Quote: "The Christian life is a life characterized by true and spontaneous creativity. Consequently, a disciple is subject to the same charge that was levelled against Jesus Christ, namely, the charge on inconsistency. But Jesus Christ was always consistent in His relationship to God, and a Christian must be consistent in his relationship to the life of the Son of God in him, not consistent to strict, unyielding doctrines. People pour themselves into their own doctrines, and God has to blast them out of their preconceived ideas before they can become devoted to Jesus Christ."
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, July 2.I posted my blog on the Quotes on Discipleship yesterday before reading this page and including the above quote, but it blessed me so much I decided to give it a page of its own.
Jesus was never a social reformer. He never spoke against Herod or the Romans nor tried to influence those rulers to change their ways. Jesus did have accusations for the religious leaders, the Pharisees, as they were hypocritical, greedy, selfish and proud, bringing burdens upon those they were meant to help.
Matthew 23 v 25 - 28: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."
Jesus did not mince His words and as He has an unchanging righteous nature, do not think you can get into Heaven with pride and hypocrisy in your soul and flesh. Jesus wants us to follow Him precisely to avoid any problems at the Pearly Gate.
Jesus came to Earth to save sinners and to destroy sin. Sin is the barrier that separates us from God the Father and He loves us so much that He was Will to let His perfect Son become the Scapegoat, take every sin upon Himself, take sin's death penalty for us so that we may live.
So He wants us to live clean, pure lives, as He did. He wants us to be humble, patient, kind, loving people. He has washed us in His Blood to cleanse us of sin, and its up to us to walk in His footsteps and shun every appearance of sin.
There are no little white lies that are acceptable to God. The motto is 'Tell the truth and shame the devil'. Abortion is an abomination called 'murder of the innocents' and Jesus hates it. He is delighted that the court in America overturned Roe and Wade, which caused the murder of 60 million unborn souls over the years.
Yes a woman has rights over her own body. One of them is to prevent pregnancy if a baby would be an inconvenient nightmare. Rather give that baby up for adoption. The baby has rights too. The right to be born alive, and fulfil God's plan for its life. So if Jesus is being consistent, He cannot enjoy the death of so many unborn babies that He created. We have to be in agreement with Him against a sin like that.
Jesus wants the very best for us. He wants us to prosper and be in health to be examples to those on the outside looking in. He wants us to take every opportunity to correct people's false impression of Him, and that we, His followers, are poor, weak, fragile ninnies that need a crutch.
We are made in the image of God, the Creator of all things. In our weakness He is our strength.
2 Corinthians 12 v 8 - 10: "For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."
When we are weak the power of Jesus Christ rests upon us. The power of His resurrection because death could not hold Him in the grave. We walk in newness of life in this resurrection power. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to heal the sick, drive out demons, raise the dead, prophesy, and live victorious lives.
We all make mistakes, get angry, get discouraged and despondent, but if we repent and are sorry, if we make right where appropriate, we are always forgiven. It's that Grace of a loving God that overturns our errors. That's what Jesus wants from us.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, You have made all things possible, so we must find the right way to follow You through Your Word, and guidance of the Holy Spirit. We love You and want to please You all day, every day. Help us over the rough spots please Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen.