I often get told by Christians that the
church needs to be good stewards with the money the people of the church have
given them. This comes when I start talking about how we should be doing more
to help the poor in our community. Yes, we are called to be good stewards of
the things God has given us, and the things that other people have put under
our control.
However, we are called to answer to God
and Him only.It is paramount that our
“Good Stewardship” is done according to His standards not ours. We are to operate
under spiritual standards, not worldly standards. The things of God are
foolishness with men. It’s
God’s money. When people give, they give to God.
Jesus said “Give to him that asketh
thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away” And again, “If
thou wilt be perfect, go and sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and
thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” (Matt. 19:21,
Matt. 5:22) These are not earthly methods of good stewardship. Jesus spoke of
“the widow’s mite”. He talked about loving God, and loving your neighbors. He
talked about laying down your life for your friends. (John 15:13, Mark 12:41-44,)
This
is good stewardship, in the
eyes of God. This is True Stewardship. God is not going to say “Well
done thy
good and faithful servant” to people who have done things according to
the
worlds standards while ignoring His standards. When we get saved the
Holy Spirit works in our life to mold us into the likeness of Christ.
That means that we learn to walk in the Spirit and not the fleshly ways
of this world. Our fleshly ways are based in fear and a desire to fit in
or impress or to try to earn God's favor.
This
is why we as Christians often build massive mansions called "Churches"
to please God. We pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into building
and maintaining massive structures while our neighbor goes hungry, can't
help his family, or goes to hell. This does not please God.
The excuse is made that we need a place to worship. That doesn't mean we need a giant mansion of a building.
The goal in God’s Kingdom, is to get
people saved. It is to glorify God. It is to wage war against the enemy. If our
stewardship, doesn’t move in that direction then it cannot be labeled “good”.
We get people saved by telling them about Jesus and lifting Him up. We glorify
God, by letting our light shine, so the world can see our good works. We wage
war against the enemy, by snatching people out of his hands and by alleviating
suffering, which is our good works and glorifies God.
Glorifying God is done through our
good works. We are to be like superheroes in our community, in Jesus name. We
often think it brings God glory, when we spend money on buildings, and that it
brings shame to Him when we let a building go into disrepair. But, what does
God say? What does He say brings Him glory? Our light shines, when we help a
family make ends meet in Jesus name. Our light shines when we stop and help the
man on the side of the road whom Satan has robbed of everything.
Too many Christians use the phrase
‘Good Stewardship” and have no idea what it really means. It’s not about this
life, or this world, it’s about God and the life He has given us. It’s about
His Kingdom.
----
Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He
has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook
called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book "The Latter Days' is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.
As we read the Bible, we will gain a certain view of money. We will
come to the conclusion that we are not supposed to stock pile money, and
that we are not supposed to be tricked by the deceitfulness of riches.
We will find that money is transitory and doesn’t satisfy. We will see
that our money is God’s money, and that it is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. We
see that the love of money is the root of all evil. We see that we
cannot serve two masters, it’s profit or God. James says that the
wealthy heap treasures against themselves and will be broken in the last
days. (1 Tim. 6:10, Matt. 6:19-21, Matt 13:22, Matt 22:21, Matt. 19:24,
Matt. 6:24, Jam. 5:1-6)
There are many verses that teach us about the dangers of wealth, and
there are just as many justifications, that humans will give for
choosing to be wealthy. Such as, we need money to give to God’s kingdom,
so my wealth helps God. Or we say the eye of the needle was not a real
needle; it was a door in a wall of a fortress. We will tell ourselves,
God looks at our heart. He knows I don’t love money. We will also
compare ourselves to biblical people who were rich and God used. “Lydia
in the Bible was wealthy. Abraham was wealthy.” And on and on we go. We
love money and the things it provides for us. Let’s be honest.
Look I’m not saying we should live in poverty. Most Americans are
barely scraping to get by. One injury or job loss would destroy them. A
lot of us are poor within this culture we live in. But, our culture and
our beliefs are based in wealthy thoughts. We have a philosophy that
leads us to worship and love money because money keeps us from the bread
lines. It’s freedom in this world we think.
