Don’t turn away from what you have found. Don’t let go of the truth. We also have an altar (the cross) and we have our own High Priest (Jesus) and so there is no need to return to Judaism. That is the message. “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” (Hebrews 13 v 15-16)
Whatever you are going through right now there are things you can implement immediately that will help you come through. Here are the 5 things.
- Be thankful for something. (offer to God a sacrifice of praise)
Whatever difficulty is before you it is limited in its grasp of your life by the power of the praise you give to God. You can silence the voice that is against you by praising Jesus. Be thankful for who He is and what He has given you.
- Live in the awareness of Christ. (let us continually offer)
Give yourself to abide in Christ, to remain, to continue, to stay and to wait. Keep your confidence that your sins are forgiven, don’t let go of the truths you have been taught, love how He loves you.
- Be vocal. (the fruit of lips that openly profess his name)
What is limiting you today? What is trying to silence you? Is it insecurity, fear, emotional coldness or spiritual exhaustion? Decide now you are going to remove whatever it is that stops you calling on Jesus. Yesterday and today may be taken as a day of insignificance, of failure and maybe limitation. But not today. Do not be silenced. Shout even louder. You are never too loud.
- Do something good to someone. (do not forget to do good)
…. And start with someone who doesn’t deserve your goodness.
When you question whether it was worth it; when you ask whether you have been taken for a ride; when you see nothing from your acts of kindness it is then when you are bordering on the entrance of Goodness.
Goodness is a life where you look like God, especially in front of your enemies. They may be ungrateful and they may not recognise what you do but He sees. God can see you identify with Him for this is who He is and what He has done and does today.
So if today you meet that awkward, self-centred, seemingly unavoidable person then be kind. Be like God and then step into Goodness.
- Give. (to share with others)
People are never convenient. If you wait till you feel like it, you will never have genuine fellowship, nor if you wait for things to be perfect. There can be a fantasy of what community should be like.
“He who loves his dream of community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter … If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even when there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty; if on the contrary, we keep complaining that everything is paltry and petty, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow.” Bonhoffer. a German pastor who was martyred for resisting the Nazis
We have no claim to anything except we are a child of God, a servant to the King. We have no claim on anything we have or title we have gained. All that we have all that we possess belongs to Him. We do not own a penny. But He owns it all. So when we give we give what is His.
You want to please God today? Then focus on the above 5 things …” for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”
Missions Paul 