On last week we focused on our ability to look to God and place our full trust in Him as a means of allowing Him to strengthen us so that we don't become weary, causing us to feel like "SALVATION" is not worth it due to all the trials that we as believers must face. Although we love God and while many of us want to wholeheartedly please Him, we might at times find it hard to delight in Him when we are stuck in our own pain, agony, and unsurmountable trials and tribulations. While delighting in God should be our first response when faced with hardship, many of us find ourselves stressed, disgusted, and trying to figure out if we perhaps did something wrong or if God is just testing us.

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Job was blameless yet he still had those moments of trying to figure out what God was up to and what He could have possibly been thinking when He 'ALLOWED' him to have to endure the storms that came his way. Jesus was PERFECT and still had his very real moment of asking if "the cup could be removed". What does this mean?

 

It means that trials will impact us. Trials will hurt. Trials will at times make us check our salvation to see if we went wrong and at what point did we do so. Trials can make many of us think that God is angry with us or that He has turned His back on us. Trials can cause us to feel like the weight of what God is asking us to do is more than we might be able or want to bear. Trials can downright cause us to fear, awakening anxiety and worry within us, causing our spirits to become vexed with the emotions of trying to figure out the whys and what if's surrounding these giants that we are facing.

 

All of these feelings that we wrestle with, are very much known to God. God understands that we are human, and He understands that because we are flawed, we are not always going to get it right. However, despite having all of these emotions of "Huh?", "Why?", "But wait...", and "Why Me?!", God is watching to see what our trust is going to say. He is watching to see how our trust is going to react. While both Job and Jesus both had moments of despair, and while they had very human emotions and reactions toward what they had to endure, THEY NEVER TURNED AWAY FROM GOD! THEY NEVER GAVE UP ON GOD! THEY NEVER STOPPED TRUSTING GOD! 

So what about us? How do we get there? How can we get this "SALVATION THING" right? The answer is ...WE MUST OWN IT!!!

 

This "SALVATION THING"...                               

 

On last week in discussing trying our best to keep our joy concerning our salvation, we referred to it as a "SALVATION THING"...

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We stated:

While we are human and are naturally going to become exhausted when we are constantly and consistently at war, part of the reason that we at times struggle with our salvation is because we're trying to do this "SALVATION THING" without God.

 

We did not expound on it then, but we'll expound on it now. We discussed that part of the reason that we struggle to stay firmly planted in our salvation and find joy in it, is because we try to maintain both our salvation and the joy of our salvation on our own, using our own strength, our own power, and our own understanding of things. However, another reason that we waver is because we see it as a "SALVATION THING"! We see it as this thing that is an institution in itself which causes us to detach from it and view it as something separate and apart from us, which also causes us to not own our salvation in the way that we should.

 

When we are on our jobs, at school, at church, or are part of a team or organization, in becoming a part of these institutions, we are given rules, policies, procedures, by-laws, and guidelines that we must follow. And in being given these guidelines, we don't call them a "RULE THING". Neither do we call them "A WORK THING", "A SCHOOL THING", "A CHURCH THING", or a "TEAM THING", but we include ourselves in the narrative and we own these things as something that is part of our duty because we see ourselves as being a part of that organization.

 

In discussing these policies, procedures, rules, or guidelines, with our friends, family, or whomever we are conversating with, we say things such as:
"At my job the rules are.." or "Our company does..."
We say, "Our school has to..." or "My school requires..."
We say, "My team does not allow..." or "Our team must..."

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In other words, we place ourselves in connection with the institution that we are referencing. And what is interesting about this is that when we speak of salvation, the narrative at many times changes. We speak of salvation as this institution that imposes unnecessary regulations. We speak of salvation as this distant artifact that we can read and study about but can't access in a way that allows us to explore it closer. Salvation is not a distant "thing", it is very much something that we can put into reach. However, our problem is that many of us don't ever take the time to dig deeper to discover its truths better yet our truths as to where we stand concerning our personal salvation.