So, what is so bad about money? Wouldn’t it be better if the whole
world had wealth? If there was no poverty, and everyone had their needs
met? Of course, and that day is coming. But, in the mean time we are
stuck in this broken degenerate world. Depraved sinners, separated from a
loving God. We abide in Death, waiting to be cast into eternal fire;
because we refuse to turn to Him to be saved, and washed in the blood of
Jesus Christ.
And that is what is so bad about money. Sin, Death, and Satan have
dominion over this world. It is a fallen place filled with fallen
humans. Our only salvation lies in turning to God. So, God placed a
curse, upon this world that causes us to struggle. That struggle is
supposed to cause us to cry out to Him. Mothers pray for their children,
and worry about them. Fathers scrape the earth to provide. Everything
around us dies, and works to stop us or fight against us.
Money
insulates us from the trials and tribulations of this life. A mother
doesn’t need to just place her trust in God; she can take her sick child
to the doctor and afford treatment. A man can hire an attorney to get
out of trouble, he doesn’t need to weep over his sin and beg God for
mercy. A family can go to the store and purchase food, they don’t need
to pray and trust God for rain, or for the hunt. They have plenty of
clothes; they don’t need to trust God for rags.
Money insulates us from needing to cry out to God for the basic
things in life, or to help us when we have need. Our needs are met
through our money. I’m not saying that poverty is a guarantee of
salvation, or that there is some kind of purity in poverty. But, what I
am saying is that money keeps people from really needing God, and it
keeps us from seeing His movements in our lives. How can we see God
miraculously heal a neighbor, when the neighbor uses money to get
medicine? We like to say “But, God provided the money, and the medicine
and the knowledge of doctors to heal. There are millions of poor people
around the world who die daily from things our over the counter drugs
could heal.”
This is true. But, is dying the worst that can happen? This world is a
place of death. All of us are dying second by second. We are all going
to go meet our maker. It is our wealth, and His mercy that slows that
process. But, our wealth that keeps us alive longer, also works to keep
us from drawing closer to Him. We horde our wealth and worry about being
taken advantage of by the poor around us. What we do to the least of
these we do to Him. See how our wealth or our love of our wealth keeps
us from Him? I’m guilty too. Our money insulates.
That insulation extends to our entire culture. We have no idea how
insulated we are. I’m currently reading a book written by an evangelist
from India. He is a native of India, and lived there his whole life. He
got saved, and God called him to go to the north of India and preach the
Gospel. He has lived in, and experienced extreme poverty his whole
life.
In the book, he speaks of a visit to the United States, and he is
appalled by the amount of wealth we have, and we do not even know we
have it. But, God knows. The evangelist speaks of every church gathering
in America having food. How ashamed he was to eat there, while
evangelists in India sit under trees and eat a few scoops of cooked
rice, once a day, if that. He tells that Americans have closets full of
clothes, while people around the world wear rags. That Americans waste
enough money and water daily, that it could save the lives and souls of
thousands around the world.
Our money insulates us. It keeps us from seeking God when He calls us
through our need. It insulates us from suffering with others, and
having real compassion on them. It insulates us from needing to draw
together with others, and lean on each other. It insulates us from the
trials of this world through which we learn and grow in spirit.
Oh sure, our wealth can allow us to do great things for Jesus, but do
we do it? Does He want us to use our wealth, or His Spirit and His
power? Are the great things we do really what He wants? Can a rich
person serve God? Can a rich person get saved? The fact is that every
person in America is richer than the whole rest of the world and God
loves us and wants us saved as well. So, yes; God saves rich people and
works on them and through them. But, our wealth is a dangerous trap that
we need to wake up to. And I think we will be awakened shortly. When He cleanses His temple before His return. He drives out the money changers.
Money
is not evil. But, be aware of what wealth can do to you. Fight to
resist it. Remember, it not only insulates you, but also your children.
What is growing up in wealth doing to them?
We do not need half the things we think we need.
We need more Jesus.
Turn to God, Let Him grow you. Have a relationship with Him.
Live simply. Give with a joyful heart. Look for ways to give and serve.
He is coming soon.
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.
Things that impact our walk with God and our future and service.
