Justification by faith. If faith in GOD justifies us, then we cannot justify ourselves. Or else it would be, faith in God and myself justifies me- and that's NOT reality! If belief alone justifies us, we cannot justify ourselves. Believing. What does it mean to believe? To make a choice. How many people refuse to believe facts and are counted as fools because of that refusal to believe the obvious? When we refuse to believe facts, that leave no room for doubt what does that make us? To ourselves we may be rebels- choosing to create our own reality, doing away with all absolutes. We cry out 2 + 2 now equals 5! And if in the world of our own reality that holds true, so be it. We are making a choice to believe something idiotic to others.
Believing, and holding fast to that belief when everything around us screams to stop believing, that there is no point-- refusing to doubt-- this is us having faith in what we choose to believe.
I cannot choose to believe in myself because I know there is no good thing in me. All my supposed righteousness is just a bunch of filth. Anything even remotely good that comes from me, is not my doing! I can take NO credit for anything good I do in any way. But, you say, you do good things… no, I say, I do things and by the grace of God they are good to His glory! There are too many things people do to obtain their own goodness for us to say all who do good, are good. Some of the most wonderful acts committed are done more to glorify the one doing the good act than to glorify God. Good acts do NOT makes us good. God alone makes us acceptable, God alone is GOOD, Our faith is in GOD, our faith has to be in GOD and NOT in ourselves! Faith that GOD desires to save us from our wretched selves!
Justified by faith, is being justified by God, and our believing God can and will justify us.
God will work in us to will and do HIS GOOD PLEASURE.
Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
We have to live (work out our own salvation), and in living we are confronted constantly, daily with so many situations-- an endless supply of scenarios to life.
One basic fact- we like to be treated by others in a certain way. We have expectations of one another. We become easily affronted when those expectations aren't met. We could be given a stern look by someone and take offense in that look. We could ask something of someone only to be rebuffed and find great offense in that. We have expectations. We live a life of expectations. We wake up and expect things to be a certain way. We call our lives chaotic when life takes us down uncertain paths. And sometimes even when we have a certain expectations that things might not go quite as hoped for, or planned, we are still caught in the chaos because we wanted things to go as planned, not even the expected chaos was acceptable.
A life of expectations, and then life is upended and suddenly nothing is what we expect- we react to this in so many different ways.
Let's talk about our reactions to the unexpected, the undesired, the chaos of life in the little and big things.
Do we have any control at all over our reactions to situations? I think most do, to a degree.
Or do we just live our lives in such away our own reactions are totally out of our control? I think some people do, a lot of people do live by knee jerk reactions to life.
Reactions can happen instantaneously and if we were somehow able to reign in our instant reaction to a situation, and contemplate for a few minutes how to respond- how often do you think our instant reaction would differ from the contemplated reaction?
How often do we wish we could take back a word spoken in instant response? How often do we simply wish to speak a word kinder and not harsh, even if it's the same word?
We do things all day long, all of us. Even the person who says they didn't do anything all day- did a whole lot of stuff. They were most likely awake part of that day, and in that awake time they may have did necessary daily actions- that's doing something. What people mean is they didn't do anything productive and their own personal idea of what productive is might make that true.
To an active person if they weren't active that day, then they weren't productive.
To a person struggling simply to live and succeeding, they may consider themselves to have been very active.
Our personal expectations is something we all have and will continue to have. Society has expectations of us. Families have expectations of us. Friends have expectations of us. Strangers have expectations of us. Everyone has expectations of others and even themselves.
We EXPECT to be treated in a certain way by others in a general fashion.
We EXPECT not to be hurt by anyone.
We EXPECT not to be mistreated in any way, by anyone.
We EXPECT to be respected by people.
We EXPECT so much and our expectations are seldom fully met.
But the real question we need to ask ourselves is- DO WE BEHAVE TOWARDS ALL OTHERS AS THEY EXPECT US TO? Or more important still- DO WE BEHAVE TOWARDS OTHERS AS GOD EXPECTS US TO?
We need to LIVE FOR GOD. We need to LIVE FOR JESUS. We need to LIVE our lives letting God, letting Jesus, letting the Holy Spirit live in us- surrendering our own will to let them live. Surrendering our expectations of all other and ourselves- yes, ourselves- and letting God lead. What are God's expectations?
How do we let God take over our lives? How?
We keep in CONSTANT never ending open communication with GOD.
