L. Dwight Turner
Christ calls us and, through the presence of the Holy Spirit, empowers us to live lives of glory and significance. Many of us have spent years accepting a gospel that is only partially presented. Yes, we may have grasped the importance of the cross and what Christ accomplished in terms of atonement, justification, and putting us back in right standing with the Father. This is, of course, the essential foundation of the gospel message, but it is far, far from the whole story.
Through the events of the Cross, the Resurrection, the Ascension and Pentecost, Christ accomplished far more than many of us understand and, to put it quite frankly, far more than any human may be capable of understanding. The real tragedy in all of this, however, is the reality that so many of us have failed to grasp even those aspects of the whole gospel story that are clearly understandable. As a result, many sincere followers of the Master are living far beneath their God-given and Christ-ordained potential. I am certain this must be a cause for great sadness in the heavenly places.
I have hope, however, that this situation can be rectified and that more and more of us can come to a place of understanding of the complete gospel message. I firmly believe that part of God’s purpose for the age in which we live is to have increasing numbers of Christians come to understand and apply the divine principles that will allow us to appropriate the full measure of the blessings the Lord has already provided. These principles are clearly outlined in scripture and once we consistently put these teachings into practice, our lives can and will change dramatically.
Although there are many aspects of life that are beyond our control, the one place we do have control is in our reactions to life events. Let's face it, life can be difficult. Each day we face myriad responsibilities, problems, challenges, duties and tasks. Each of these realities has the potential to derail us if we let them. Each of these daily realities can drain us of vital energy and cause us to lose sight of our goals and dreams. Yet the amazing truth is that, even though we have to face many challenges and difficulties in life, we do not have to allow them to send us off the tracks. Granted, there are many circumstances that flow into our lives that are beyond our control. But equally true is the fact that we can control how we respond to these events.
We have it in our power to respond to events in our lives in either a negative manner or a positive manner. It is up to us to choose. The sooner we learn that our quality of life depends on our quality of thought, and that the quality of our thought depends on what we choose to think, the sooner we will find ourselves rapidly accelerating down the road to self-improvement and spiritual fulfillment.
In my case, it took me far too long to accept responsibility for what I could control in my life. As a result, I wasted valuable time spinning my wheels and basically feeling miserable and desperate. It was only through God’s infinite patience and steadfast pursuit of me that I finally woke up and came to my senses. I finally came to understand that I have a choice about how I react to things. Shortly after this revelation, another important truth dawned in my mind.
I realized that I had a choice about whether or not to accept Christ at his word as revealed in scripture.
Now, please, understand what I am getting at here. I have come to realize that many of us say that we believe and accept what Christ tells us in those red-letter sections of our Bibles. Christ said it so it must be true, right?
Well, the fact is, we may say that we believe it but our actions and our emotions tell us otherwise. If we believe, for example, that if we have faith we can say to a mountain be thou removed and it will be removed, why are we not doing so? If we believe that it only takes faith the size of a mustard seed to accomplish miracles in our lives, why are we not exercising that tiny grain of faith? If Christ promised that we could do everything he could do and even more, then why are we walking around under the weight of so much spiritual oppression, allowing the enemy and his minions to hammer us like a birthday piñata?
The fact is maybe we really don’t believe what Christ told us.
This was the second revelation that came upon me, shortly after the first awareness dawned that I, in fact, had a choice in many things that happened in my life. I also realized that I had a choice whether or not to accept Christ at his word. And you, my friend, also have that choice.
So the question becomes: What will you choose?
We all have our mountains in life: mountains of illness, poverty, betrayal, persecution, addiction, disharmony in relationships, employment – the list goes on and on. If you choose to take Christ at his word, it is time to start speaking to those mountains. It is time to pick up the mantle of authority that Christ left for you and start using it in your daily life. You have a lot more power and authority than you realize. The only thing standing in your way is your failure to choose correctly. So it is vital to ask yourself once again: Do I believe, really believe, what Christ said?
If in the final analysis you find that you don’t believe it, I would encourage you to pray for insight into the issue. If you do believe it, however, then it is time to start dealing with those mountains.
In my younger days I was an avid bicyclist and specialized in doing long distance rides. It was not uncommon for me to go out on a weekend and take part in rides of 50, 80, and occasionally, 100-mile century rides. The hard part, of course, involved hills and/or mountains. I found that the best way to deal with these obstacles was to get a running start. That made the first part of the climb much easier.
The same principle holds true for dealing with the mountains in your life. Get a good running start by becoming completely familiar with the promises God has made in the Bible. Spend some significant time studying passages of scripture where your rights, privileges, inheritance, and blessings as a child of God are discussed. You will be surprised at things you may have missed or forgotten – promises made by Christ and by the Father. God is a God of integrity and scripture tells us he cannot lie. You can count on those promises. You can take them to the bank.
So begin right there, by studying scripture and get yourself a good, running start. Then start speaking to those mountains in your life and remove all doubt from your mind. Believe the spiritual laws and principles Christ taught you and you will not be disappointed.
© L.D. Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved
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