I want you to recall the story of the Exodus. (Book of Exodus)
The Israelites were in bondage to Pharaoh in Egypt. They did not know
God at the time. They had forgotten. But, God had not forgotten them or
the promise He made to Abraham.
God made a promise to Moses and the Israelites about a promised land. A home.
God
delivered them out of slavery with a mighty hand. He showed himself to
them. He proved He was with them and they could trust Him. He proved it.
He brought them through tough times and battles. This was not a love fest. This was war. He loved them, and was with them.
He brought them to the land He had promised them. To the very banks.
They sent spies out into the land to see what was there. That’s what a
leader does in a military conquest.
God already knew what was there and had already given it to them. It was all done except the dirty work.
Do you think God sat on His throne and said, “Boy I sure hope we can defeat these bad dudes?”
No.
All the spies except for Caleb and Joshua brought back a report
filled with fear and doubt that ignored how God had delivered them so
many times. They had no faith in God. They did not know him.
The
people listened to the faithless report and believed it. They feared.
They refused to take the promised land, God had given them because they
did not know Him or trust Him.
God could not take them into the Promised land with that lack of faith. They needed to trust Him to get through.
So, He sent them to wander until they learned to have faith. Till the
old generation died off and the new was ready. To strip off that old
flesh and bring out the spirit full of faith and trust in God.
Then, they went and conquered.
God fought beside them and before them, with His might hand and put them in the promised land.
They did not go there to farm. That was later. They went there for battle.
We find ourselves in situations where we must trust God. We come to
places in our lives when it’s a choice of faith in God and His promises,
or to run away in fear.
Understand that God is with you, no matter which way you go. You cannot escape God.
But, it’s better to trust God to deliver his promises.
I’m not telling you to let your kid die from some easily curable
disease because you’re praying for God to heal. Remember, the Israelites
drew swords and went to battle. Yes, God went before them. Yes, God
fought among them. He even stopped the sun in the sky.
But, they had to go to battle, and not just on their knees in prayer.
That brings us to the spies. The spies are fear.
We face something, and our mind starts spinning. We start thinking
scary thoughts. We lay in our bed agonizing. We struggle with what is
happening.
But, God has promised us. He has been with us. He will lead us
through. It might not look the way we think. But, He has given us a
vision. He has given us a dream. He has promised, and He is with us
where ever we go.
Those spies in our head keep beating us. Do we quit? Do we turn away
from the promised land? Those spies in our head make a lot of sense.
But, are we listening to the still small voice of God? Are we
listening to the Spirit and the love and the peace that defies all
understanding? (1 Kings 19:11-14, John 16:13, Phil. 4:6-7)
Then like Job, things start happening around us. Great friends come
and give us faithless council full of fear. They give us wise advise
that excludes our Lord. (Book of Job)
Problems come. The car breaks down. A family member gets sick. We lose a job.
And the spies in our head, with those “friends” by our side tell us,
we can’t trust God. All the troubles scream that we can’t trust God.
But, this is battle.
The chaos rolls around you as you struggle and see God fighting
beside you and delivering you through even more of the devil’s attacks.
God has promised you and He is bringing you there with a mighty hand.
Unless you quit. Unless you let fear control you.
Pray to God. Talk to Him. He is not a slave driver. Remember Lot? God
told Him to go to the mountain to escape the destruction of Sodom.
(Genesis 19:15-30)
But, Lot said, “I’ll never make it! Can’t I just go to this little city Zoar?”
The spies in his mind had calculated all the angles and he was not strong enough, they told him.
And God said “Ok”
It got Lot moving. It got his family moving.
Lot watched the destruction of Sodom from Zoar.
Then the very next scene, we see Lot on the mountain.
The Bible doesn’t say this, but I will bet you that by the time Lot
reached Zoar. God had filled him with strength, courage and faith to
reach that mountain.
Just pray and get moving. Do what you know to do and trust God. He
has promised things to you. He will do it. Whether it looks like what
you envisioned or not. He has promised.
I have faced things in my life many times. I have come to the very
edge and listened to the spies and turned back. I failed instead of
trusting God. And I lost everything. I was sent to wander where God
broke me and taught me and showed me who He was and let me know Him. He
taught me to trust Him.
