I surrender all, I surrender all, All to Jesus, blessed Savior, I surrender all. I could see it now: a congregation of members standing in the pews. Arms are stretched towards the sky, heads are bowed. And in that sacred moment, a person feels like they've finally touched Heaven. They've finally experienced God. |
We all need that one word of encouragement to keep going. Well, in our text today, this is that word. We can see the faith that Paul has in this verse. He was completely assured that nothing shall stand between him and his love for God. From death to principalities he declared that he will stand for God.
So, shouldn't we be like Paul? Shouldn't we declare our love for Christ? When we stand sure of faith, you can be rest assured that the devil will realize that he is not only messing with you, but he is messing with the one who loves you. So, don't be afraid. We can go ahead and stand for Christ. There are many Christians that become outcasts because of their love for Christ. They are not accepted, they're being rejected, and labeled as Jesus freaks. Well, in our text today, we notice that it doesn't matter what they say. It doesn't matter what they do. As humans, it's normal to want to fit in. But, the path of the wicked leads to destruction. We must also remember not to compromise, because the road to Heaven won't get wider. Giving in to sin should not be an option. We need to know who we are in Christ.
In a moment of weakness, we might feel like the only choice is to just give in. If you feel like you're going to be tempted, don't go near the sin. Don't think, "How close can I get to the fire without being burned?" Instead, run far away from it. We should desire to please God, and not ourselves. We're always looking for the best in this world, and striving towards that thing. However, in our text today, we learn that we shouldn't keep seeking for worldly affections. Instead, we should strive for our ultimate goal: Heaven. When we truly just let go of this world's desires, and long for God, it will be easy to overcome the temptations of this world. But, that's only if we just let go, and let God.
"What college should I go to?"
"What do I want to be when I grow up?" "When will I get a job?" These are questions we ask ourselves constantly. We have many plans for ourselves in the future, but do we know what's in the future? No, we don't. Only God knows and because He knows, He knows what's best for us to do. In our text, it says that we have many plans of our own, but God has His plans as well and His purpose shall always stand! Psalm 51 verse 10 says "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me". In this verse (or rather, chapter), David was asking God for forgiveness and mercy. In the first part of this verse, he begs God to remold his sinful heart into something that pleases God. In the second part, it says " O God". It's important to notice how he mentioned God.
This is just to say that we can't overcome this battle by ourselves. We need God to be there with us - to be in us. This also leads to the third part of this verse. In this part, David is asking for a right spirit. A spirit from God, not from the devil. A spirit that know its right from wrong . A spirit that will strive to please God. This should be our heart's desire. Today we have a very, very common Bible verse, Matthew 7 verse 7. Many people take that verse for granted. Many also do not truly believe in this verse.
"Well, I've been asking for a long time, and it doesn't look like God will answer me." Well, I am here today to tell you that that isn't true. God is here and He loves you so, so much. He sent His only Son that He should die. If God didn't care, He wouldn't have done that. You can ask Him for anything and as long as it's according to His will, He will grant it to you. When we give our lives to Christ and turn away from our old sins, we won't always be accepted by this world. We need to be different, just like Christ was. When He came on this earth to preach the gospel, He was an outcast. However, God gave him the strength to keep on going. In our text today, God promises to restore our health and heal us of our wounds because we are the outcasts. Because we are Christians. Because we stand for Christ.
In this passage, God gives a thief the promise of paradise. He did this because the thief believed Jesus Christ was Lord (Luke 23:42). When he was being crucified next to Jesus, he asked him to remember him. This same promise applies to us. If we believe in Christ and repent of our sins, we too can be with him in paradise.
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