Subject: Could there be more? |
Bible Note: Hello CDBJ, This is such a pleasure conversing with you. Let me do my best at addressing the issues you listed. I have to break up my response into two sections since it became too large to be accepted by the forum. Here goes: 1. re: "With her, I am well pleased." Why would God want to say that about you personally speaking? My goal in life is to do God's will. I am not only here to KNOW with certainty that I have eternal life, but I am here to AFFECT others. Hence, my user name: Angel in Training. I desperately want to be at God's disposal to do on earth what He wants me to do. I try each and every day to keep my spiritual ears open to hear God's gentle and un-expecting direction in my life. Sometimes I don't know if it's God or Satan that is trying to influence me. However, when I reflect the direction against the Word of God, and if it's consistent with the Word, then I know it's God. And to be honest with you, often part of the test is: Do I want to do this? Many times, if I DON'T feel a desire to do it, I know it's God requiring me to "step out of the boat". I have a few stories that I won't go into now, that God has used me as an earthly "angel" to bless others. If you think about it, Jesus came to earth to AFFECT others. Even though He OFFERS us eternal life, what we do here on earth is also very important. Jesus lived each and every day doing God's will. It was that fact that may have been why the Lord said He was well pleased and in this way I hope and pray He is pleased with me. An added note: I know with full certainty that my success or failure in any of this has no impact on my being saved. And, in addition, I don’t do or say any of this out of “duty”. It is out of my pure love for God. I want to be His servant, now and forever. And since I am NOW on this earth, I want to do ALL I can do to share and spread His glory. The Lord has sent me in new directions that I never thought were even possible for me. But with His support and strength, I made it through (and am making it through). A few scriptures that I rely on regularly are: 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 (New King James Version) 8:31… If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31 (New International Version) 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7 (New King James Version) “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.” (I love this one that I hear Joyce Meyer refer to, but I don’t know the official scripture) 2. re: Romans 3:10 and 12: My response to this is “Of course.” None of us are righteous on our own, it is only through Jesus Christ that we are instantly “right” with God. And our good behavior is NOTHING without our faith and good heart. God is more concerned with our heart than our behavior. As Joyce Meyer says, “He is more concerned with our WHO than our DO.” Our good deeds are nothing in the sight of God, unless, of course, they are done with the right heart. What is the right heart? It is one that acts out of love and for no other reason. 3. re: Romans 3:23: Again, “Of course”. We will always fall short of the glory of God. And He knows it too. We are all imperfect in comparison to God. That is one of the reasons that Jesus was sent. Jesus showed us our “goal”. He was God, in the flesh. He came to show us The Way, knowing full well that none of us would (or are even close to able to) reach His glory. And, to be honest with you CDBJ, I am at peace with that. I know and am perfectly comfortable that I am imperfect. And God is okay with it too. He does not expect us to be perfect. Grace would not be grace if this wasn’t so. 4. re: The question is then how can I be pleasing in God’s sight since I am imperfect? My only response to this is that I need to “know without a doubt” that I am imperfect and that IN ALL THINGS I need God. And IN ALL THINGS that I have done, I give credit to God and no one else. It is this that makes God pleased, not that anything that I’ve done is perfect or that I am perfect in any way. When I live my life acknowledging God as the source of my strength and my direction and NOT relying on myself, it is then that my focus is in the right direction It is when we rely on ourselves that we fail. I feel it every time. When I try to accomplish my schedule without God involved: I become frustrated, angry, resentful, impatient and so forth. When I turn my sights back toward God and HIS schedule (not mine) it is then that I receive and enjoy the peace that God has placed in my heart. I will send the rest in a second note. :) AIT |