Not all situations are as clean and clear cut as this makes it seem.
Sometimes there are very hard choices. Things that make us sick. Learn
to listen to God. Then do the best we can and stand in the promises of
God. ( Eph 6:10-18)
These times of trouble, come into our life. I’m facing one now.
The spies are screaming. The battle is swirling. But, my God is moving and He is with me.
He is with you too.
Do not let fear keep you from what God has promised.
Listen to Him.
Trust Him.
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.
After we get saved, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us. He then
starts to lead us into all truth. He starts to sanctify us and mold us
and shape us into the likeness of Jesus. (John 14:16, John 16:13. 1 John
4:4, Romans 12:1-2, Phil. 2:5)
He shows us when we sin, and leads us to confess it to the Lord. Then, we are cleansed of all unrighteousness. This confessing and cleansing and growing is part of the relationship. (1 John 1:9)
But, that’s not all He does. He hears our prayers and He translates
them into heaven and we see answers around us. We see our lives changing
as He works in us and around us. (Romans 8:26)
He also works through us. The fact is that our works of righteousness
are as filthy rags, because we are sinners with a corrupted nature.
This doesn’t change. We are just saved. Even as the Holy Spirit works on
us we still have things that corrupt us. (Isa. 64:6, Romans 7:14-25)
So, the Holy Spirit works THROUGH us as well, and we get credit for it.
What does that mean?
Well according to the scripture, on judgement day, our works will be
judged. It will pass through the fire. Hay, wheat and stubble will burn.
All that will remain will be gems and gold. (1 Cor. 3:1-15)
What does that mean?
Well, the works that I do in the flesh, no matter how great are
stubble. Because I had wrong motivations, I had fear, I had doubt, I had
lust and flesh. Because I’m a sinner with a corrupt nature.
But, if I listen to the Holy Spirit, and follow His guidance, then
the works I’m doing are from the Lord, and are pure. It’s not me. It’s
Him, and the works that I do under His guidance are gems. See?
You will hear preachers say “Do Do Do”. Their doctrine is all about works. (Eph. 2:1-10)
But the real works, are to wait upon the Lord, and follow the Holy
Spirit as he guides. (Isa 40:31, Proverbs 3:5-6, I John 2:27, Romans
8:14, Gal. 5:18)
We are called to abide in Him. (John 15, 1 John 2:28)
Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:30)
Does it feel easy and light?
It is easy and light. It’s a fact. The reason we don’t feel it is
because we don’t believe it and we are trying to do the works ourselves.
This is not a condemnation. It’s what our flesh does. It’s what the
enemy tries to do to us.
But, Jesus has already done it. He has already saved us. Quit trying
to save yourself. Quit trying to please God by following rules. You
cannot please God. Jesus Christ has already done it. The Holy Spirit in
us does it. Our faith does it. When we try to do it in our flesh it
cannot please Him. Only by faith, which means following Him. (Heb.11:6)
He wants a relationship. He wants to work through us, while we follow the Spirit.
So, how does this work?
Well, let’s say the preacher asks for a love offering to help a missionary.
Did you feel led to help? Did a number jump into your head? 10 bucks? 20 bucks? God knows what’s in your wallet.
That’s probably the Holy Spirit guiding you.
Then the very next thought was fear, doubt and concern? You wanted to
take the kids to McDonalds. You needed to buy a new plant for the
garden, or even pay a bill.
The Holy Spirit led you, and then a demonic entity tried to stop you. A spirit of fear. (2 Tim. 1:7)
Have you ever seen the old cartoon image of the angel on one shoulder
and the devil on the other? That’s far more accurate than you realize.
Let’s say, you see a homeless person and they have a sign asking for help, and you feel led to help.
But, fear jumps up and says, “He might be a bad guy.” or “I see him here every week. I heard he drives a Lexus.”
So what?
A thought or a friend says “Well, other people who really need it, could be getting help and this guy is taking it”
Are you helping those other people? Why not help both? Why not
divide the measly 5 bucks you were going to give and help the whole
world?
