My apologies to those of you who encourage me so much in my writing. These past few days have probably been the longest break I have taken in posting on the blog. Work has been quite hectic lately. By the time I am home - quite honestly, my mind has been too weary to put thoughts into words.
It is a good feeling to be able to post tonight. I am thankful that God has given me the opportunity. Our Heavenly Father loves us so much. He gives us so many opportunities to serve Him.
I don't know why, but a certain motto has been in my mind a lot lately and I don't really know what prompted me to think of it. I'm sure at some point you have of the Three Musketeers. I never read the original novel by Alexandre Dumas; but I've seen some of the movies made over the years. Do you remember their motto? It was "one for all and all for one." It was symbolic of the unity between them.
Ah, but Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 1:9 that there is no new thing under the sun. Once again we see that truth with this motto. The same thought is found in the scriptures.
Consider 2 Corinthians 5:14-15:
For the love of Christ controls us, because we have
concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore
all have died; and he died for all, that those who live
might no longer live for themselves but for him who for
their sake died and was raised. (ESV)
Don't you find that such a beautiful verse? In some ways it is a little confusing at first, but as you slowly and carefully read the passage, it begins to make sense. Paul says as Christians it is the love of Christ that controls us. That love controls him (and us) because we understand that He died for all of us. Christ is our "one for all," - that's pretty easy to see, right? And because He died for all of us --we all die to ourselves -- die to our life of sin. We die to sin so that we might live for Him. That's the "all for one" part!
It's a wonderful thought. Christ died for all of us because of His great love for us. As we understand His great love - we all die to ourselves; BUT we continue to live and we all live for Him because He died for us. I just think that is so cool! "All for one and one for all," originated with Christ Himself.
What a wonderful blessing to understand that God loved us enough to provide a way for our salvation before the world was ever created. God knew that we would need a Savior and because of His great love for us, Jesus was the one who volunteered for that! He lovingly and willingly gave His life for us so that we might live.
As John says, we love Him because He first loved us. So we willingly give our lives back to Him. That strong bond of unity is sealed when we make that commitment to Him. We confess that He is the Son of God. We repent of our sins and are baptized into Christ. We then become His and we naturally want to do what He would have us do.
All for one and one for all is a sign of unity and solidarity. The Three Musketeers were strongly united in their total devotion to each other and in their loyal service to the guard. They were great friends and because they knew each other so well and were so single minded in their devotion that together they were a formidable fighting force.
As Christians, who better to form this type of bond with than Jesus, our Redeemer? Jesus is always with us. He walks along with us each and every day. As long as we are seeking Him, that is. Jesus loves us so much and wants to be with us; but it must be our choice. We make the decision to devote ourselves to Him. Once we make that decision both Jesus and the Father will come to us and make their home with us. Consider John 14:23 - ".. If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."
Just as the three Musketeers increased their power and strength through their united devotion to one another, so our spiritual power and strength is increased. It is so reassuring to think of the power of God being on our side. It is invigorating to think of the power of God working in us and through us! Yet the Bible tells us this is true.
In Ephesians 3:16 it is Paul's prayer for the Christians in Ephesus that "according to the riches of His glory" God would "grant them to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being." The prayer continues through the next few verses and then in verse 20 he says that God is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us."
Well, it makes sense doesn't it? If we keep the commandments (words) of Christ, He will make His home with us. If He abides in our heart, then His power must be there too! Now does that mean that we have some kind of superhuman powers and we will be the world's next heroes? I think we all know the answer to that.
Does it mean we won't face hard times or that the devil will never tempt us again? No, that isn't what it means either. What it does mean is that He will answer our prayers. He will understand our hurts and our fears.
God will give us the power, might and strength --His power, might and strength to fight against the ugliness of the world. We will be able to tackle any temptation, any fear, any sadness that we face.
In other words, we will have His power working in us to help us overcome our obstacles. We just have to remember the power is there. With that power, we are strengthened and we have that peace that passes understanding. Let us remember to be strengthened with power through His spirit in our inner being.
I think it is well worth it to keep the words of Christ, so that He and our Heavenly Father will make their home with us.
Christ above all things,
Robin
No comments:
Post a Comment