For we who are alive are always consigned to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal body. So, then, death works in us but life in you.
#Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 5319
Revealed: make visible, make clear
From the Greek word 'phaneroó' (pronounced fan-er-o'-o): make known, illumine, become apparent.
BEING DIFFERENT IS A CHOICE
It's not that my religion makes me live a different lifestyle, it's my choice to do so when I became a believer. The closer we get to God in Christ, the less we desire to live in the world and be confined to the world's expectations of us.
I don't drink alcohol any more because (a) I don't want to and (b) I can't stand the smell. There was a brief time after I quit that I was, but then the Spirit of God convicted me through a new friend and I realized my testimony was at stake. But only when I became filled with the Holy Spirit did I fully stop drinking. That's when the smell of it became atrocious to me. Now I drink the Living Water that flows from Calvary. That's why I'm different.
I'm different because I want to be different. I want to be Christ-like. I want to love people the way I am loved by God. I want to serve God with a joyful spirit, not a condemning one. Jesus wasn't sent to condemn the world but to save it. (John 3:17). So, if I'm going to be Christ-like, I need to love, not condemn. I want you to see less of me and more of Jesus Christ in me and through me. (John 3:30).
SHINE HIS LIGHT
When Jesus referred to Himself as Light, He also spoke of us being lights in the world. (John 8:12, 9:5, 12:36;Matthew 5:14). in John 12:36 Jesus tells us "While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of light." After Jesus had spoken these things, He went away and was hidden from them.
I am a child of light because I believe that Jesus is The Light. We sing "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine" because we who believe in the Light are determined to let His Light shine in us, revealing our hidden sin to us so it can be removed. We determine to shine His Light into the darkness of this world and it's worldly system. (Ephesians 5:8,9).
We shine His Light when we speak His Word in Love and with Grace and Mercy attached. I can speak the Word with Love because I know Love and have Love living in me. Not just any love either. This is agape Love: unconditional, all encompassing. With this Love I can Love anyone and everyone; for I am Loving with the Love of God.
GOD LOVES US
God loves me. God loves you. God loves us enough to not only create us but give us life and Life Eternal. God loves us enough to give us His Word, His Law and His Precepts to live by in this world. These standards to live by are different from the world's standards and laws. That's why we, the born again believers, are different. Different means changed; we are changed from our old life and made different in our new life.
God loves us so much He sent His only begotten Son to die in our place. Even knowing ahead of time that His mission was to die for us, He was in agony over it. We know this because when He prayed for the last time in the garden the night of His arrest, His sweat became blood (Luke 22:44). But He chose to obey His Father, surrendering His will for God's will; choosing to be obedient and submit to God's will in everything.
God loves us enough to wrap His Word in the fragility of human form. Everything we feel in our physical forms, Christ also knew. From His birth to His resurrection Jesus could relate to us. And His desire is that we relate to Him. He wants to have a relationship with us.
So, see? It's not about religion. It's about relationship. Religion is caring for widows and orphans (James 1:27). Relationship is a mutually beneficial arrangement between at least two persons. In this case, we have a relationship with God made possible through the person of Jesus Christ and through the power of God's Holy Spirit. God loves us and we love God.
Without the Light of Christ living and shining in us, a relationship with God is just not possible, regardless of what you may hear from others. In speaking with Thomas, Jesus told him, ""I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, if not by Me."
Come to the Light. See Jesus. Walk in the Way. Love like you've been loved.
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Fix My Eyes
