Thursday, June 3, 2010

The Key to Inner Security

Objective: To find inner security in obedience to Christ.

Obedience to our Lord in every facet of our lives is the key to inner security and experiencing the presence of Christ.

The following is touching and a true story - author unknown. I recall one wealthy and influential businessman in California who sacrificed everything he had to care for his dying wife. Eventually he spent his fortune seeking to find a cure for her disease. By the time I learned of their situation, they had lost their entire fortune including their palatial home. They were living in modest circumstances in a little trailer on a parking lot in Hollywood. I went to see them with fear and trembling. How in the world could I, a healthy, young Christian businessman, identify with this poverty-stricken husband? He had already lost his large fortune and was about to lose his most precious friend and mate of nearly forty years. The trailer was neat as a pin. When I stepped into their humble home, it was as though I were entering a corner of heaven. There, sitting beside his dying wife, was this man holding her hand. Both of them had radiant faces. The joy of the Lord filled the place.
I had come to minister to them, but they ministered to me instead. They were trusting God with their lives. Like Job, they were saying of their Lord, "Though he slays me, yet will I hope (trust) in him..." (Job 13:15). I will always remember the peace of heart and mind that this couple enjoyed because they had learned to trust and obey the will and ways of God even in the midst of tragedy.

Many people hope to find security in their possessions when only a right relationship with God can bring abundant life. Through the years, I have become increasingly convinced that there are no unhappy obedient Christians. Furthermore, I have never met a person living a disobedient life who can honestly say that he is happy. I have observed many Christians, who have found peace and blessing in tough times because they were walking with God in faith and obedience.

We can find no lasting security in a life apart from God as the Lord of our lives. God alone is the owner of all that we possess and the total source of our supply. Are you experiencing the joy of Christ in your life? His love? His peace? The sense of His direction? If not, could it be that you are not obeying His commands? When you withhold the resources that God has entrusted to you for His work, He has little with which to bless you, and your life becomes unfruitful and unhappy.

1 Peter 1:18-20 - For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 20
God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days.

Giving Him control of our time, talents, and treasure is our way of expressing gratitude to our great and glorious God and Father for all that He has done to fill us with His presence.

Christ Himself

II Corinthians 9:7-8. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

Because of what Jesus Christ has done for us, we should be willing to invest part of our income in His work. When we give toward His work, that should our attitude be?

PJ

Christian Certainty

1-What must one do to become a Christian?
John 1:12 - But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

2-To be a son of God is to be born of whom? John 1:13 - They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

3-To believe in Jesus Christ is to possess and be free from what?
John 5:24 - I tell you the truth; those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

4-What did Christ do with our sins? How should this affect our lives?
I Peter 2:24-25 - He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. 25 Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.

5-What three things characterize Jesus' sheep?
John 10:27 - My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

6. What is your relationship with Christ, as He Himself states in John 10:18-30?
18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”19 When he said these things, the people were again divided in their opinions about him. 20 Some said, “He’s demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that?” 21 Others said, “This doesn’t sound like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” Jesus Claims to Be the Son of God 22 It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication. 23 He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. 26 But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.”

7. What are the implications of failing to believe the testimony that God has given regarding His Son?
I John 5:10-11- All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son. 11 And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
8. The resurrection of Jesus is history's most revolutionary event. How does it prove Christ's claim to be God?
Romans 1:4 - and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

9. Why is the resurrection so essential to our faith?
I Corinthians 15:17 - And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.

Ephesians 2:4-10 - But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. 8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

PJ