Caught Up in the Static III

Posted on March 9, 2017 by Graeme Wilson in Freedom Fighters

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“You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting Him will be the salvation of your souls.” – 1 Peter 1:8-9 (NLT)
An old preacher that I use to know (Pastor William Raws) would lead us into song at the Colony Chapel that had no author attached to it. We would all sing the first, second, and last verses, but I have very rarely heard a church sing the third… “My cross I’ll carry, till I see Jesus; my cross I’ll carry, till I see Jesus; my cross I’ll carry, till I see Jesus; no turning back, no turning back.” (“I Have Decided To Follow Jesus”, Hymnary.org) Now, I realize that for the sake of time during corporate worship things are altered to keep people alert but none the matter for my own alertness, the hook in this hymn was always “no turning back, no turning back.”
The last time I was with you I had shared with you what needed to be done to begin the process of getting out of the static condition we get ourselves into as we walk this Christian life out. To completely forsake the world was the suggestion and I hope you understand that you can quit all that and still be static, in a negative sense, if you don’t do the positive thing and that thing is to turn to Jesus Christ. You can leave everything behind and head up into the mountains and be a “Captain Caveman” to the best of your ability and be miserable for doing it. I’m not saying walking away from the negativity in this world (especially during this time in history) is a bad thing, but you’ll be devoid of any radiating joy or inward glory if you don’t turn to the positivity found in Jesus Christ.
But we do have a bit of a problem here. When I suggest you forsake the things of this world, I am suggesting that you turn from what is tangible to your senses and turn to Someone who is not quite in our tangible sight, can’t be tangibly held, heard, smelled or tasted for that matter. What do you have to make this ‘forsaking and turning’ a smooth and easy motion? Well if you have your Bible open, let’s get into 1 Peter 1:3-7…
First off let me say this, if Simon Peter could hang with Jesus, I could, at the very least, bring up the rear during Christ’s travels around Judah. Anyway, when we take a look at what has been written by Peter in this Epistle we see words like obtain, imperishable, will not fade away, protected, and to seriously look at verses 6-7… “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (NASB). It boils down to faith, and if you claim Christ as Lord and Savior, you’re going to get it tested once in a while, especially when you are content in a static condition…where things aren’t going wrong but aren’t necessarily right.
Being a static Christian is almost like not being one at all. You’ll go through the motions but no one is watching, so who cares? But if you really have broken free from the things that are profitable to those who have their foundations cemented in Secularland, you’ll stand out like a city on a hill…and you’ll be doing for something far greater than your little ole self. You’ll be doing it for the cause of the Cross of Christ. And with that, this is how we will end this Freedom Fighter today… “The world behind me, the cross before me; the world behind me, the cross before me; the world behind me, the cross before me; no turning back, no turning back.” Amen?
Written by Chris Hughes: Chris, a graduate of The Colony of Mercy (11-2003) is married (Kathy) with two adult children (Kevin and Karen) and has been a Freedom Fighter contributor since 2008.
The Daily Bible Reading: Job 17-18 | You can download our 2017 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here
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Daily Quote: Daily Quote: “There are those who want to preach all positives, but positives without negatives do not exist. There are those who only want to preach only negatives, a list of all the things you cannot do. But you cannot have love without hate. You cannot have light without darkness. The one follows the other.” — A.W. Tozer

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:
“When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices; And when the wicked perish, there is jubilation.” – Proverbs 11:10

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