God and this was validated by His death, burial and resurrection. And since He is God I am compelled to believe what He says about the world. Ultimately, unity comes when people agree at their foundations and that begins and ends with what they believe about God. And we can't love others until we realize how much God has loved us in Christ.
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