Listen, just follow the Spirit as He guides. Do not second guess. Do
not let the left hand know what the right hand is doing. Do not count
the cost. Just follow and do as He leads.(Matt. 6:3)
Paul says, ” When I seek to do good, evil is with me.” We get led by
the Spirit to serve, but the enemy pops up to keep us from it. We get
distracted, we have fear. We have false thoughts. Our flesh listens to
the enemy tempting us and we have doubt. We don’t trust that God can
provide or protect.( Romans 7:21)
Here’s the deal. God wants us to do what is right.
Let’s say a man asks for money and you give it to him and he goes and buys booze.
You followed the Holy Spirit and showed love to this person. You followed.
God can use that. When that person is struggling and telling God, ”
I’m in this mess because of you! You never helped me!” God can bring
you to their remembrance.
God did send help, and kindness. He sent YOU.
If you do the works of God with your flesh, you will do works of the
flesh. Your motivations will be flesh, your plans will be flesh. Your
fears and your love will be flesh. It will all be filthy rags because it
is not God working through you.
Learn to hear His voice and guidance. Learn to follow the Spirit.
It gets easier over time as you hear and follow. When you feed faith it grows, instead of fear.
I have watched God bring a chance to serve to a group of people, and
saw them talk themselves totally out of doing anything to help the
person in need. Over and over again.
I’m not saying that we should abandon wisdom. But, turn to God in this as well, and He will give you a word of wisdom.
Let’s say a friend pops into your head and you want to call them and say “Hi”.
Do it.
The Lord might be working on them and you could have helped. But,
don’t let the enemy distract you. I learned years ago, that when God
calls, you drop everything immediately and go do it. If you wait, at
all. The enemy will work to distract and bring in fear or other things.
Do not give him a chance.
Let’s say you are thinking about going on a mission trip somewhere.
The idea just popped into your head. Then, low and behold, a friend says
“Hey we are going to Africa for a week to hand out blankets.” That’s
the Holy Spirit, leading you. Calling you.
Here’s an example from my own life.
I had a trip planned. I took the time off and was ready to go. But,
my plans fell apart. So, I prayed, “Lord, what should I do now.?” Then,
I started thinking about maybe doing a mission trip. And I prayed
“Lord. I really don’t know anything about that. What would you want me
to do?” And it wasn’t a week later when a friend invited me to go on a
mission trip. It was during the exact time I had set for my original
trip.
God leads us if we listen.
I really had no excuse now. So, I went and it was one of the best
things I’ve done. God teaches us and builds the relationship through our
listening and following His guidance.
Let’s say you are driving in your car alone, and a Bible verse jumps
into your head, and you spend the rest of the morning thinking about the
verse. That’s the Holy Spirit teaching you. Then later on that day,
something happens that has a direct correlation with the verse you
chewed on all morning. The Holy Spirit again.
Like sheep following the Master, we chew the cud of His Word, while
standing on the cloven feet of Spirit and Truth. He leads us into all
truth. He leads us in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
We are to be Spirit led. The Spirit brings to life. He is life.
The Breath of Life.
Our
entire walk with Christ, is to abide in Him and have a relationship
with Him. That comes by hearing His Spirit and following Him.
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.
If you followed me around everyday with a camera. You’d be like,
“What’s wrong with this guy?”
God saves us despite our sinfulness. He works to change us.
Trust me. I’m better than I used to be.
I say this because I don’t want you to think I’m some perfect person. I’m not.
No one is. But, God uses us in our sin and failure anyway.
I say this again because I want you to realize that if we wait till we are perfect, we will never get busy serving God.
We are perfect because God washed us in the Blood of Christ, if you are saved. Not because we act perfect.
We grow in the Lord by serving Him. By working with Him. By confessing our sins to Him and building the relationship with Him.
Henry Blackaby used to say, “Find where God is working and join Him.”
A burden is a call from God to join Him.
So, what is a “burden”?
A burden is when you can’t get rid of a feeling or thought. It has
weight. It burdens you. You perceive that there’s more to it than just
some passing thought. Because it doesn’t pass. It stays with you. It
keeps coming to your mind.
Now, a burden can be for anything, but let’s start with simple things.
You’re laying in bed and you wake up and someone is on your mind.
