howdy! i pray that even as updates on this blog are seldom, we would continue to view Quiet Time as THE TOPMOST priority daily. i was pondering on what Amos shared last saturday about loving our brothers and i was compelled to write this.

i think there is an ever-present need for us believers of the faith to constantly align our lives to the gospel. the bible says that God is love, thus setting the standard for love. in doing this, i like to question myself with this interesing question:

-If RIGHT NOW, i were to be face to face with God, what would my position be? would i stand? or would i prostrate myself before the King of kings?

i'd like to think of myself adopting the latter, but it seems in many occasions in my sinful life that i find myself standing, even crossing my arms before God. and i ask myself another question: is it my triumph on the cross when i pray the sinner's prayer? or His triumph?

to gather my thoughts, i placed it in three points:
1. WE ARE SINNERS.
-we ARE sinners to begin with. it's in our nature to do wrong.
-we reject the rule of God, outrightly defy His will and most scaringly, yet visibily, lose the significance of the death of Jesus.
-how can any sinner triumph over the very sin he/she is plagued with? how can any sinner often himself redemption when the most certain path is death? more accurately, how can we turn to temporal things for answers when we confess that Christ is LORD?


Romans3:9 'What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.'
Romans 3:23 'for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God'

2. HE DIED IN OBEDIENCE TO HIS FATHER, SAVING US FROM THE WRATH OF GOD.
-Jesus obeyed His Father right up to death. He evidently struggled (recall: Gethsemane), but decided to willingly submit to the will of the Father (which was the die on the cross).
-He died so we could be reconsiled with our maker, our Father in Heaven. (John 14:6)
-Jesus bore the wrath of God, such that those who believe in Him have eternal life but those who reject Him face God's wrath (John 3:36)
-yet we ARE sinners bought with the price of a perfect man's life. we did and still do not deserve His sacrifice. it was out of GRACE that He died for us.

3. WHAT NOW?
-this leaves us with two ways to live:
~Our way: Reject the ruler God by STUBBORNLY living life our own way. We do not repent, settling on temporal 'high's, 'great experiences' to fuel our faith. We do not base our faith on the Word of God but rather our interpretation of it to suit our ears. We start losing focus when setbacks appear, looking everything but God for answers.

~God's way: Humbly submit to Jesus as our ruler and Lord. Placing our faith in the eternal, relying on HIS TRIUMPH over death and sin. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:7-8). As God does not change with the times, the word of God does not change, and the gospel does not change, so there can be no legitimate adapation of Christian faith to comtemporary values and philosophies.


you and i hold a piece of history in our arms that records HIS TRIUMPH over sin and death. yet we shelve it, seeking for answers elsewhere. it's time we came back to the gospel and know that HE TRIUMPHED on Calvary. not us. not you. not me. but JESUS.


we will see jesus.

isaac (20/04/10)