| |
| |
|
Spirituality Information |
|
|
|
Can You Live The Christ Life?
Were you lied to as newborn Christian? I was...let me explain. You are a Christian, right? So, Can you live the Christ life? Well I guess I want to get a little more involved than that. I want to ask you if you can live the Christ life by your own effort! If you're like me, you were probably brought up in a Church where the pastor told you every Sunday how you were supposed to act. He probably told you that you needed to do such and such in order to be a "good Christian". And what if that stuff was hard to do? If you had a problem with a certain sin, what was the advice that you received. How was it recommended that you go about the subject of "living the Christian life"? If your early Christian education was like mine you were lied to! The way to success I was told was through willpower. Grittin' the teeth and whatnot and just to "buckle down and do something for God". No matter how uncomfortable it may of seemed. And uncomfortable it was! Are you still with me? I'm sure I'm not the only one that found the burdens of Christianity hard to live with. What could be heavier than the burden of a God that was displeased with your level of performance? Nothing comes to mind for me. Why then does the Bible say this in Matthew 11:29-31: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.? And I'd bet dollars to donuts that I'm not the only one that found myself failing more than I was succeeding-am I right? Sure you might get nice and fired up about being a good Christian once or twice but then you'd fail and the "failure, condemnation, rededication Cycle" would set in (to quote a phrase coined by Dr. Steve McVey). After the failure, I'd feel condemned that I had failed God. After that period of self pity and general feeling of patheticness (Is that even a word?), I'd rededicate my efforts to do better for God the next time. Sound familiar? Would you like to get off that religious rollercoaster ride and find the rest spoken of by Jesus? Are you ready for the Truth? Good, let me tell you what it's all about! The Truth is that you, by your own efforts, can not live the Christian life! Consider this verse: "This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" Galatians 3:2-3 Didn't you come to salvation and the Christian life by faith in Christ to bring you that salvation? So why would you try to live that Christian life by your own effort instead of by faith in the one that will live it through you? This is the key that will set you free. You can not live the Christian life, only Christ can! It makes sense doesn't it. He did it over 2,000 years ago and he is capable of doing it through you today! Consider Hebrews 4:15: "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." Jesus has lived the "Christ Life" and he will do it through you if you let him! Caleb Osborne, a native of Virginia, is an up and coming author who has just completed publishing his first book--Christ Through Me. He is now in the process of working on other projects and running his website at http://www.ChristThroughMe.com where he has a FREE email newsletter that all are encouraged to sign up for. -=-=-==-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "Who Else Wants to Experience The Abundant, Care-free Life of Being a Better Christian Day In and Day Out and Experiencing the Guiltless Joy of Living Life Without Limits or Having to Worry About Following a Bunch of Uptight Rules?" Click Here: http://www.ChristThroughMe.com/CTMbook.html -=-=-==-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ** Attn Ezine editors / Site owners / everyone ** Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine or on your site so long as you leave all links in place, do not modify the content and include our resource box as listed.
