I Am Christian - The Weight of A Good Name - Part Two

    

  My name is Christian. My name is my reputation. My name is bound in Christ's Name for it is Christ I am named for. I am a person of honor and integrity. My word is my bond. When I say I will do this or that, I mean it. When I make a promise, I keep it. I am not perfect. I will fail. I will fall. But I will persevere through it all. 

    Though I contend with they who come against me to destroy me, I will not hate them. For I am filled with the Love of God: Jesus Christ. God loves. God loves all people everywhere. It is this great Love of God for a dying world that caused Him to send His only begotten Son Jesus Christ into the dying world. And this great Love of God LIVES IN ME, CHRISTIAN! So, I love with the Love of God. 

    I am a troubleshooter, a peacekeeper. I walk in the Wisdom of The LORD, for I am filled with His precious Holy Spirit, Who leads me through The Word of God and reveals God's intentions for me. In this Wisdom, I am compelled to share Christ with everyone I meet, wherever I am. My name is Christian and I will accomplish the tasks which God has prepared for me. 

    Though at times it may seem to myself or those watching me that I get very little to nothing done, it is God Who determines what has been accomplished in me and through me. Only God knows where His Word will go through my actions. Only God knows who will receive it and who will dismiss it. It is my privilege and my honor to serve Him in this capacity. It is also my job. I am a laborer in His field. My name is Christian, my name is Worker. 

    In my walk with Christ, I am a fellow laborer. I do not work alone. I do not study alone. I do not pray alone. I do not speak alone. I do not cry alone. I do not walk alone. I do live my life on my own terms but on Christ's terms. I do not rest alone. I do not read alone. And when I leave this world, I will not leave alone. My name is Christian. One way or another when I leave here, I'm going with Him. Whether I leave in death or leave at His return, I'm going with my Fellow Laborer. 

    My name is Christian. It is not a name I bear lightly. Heavy is this weight upon my shoulder. There is responsibility in being Christian. I must find out what it means to be Christian and live that life. I read my Bible out loud for my "faith comes by hearing and hearing by The Word of God". I delve into my Bible and study out what God wants me to know on a regular basis. For I must have The Word built up in me for such a time as when I cannot get my hands on a Bible, that The Holy Spirit may draw from within me the Strength of The Word, the Power of The Word, and pour it out upon the ears of they who will hear it, whether they receive It or not, I must have The Word in me. My name is Christian and I am Student, I am Studier. 

    I am the well, the cistern, in which The Water of Life dwells and flows through. I am Christian and I have set my face like flint. I feel it every time I study and remain focused on what The Spirit tells me to say. I hear what my King wants me to hear and I choose to obey. I am Christian and my name is Obedient. I neither grumble nor complain. Though the work in His field is hard, it is not impossible. The whip of self-righteousness and ignorance falls across my back and I forgive.  For I am Christ's servant: it is for Him I will suffer, for His glory is only increased. 

    My life is not my own. Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in The Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me." 

ABBA - John Mark Pantana

INTO THE DEEP - Citipointe Worship

WAYMAKER - Leeland

THE MEASURE OF A MAN - 4Him 

BELONG TO YOU - Here Be Lions

I Am Christian-The Weight of A Good Name

 

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, 

and loving favour rather than silver and gold.
Proverbs 22:1

I AM CHRISTIAN

    I've been blessed with so many studies over these past few years I wasn't sure what I would be doing or where I would be going in The Word at the end of this year and into the beginning of the next. After pondering this for some time now ( it is why the studies have been few lately), The Spirit brought to mind an old Reader's Digest story line called I Am Joe's Body and it talked about how Joe's anatomy worked. Was really well written by J.D. Ratcliff and became one of their most popular series. I still remember reading it even now. 

    This series is about the body of Christ. And to day I'm talking about her name. For the body of Christ is the church, the bride. A bride is always a her. When the bride joins with the Bridegroom the two become one and none can tear them apart or break asunder their bonds of love. 

    I am Christian. A name once spoken in mockery to the first followers of Christ: His disciples and those who believed the gospel message they spoke. The early Greeks and Romans labeled the believers as such and the name has stuck through a couple thousand years now. We are still held in contempt by the unbelieving person. But as long as we remain faithful to the full gospel message of the cross and the resurrection, our witness will remain strong and our name will be bound in Christ's name. 

    I am Christian. I live my life in the Way of Holiness, sometimes stumbling but always getting back up to continue moving forward, not looking back with regret but learning from past experiences that my faith may grow. I don't need to see the whole picture: I just need to hold The Artist's hand and believe The Maker's Voice. If I ever see the whole picture, it will be from the realms of glory. But if I never see the whole picture which God is putting together, I'm good with that, too. That takes faith; faith in the goodness of God and trusting that God knows best. 