 

Salvation is not merely a thing. Salvation should not be treated like an object that we have to make room for. Salvation is not a back-up plan. Salvation is a CHOICE. Salvation is a way of life. Salvation is our allegiance to God. Salvation is our lifeline. Our salvation is our armor. Salvation is rooted in our Savior. Our salvation lives within us because when we accept Christ into our lives, within us, is where He resides. Therefore, maintaining our SALVATION and finding joy in it, is going to take our staying constantly connected to God. In order for our salvation to work, and for us to experience the joy in our salvation, we are going to have to understand what it means to abide.

 

Abide is defined as:

• to live or stay somewhere,

• to remain or continue,

• to be able to live with or put up with,

• to accept or bear (someone or something bad, unpleasant, etc.),

• to accept and be guided by (something) : obey.

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Abide: (OBEY)                                              

 

One of King Saul's downfall was that he didn't know what it meant to 'ABIDE' in God. King Saul believed in God. Saul (the king) knew what it meant to worship God. Saul was no stranger to the power of God nor was he a stranger to being used by God. However, Saul had no reverence for God, and he far too often abandoned honoring God in order to do what he wanted to do. He often found himself in awe of himself. Instead of abiding in God, Saul was more interested in abiding in his lust for self-gratification, honor, and prestige which caused him to constantly disobey and steer from the commands of God.

 

God would give Saul instructions and Saul would pick and choose what if any part of God's instructions he would obey. Saul had a habit of doing what made more sense to him and those around him. Saul was more interested in pleasing 'man' as a means of bringing honor to himself. Saul found comfort and pleasure in power, control, and earthly things.

 

Regardless of how many times Saul found himself being chastened for disobeying God or making poor choices, Saul kept making a choice to do it his way. It was very hard for Saul to abide in God because Saul loved abiding in disobedience, coveting, and idolatry. Saul loved abiding in himself. Due to Saul's unwillingness to abide in God by following God's instructions, he never developed the attributes of what God wanted in a king, which is why David was always God's choice.

 

God was always aware of the type of king that Saul would be but because Israel wanted a king, God gave them one. God always knew that Saul would not be a king of good character. God always knew that Saul would not be one who abided in Him, but nonetheless He allowed Saul to reign because He had both a plan and a purpose for it. God always referred to King Saul as Israel's chosen king and referred to David as His chosen king.

 

David was one who fully understood what it meant to abide in God. And the beauty of it is that David wasn't perfect, which means that we are all capable of abiding in God regardless of our past, our downfalls, or any mistakes that we have made or will make in the future. God described David as being "a man after [His] own heart". David had a desire to please God, and it wasn't because he wanted anything in return. David loved God and reverenced Him simply because of who He was. David 
had an inner yearning to satisfy God in every way that he possibly could. And even more so is the fact that David, prior to his sins, considered himself unworthy. David had a humbleness about himself that even when he was fully obeying and wholeheartedly walking in the ways of God, he still considered himself unworthy of anything that God saw fit to give him. David had true gratitude for everything that God did for him. Abiding in God was David's strength. Even through his sufferings, David would not let go of God. If anything, when David suffered and found himself under attack, HE DREW CLOSER TO GOD as a means of sustaining himself. When David was distressed, he knew that he could find joy, peace, and whatever else he needed by abiding in God.

 

When Salvation Welcomes Sorrows

 

John 15:4 states, "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me" (NKJV). If we look at the definition of abide and reflect on John 15:4, there are many lessons to be learned. Let's Dig...

 

Abide: (To live or stay somewhere, to remain or continue)                   

 

WE CANNOT MAINTAIN OUR SALVATION WITHOUT GOD'S STRENGTH. Being that the things that salvation requires wars with the things that our flesh desires, our flesh and our flaws won't ever be able to maintain salvation. Because we are not perfect and are going to make mistakes, and because we are going to want to appease our flesh, the only way to fight against the yearning of our flesh is to allow God's Spirit which resides within us to be our guide.

 

We must abide in God and remain in God so that His Spirit can dwell and remain in us, suppressing our fleshly desires so that we don't fall victim to the temptations that lead us into sin. In other words, we need to allow God in, so that we can stop willingly co-signing to partake in all the things that we are fully aware are wrong. In order for us to maintain our salvation, we must allow God to abide in us by our first living and "REMAINING" in Him, continuously following as His Spirit leads.