We pray always! Seriously, SERIOUSLY, stop setting aside a few moments to pray in the morning, a few at night, and a few every now and again and start praying ALWAYS. I mean it! Constantly draw God into your daily life, ALL day long! Constantly seek God all day long! Don't keep God out of anything you're doing! He needs to be Your constant companion if He is living in you!
Can we --
Php 2:14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings
Us, who have expectations of others and are constantly disappointed. Us, who have points of view that we believe are highly valued just because they mean something to us. Can we NOT murmur? Can we NOT dispute? Can we?
We often impose our own need to justify OURSELVES by lying to ourselves and telling ourselves that Jesus would understand if He were in my shoes. Jesus just couldn't know what the world today would be like, the things we have to deal with.
We justify our murmurings our disputings that we have in so many aspects of our lives. We murmur, murmur, murmur all the time! If we aren't murmuring about one thing then it's another. Some might say to murmur is good, but not the sort of murmuring that is us in our minds constantly causing ourselves chaos because we can't settle down and have faith in God. We claim righteous murmurings, righteous disputing. We lie to ourselves. Disputings go on and on and on, our world is filled with them. I bet scarcely a day goes by without some sort of dispute in your own life, they are that common. I'm not talking huge dispute, but the tiniest of ones- they all add up.
Php 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
Php 2:16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
Php 2:17 Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
Php 2:18 For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.
Holding forth the word of life. Jesus didn't hide Himself from mankind. Jesus lived large and loud - so large and loud He was crucified.
So loudly and largely did Jesus proclaim LOVE that all those who could see no further than themselves simply couldn't comprehend love at all and were scared, angry, filled with selfish assumptions.
To love -- to the detriment of SELF advantage?!
What madness was this! We have EXPECTATIONS! The self in us has EXPECTATIONS!
We are NOT to have any expectations! We are to have expectations IN CHRIST JESUS AND HIM CRUCIFIED! All that HE endured we too will endure! He was not a king on a throne with subjects all bowed down before Him. He was God who gave up His powers- to be HUMAN just like you and I! He lived the life of a COMMON MAN meeting mankind where they all are at heart! He lived LOVING. He lived GIVING ALL OF HIMSELF. He asks NO LESS from us today!
We are justified by faith in CHRIST JESUS.
We LIVE with CHRIST IN US.
OUR LIVES ARE SURRENDERED TO CHRIST- ALL OF IT!
Daily live CHRIST'S EXPECTATIONS! If you are mistreated in any way, so was HE and HE did not expect any less of those whose hearts were not His. He endured, we endure through Him and the HOPE of ETERNAL LIFE WITH HIM!
Believing, and holding fast to that belief when everything around us screams to stop believing, that there is no point-- refusing to doubt-- this is us having faith in what we choose to believe.
I cannot choose to believe in myself because I know there is no good thing in me. All my supposed righteousness is just a bunch of filth. Anything even remotely good that comes from me, is not my doing! I can take NO credit for anything good I do in any way. But, you say, you do good things… no, I say, I do things and by the grace of God they are good to His glory! There are too many things people do to obtain their own goodness for us to say all who do good, are good. Some of the most wonderful acts committed are done more to glorify the one doing the good act than to glorify God. Good acts do NOT makes us good. God alone makes us acceptable, God alone is GOOD, Our faith is in GOD, our faith has to be in GOD and NOT in ourselves! Faith that GOD desires to save us from our wretched selves!
Justified by faith, is being justified by God, and our believing God can and will justify us.
God will work in us to will and do HIS GOOD PLEASURE.
Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
We have to live (work out our own salvation), and in living we are confronted constantly, daily with so many situations-- an endless supply of scenarios to life.
One basic fact- we like to be treated by others in a certain way. We have expectations of one another. We become easily affronted when those expectations aren't met. We could be given a stern look by someone and take offense in that look. We could ask something of someone only to be rebuffed and find great offense in that. We have expectations. We live a life of expectations. We wake up and expect things to be a certain way. We call our lives chaotic when life takes us down uncertain paths. And sometimes even when we have a certain expectations that things might not go quite as hoped for, or planned, we are still caught in the chaos because we wanted things to go as planned, not even the expected chaos was acceptable.
A life of expectations, and then life is upended and suddenly nothing is what we expect- we react to this in so many different ways.
Let's talk about our reactions to the unexpected, the undesired, the chaos of life in the little and big things.
Do we have any control at all over our reactions to situations? I think most do, to a degree.
Or do we just live our lives in such away our own reactions are totally out of our control? I think some people do, a lot of people do live by knee jerk reactions to life.
