Do You Know How To Live Victoriously?
Good Morning Friends,
Good and evil, light and darkness are opposites. They seem to have nothing in common with each other except that they are examples of what happens in our brain when we are deciding and discerning or even experiencing cognitive dissonance. A neuron either fires or it does not fire. It is as if there is a battle going on in my brain and perhaps yours too that divides things. So too God’s word judges and divides in much the same simple manner. But Jesus said that a house divided against itself cannot stand. Ultimately, people are either for God or against God, there is no middle ground. We see this in Jesus’ life. And we may see this in our lives and culture as well. Thankfully, if we are identifying with Christ we can begin to understand how our choices and decisions come together to help us live a more abundant life. We begin to piece things…peace things… together for a purpose. Do You Know How To Live Victoriously?
Scripture: I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification. When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:19-23 (NRSV)
“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Luke 12:49-53 (NRSV)
Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:38 (NRSV)
Message: On the day of Pentecost Peter stood up to interpret what the crowd of Jews from all over the world were hearing in their own language. Luke’s account tells an amazing story and when the crowds had heard what Peter had to say they asked what they should do and Peter said to them, “repent and be baptized.” Many a church has been established on this very passage, for Acts 2:38 seems to be a summary of what God expects of us who have turned our hearts over to God. It is simple. And that is ok. But is there more to the Gospel than saying the sinner’s prayer? Probably. But we are a divided lot on the proper process in this regard. Many do not believe in the necessity of baptism, even though they believe in its sacramental character. Maybe there is more than one thing going on here, for just saying that Jesus is your Lord does not make you a follower of Jesus. You must follow Jesus, doing the will of the Father. That is the way of living victoriously. It is not just at conversion but ongoing experience of God. And as with many aspects of our faith, there is a both/and connection we must have toward God that helps us live in the paradox of life. So, we look to God with awe and reverence, and we look to God with affection and joy. We look to God with fear and love. And so too, we are baptized with water and with fire. So, the message here is that we are to experience the fullness of the Gospel in both our conversion and sanctification. And the fusion of these two strands of thought DNA and spiritual DNA is what I am getting at. The whole idea of dividing and breaking and reconnecting into one is at play here. And so, I guess I would count it a virtue this infusion of the Holy Spirit into our hearts so we can think more clearly each day. For this is not a once and done deal but a gift that we are to practice every day as we take what has been broken and reconnect it into a new victory for God’s glory.
Pray we live victoriously. Pray we are daily soaking up the truth of scripture. Pray we read scripture clearly and fully. Pray we are real and honest about the experience. Pray we seek God’s answers to our questions and put them into a daily routine in your life. Pray we realize that God’s Word divides believers and unbelievers. Pray we do not delude ourselves into thinking we are in control of our own lives and our own destinies. Pray still that we would make good decisions. Pray that all the factors that influence us converge in a way so that Christ would be glorified in our lives. Pray we are sanctified. Pray we replicate holiness by identifying with Christ at his death, burial and resurrection. Pray we multiply God’s love for us by taking what is broken and divided and joining it together in a new way. Pray we are living on the foundation of our faith in a way that helps us to live a victorious life in the Spirit of Christ.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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