 

Our salvation is naturally going to falter if we abide in God, making way for Him to abide in us, and then kick Him out when we are presented with something that we want to do 'Our OWN Way' versus the way that He is directing us. We have to "REMAIN" in God so that He can "REMAIN" in us to help us combat all the opposition that He allows to greet us as well as combat the opposition that we ourselves welcome to take residence in our lives.

 

If we only find joy in salvation when we are getting what we want out of it, we are going to naturally be miserable. Salvation does not give us a "NO TRIAL" pass to be used when faced with something we don't want to deal with. Neither does it give us a pass to do it our way versus God's way if and when we disagree with the way that God wants us to go. We are all fine with abiding in God and He in us until our invitation to let him in brings along lions, pits, and giants, that we think we don't have room for. We are fine with the idea of abiding until God says, "Go left.", and we want to go north. And it is at that point that we find ourselves WANTING HIM OUT when we are the ones who invited Him in.

 

There are those who remain in God but attempt to charge Him rent. There are those who want something recurrent from God for their choosing to follow Him and allowing Him to "abide". And not only do they want something recurrent, but they want God to give it to them EXACTLY when they want it, how they want it, and at their disposal.

 

There are those that don't mind abiding in God and He in them, but when the trials come, so does the friction. And they find themselves doing what God wants them to do but with a heart that is resentful. There are many who do what God wants them to do, they do the 'works', but lack the faith, love, and the willingness that God requires of us.

 

We all deal with the idea of "abiding" in different ways. However, while many struggle with abiding in God and allowing God to abide in them, there are those who do get it right. There are those who wholly abide in God and fully follow Him. There are those that abide in God and follow His plan. There are those that abide in God and stay with Him even when they disagree. There are those who are able to find the joy in their salvation even when things don't go their way. And then there's Jonah...

 

Abide: (To be able to live with or put up with)                 

Salvation is hard because while the truth is that it is God who is putting up with us,

our misguided truth is that many of us think that we are putting up with God.

 

When God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach against them due to the escalation of their sins, Jonah did not take the time to contemplate what to do. Jonah heard God's instructions, and he automatically ran. And there we are! As soon as God instructs us to do things that we don't want to do, we stop abiding in Him. We refuse to obey. We flee and go as far away as possible, not realizing that none of us are capable of running from an omnipresent God. No matter where we go, God is going to be right there. Furthermore, because God is omniscient, He already knows if and when we're going to run and where we're going to run to, before the decision to run ever enters our minds.

 

In reading the full narrative of Jonah, we find Jonah 'in his feelings'. When the city of Nineveh after being warned of the destruction to come upon them, turned from their wickedness and reverenced God, God decided to relent from the destruction that He had threatened to bring on them and as a result, Jonah prayed to God saying, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:2-3, NIV). Jonah disagreed with God having compassion for Nineveh, yet Jonah was thankful to God for having compassion on him when he disobeyed.

 

None of us know why Jonah was so upset about God's decision to relent. Based on Jonah's own words found in Jonah 4, we know that part of the reason that Jonah fled when God first told him to go to Nineveh was because he had already felt that because of God's compassion and grace toward mankind, there was the possibility that after God sent him to forewarn the people of the destruction to come, that God would decide to have compassion and relent.

 

Jonah was mad that God did not do what He said He was going to do yet Jonah had no problem not doing what God told him to do. Jonah wanted God to follow through with what He had threatened to do to Nineveh, but Jonah did not want to follow through with what God had instructed him to go to Nineveh to do. Jonah felt it okay for God to put up with him, but he did not want to put up with God.

 

Jonah would have been fine if God brought destruction on Nineveh and all would have been well. However, when God did not respond how Jonah wanted Him to, Jonah went his own way. Jonah did not want to abide in God. Jonah was not able to live with having to do it God's way. Jonah hated that God did the opposite of what He said He'd do. Jonah went as far as telling God that it was better for him to not live at all. Because God relented, Jonah asked God to take his life. We won't dissect Jonah's feelings right now, but it is clear that Jonah had some issues of his own which require a blog of its own. However, we will expound on the fact that there are many of us out there with Jonah complexes.

