Friday, 15 July 2016

Take A Stand Please – Christ Side is The Right One

With all the commotion going on in the world today including the part of the world where I reside, people are desperate for stability and/or security though most of them don’t know what they really are searching for. This search drives such people into various things; some evil, like cults, yet some head off to churches whilst others seek solace in different relationships including even marriage. At the end of day, none of these offer the true security they long for. So many such people rush out of these things in which they seek security just the same way they rushed into them. Everyone, believer and unbeliever alike, desires some form of stability and a sense of security but this can only be found in Christ whom most people turn away from in their quest for true stability because He comes across as too simple to provide all of these.

1 Corinthians 15: 58 “So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is useless.

Psalm 18: 2 “I love the Lord; you are my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my Saviour; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me and my place of safety.”

Since this Truth which provides stability is Christ, it takes having and knowing Him to manifest truth and stability. Christ desires to manifest His nature in and through those in whom He lives. Believers therefore, ought to be the solution for all the insecurity and/or instability. The answer the world desires should be found with us but it is not and this gap leaves the world in even more chaos than anyone could ever imagine. Believers now admire the world (and maybe even more than unbelievers who have since found that it is empty), and are trying desperately to be like the world so that we are unable to be the answer the world needs. We are so unstable that we are on all sides and no sides. We are mostly, ourselves, emotionally unstable; seeking to please everyone, we displease God, lose sight of who we really are and stand for nothing especially not for Christ who we are saved to please. How can we then be dependable and stable? Christ desires so much to express Himself through us but are we vessels made ready for the Master’s use? We all have an active part to play in making ourselves ready.

Micah 6: 8 “No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

Even in little matters we have no stance. We love to identify with the “winning side” and not even the true winner - Jesus Christ. If the winning side shifts we shift with it making ourselves silly and unstable whilst God wants us to take His side; a side that wins ultimately and forever. One of the challenges with standing for Christ today is that people often feel pressured to take a side whenever there is a dispute or disagreement and God’s stance often appears to leave one nowhere or in the middle because He deals with the issues whilst loving the parties. He takes no side but His. Yet with almost every argument the one question people seem to ask or think is ‘whose side are you on?’ and the Lord’s side is not on their minds when they ask this question. Truth is not exclusive so it may leave us accepting a few things from each side and not totally agreeing with any side but man wants one to pick a side. The Truth often has no side; He is unchanging, stable and secure and expects parties to align with His thoughts. The world is hurting and healing can only come from God through His Son Jesus Christ who is also His word. Nothing birth in our flesh can heal; at best it can only provide temporary relief. The Truth however, heals and that could be a process or instant. Sometimes, to heal a wound we need to dig deep and clean it out and only then can healing begin; healing in such instances is a process.

Joshua 5: 13b – 14 “Joshua went up to him and demanded, ‘Are you friend or foe?’ ‘Neither one, he replied. ‘I am the commander of the Lord’s army.”

Hebrews 4: 12 “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two- edged, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”

Truth sometimes seems to inflict pain and short-sighted people only see the pain and not purpose; but He is solution and the yearning of man’s heart. Good people cannot meet this yearning of man; only God people can. Though it takes courage to stand for God, believers and especially our leaders need to find the courage which Christ makes available. Remember that courage is not the absence of fear but grace to do what God would do despite fear. It is time to take our place. The world yearns for what God has put in us. True and lasting comfort is based on truth; not emotions.

Romans 8: 19amp “For (even the whole world) creation (all nature) awaits expectantly and longs earnestly for God’s sons to be made known (waits for the revealing, the disclosing of their sonship).

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