God Strong!
Sunday’s Monday
My question for each of us is “Am I God Strong” and after you’ve thought long enough to form an answer. Read James 5:19-20 The Passion Translation (TPT), 19 Finally, as members of God’s beloved family, we must go after the one who wanders from the truth and bring him back. 20 For the one who restores the sinning believer back to God from the error of his way, gives back to his soul life from the dead and covers over countless sins by their demonstration of love! Life from the dead, translated from the Aramaic and the Greek language has similar, meaning “save his soul from death” likewise, covers over countless sins is translated bring about forgiveness of many sins through restoring the person back to God as well, to cover sins is the Hebrew concept of atonement.
As exciting as this all sounds, the question one must answer from the git-go is, am I God Strong enough in my relationship with Jesus to wager of my own eternity? The bible tells us in Luke 14:28 (TPT), 28 So don’t follow me without considering what it will cost you. For who would construct a house before first sitting down to estimate the cost to complete it? One must make long term commitments “along with” accepting the major responsibilities which go with discipling the lost and backslidden. Plus! All would be well served to realize from the start that it is usually more difficult to bring the wayward back into the fold than those that have never known Jesus.
One doesn’t simply lead the wayward or the lost into God’s grace and leave them to figure things out on their own! Declaring the victory! Truth is; “your assignment is whatever, whenever and forever, what God says it is! Each of us, “who follows Jesus” has a predestined relevance in the life of every believer, (fallen or not) that God leads us to! We are all branches connected, together for one purpose, which is support the wellbeing of the vine (Jesus). For without the vine all is lost! The bible says in, John 15:5 (TPT), 5 “I am the sprouting vine and you’re my branches. As you live in union with me as your source, fruitfulness will stream from within you, but when you live separated from me you are powerless.
We have to know that a fallen brother or sister becomes no less of a spiritual brother or sister. We are all created by the same God and daily face the same challenges to fall! Truth is, we need to read and rehearse 1 Thessalonians 5:14 (TPT), We appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, to instruct those who are not in their place of battle. Be skilled at gently encouraging those who feel themselves inadequate. Be faithful to stand your ground. Help the weak to stand again. Be quick to demonstrate patience with everyone. We need to become that brother or sister that we so desperately need and needed during our time of great weakness. The one thing I seem to hear the most and have occasionally said myself, “I just need someone to care enough about me, to listen.” Those that are spiritually broken don’t need a doctor (per say) asking lots of questions, they simply need a guide, offering instructions (when asked) to help them find their way back into the arms of Jesus. I call it TLC (The Love of Christ) from one Jesus follower to another.
As I’m writing this, God’s reminding me of something that was popular some years back, when the WWJD (what would Jesus do) movement came about. The movement started to wither soon after its conception and virtually vanished in its first decade. My take on this is, it had a short season because it was never truly accepted by the adults. It seems humans just can’t learn from the past! For 2,000+ years now, man has been employing gimmicks and fads to attract people to accept Jesus and encourage them to follow in His ways. When in actually; the great men of God throughout the years, simply did “in faith” what Jesus led them to do. They renewed their minds daily and were read up, prayed up and listening up, ready to act upon the daily instructions of Jesus. They were operating in the total strength of Jesus, confident in their belief and strong in their faith. These people were prepared to do the will of God in any situation. They had a full understanding of Ephesians 6:13 (TPT), Because of this, you must wear all the armor that God provides so you’re protected as you confront the slanderer, for you are destined for all things and will rise victorious.
To ever be effective in James 5:19-20 we must first have a full understanding of 2 Peter 1:5-8 (TPT), 5 So devote yourselves to lavishly supplementing your faith with goodness, and to goodness add understanding, 6 and to understanding add the strength of self-control, and to self-control add patient endurance, and to patient endurance add godliness, 7 and to godliness add mercy toward your brothers and sisters, and to mercy toward others add unending love. 8 Since these virtues are already planted deep within, and you possess them in abundant supply, they will keep you from being inactive or fruitless in your pursuit of knowing Jesus Christ more intimately. And therein lies the answer! We all should be seeking to, “Know Jesus Christ more intimately!”
HAVE A BLESSED WEEK BY BEING A BLESSING TO OTHERS!
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