 

The Detriment of "Our Way"...                         

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There are many of us who can't find the joy in "OUR" salvation because we can't make things happen "OUR" way.

 

There are many of us who knowingly and willingly run in the opposite direction of where it is God has instructed us to go.

 

There are many of us who can't find the joy in "OUR" salvation because we might disagree with God's decisions for our lives or the lives of others.

 

There are many of us who struggle to find the joy in "OUR" salvation because God's way at times makes no sense to us.

At times God's way seems exhausting and makes us feel like our efforts are going unnoticed. We at times feel like the things that God instructs us to do are in vain.

 

Many of us struggle to find the joy in "OUR" salvation because we feel like God is allowing our enemies and the wicked to get away with their sins while He punishes us for ours.

 

We at times struggle to find the joy in "OUR" salvation because it feels like God is not defending us how we want Him to.

 

Many of us struggle with finding the joy in "OUR" salvation because while we have the control to choose salvation, and to maintain our salvation, WE CANNOT CONTROL THE NARRATIVE. WE CAN'T WRITE THE SCRIPT OF OUR LIVES EXACTLY AS WE WANT IT TO GO! WE MUST LET GOD TAKE FULL CONTROL! And this presents many of us with both an issue and a challenge because we are cousins of Jonah and descendants of the Israelites.

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"In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

- Proverbs 3:6 (KJV)

 

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

- John 14:6 (KJV)

 

"And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way,

whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem."

-Acts 9:2 (KJV)

 

There is something that we must understand about "OUR WAY".

 

Scripture tells us to in all "OUR WAYS", acknowledge God and He will direct our paths. Therefore, that means that if we are acting this out, then in everything that we do, we are seeking God concerning it, and He in turn is giving us direction. And as He is giving us direction, we are following His direction, which means that technically and realistically, "HIS WAY" becomes "OUR WAY".

 

Jesus told us that he was "THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE", and because of this no one could get to the Father without going through the Son. This has not changed and still remains true. As it concerns salvation, there is no way around Jesus. It is by grace through faith (Jesus was born, was crucified, and resurrected), that we receive this salvation. It is through our belief in Christ and the repentance of our sins in which salvation becomes ours. There is no other way to receive the salvation that God gives us apart from Jesus. Jesus is the truth. He has always been who he proclaimed himself to be. His teachings were always 
"truth". There were many such as the chief priests, teachers of the law, elders, and Pharisees, who taught half-truths. They had a habit of amending scripture to satisfy their personal beliefs and traditions. They also in many cases, did not live by the words that they were teaching. However, Jesus taught the truth. He lived the truth. Jesus used his ministry to steer the people away from the false and misguided teachings and fill them with sound doctrine. Jesus always made it known that it was under God's authority that he spoke the things that he spoke and performed the works that he performed. Jesus was the life because it is God who gave us life and it is through His Son, Jesus, that we receive life under the new covenant. If we really reflect on what Jesus was saying, if we want to be steered in the right direction, if we want truth, if we want life, we can only receive it by going, "HIS WAY"!

 

In reflecting on "HIS WAY", prior to the term Christianity being used, the followers of Christ were referred to as "The Way".

 

We must understand that the Father and the Son are accurate and exact. They are one. They are omniscient and omnipresent.
They are the only ones capable of perfection therefore our judgment, our decisions, and our truths will always be flawed in comparison to theirs. This means that "OUR WAY" will never get us to where we need to go neither will "OUR WAY" direct us along the right path, UNLESS we make GOD'S WAY our ONLY WAY! And the only way to do this is through salvation and abiding. WE CANNOT DETACH THE TWO!

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Let's reflect back on the definitions of what it means to abide:

• to live or stay somewhere,

• to remain or continue,

• to be able to live with or put up with,

• to accept or bear (someone or something bad, unpleasant, etc.),

• to accept and be guided by (something) : obey

This means that along with our salvation, we must:

• live our lives accordingly

• remain connected with God (through our relationship) (through our prayer life) (through our seeking Him)

• stick with God and stay with Him no matter what

• keep moving amidst whatever we are faced with

• accept that we will have both good and bad days

• follow the instructions that God gives us

• allow ourselves to be guided by the Spirit, and that one that we all struggle with....

