Spiritual work out Philippians 2:12-13 In the same way continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. 13 It is God who produces in you the desires and actions that please him. So we have begun our process, we have stepped into the spiritual gym and are ready to be pushed beyond our limits to begin seeing some substantial results! Why does this always sound so easy when we think about it and then it becomes such a pain to actually follow through? Why is it that we get so impatient and demanding in our process? We resist, we fight our personal trainer, the Holy Spirit! We get disappointed when results dont magically appear. Most of us receive some false advertising when we accept Jesus into our hearts. We get sold on a magical prayer that will make all our problems go away and we will automatically see the world through brighter positive lenses and instantaneously overflow with love for everyone! And no matter how many times you fall and make mistakes, you have already accepted your free ticket to heaven and no one can take it away! How quickly that deception comes crashing down! Salvation is free but it is not cheap! It is necessary to WORK OUT our salvation! Why? Because salvation has 3 phases, which many of us miss due to lack of information: 1. Justification (This is the work of redemption that Jesus did for us on the cross. We had nothing to do with this. We did not earn it. We did not work for it. It is a gift we received.) 2. Sanctification (This is the phase in which we cooperate with the Holy Spirit to grow in character to be conformed to the image of Christ. This is where we need to put forth the effort, the work, the sacrifice. This is where we pay the price) 3. Glorification (This is the beautifying process all those who endured the process of sanctification will go through. This is coronation time! Rewards time! But its reserved for those who make it to the finish line) Its time to exercise our salvation. But why with fear and trembling? Because we need to be serious about our commitment to sanctification. Because God is a jealous God. He is a demanding God. Because He has high expectations and high standards for us to reach. Works the same way in the business world. You are more likely to succeed if you are under the pressure of a demanding boss with high expectations. You choose if you will crumble from the pressure or if you will thrive. The demands are great. We have a high standard to reach! He tells us: Be holy as I am holy. Love others as I have loved you. Forgive as you have been forgiven. You will do greater things than I have done. Wow! Sounds like a great task and it seems quite impossible! But theres great news! Guess what? None of this needs to come from you alone. It is God who produces in you the desire, the will, the passion, the drive, the strength, the power to accomplish it all! If you let your trainer the Holy Spirit do His work, if you dont silence Him, if you dont ignore His instructions, if you dont bicker and fight Him, if you do everything that is expected, you are on your way to an extreme spiritual transformation! Next we will discover what are some exercises to develop spiritual muscle... Nothing is impossible youtu.be/BUazxNOiPYs
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 23:26:22 +0000
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