Countdown To Lift Up - Kingdom Accounting! So, we are always confident (because the Holy Spirit is our Gaurantor, Verse 5) and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight, and we are confident and satisfied to be out of the body and at home with the Lord. Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the tribunal of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or worthless. (2 Corinthians 5:6-10 HCSB, explanation mine). Notice with me, if you will, the second qualifying phrase of this passage, while we are at home in the body we are AWAY from the Lord (emphasis mine, by context). The life you and I are living, the walk we are making, is away from the Lord! What does that mean? It means we cant see (touch, hear and befriend) Him physically! (Notice how John began his first epistle describing Jesus - what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the Word of life - that life was revealed, ... And then Paul goes on to explain (and we must remember who hes explaining this to - the local church that best described the Church in America, Corinth) that the life we live on this earth is by faith! Why? Because whatsoever is not of faith is sin. (Romans 14:23). It is important that I understand that works (what I do, in and of myself) is absolutely worthless! Salvation is not of me; its by grace, through faith, not of works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). Therefore, when he says a couple of sentences later, we make it our aim to be pleasing to Him., what does he mean? If thats the case, lets eat, drink and be merry because were all gonna die pretty soon! No, thats the way they were living; thats the under the sun (horizontal thinking only) living which is the theme of Ecclesiastes; thats why Paul is writing these 3 (we only have 2) letters to the church there in Corinth! We make it our aim to be pleasing to Him by walking in the Spirit Whose been given to us as a pledge of that which we will receive AFTER this life! Paul went into serious detail about the Spirit-filled walk in his first epistle to them. You mean the Holy Spirit lives and moves and acts through me? Yep! Thats exactly what it means. It is by (according to, thought the medium of) faith that we even have access to Him Who IS pleasing to the Father, Christ Jesus. No One else could or can do it! It takes God to please God! So we are caught in a dilima, arent we? Christ can (and does), we cant, but we must! It is a FaithWalk (which is what the movement by that name is supposed to be ushering into the believers lives who attend). And what is my part in this?, I rightly ask. Believe on The Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved! Comes the reply of Scripture. As many of you have received Jesus as Lord, so live that way in connection to Him!, the Bible answers. This is what we wrestle with, brothers and sisters. This is what tears is up and forces us to our knees time after time, again and again, in the Christian Life. WE CANT DO IT! So, I seek Him more diligently, my spirit yearns to know Him more fervently, my humanity demands time and again that I be cleansed by the washing of the water of the Word and I, with Paul, press on! And to the degree that I submit and defer, in proportion to my willingness to yield my rights and reliance on the Spirits power, there is reward involved! Yes, Christ gives us rewards to lay at the Fathers feet throughout eternity as part of our worship to God. Pretty cool, huh, reward for Someone elses work? Thats the God we serve; thats One Who lives in us; thats the gift of God in Christ Jesus concerning you! Oooo, thats something gooood to think about!
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 15:42:01 +0000
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