En Route to Global Occupation .pdf - Equal Parenting-BC

158 En Route to Global Occupation
Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I
consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ. (Phil 3:7-
8)
Are you willing to pay the price. to have this type of relationship
with God If so, it will require making some personal saaifices
and commitments ... the type of a permanent nature. You must be
willing to give up absolutely everything! If anything is more important
to you than God, it must be surrendered to Him!
Purpose right now, to live in "daily" communion with Him, by
reading His Word and by talking to Him regularly. God wants our
fellowship and praise more than anything. This is part of living an
obedient life. If we reject the prompting of His Spirit to draw near,
our hearts will soon grow hardened, and we will no longer want to
be in His presence. Instead, we will want to hide from God. Don't allow
this to happen. You will have to know God intimately to make it
through the difficult times ahead!
3. Keep Ufe in its proper perspective.
This involves continually reminding ourselves of the real reason
for being here ... which is to love, serve, and please God. This,
we must remember, is the heartbeat of our mission.
Only that which is done for the Lord will last Everything elseour
earthly belongings, our physical bodies, our sense of prestige and
career accomplishment-will pass away. None of these things can be
taken with us. So why do we insist on placing so much importance
on things with no eternal value Why do so many people love "things"
more than they love God
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone
loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man,
the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and
doe.s--comes not from the Father but from the world.
The world and its desires pass away, but the man who
does the will of God lives forever. (I John 2:15-17)
As Christians we must see our earthly lives for what they really
are. James reminds us:
Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.
What is your life You are a mist that appears for
a little while and then vanishes. Qames 4:14b)
The fact is, our body is only the temporary dwelling place of
our soul. Only our soul (our spiritual being) will live forever. So
wouldn't it be wise to place our main emphasis on the spiritual
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed
but of imperishable, through the living and enduring
The Coming World Crisis 159
word of God. For all men are like grass, and all their
glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers
and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.
(1 Pet 1:23-25)
What God has prepared for us in eternity is far better than what
we leave behind Oohn 14:1-6). We must, therefore, train ourselves
to see the overall picture of our existence, remembering that we are
only temporary dwellers on this earth. Since our time here is so short,
let us live to please our eternal Father-not to satisfy the sinful
longings of our flesh.
Paul summarizes this issue of the temporal versus the eternal:
Many Uve as enemies of the cross of Christ ... Their
mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in
heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the
Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him
to bring everything under his control, will transform our
lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
(Phil. 3:181>-21)
Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner
worthy of the gospel of Christ ... without being frightened
in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign
to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will
be saved-and that by God. (Phil. 1:27a-28)
This hope we have comes only through the Lamb of God, whose
blood was shed for our sins. Jesus said:
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they
follow me. I give them eternal IJfe, and they shall never
perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. Qohn
10:28)
Since we have so great a hope, let us not fret over what may
happen to our possessions or to our bodies. Rather, let us seek God
wholeheartedly and submit our lives to Him on a daily basis. As we
do so, we will grow closer and closer to Him; and His Holy Spirit will
empower us with a boldness to do things, even in the midst of persecution,
which we never thought were possible before. By keeping
our lives focused on Jesus Christ and the eternity that He has planned
for us, we will be able to persevere under pressure while maintaining
His peace and joy.
'
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
... Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything,
by prayers and petition, with thanksgiving
present your requests to God. And the peace of God,
which transcends all understanding, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:4,