    This faith journey is at times difficult and treacherous: leaping from one ledge to another requires great faith if I only concentrate on the gap beneath my feet. But if I am following The Shepherd, then I don't even see the gap. I am not graceful. I am Grace-Filled. I am Christian and I follow Christ. 

    

By Your Spirit - Kim Walker-Smith

Nothing Else - Cody Carnes

A Crucified Life - - Afflictions Produce Increase

 

2 Corinthians 4:17

For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison. 

#Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 2716

Producing: to work out, to accomplish

From the Greek word ' katergazomai' (pronounced kat-er-gad'-zom-ahee): to an exact definite conclusion; bring to decisive finality.

LIGHT AND MOMENTARY AFFLICTIONS

    In other words, whatever affliction or trial or tribulation the Christian goes through is not as valuable as what we gain after we have gone through said affliction. 

    Paul went through many, many afflictions to deliver the gospel wherever the Lord brought him. 1 Corinthians 4:10-13; 2 Corinthians 11:19-29. Yet, Paul considers that everything that he has experienced in order that the gospel Truth may go forth was 'light and momentary'. That all his trials were necessary. And he's right. 

    For the seed which is planted into the ground cannot produce fruit unless it first goes through its own tribulations: being buried beneath the ground, bursting through its outer shell, pushing through the dirt to reach the sun. It is then transforming from a seed to a seedling (young plant); from a seedling to a shoot; from a shoot to a stalk which flowers briefly before small fruits begin to appear. It is the same in our spiritual growth. 

    The seed of the Word of God gets planted into the hearts of men by the actuation of their faith in Christ. This living faith in Christ is transformed through daily meditation on God's Word. We are transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit: the only thing we can do is believe. As the seed cannot be transformed by outward actions, neither can the believer be transformed by his or her own actions. God saves us; we cannot save ourselves. 

PRODUCING FOR US

    The believer in Christ is promised many rewards. Some rewards we receive in this life, some after this life has ended and our heavenly life in Christ begins. These rewards are earned by the believer who endures, perseveres, overcomes. By this we are made aware that being a believer is not going to be an easy road to travel. Jesus tells us in Matthew 10:22 that we will be hated by everyone because we bear His name. But with that promise of what we receive in this world: hate, we also are given a promise of what we receive when we believe: salvation. 

    Matthew 5:1-12; Matthew 10:22, 24:9, 13; Mark 13:13; Luke 6:22, 21:17; Isaiah 66:5; John 15:20-21. 

    Ephesians 6:12 tells us who we are fighting against when we struggle to live the holy life we have been called to live in Christ. But verses 13-20 tell us how to arm ourselves that we might be better prepared to not only fight against them (endure, persevere) but win (overcome) and defeat them. Our greatest weapon is Love: the Love of God.

     We do not hate people: we hate sin in people. We hate the very garments of unrighteousness in which they are clothed, but we pray daily for their salvation (Jude 1:23). 

    Sometimes we appear to hate ourselves, but it is not ourself we hate (being made in the image of God, how can we?), it is the sin we have committed whether consciously or unconsciously. But the Christian who stumbles and falls in the fight against spiritual darkness gets back up again and lives to fight another day.

     For this race we run is run in the valley of the shadow of darkness: things do always appear as they are, for they are in the shadows: watching, waiting for us to fall and despair. But we will not. For we are overcomers who have overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of His Testimony. 

    Daniel 11:35 says we are "being refined, purified and made spotless". John 15:2 says we are being pruned that we may produce more fruit. We may be humiliated at times, but we are to remain humble and place ourselves under the blood of forgiveness and redemption in Christ when we repent of our sins. 

AN ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY

    > Rewards: Revelations 2:7, 11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 11-12, 21. 

    >Crowns: James 1:12, Revelation 2:10; 1 Corinthians 9:25; Psalm 103:4; Psalm 8:4, 5; Leviticus 21:12; Proverbs 14:18; 2 Timothy 4:8; Esther 2:17; Isaiah 28:5, 1 Peter 5:4; Philippians 4:1, Proverbs 11:30, Daniel 12:3; 1 Thessalonians 2:19.

AFFLIcTIONS PRODUcE INcREASE

Give Me Faith - Elevation Worship

Just As I Am (I Come Broken) - Travis Cottrell

Mercy Came Running - Phillips, Craig and Dean

Where You Go I Go - Jesus Culture

Nothing Compares - Third Day