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• WE MUST OBEY!

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There is no partial obedience. There is no partial abidance. In order for God to abide "IN" us, we must abide in Him. There is no partial salvation. You are either fully in or you're out.

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Remaining in Our Salvation?...                                           

 

Salvation is defined as:
•preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss,
•deliverance from sin and its consequences, believed by Christians, to be brought about by faith in Christ,
•deliverance from the power and effects of sin.

 

In 2 Corinthians 7:10, Paul in part says, "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret..." (NIV).

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We might have all found ourselves sorrowful due to the life that we were living or remorseful over a decision that we had made, which caused us to confess our sins to God and genuinely repent with our whole hearts. The repentance of our sins leads to salvation. Salvation frees us from the condemnation of our sins. It brings us into reconciliation with God. Upon receiving salvation, God's Spirit dwells within us. If and when we allow sin to abide in us, God cannot abide alongside that sin that is dwelling within us. This is why daily purging is needed. We all fall short daily. There are times in which many of us might sin without recognizing or being aware of it.

 

Sin is not just about those acts that we have a habit of labeling as 'the big ones', such as fornication, adultery, and murder, which to God are all the same. God does not have a sin scale. Therefore, having hate in our hearts towards someone who wronged us is a sin. Unforgiveness is a sin. Wishing ill-intent on someone is a sin. Lying is a sin. Jealousy is a sin. Idolatry of all kinds is a sin. If you put your job or material possessions above God, that is a sin. The way in which many of us idolize and worship other individuals is a sin. We live in a day and age in which people have become obsessed with fame and celebrity life. There are people who wholeheartedly worship celebrities. And I am not referring to buying a t-shirt or a magazine of the celebrity that you admire, but there are many people who really reverence these individuals as if they were gods of some sort. If we refer to Galatians 5, selfish ambitions are considered sinful. We all sin in some way shape or form no matter how 'perfect' some of us might think we are. It is imperative that we check our flesh on the daily to see where our minds and our hearts are because we may be harboring sin in us without realizing it.

 

Galatians also tell us that rage is a sin. It does not categorize types of rage, but it lists rage as one of the acts of the flesh that we should steer from. Therefore, this might strike a chord with all of the 'saints' with road rage. There are many Christians who have received salvation who have serious road rage. There are many people who consider themselves 'sin free' yet will nearly run someone off the road, yelling, and honking their horn, if that driver is not driving the way that they want them to. This is in no way a judgment call to those who do have road rage, but it is just a means of making us reflect on how easy it is for us to sin in our daily lives without seeing or labeling it as such. The point is that in order for us to maintain our salvation, we are going to have to allow God to abide in us which is why we must purge all of the uncleanness out so that His Spirit can reside in us and help us to abate the strength of our flesh.

 

We must also understand that salvation is not perfection. Having salvation does not mean that we have to be perfect. God knows that we are not as such which is one of the reasons why He allows His Spirit to dwell within us to teach, lead, and guide us.

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What Has He Commanded You?                                   

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"Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him.

And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us." -

1 John 3:24 (NKJV)

 

John highlights for us that abiding in Christ means keeping His commandments. If we read 1 John 3, John expounds on the importance of keeping ourselves free of sin. John also expounds saying, "And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment" (v.23, NKJV). When we are trying hard to maintain our salvation and find the joy in "OUR" salvation, love is the farthest thing from many of our minds. Especially when the thing that is causing us to waver and squeezing the joy out of us are the attacks from our enemies. When we are being persecuted, slandered, lied on, betrayed, mistreated, or cheated on, how many of us normally 'love our way through it'? For many of us, our truths are probably that our hearts are far from feeling love for the individuals that are inflicting hate and pain upon us.