Pray for them.
Usually a burden will not leave you alone. It just keeps bugging you
until you take care of it. Keep praying. As your mind runs wild, keep
praying for what comes, or about what comes.
Sometimes, it’s a burden to pray. Sometimes it’s a burden to contact
this person and just say “hi” and see what’s up. (Of course not at 2am)
You’ve been thinking about Uncle Joe all day. That’s a burden. Pray for him. Reach out.
You saw the woman sitting by the road with a sign. You’ve thought
about her the whole time you’re in the store. That’s a burden. Pray for
her and help her.
Sometimes a burden can be something you know about. You have no excuse.
Your friend’s spouse just died, and you feel a burden to reach out.
Do it.
You hear someone in need and feel a burden to help.
Do it.
Let’s get back to prayer, because no matter what the burden is, it needs to be answered firstly, by talking with God.
Nehemiah used to say short quick prayers under his breath when needed. (The Book of Nehemiah)
It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. Just pray until the burden is lifted or you know what to do. Just talk to God.
I will often whisper prayers to God that no one sees. Even while I’m
surrounded by people. God hears. You do not need to make a big show of
prayer. Actually it’s best you don’t.
Sometimes, you won’t know what the burden is about. Just go. God will be there.
Sometimes you won’t know what to pray for. Pray what I call “Blanket Prayers”
You are throwing a blanket of prayer power over a person, place or situation.
Pray for salvation. Pray for protection. Pray that the people will draw closer to God. Pray for healing. Pray for help.
You are covering them in prayer.
You don’t need to know specifics. God will reveal those as He sees
fit. Sometimes, it comes by contacting the person to see how they are
doing.
The Holy Spirit guides us, and He can take our generic prayer and
translate it into something specific. Even if we have no clue and are in
agony, groaning for someone or ourselves, the Holy Spirit can
understand. (Romans 8:26-27)
That brings us back to trying to be perfect. You can’t be. You already are perfect, in Christ.
The devil will get you to wallow in your own doubt and fear in order to keep you from serving. Just get up and do it.
Go, and let God guide you. it’s hard. You might fail. But, you went. And that’s really all we are called to do. (Eze. 3:17-22)
As we go, we listen for God’s guidance. The more we do it, the better we are at hearing Him.
As Saints, we are called to fight the enemy, help people, and spread
the Gospel. We gather together in churches to do that work and help each
other. This life is hard and we are often under attack. Our fellow
Christians are supposed to pray for us and help us with our burdens and
our troubles so we can fight the good fight of faith, and help them as
well.
It all starts with prayer and often a burden to pray.
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.
There has been a debate since the days of the Apostle Paul, regarding salvation by faith versus works.
I'll give you a hint. It's neither. It's Grace. Both Faith and Works rely on human power in some way
But, I want to talk about sanctification, and I'm going to use an analogy to do it.
Sanctification comes after salvation.
We get saved by hearing God calling us, and turning to Him (Repent) and confessing Jesus as Lord.
Let me break it down.
Everyone who is saved was called. That is grace. We realize that God is real and he is there for us and wants to save us. We believe what He has told us in our heart. That is faith. We turn to Him and ask Him to save us, confessing that Jesus is our Lord. That is faith and works. (Romans 10:9-10, James 2:26)
Salvation and sanctification are kind of like getting a job.
You need a job so you fill out an application. The human owner decides whether he needs you and if you can make him money.
But,
God wants you. He made a way for you, before you even knew you needed one. He doesn't care about your
background or skills or college or attitude. He just wants you to come.
So if you want Him, you are hired. God trains you and gives you everything you need to serve HIM. He is the boss. Remember this.
So, now comes sanctification. Which is where God works in our lives to change us. A lot of changes occur when we first get saved. But, there are things that we need to work on our whole life.
Let's continue with the analogy.
So, let's say you show up late to work.(sin)
A human boss warns you and threatens to fire you. (Punish you and throw you in hell)
But. God is not like that. He forgives you and looks into your life to see
what's up. He might change your mind. Or make some adjustments to your
circumstances so you can be on time, without a rush or hurting yourself
or others. He works to correct us or solve our problem, or set us free from some bondage. he does not cast us away.
