Blessed Assurance

You may not feel this, or even recognize this, but each of you were born for a battle. You were born for the battle. And I can assure you of a declaration of victory in this battle because, when you were born again, in Jesus, you were born to win. That is the first thing you must understand…before we look at anything else Paul has to say – You need to know that because of Jesus victory over death and his defeat of Satan when he returns; because you have made him Lord of your life – then you’ve already won But it doesn’t mean that you won’t have to go through the battle or may not be going through it even now.

No relationship is just a relationship; it’s a context for relating to Jesus. No job is merely work; it is a context for serving Jesus. What we do matters. The most important application of this word is the realization that we are slaves of Jesus. We belong to him and serve him. If we take seriously that he is the origin and recipient of every act that we undertake, all our work takes on greater meaning and our treatment of people changes. Work will be done with care, not just to get by. People will be nurtured, not used or ignored. Our call is to reflect His love and truth.

God calls parents to disciple their children. You can’t make your children Christians, but you can make it easy to love Jesus in your home.
You can endeavour to make your home ring with gospel joy.
You can endeavour to make your family not only a family of Christians, but a Christian family—sold out for Christ and his cause.
God has more for us than the hum-drum life of work, rest, and entertainment.
He has more for your children than extra-curricular activities and college scholarships and good jobs.
He has the storehouses of grace and glory for your family.

This submission to Christ’s leadership through His Holy Spirit is essential to a healthy relationship with God…whether you are a husband or wife…it’s the starting place.

Christian means “little Christ.” In everything we do, we want to emulate Jesus’s example. And as we move further on our journey, we want to look more like our Savior every day. In doing so, we need to show kindness and compassion. Remember, Judas ate too. Jesus washed his feet during the Last Supper, even though he knew how Judas had already betrayed him and how he would betray him later on.
If Christ can wash Judas’ feet, we can show kindness to everyone, even our enemies.

What Paul is about here is New life in Christ…following Jesus is the answer and vision for humankind far beyond any secular dream we might conjure up.