There is a blessing for the faithful - a narrow road that leads to a life worth everlasting.
For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. 1 John 5:4
The world can look so inviting. The fruit it bears can look so appealing, yet the fulfilment of it is pure deception. Everyday, we are tempted with what we see around us, with the heart of man wounded at its core and a woman's held hostile. There is only one God who saves from the temptation, there is only one God who heals the wounds etched in our hearts, and there is only one God who breaks down the walls surrounding who we really are. This God, Who gave His life for ours, is Yahweh, the great I AM.
Imagine we were the Israelites saved from Egypt to be brought into the Promised Land. Forty years of being led through the wilderness where we are tested, humbled and sought after by God to prove our obedience to Him. He shows us that it is not just by bread alone that we live, but by every word that comes from His mouth that we find life (Deu 8). Our feet never blistered and our clothes never wore out for it was by God's love for our obedience to His law that He delivered us. We inherited the Promised Land - where milk and honey flowed and the ground fertile and holy for we stood as God's own treasure.
What I want you to notice here is that the Israelites weren't perfect - they disobeyed God, worshipped other gods and God's justice caused many to fall. It was the few that allowed God to shape them and test their obedience and truly recognise God as the only God in Whom they loved and willingly obeyed that were delivered.
God first prepares His people and then He uses them to carry out His work. Think of your life right now as part of the journey through the wilderness. We now have Jesus, Who lives in us and is the High Priest before us, that saved us from eternal death and humbly brought us into righteousness with God. We are not just saved by grace for grace is there to separate us from sin. We are made a new creation that is promised eternal life under the blood of Jesus and through faith we can walk through the wilderness in obedience to Him. Our lives now need to be purified completely - the trials develop our endurance, endurance develops our character, and our character strengthens our confident hope of salvation (Romans 5:3).
It is not about who or what we are that God promises salvation to, it is about our obedience to walk in faith with Him. For what good is a gold nugget to a consumer? The gold has to first be purified - a process that involves breaking down, refining and shaping into a glorious treasure that holds value and worth to be held. This value of faith is of worth to God for it shines His glory and His love - this is something the world rejects but needs. This value, held in the seal of the Holy Spirit inside of us, leaves the world craving and searching. It is simply letting go of trying to refine yourself and prove your worth and rather, letting God. Only God was able to deliver the Israelites from slavery, only God can refine you and shape you into who He wants you to be, only God can do anything when a right relationship based on faith is formed.
Clearly, God's promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and His descendants was based not on his obedience to God's law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. Romans 4:13
Faith is the fulfilment of the law - for the law shows us how sinful we are and faith allows God to make us right with Himself. (Romans 3). Therefore, the journey in the wilderness is a faith walk and where there is faith - there is blessing. This blessing is given to you by God through His Son, Jesus, for you are His precious treasure. You are His child and you are righteous, holy, and priests of the living God. You are now purified from sin by the blood of Jesus, baptised in the Holy Spirit and under His new covenant shared with you that promises salvation. There is such power in letting God take control because there is only one God, Maker of the heavens and the earth, and all things are possible through His Son, Jesus. It takes faith to believe it and it takes a humble heart to receive it.
Loving God means keeping His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3
So dear friends, there is a blessing - a sweet victory - to all that endure the race through faith. Our faith is found in Jesus Christ who has won victory already! Let us raise a hallelujah to the Lord of lords, the King of kings and the great I AM! Hallelujah!
Father God, we come to You in the Name of Jesus. Lord, thank You for our faith in Your Son, Jesus. We ask that You purify us from everything that keeps us from knowing You more and we ask that the Holy Spirit keeps revealing to us more of You, so that we can show the world more of You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
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