Reactions can happen instantaneously and if we were somehow able to reign in our instant reaction to a situation, and contemplate for a few minutes how to respond- how often do you think our instant reaction would differ from the contemplated reaction?
How often do we wish we could take back a word spoken in instant response? How often do we simply wish to speak a word kinder and not harsh, even if it's the same word?
We do things all day long, all of us. Even the person who says they didn't do anything all day- did a whole lot of stuff. They were most likely awake part of that day, and in that awake time they may have did necessary daily actions- that's doing something. What people mean is they didn't do anything productive and their own personal idea of what productive is might make that true.
To an active person if they weren't active that day, then they weren't productive.
To a person struggling simply to live and succeeding, they may consider themselves to have been very active.
Our personal expectations is something we all have and will continue to have. Society has expectations of us. Families have expectations of us. Friends have expectations of us. Strangers have expectations of us. Everyone has expectations of others and even themselves.
We EXPECT to be treated in a certain way by others in a general fashion.
We EXPECT not to be hurt by anyone.
We EXPECT not to be mistreated in any way, by anyone.
We EXPECT to be respected by people.
We EXPECT so much and our expectations are seldom fully met.
But the real question we need to ask ourselves is- DO WE BEHAVE TOWARDS ALL OTHERS AS THEY EXPECT US TO? Or more important still- DO WE BEHAVE TOWARDS OTHERS AS GOD EXPECTS US TO?
We need to LIVE FOR GOD. We need to LIVE FOR JESUS. We need to LIVE our lives letting God, letting Jesus, letting the Holy Spirit live in us- surrendering our own will to let them live. Surrendering our expectations of all other and ourselves- yes, ourselves- and letting God lead. What are God's expectations?
How do we let God take over our lives? How?
We keep in CONSTANT never ending open communication with GOD.
We pray always! Seriously, SERIOUSLY, stop setting aside a few moments to pray in the morning, a few at night, and a few every now and again and start praying ALWAYS. I mean it! Constantly draw God into your daily life, ALL day long! Constantly seek God all day long! Don't keep God out of anything you're doing! He needs to be Your constant companion if He is living in you!
Can we --
Php 2:14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings
Us, who have expectations of others and are constantly disappointed. Us, who have points of view that we believe are highly valued just because they mean something to us. Can we NOT murmur? Can we NOT dispute? Can we?
We often impose our own need to justify OURSELVES by lying to ourselves and telling ourselves that Jesus would understand if He were in my shoes. Jesus just couldn't know what the world today would be like, the things we have to deal with.
We justify our murmurings our disputings that we have in so many aspects of our lives. We murmur, murmur, murmur all the time! If we aren't murmuring about one thing then it's another. Some might say to murmur is good, but not the sort of murmuring that is us in our minds constantly causing ourselves chaos because we can't settle down and have faith in God. We claim righteous murmurings, righteous disputing. We lie to ourselves. Disputings go on and on and on, our world is filled with them. I bet scarcely a day goes by without some sort of dispute in your own life, they are that common. I'm not talking huge dispute, but the tiniest of ones- they all add up.
Php 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
Php 2:16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
Php 2:17 Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
Php 2:18 For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.
Holding forth the word of life. Jesus didn't hide Himself from mankind. Jesus lived large and loud - so large and loud He was crucified.
So loudly and largely did Jesus proclaim LOVE that all those who could see no further than themselves simply couldn't comprehend love at all and were scared, angry, filled with selfish assumptions.
To love -- to the detriment of SELF advantage?!
What madness was this! We have EXPECTATIONS! The self in us has EXPECTATIONS!
We are NOT to have any expectations! We are to have expectations IN CHRIST JESUS AND HIM CRUCIFIED! All that HE endured we too will endure! He was not a king on a throne with subjects all bowed down before Him. He was God who gave up His powers- to be HUMAN just like you and I! He lived the life of a COMMON MAN meeting mankind where they all are at heart! He lived LOVING. He lived GIVING ALL OF HIMSELF. He asks NO LESS from us today!
We are justified by faith in CHRIST JESUS.
We LIVE with CHRIST IN US.
OUR LIVES ARE SURRENDERED TO CHRIST- ALL OF IT!
Daily live CHRIST'S EXPECTATIONS! If you are mistreated in any way, so was HE and HE did not expect any less of those whose hearts were not His. He endured, we endure through Him and the HOPE of ETERNAL LIFE WITH HIM!