Sunday, June 2, 2019

Sunday Praise & Worship Message - At Work in You

Monday through Friday each week I spend fifteen or more hours in my car driving from home to work and back again. During my drive home, I get to see a lot things including accidents as well as road construction and maintenance. It seems that every day each and every mile of my trip is filled with crews of men and women slaving over hot asphalt to fix or resurface the roads. 

As I was driving, I began to think about a particular scripture that brought things in my life in clear focus. In his epistle to the Philippians, Paul, in chapter two, talks about having a Christ-like attitude. I had written a message about having a Christ-like attitude and how we are supposed to conduct ourselves as followers of the Christ. But, one of the things that we need to realize is that it takes work. I am not talking about our efforts, but, rather, the efforts of the Lord in our lives. 

In Romans 5, Paul writes, “6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.

If we are unable to help or save ourselves, we are unable to do things without Him being in our lives. It is only through God’s grace and mercy that we are saved. None of our good works or deeds can save us from having to pay the “wages of sin”. It is only through God’s infinite love and mercy that we are saved.

As we continue to grow spiritually, we also realize that it is so very easy to slip back into our old, sinful ways. We live in a fallen world and temptation is around us constantly. There is no way to escape it, but we are able, through God’s strength and our steadfast devotion to Him, to overcome the temptations. Jesus showed us that it is our belief in the Father and adherence to scripture that allows us to overcome and to have victory over sin.

Verse 13 in Philippians 2 got stuck in my heart. Paul writes, “13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

God works in our lives to ensure that we live righteously in accordance to His word and will and that we follow the example of His son, Christ Jesus. In short, we cannot go it alone and think that we are able to make ourselves righteous. It would be arrogant to believe that and that belief leads only to destruction.

As God works in your life each and every moment of every day, He gives the desire, power and will to do all things that please Him. It is important to always remember that and to always seek His wisdom and guidance in our lives as we continue life’s journey. It is our purpose in life to please God and not to seek the accolades and words of those around us. Our eternal reward can only come from Him and is stored in our mansion above. We all enjoy hearing others praise our actions and deeds, but the real words of praise can only come from God. As Christians, we look forward to the moment when we behold our Creator and we hear those words we long to hear, “Come, good and faithful servant.”

Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, writes in chapter 15, “10 But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.

It is through God’s work and grace in our lives that we are what we are. The results of His work in our lives is our testimony to the entire world that God is alive and well and is doing great things not only in our lives but also throughout the world. We just need to realize that we cannot do anything without Him in our lives.

As we continue to grow and experience God’s love and His work in our lives, let us always remember that He is the one who enables us to serve and please Him. When we do all things in accordance to His word and will, we can stand firm in His grace. 

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

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