 

At many times the command of love is the farthest thing from our minds because it is those that we love who are provoking us, causing us to willingly put our salvation on the shelf so that we can address those attitudes and behaviors of theirs that rub us the wrong way. Perhaps our truth is that although we know we need God's strength to both strengthen our salvation and carry us through the trials that we are facing, we quite often don't see the need to comply with all of His commands because it is hard for many of us to keep loving the ones that we truly love better yet, our enemies. We want God to give us the strength to help us to bear the attacks of our enemies, but we perhaps are not trying to obey His command to love them. We want God to give us the guidance to make our relationships work, but we are not trying to exercise the patience that He might be instructing us to muster. Do you see how easy it is for us to criticize Jonah until we find ourselves stuck in Nineveh?!

 

Many of us think that Jonah had some serious anger issues because he wanted Nineveh to be destroyed and was therefore mad because God relented. However, how do we handle it when someone does us wrong and God says, "Forgive."? How do we handle it when that loved one has tried us one time too many? What do we do if someone does us wrong and God says, "LOVE THEM."? Here we are waiting for God to knock them out like He did Goliath, but what do we do if God says, "Invite them to lunch."? What do we do if God says, "BE MORE PATIENT!"?

 

Could you do it? Would you do it? Is Jonah the only one with anger issues or does it make more sense for us to be 'stuck' in our feelings because someone personally did something to us and the people in Nineveh did not 'personally' do anything to Jonah? Do we get a pass to not love when we are hated? Do we get a pass to not love when we are hurt? As Christians, DO WE EVER GET A PASS?! DOES OUR SALVATION EVER GIVE US A PASS?

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Being that salvation is a choice; we are going to naturally struggle when faced with certain decisions in which pleasing God and appeasing our flesh are waging war against one another. We are going to struggle with abiding because abiding is not just picking and choosing what commands we want to follow but it is fully following God's commands and instructions for us.

 

Our truths are that we are not always going to feel love toward those that do us wrong nor are we always going to feel love toward those that tap dance on our nerves. We are going to have some very real and natural feelings that are rooted in anger, wrath, resentment, disappointment, frustration, judgment, and many other emotions, which God is aware of, but it's about how we act those feelings out. If we seek God concerning these things, are we addressing them exactly how He instructs us to? If God tells us not to worry because He has it in His hands, do we trust Him and stand still or do we attack anyway and then repent? It might be easy for some of us to be respectful and cordial to our enemies but hard to show mercy toward them if put in a position in which their fate was in our hands. It might be easy to be gentle but hard not to be judgmental and say, "I told you so!", when that loved one comes to us for help. Our truths are that some things will be easy for us and others will require some hard work and some fruit of the Spirit.

 

Unless You "Abide in Me"                       

 

Jesus taught his disciples saying that unless they abide in Him, it would be impossible for them to bear fruit by themselves. Let's reflect on John 15:4, from this perspective. If we are to own our salvation and find the strength to find the joy in it amidst our trials and circumstances, we ARE GOING TO NEED GOD! If we try to do it on our own, we are going to become frustrated, discouraged, weak, tired, and ready to give up. God does not tire. God does not grow weary. God does not faint.

 

In our ability to find rest in God and allowing Him to strengthen us, as His Spirit begins to operate within us, if we live by the Spirit, we develop the attributes of the Spirit which are love, joy, peace, longsuffering (patience), gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (self-control). If we don't abide in God, we will NEVER BE ABLE TO PERFECT THESE ATTRIBUTES.

 

The fruit of the Spirit are not capable of being developed by our flesh because the flesh has works of its own which are contrary to those of the Spirit. The flesh has no desire to reflect the things of the Spirit of God. It is our flesh that fights against our being guided by the Spirit. Does our flesh love? Yes, but it also lusts and covets. Does our flesh find joy and peace? Yes, but not the joy and peace that God gives. The joy and peace that God gives us is not dependent on our circumstances, but it is founded on who God is which means that despite our circumstances joy and peace are ours. Unlike the joy and peace of our flesh and the joy and peace of the world, the joy and peace of God is backed by the FACT THAT CHRIST OVERCAME AND THAT GOD CANNOT FAIL! 

