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As Christ followers God has blessed us with His very presence in our lives. But even with His presence we still need to do all we can to guard against moral failure and sin. We need to flee from sin as we refuse to participate in rebellion against our God. We need to remember our responsibilities and who we ultimately belong to. We need to shut out and avoid would-be tempters as we run for our lives from sin. We will know we are moving in the right direction away from sin when we find ourselves enduring persecution for doing what’s right.
It is clear from Scripture that we need to center our lives on Christ while trusting God for our provision. Since there’s really no way to hide sin, we need to count the cost of our rebellion before we fail, recognizing that sin has the power to blind us from reality. Ultimately, we need to know that God will always have His way in the end.
In a world where jealousy and hatred reign and where love has been lost, we need to realize that God is yet worthy of our trust. We have no right to callously humiliate and abuse our brother. We have no right to sell our brother down the river. We have no right to manipulate the truth about our brother. We are our brother’s keeper.
In a world where love has been lost and where hatred and jealousy reign, we need to work diligently to protect our brothers and sisters. It turns out that we are our brother’s keeper. We need to love others while trusting in God’s sovereign plan as He guides us. Like Jesus, we need to protect others by doing all we can to be life savers.
We can worship God with all our people anytime, anywhere. We can worship God in the presence of our enemies and in the face of sorrow. We can worship Him for His trustworthy promises as He works wonders in our life. We can worship Him through great joy and great loss and we can worship Him even when others turn away.
God is calling all of us to return to Him in worship. But how should we prepare to worship God? We can prepare to worship Him by burying our old way of life, by putting off sin and putting on Christ, by creating an environment of worship in our lives, and by doing all we can to worship Him for all that He is and for all that He has done for us.
Our passions and desires have the potential for great defilement and destruction. We need to turn away from anger. We need to turn away from deceitful retaliation. We need to turn away from self-indulgent greed. We need to turn our hearts away from murder. We need to guide our families in righteousness and obedience.
We need to do all we can to seek peace and reconciliation through demonstrating complete humility, receptive love, openhanded generosity, reasonable negotiation, and the ongoing worship of Almighty God.
God will surround us with His protection as we prayerfully seek His deliverance, seek our opponent’s favor, exercise prudence in the face of danger and provide over the top restitution to those who oppose us. Ultimately, we need to cling to Him for His blessing and restoration.
It’s very easy to become angry with people who oppose us. If we are not careful, our unresolved anger will consume us. We need to hear God’s call for peace in our lives doing everything we can to pursue peace with those who oppose us.
Our King came in the midst of the mundane.
Our King came from obscurity.
Our King came by way of lowly means.
Our King was heralded in the highest.
Our King was adored by the lowest.
Our King was treasured by the poorest.
We should rejoice in the Lord in every circumstance. We should praise God in all things. Because God has given us a Savior. Because God has given us a Forerunner.
Sometimes even the righteous suffer.
We always need to be ready to serve.
We need to be faithful in prayer.
We need to take God at His Word.
God has seen your affliction and He has heard your cry for help. You need to be attached to the LORD through expressing all of your praise to Him. God will contend for you and vindicate you as you find all that you Need in Christ. In His time, He will reward you with His blessing, joy, honor and justice. God has not forgotten you.
Sometimes things become so difficult that we just want to give up. But we need to faithfully continue our journey with God. He will guide us and bless us as we put our trust in Him and keep following Him. God’s ultimate purpose is to grow and mature us for His glory.
Our sin and rebellion against God will always bring separation and conflict. Sin always involves ongoing manipulation and deception. More sin and rebellion will never bring peace. However, in the midst of rebellion and sin we can continue to be a blessing to others no matter what. Ultimately, we need to climb Jacob’s ladder: By walking in obedience. By following after Jesus. By listening to God’s voice. By recognizing God’s active presence in our lives. And By committing our way to God.
There will always be people and situations that let us down. However, we need to handle disappointments God’s way. With God’s help we can turn away from our selfish intentions and bitterness while doing all we can to trust in God’s provision and sovereign plan.
As Christ followers we should do all we can to protect our integrity in all of our relationships ultimately finding our integrity in Christ. Jesus is the truth. Jesus is full of truth. We need to listen to His voice of truth. Truth is ultimately realized in Jesus.
God will always direct our paths as we walk with Him in integrity, peace, submission and love. As we depend on Him we can find the stability and security we are longing for in our lives.