In Mark 10 Christ spoke to His disciples about the difficulty of
salvation for those who have an abundance or special attachments in this world. He
told them that those who eagerly seek wealth and relationships in the world
will never hold Christ and His grace as the great gifts that they are. He also
mentions the greatness of those who have little in this world, but give it up to follow or obey whatever Christ may ask of them to do for His sake. One of the greatest trials of a person’s consistency and true test of
their love for Jesus is when, their love for Christ calls them to give up any
love they may have for their friends and relatives that rule supremely over
their love for Christ. For our love for God and the work that He did on the
cross must rule in our hearts over every other desire, lust, love, passion that we
could possibly have on this earth. We are to expect to suffer in some
ways and learn contentment in a low state, as we watch against the love of
riches in a high one. Our prayers to the Father should be; to be enabled, to
part with little or all, if required of us, in Christ's service, and to use all
that we are allowed to keep in His service.
When we come to Christ we are
oftentimes labeled by family, friends and acquaintances as being “Too
Religious” or a “Jesus Freak", in a negative manner. I have often times
been thought of like that myself and have learned to be grateful for it! This
happens because the one calling the name has not surrendered their own heart as
Christ speak to do in Mark 10. For once your eyes truly fall on the risen King,
you will not be able to walk away untouched or unchanged in some way. I am truly
disturbed that as Christians, we have fallen short in showing the world that
living for Christ is worth more than the rarest, most deepest desire of the
heart or anything this world affords. The people in our lives should see Christ
in us and the major difference in who we are now, since accepting Christ as
Savior and Lord, than the old person who we once use to be. His light in us
should light up a room when we enter it and our life should invoke others to
want to seek the Lord in truth and not simply as the son of the Man upstairs.
Many people who do not know Christ are critical and, like the Egyptians, their
hearts are hardened and eyes are blinded by the enemy and will continue to be
until Christ is revealed to them as they accept Him into their lives, allowing
Him to change them as well. People often refuse to come to God on His terms,
because of their personal attachments of unwillingness to give up or change
some part of their lives; and yet they work diligently to get to Him on their
own and by way of their own merit. They continue to use old stories of those
who have fallen away from some Church or some hardship that God never responded
to or a bad experience and continue to live apart from Him, thinking that they
and God have their own thing going; so all is well. To those folk, the true
child of God will always be a nuisance to them and will continue to be labeled
as too religious, because of the deeper commitment that they personally cannot conceive or
understand.
May you today be a nuisance to the world in that sense, troublesome
to the enemies of the King of Kings and while your conduct always be courteous
no matter what it may cost you, let your testimony for Christ be given without
any flinching and without any mincing of the matter and may you continue living
for Him as you are led by Him. People need the Lord, and they need you to be a
light for them to see Him!
Loving on you,
Bren
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