A victim or an overcomer? It's up to you.

A mini novella for those 3 of you that will read something longer than a minute: I keep thinking about life being the sum total of choices. Some choices may have been made for you that were good or bad. Some it you may have had to grow up fast, suffered at the hands of cruel people, faced abuse or neglect, rejection or worse apathy. Some have suffered long with loss, financial difficulty, loneliness, depression, longings that have gone unfulfilled, some have sordid or sinful (don't we all) pasts that they feel branded by. We wouldn't have enough time or space to list it all. However, what will you do with that now? Will you remain a victim and grow bitter? Because really it is a choice and knowing Christ and taking hold of Him and following Him is the only path to lasting and true liberty of the soul but it's a choice. You can choose to hold onto the past of what so and so wasn't to you or even how the church or Christians have let you down. Let me say, if I was focused on people or the church I'd have sadly turned away from Christ on account of them because we (myself included) are so deeply flawed and yet we will all give an account. My daughters teacher gave the class an assignment. She gave each one a dollar and read to them the parable of the talents and they were to come back after an allotted time and see what they did with the dollar. I'm not at all boasting about my child but she caused me to humble myself when I saw her scraping together ALL of her money to turn in toward missions $52.60 and she even wanted to make sure where it went. That's certainly not what I would have done when I was 8. However, she came home and said one kid spent their dollar. It was such an illustration to me. We have this one life here and are we going to be victims? Are we going to lay down in defeat? Or perhaps would we see our need for Christ? Our need to forgive even if it doesn't mean reconciliation... Will we see that He is life and the length of our days and not a number on a priority list? He's it! Will all other idols be dethroned in your life? It's a choice. We can choose to reject Him or become a disciple of His. He came as fully God and fully man and of course was a Jewish Rabbi so Rabbis had followers and they went where the rabbi went and stayed where He stayed and covered themselves in the dust of their feet. They strung pearls as they listened to His teaching and passed along teaching by oral tradition. But just like Judas, many may profess Christ and yet never put feet to their faith. Never have fruit. Faith without deeds is dead and so many also will not open their bible and know Him for themselves. It takes time, commitment and a life of worship. You can't rely on people who peddle Jesus for personal gain. I can't help but think about something I heard Pastor Harry Reeder say about the judgment seat of Christ and how the sheep and the goats will be there (believers have no condemnation but will receive reward or suffer loss) however the goats will be separated and will suffer eternally as they chose not to live for Christ here and won't live with Him for all of eternity. Y'all that scares me to death. Not because I'm concerned over my salvation as there is nothing I'm more certain of in all of life...but for those who would rather live for this life and suffer for all of eternity. So many think of what they have to give up like God is the great killjoy of the cosmos and what does it profit a man to gain the whole world yet forfeit his soul? I remember standing at a crossroads at 18 yrs old and someone asking me how did I know I was going to heaven and I said because I was a good person and went to church. The most loving thing that person could do was tell me the truth. We can't earn our salvation. Our salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone but just like the disciples when Jesus told them one of them would betray Him they were all perplexed and wondered if was them? That's just it judas fit in so much so that he had them fooled. I don't believe in losing your salvation. I do believe that passage in Hebrews is so taken out of context and scripture interprets scripture so you can't base that off of one scripture. I'm not going to argue it either but I will say are you truly a follower of Christ or do you just go to church and have a form of godliness but deny it's power? To know Him and love Him means there will be fruit and why we get in our minds that we come to Him with all this baggage and then try to hide our sin or play fake it til you make it is beyond me and nonsense. We will all struggle with sin as the book of Romans speaks of in chapters 6 & 7. We should struggle so I ask (but please don't answer in written form) is there even a struggle? Are you in the faith? Do not lay down over what has been dealt to you or your past sin. By Gods grace get up!!!!! Return to Him. Repent.. Turn around from the direction you are going and turn back to Jesus if you have gotten off track. It's not too late. Use what the enemy meant for your harm to bring about much good in Jesus Name!  You are more than an overcomer!  

Don't put your trust in man or yourself either

You can't honestly or safely say you can trust others when you can't even trust your own self. Anyone who has ever seen the depths of their own sin nature knows what I'm talking about. However, I find such security in a world chock full of deceit that I can trust Jesus. There was no deceit found in His mouth and it's impossible for Him to lie and He does not change. He has no dark side. So let our gaze be not on who we can't trust or what we can't control but Who is in control and the One who sees everything. Everything is laid bare before Him to who we must give an account. Let that strike a holy fear in us as well. Truly all other ground you are trying to stand on is sinking sand apart from Him. So when your world seems to fall apart because of betrayal, or even your own doing fall on the Only Solid Rock and let Him rebuild and use what the enemy meant for evil for His kingdom and His glory. 

Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with malice. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they tell lies. Psalm 5:9 

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:13 

"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." 1 peter 2:22 

Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one." Isaiah 44:8 

1 Corinthians 2:9-10 

these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

For who knows a person's thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.