“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35, 38-39).
Nothing can separate us from the Love of God. We have this promise that he’d never leave us nor forsake us. I have often heard people say that living for God is too complicated; but they fail to see that it is probably the most clear and concise plan that you will ever need to follow in your lifetime. Unfortunately, many Christians choose to make living for God difficult.
Upon conversion, they think of all of the many pleasures of sin that they must give up in order to follow Christ. No longer will there be any fun, because after all, what in the world can a Christian do for fun? No alcohol, no drugs, no immorality, no ungodly entertainment,” they say. What they fail to understand is that after a person commits his life fully to the Lord, the things that once brought such great satisfaction (a bold lie of the devil) no longer appeals to them.
When you have been baptized in Jesus’ Name, you put on that name; when you are filled with the Holy Ghost and speak with other tongues (that’s Jesus in you), there is not any room for the pleasures of sin that leave a person vacant and condemned to eternal death. We do have a free will, and while we can do what we want to do, our desires change when we become a new creature in Christ. We have the power to overcome sin and defeat the devil.
Before I repented and was baptized in Jesus Name, my life could be compared to a series of storms. Everything was chaos. I searched for something to bring me peace of mind and heart. Many times I would find myself longing to go back to the way things were when I was a young girl. I went to Sunday School, and I took the time to talk to God. We’d take long walks together through the fields behind my house to a clearing by the creek. Through that clearing, his light would shine on me while I prayed. I remember being so confused with what I was supposed to be doing with my life. Surely there was more to life than what I was experiencing. Somehow, just being able to get to the clearing to pray and spend time in communion with God, made me so much better prepared to handle life.
When I left home, I left it all, running away from my own self, I suppose, but it was only for a season. During those years, life was so complicated and confusing to me. As I struggled to survive day to day, I could never completely forget the clearing and the communion with God—I didn’t know about the Truth; I didn’t know that you could live a decent and moral life and be happy—so I continued to search for a way to fill the void in my life. The Lord never forgot me, and I never felt the peace of the clearing until, the Lord moved heaven and earth so that I could find my way back to him.
I will present my body a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God, which is my reasonable service. Life is crystal clear now; the way of the Lord leads to life. It is as simple as this: Jesus loves me and he forgave me. I am truly blessed. Today, he is offering you life and forgiveness. Will you receive it?
No matter what situation you may find yourself in; God is still in control. In this week’s Lattereign we are reminded to trust in God.
In the Time of the Lattereign 