Wednesday, February 11, 2015

"LIVING JUST ENOUGH..."

Praise the Lord everybody!! because He alone is worthy to be praised. All glory and honor and praise belongs to him! I pray everyone is enjoying God's blessing. This is my struggle every day, to live my life in a way in which I can accept God's blessings and not feel ashamed. At the same time I hope I never reach the point where I feel worthy of these blessings He has bestowed upon me. time and time again God has delivered me from snares I put myself in, even before I knew Him, He knew me.

I have often heard myself as well as other Christians when asked "how you doing?" reply "I'm holding on." or "I"m living everything I know how." The other day God began to deal with me about those answers. Was I really living everything I knew how? or was I just holding on? Like the song writer once wrote "living just enough, just enough for the city" Just enough to be noticed by people but not enough to be noticed by God. For those of us who claim to have studied and shown ourselves approved, rightly dividing the word of God, living all we know how is a very strong statement. Apostle Paul a man of God who I am pretty sure was trying to live everything he knew how said in Philippians 3:12-15 12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

Paul never said "I'm living everything I know how to live." He knew there is always a "higher calling" to attain in Christ, an open invitation to "come up a little higher" in Him as he leads us from victory to victory. Paul knew that prize he was pressing toward was waiting for him at the finish of the race. No Paul never said "I'm living everything I know how to live." but he never said "I'm holding on" either. Paul knew that just "holding on" was not enough.

I have said it myself many times, "I'm holding on" when I was asked how I was doing. It sounded good to me, mature, something the old time saints would say. Then I realized God did not call us to just hold on. He called us to press on. Then God brought that Stevie Wonder song back to me where the chorus says "living just enough, just enough for the city" and that is just what a lot of Church folks are doing, living just enough Jesus to appear holy and be noticed by men but God is going to say "depart from me I never knew you." We cannot allow ourselves to be satisfied with just appearing holy. We have to run this race like we want to finish it, as Paul states in 1st Corinthians 9:24+25  24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.  

So from now on when somebody asks me "how're you doing" I'm going to think about where I am and where I need to be in Christ before I give a thoughtless answer. Just to remind myself I have not reached perfection yet and I'll never get there by "living just enough..."

Hebrews 12:4 states   4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.

                           God Bless You All, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

n example of a good disconnection would be a bird landing on a tree. When the bird fly's off the tree limb continues to shake but because of motion you think something is still there. So many Christians confuse emotions with connecting to God. Some are so filled with the emotional part of being saved until problems come then and only then is when they realize that God is not there. Therefore we as a people need to do more than just live enough to get by. Its time to make a change.