 

Can our flesh have patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, and temperance? Yes, but it is flawed. And because it is flawed it can also be rooted in self, greed, lust, deceit, and other bad intents. A thief can have patience to wait for the right opportunity to snatch and grab. Someone whose intent it is to deceive you can be gentle and humble until they get what they want from you. Someone can have self-control and not act out what they want to do to harm you but rejoice and co-sign in someone else inflicting harm on you. The fruit of the Spirit are of God and are of good intent. While our flesh can resemble some of these attributes, they don't curb the other fleshly desires within us. The fruit of the Spirit help to overpower the flesh. These spiritual fruit are not just important to our salvation because they steer us from sin and temptations, but they are important to our daily lives because they help us to endure whatever we might face. The Spirit guides and remains with us through good and bad times and so can these fruit, if we both learn and have a will to abide in God.

 

Salvation is not easy. Having to take the attacks are not easy. Having to love those that inflict hate and pain upon us is not easy. Having to hold on to a promise that we can't see is not easy! Having to stand still when things are constantly pushing against us is not easy! Having to trust God in the fire, the pit, and the lions' den is not always easy! Having to trust God when it seems like we're losing everything we have is not easy! Having to take our hands off of things and let God fight for us is not easy! However, we know that despite the difficulty, it can be done. Moses, Joseph, the Hebrew Boys, Daniel, David, Job, and so many others did it. But in our honesty, although their stories inspire us and give us hope, our hearts at times still struggle to shake the pain off and hold on to our faith. In order to find the joy in "Our" salvation, we are going to have to own it. And in order to truly own it, we are going to have to abide, and in order to abide, we are going to have to trust that God knows best. We are going to have to do it "HIS WAY".

 

No matter how much we love and reverence God, "His Way" is still not easy especially when we don't understand most of the things He does. At many times "God's Way" seems completely off but we MUST REMEMBER THAT GOD IS OMNISCIENT. HE KNOWS ALL. HE SEES ALL. HE CONTROLS ALL THINGS. HE UNDERSTANDS ALL THINGS. NOTHING IS ABOVE
HIM AND ALL THINGS ARE BENEATH HIM. AND THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE TO HOLD ON TO. 

 

NO MATTER WHAT IT IS...GOD CAN HANDLE IT! GOD DOES NOT FAIL! HE ALWAYS WINS! Good circumstances or bad, GOD ALWAYS COMES OUT ON TOP. There is not one story in the bible in which God loses. While God can do ALL THINGS...

FAILURE IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT HE CAN'T DO. And when we learn to "ABIDE" and develop our ability to "ABIDE", this too becomes our reality.

 

Win or lose...WE CAN'T FAIL! Good or bad...WE CAN'T FAIL! When we abide in God and we live our lives accordingly, and do all that He instructs us to do...

GOD HAS TO DELIVER!

GOD HAS TO RESPOND TO OUR CRIES FOR HELP!

GOD HAS TO MOVE ON OUR BEHALF!

GOD HAS TO MAKE A WAY!

GOD HAS TO PROTECT, PROVIDE, AND PROSPER US! 
GOD HAS TO FIGHT FOR US!

 

THIS IS THE JOY IN "OUR" SALVATION, when we abide!

 

When we "ABIDE", we are covered under the wings of THE ALMIGHTY, IMMOVABLE, ALL POWERFUL, ONE AND ONLY GOD! But we must accept how HE MOVES! It might not be when, where, or how we want Him to, but we have the assurance that HE WILL MOST DEFINITELY MOVE ON OUR BEHALF. He will respond, but based on what fulfills His plans, His purposes, and His will for us. And regardless of our not understanding how He chooses to move on our behalf, we have the assurance that HE MOVES LIKE A CHAMPION! HIS MOVES ONLY RESULT IN VICTORY!

 

Abiding is not just about "being" but it is about our ability to rest and remain despite what comes. The Joy in "OUR" salvation rests in what "WE CHOOSE". We must choose to abide because when we "CHOOSE" God, when we "CHOOSE" to follow God, He also makes a "CHOICE" and that choice will always back and support our decision to do it His Way and to Trust Him Through It!