Putting off all that robs us of our victory in Christ...

When we are caught up with trivia, the dregs of the chaff of life, the issues we make mountains out of when in fact they are small stones that the souls of most shoes would barely recognize, nevertheless at times we are so engulfed by them that they initiate an emotion in us crying, Woe is me! The mundane woe is me syndrome, an emotion which looks to rear its head up like a spitting cobra ready to strike. The scary truth to this reality is that it has often had victory over us which then robs us of our victory in Christ. It leaves us wallowing in the pigsty of self-pity. Our enemy then rubs his hands together crying, “Objective achieved”! However when we reason with the eagle’s eye of acumen, nothing in fact should ever rob us of our victory in Christ, for He has overcome all opposition. It fascinates me how it is so often the little foxes that soil the vine. And yet it shouldn’t surprise me, sin is at war with our endeavour’s to become more and more like our glorious Saviour, nevertheless when we walk in the flesh we most certainly remain a defeated foe. Every Christian has been called to walk in the Spirit. The Apostle Paul teaches us this; “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16)   

  

“Me thinks”, that the reason for our pity-parties is that we do not see ourselves for who we really are; Individuals that deserve hell and yet we have rather found mercy and now been covered by the grace of God; Jesus Christ paying the price for our sin! The believer has been set free from all destructive probes that oppose God’s judgments. When we understand this I suppose we will never demand any rights that we think we deserve. If we can settle our minds on this actuality we will then be a lot more useful in serving our Master. For us to reach a little higher than our groveling experiences we need to look to the Rock that is higher than us. It’s at these times in our lives that we need to cry out in prayer unlatching the bolts on our side of the door as I can assure you, the bolts on the opposite side have already been unlatched, Jesus Christ our Lord has achieved that once and for all. It would be very adolescent not to take advantage of this freedom we have now been afforded. Praise the name of Jesus now and forever more!

Let us now therefore put off all that robs us of our victory in Christ, let men be men bearing the reproach of our Saviour, it is the very least we can resolve to find God’s grace to accomplish in our daily lives; “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation-- if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1Peter 2:1-3)  - There is a proviso for us to achieve this goal and that is we must have “tasted that the Lord is good”, why else would we look to be ridiculed, what would be the point?

May God quicken the importance of these truths to our hearts and may they become our dress for battle.

Signing off

Tyrone