That's how it works. God works in us and with us to fix us.He saved us already, now He continues to work. That is sanctification. The Holy Spirit helps us to grow, if we are willing to listen.
Too many people believe their heavenly father is like the boss or their earthly father. He is not.
God is not a slave driver. He doesn't need to be. When He speaks something, he knows for a fact that it will happen. There is no doubt.
Sometimes sanctification leads to correction or brokenness. When we get saved we are basically giving ourselves to God, because we need Him and He knows whats best. So, we have given Him permission to work on us as He sees fit. (Prov. 3:11-12)
In our lives we often find that we have gone the wrong way or that we have become entangled with some problem. Perhaps a hurtful lifestyle or addiction.
In order to grow us and help us, God must sometimes take drastic measures to set us free from bondage. We might be at what we call rock bottom and lose everything and everybody. We might become broken. It's terrible and painful, but He is there with us to protect us.
Like a refiner's fire.He controls the heat to melt the precious metal and remove the dross or crud. All of this works to make us of greater use by Him. (Malachi. 3:1-3)
We often find ourselves broken by this process of correction or setting us free.
This brokenness leads to meekness.
People think meekness is weakness. It's not.
Brokenness is like a powerful horse being broken by his master. He does not lose his power, but he becomes usable. This is meekness.
This is sanctification.
This is why some folks have their lives torn apart after they get saved. God is setting them free. He has saved them, now He is working to remove things that are bad for them.
The temptation at this point is to fight what is happening, or run away. But, that only makes things worse.
Remember Jonah.
God spoke to Jonah and Jonah refused. He ran away. All kinds of bad stuff started happening to Jonah; storms and even getting swallowed by a fish, till he was broken and accepted God's will.
Prison or a hospital bed could be your fish.
Turn to God. Read His Word. Listen to the Holy Spirit.
When you turned to God and asked Him to save you, He promised He would. Sanctification is a part of that. We never really know how bad we are and how much God must remove from us. We sometimes, need a lot of pruning in order to bear fruit for the Kingdom.
Remember, God is with you. You have turned to Him and He is there, no matter what you are facing.
Remember ALL things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. (Rom 8:28)
Everything that happens in our life can be used by God to grow us and serve Him. The key is to turn to Him in everything. Suffer in Him. Do not run from Him.
Not everything bad that happens is caused by God. We have an enemy. We live in a fallen world. We also do things to cause problems for ourselves. But, EVERYTHING can work for our good, when we turn to Him and give it to Him.
I have had terrible things happen in my life. Most of it was my fault. Most of it was because I listened to the enemy.
But, I love those terrible things because God used them to set me free.
Would I change it?
I wish I had not been so foolish. But, it all drew me closer to God, and made my life better. So, I would not change it for the world.
When we know Him, He becomes more valuable than this world, this life, family, or anything we can think of.
That is how sanctification works.
It works to build the relationship. If you really know Him.
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Bio:Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”— Eph 6:12
“(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)”—2 Cor. 10:4
The Bible teaches that we have a spiritual enemy, and we use spiritual means to combat them.
I felt led to write this because I’ve seen lots of opinions lately attacking the idea of demonic entities impacting our lives.
There’s a view in some Christian circles, that there is no spiritual
enemy to fight. That it’s just us and our fleshly nature. No demons.
Just our sin and disobedience to God.
But, that leaves out large parts of scripture. It throws a monkey wrench into the gears of what spiritual reality is.
Our flesh impacts us. But, there’s also a spiritual component that
comes at us as well. There’s something outside the body that works
against us. We see evidence and the scriptures warn us of it. (1 Pet.
5:8)
If we had a house with a rat problem, we would solve it and work to prevent it.
But, would we just blame the people who live in the house? That’s
what we often do. It’s their fault. We accuse them and beat them down
for having rats. We gossip, and judge and accuse.
The tenants do need to clean up. This is true.
But to solve the problem, the landlord needs to organize the cleanup
and take care of things the tenants cannot. Like wise, the city needs to
deal with things outside of what the landlord can do.
Finally, the rats must be dealt with and prevented.
