If you confess that you are saved, does your life reflect that? If you confess that you have faith in God, do your actions reflect this? Dear Christian man or woman, since you are a follower of Jesus Christ, are you following the example that the Lord set while he was here on earth?
Are you praying often? Are you forgiving? Are you taking yourself away from all the noise and distractions of the world so that you can spend time alone with God?
Are you living for the kingdom of God? Are you refusing to conform to this world? These are necessary and important questions for all of us to ask ourselves from time to time.
When was the last time you asked the question, "Am I following the Ten Commandments? " Saints, are we removing ourselves from the busyiness of life so that we can pray? Are we turning off the distractions of the world so we can pray?
If the answer is no, then I encourage you to start today. Start praying today. Start making your spiritual life a priority today.
Start following the examples that Jesus Christ set today. Begin to make a concentrated effort when it comes to how much time you're spending in God's word. Become consistent in your walk with Christ.
Become relentless as you search for a higher level of fellowship with God. Start today. James 1 22-2 in the Amplified Translation says, "But prove yourselves doers of the word, actively and continually obeying God's precepts, and not mere listeners who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning, deluding yourselves by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth.
For if anyone only listens to the word without obeying it, he is like a man who looks very carefully at his natural face in a mirror. For once he has looked at himself and gone away, he immediately forgets what he looked like. But he who looks carefully into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and faithfully abides by it, not having become a careless listener who forgets, but an active doer who obeys, he will be blessed and favored by God in what he does in his life of obedience.
Are you striving to be more and more like Jesus Christ each and every day? Are you pursuing righteousness? Have you put to death the sinful ways which lead to death?
Ephesians 2 verse 1:5 reads, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. " All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
But because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved. We learn two things.
The Bible says God made us alive with Christ. And it points out that we were dead in transgressions. Saints, let me tell you something.
Each of us are in one group or the other. We are either dead or alive. We are either dead because we're living for the world or we're alive because we're living for Christ.
You're either spiritually dead because you're living in sin or you're alive because you abide in Jesus Christ. The message here is that life can only be found in Jesus Christ. Life is Jesus Christ.
And when I'm talking about life, I'm talking about eternal life. This is why Jesus Christ said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. He is life.
" Jesus Christ is the only way you will live. When you are living in sin, you are separated from the Lord because he is pure and holy. This is why Paul said in Philippians 1 21, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.
" Paul knew that life, real life, eternal life, can only be found in Jesus Christ. Saints of God, the Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death. The Bible also tells us that sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
So you see, we are all either dead or alive. We can be physically alive, but if you're in sin, you are separated from God. And that is being spiritually dead.
But I encourage you to go to Jesus Christ. I encourage you to abide in Jesus Christ. I encourage you to live through Jesus Christ.
I encourage you to always be found in the presence of the Lord. This is the only way that we'll experience life, real life, eternal life. Now, let us pray.
Heavenly Father, I come to you seeking refuge and protection. I come to you in recognition of your great and mighty power. I worship your holy name, Lord.
I adore you, Lord Jesus. I bow before you today. I set my heart in your hands.
I humbly ask for your presence to walk with me. You have said in Isaiah 41:10, "I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
" Father, I am seeking a double portion of faith to sustain me along life's journey. I acknowledge you, Lord Jesus, as my personal savior. I acknowledge that you are the way, the truth, and the life.
I know that you are God. I know that you are all powerful. I know that you are in control.
May your Holy Spirit continue to guide us and may your angels walk with us wherever we may go. May you strengthen us, Lord, with the power of your might. Drss us with your armor, Lord, so that we can stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
And as much as I am aware of the opposition that I will come up against as a believer, I also know the power that I have access to when I call on the name of Jesus. I thank you, Lord, for your wonderful sacrifice. Your precious blood has cleansed me of the filthy rags of sin.
And your mercy has clothed me in a robe of righteousness, a robe that covers me head to toe. All because of the perfect work you completed on the cross. I know that it is in you that I live.
It is in you that I move and have my existence. I surrender my life and my loved ones into your caring hands. You are a God full of compassion.
I pray for your hand of protection upon me and my family. Encompass us, Lord God Almighty, with your wall of fire surrounding me and my family, with your hedge of protection. Your blood, Lord Jesus, is living and it is powerful.
You are my shield and defense. Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Do not let me stumble, King Jesus.
I open my heart and my life to you so that you may take priority. I pray that you would over overthrow the plans and the plots of my enemies. Help me to overcome in the name of Jesus.
Fight my battles, Lord, as you have promised in your word. You said in Exodus 14:14 that the Lord shall fight for you and you shall hold your peace. I pray that you defend me and my family and let us hold our peace.
I pray that we are going to stand still to see the hand of God move in our lives in the name of Jesus Christ. that we will stand and testify and say, "Had it not been for the Lord, we would have been consumed. " You are a God who moves mountains.
And regardless of the things happening around me, regardless of the things going on in this world, you are our protector, our keeper, and our redeemer. Regardless of what may come, you are still on your throne. You are still a good God who will never leave me nor forsake me.
You are a God who brings peace in troubling times. You, Lord Jesus, are faithful. You are just and you are loving.
I trust and believe that you will strengthen me and protect me from the evil one. Father, as your children, we need to hear your voice. Speak to us, Father.
May the voice of your Holy Spirit be heard in our hearts. Your word says in Exodus 15:2, "The Lord is my strength and my defense. He has become my salvation.
He is my God and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. I thank you for your goodness. And it is because you are good.
It is because you first love me before I was ever formed in my mother's womb. It is because you have proven your love time and time again. It's because all these reasons that I would rather dwell and abide in your presence than anywhere else.
In Jesus's name I pray. Amen. But prove yourselves doers of the word, actively and continually obeying God's precepts, and not mere listeners who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning, deluding yourselves by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth.
For if anyone only listens to the word without obeying it, he is like a man who looks very carefully at his natural face in a mirror. For once he has looked at himself and gone away, he immediately forgets what he looked like. But he who looks carefully into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and faithfully abides by it, not having become a careless listener who forgets, but an active doer who obeys, he will be blessed and favored by God in what he does in his life of obedience.
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
But because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved.
