As the church of Christ, we are called to: Walk in Unity, Minister in Unity, and Be firmly planted together in Christ
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
God is in the process of revealing Himself to us. He has chosen us for His divine purposes and reassured us with His promises. But there are those around us who are in grave danger of facing eternal consequences from a Holy and just God. We need to earnestly pray for those who are in harm’s way.
God has committed Himself to us through Christ. Jesus demonstrated His commitment to us through laying down His life for us so that we may live. He is now calling us into a holy commitment to Him where He is purposing to adopt us, bless us, multiply us and make us a new creation. In light of His commitment to us, how should we demonstrate our commitment to Him?
All of us are seduced by moral compromise when we don’t trust God for our deliverance. But we desperately need to count the cost of our catastrophic moral failures as a people. For us to find our way through all of this we need to do all we can to rest on God’s promises while seeking to abide in His presence no matter what.
Where there is doubt there is skepticism, weakness and hesitation. But in His presence, there is truth, comfort, protection and reward. By God’s grace we are justified before God through our belief. We can believe God because He has demonstrated His commitment to us in no uncertain terms.
All of us have loved ones who are being held hostage by evil forces. We need to develop and implement strategies to rescue our loved ones. By God’s grace we do have someone who is willing to intercede on our behalf in the midst of our battles. He will meet us right where we are. He is the ultimate source of our blessing and victory in life. He is worthy of our devotion, submission and dependence as we endeavor to be all things to all people that some may be saved.
Conflicts can arise over almost anything. But by God’s grace, we can overcome conflict by passionately pursuing peace with others, by turning away from being impulsive and selfish people, by seeking God’s honor through the pursuit of peace and by faithfully walking with God.
Even as God uses sovereign circumstances to guide us in new directions we can still trust God with what is true. We don’t need to speculate about our future or manipulate our circumstances. Unfortunately, when we don’t trust God with the truth we end up risking everything. When we misrepresent the truth we put our families, our resources, our relationships, our future, and our testimony at risk. Instead, we need to do all we can to faithfully call on the name of the LORD with integrity knowing that all we have is from Him.