Many folks want to solve the problem by just telling people to live
cleaner. But, that won’t solve it, totally. They need saved. They need
prayer. They need the Holy Spirit, and Spiritual Warfare waged. They
need love and help, which is part of our warfare.
This is what goes on in many churches. They tell.people not to sin, but ignore the spiritual reality of the war we are in.
I know churches, where they never mention the Holy Spirit or possible demonic activity.
People are suffering. Our world is getting darker, while many
believers want to play church. People are dying and going to hell while
churches sing songs.
The Lord says, “Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I
will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment run down as
waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.” (Amos 5:21-24)
He
desires mercy for people. He seeks to save and help the lost, and
hurting. That’s His heart. He did not come to demand your worship or
sacrifice. We worship by waging spiritual war, saving people and helping
them. (Matt. 9:13)
We have an enemy. If Satan can get us to think he doesn’t exist or doesn’t fight, then he wins because we do nothing.
It’s far wiser to fight the rats than to pretend they don’t exist, or hope they will just go away.
The first step in spiritual warfare. Is to believe God and His Word,
over everything your senses tell you and everything the World tells you.
If you cannot believe God, then you are not saved and you are powerless against spiritual forces.
You must believe the Word given unto you, in order to accept it. Now
I’m not saying that you must accept every word the preacher tells you.
I’m saying you need to believe the Word of God as He leads you through the Holy Spirit.
Are you reading and studying the Bible? Listen to it while you drive
or work. You need to be in the Word. That’s where you learn Truth.
Memorize verses. Especially verses that tell you about salvation and God’s promises.
Decide that you are going to trust God’s Word no matter what.
If the Bible says God created the Earth in seven days, thousands of years ago, then that’s what you believe.
If you cannot believe in creation, then how can you believe God raised Jesus from the dead?
And if you cannot believe Jesus rose from the dead, then you are not saved. (Rom. 10:9-10)
The same Bible speaks of both.
Trust the Lord. He will show you.
The Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit. If you do not know the
Word or believe it, then you are not armed in this war. (Heb. 4:12, Eph.
6:12-17)
You might not even be saved, truth be told.
We are made righteous by believing what God tells us.(Gen. 15:6, Rom. 4:3)
All the armor we have in this war is directly related to God’s Word
and the belief and trust we put into it, and Him. If you cannot believe
and trust God and His Word, then you have no armor, or sword. (Eph.
6:12-17)
Now realize, that it is the Holy Spirit in us. It is not our fleshly selves. It’s God that does all of it. It’s His authority.
So when we wage war, it is God in us doing it. Do not think it is
your own power. That is the enemy trying to put pride in your heart for
something that is not yours.
Understand?
We have an enemy, and if He can get us to ignore him. Or not believe he is real or not wage war, then he is victorious.
How many people have been lost because we did not wage war?
How much pain and suffering have we allowed to continue to torment
people because we refuse to see the demons harassing them, and pray for
them and help them instead of condemning them?
That addicted child?
They could be under the influence of demons. Wouldn’t it be good to
know how to pray? To know how to fight for your child. As a matter of
fact there is a large demonic aspect to addiction.
That person who always falls on hard times?
Could be demons, harassing them. Maybe they try to get right but always get led astray?
That person who is facing mental issues. Anxiety? Struggles?
Demons? Maybe? Maybe not. But it never hurts to pray for them properly.
Here’s something you must get straight. Demons harass or tempt or attack everybody.
It is not an indication of wrong doing.
Didn’t Jesus get tempted by the devil? (Matt. 4:1)
Didn’t Jesus get harassed by demons using the pharisees to tempt Him? (Matt. 22:18)
Didn’t He face demons during His ministry. (Luke 8:26-39)
Didn’t Judas get filled with the devil to betray Christ? (John 13:26-27)
Therefore, demonic attacks or harassment have nothing to do with sinfulness.
We are all tempted. We all sin and we all face attacks in this war if you are saved.
It is a deception of the enemy to pretend that we don’t, or that only those sinners over there get tempted.
Stop being like the Pharisees, and start being like Jesus.
Learn to stand. Not turning a blind eye.
Ask God to show you.
Bio:Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.
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