MORE RESOURCES:
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
A Ministry Of One Each of us has far more potential to serve the Highest Cause, and each other, than we ever tap into. Many of us seeking to commit our lives to such service have, even if only briefly, considered leading or joining an established ministry - at least until the responsibilities associated with our real-world concerns reasserted themselves in our thoughts. How do You Know If You Have Psychic Ability? I am sure many of you reading this article have pondered on this subject. Are some people simply born with a special gift or is this an acquired skill all of us can learn. The Springtime of Peace The deeper beauty of spring is its process. In winter's last days, as the sun warms the earth, each root and branch awakens to the patterned memory of who it is and what it can be. You Are a Person of Abundance Heaven is a place of abundance and earth is a place of abundance. Every where God is, is a place of abundance, for God is an abundant God. Loving People In Spite Of Them, Not Because Of Them! Before the movie "Finding Nemo", came out Steve Jobs the founder of the Apple Computer company spent millions of dollars promoting it. Before a major push on merchandise Nike will sign a multi- million dollar contract with some sports star. Lectio Divina -- Reading the Bible for Spiritual Growth Lectio divina is a very useful and practical discipline for spiritual growth. Rooted in ancient monasticism, the practice is a fourfold cycle: Reading, Meditation, Prayer, and Contemplation. Looking for God - Heres My Story On Finding the Lord Hopefully you're reading this article because you're intrigued by the page title: "Looking for God?" This article is dedicated to the Big Guy who makes it possible for all of us to be who we are. God loves each one of us, big, small, short, tall, wherever we are. The One Who Heals It's late. But it's usually those words that you cannot sleep without getting down that are the ones worth saying the most?these moments are few and far between- especially when one learns that it is better to listen than to speak. Mind, in Time and Space One cannot make a decision in the moment of now. All decisions are made from the past, and then you work in the past to recreate a future that has already passed based on that decision. Pursuing Your Destiny During my childhood days, I disliked Lenten season because radio and TV stations were off the air (no cable yet during the 70's) and food is limited to veggies and fish. Likewise, I was taught that holy week (1) is a time to be sad (at least in Manila), the elders then are singing the passion in a sad tune. Law Vs. Grace At first glance it does seem that law and grace are opposed. Even the Bible seems to be divided into two sections the Old Testament (law) and New Testament (grace). Spiritual Growth: Measures for How Youre Doing In my yard are quarter-circles of grass growing taller than the rest. There 's also a 12-foot circle with no grass. The A To Z I Beheld I beheld the sky and its wonders and saw AstonishmentI beheld the earth and its flowers and saw BeautyI beheld the animals and beasts of the air, land and water and saw the hand of the CreatorI beheld the fullmoon and to me was it , like a blooming DaisyI beheld the rivers and saw its EffusionI beheld the star that led the East and saw the FirmamentI beheld the sun and saw the GloryI beheld the cross and saw my HeroI beheld the dove and saw InnocenceI beheld the heart of the master and saw a priceless JewelI beheld the Pentecost and saw the Holyflame KindledI beheld the slaughterand saw the cleansing blood of the LambI beheld my reflection and saw The Creator's MasterpieceI beheld my loss and looked up to Him who is my guiding star of the NorthI beheld The Spirit descend from above and saw the heavens OpenI beheld The throne and saw the big PictureI beheld the power of His might and saw no QuestioningI beheld the sepulchre and saw the ResurrectionI beheld the open heavens and saw Him who is crowned the morning StarI beheld The word and saw the TruthI beheld the HolyOne and saw given to me, the unctionI beheld His church and saw mighty men of ValourI beheld the fear of Him who is crowned LORD of lords and saw WisdomI beheld His breath and light and saw that which is exceedingly greater than XenonI beheld my future and saw no more of YesterdayI beheld the face of my Father and saw myself on the mount of ZionAbout The AuthorA motivational and Inspirational writer and programmer.. Understanding the Gospel of Matthew and Why it Matters - Part 8 Matthew 3:1-3 The Preaching of John the Baptist1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight. Traveling Out Of Body I can see the cops coming! They're a good thousand feet away. I can clearly make out their uniforms and swinging nightsticks. Surviving Separation: A Cinderella Story I want to tell you a love story. It's actually about a girl named Cinderella. Sinners by Choice God said, "Thou shalt not?" and we continue to tell God, "we will." We continue to prefer the terminal disease of sin over the eternal love and glory of God who wants fellowship with us. Resolutions or Revelations? There's nothing wrong with wanting to improve ourselves either outwardly or inwardly. What's important is to check the motives behind the improvements. Developing Your Intuition: Conscious Construction Using Cosmic 2 x 4's What's a cosmic 2 x 4 you ask? It's actually a phrase that's been used in the 'new age/ metaphysical' world for the past 15 years or more. It refers to the lessons we learned the hard way when we didn't listen to our intuition. A Servants Heart Do you have a servant's heart? Has God blessed you with the insight to see the needs of others and reach out in compassion and understanding even when they, themselves, cannot reach out and ask for help?This month I had the rare opportunity to not only reach out and touch a few lives, but to be blessed in return. I say rare because in my own experience, it's either been one or the other-not both at the same time.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |