My friends,
Jesus Christ is alive and at work. He endured suffering to the point of death on a cross. He was placed in a grave after being confirmed dead. Three days later he walked out of that grave, putting the fear of death to shame and giving us yet another reason to hope and rejoice in the promises of God. Hallelujah
My friends in this blog I want to boast in Gods redeeming power and how the blood of Jesus has the power to eliminate sin out of our lives and replace it with the righteousness that is in Christ. I pray that you will be encouraged and filled with hope by reading this.
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
John 1:29 ESV
You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:5?-?6?, ?8 ESV
assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:21?-?24 ESV
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
Romans 6:12?-?13 ESV
I believe scripture is clear that God hates our sin and desires for us to walk in purity and right standing with Him. That is why Jesus was sent. Not only to cleanse us of our sin but to redeem us from the power of sin that is at work in/around us.
Scripture says we can conquer sin if we abide in Christ and live by the power of his Presence (Holy Spirit). I know this can be done because i’ve experienced it in my own life and continue to wage war against sin/darkness daily, as we have been instructed to do.
I am not saying I am perfect and have conquered every sin in my life but I will rejoice and boast in the victory that God has given me since meeting Him and abiding in Him. These victories can range anywhere from anger to lust, evil thoughts, unwholesome talk, lieing, slandering, immorality, pride, greed, gluttony, alcoholism, the list goes on.
Again I repeat, I am not perfect and I know I won’t reach that state until I am in my glorified body with the Lord. My friends, the point that I am trying to convey to you is that their is power in the name of Jesus and the righteousness that is in Christ will transform you if you allow it to.
My friends we are all fighting the same battle whether you believe God or not. I write this to you to encourage you and inform you that you are not alone. Jesus has given me tremendous success with many of my battles in life but I still struggle daily. Many can testify to both of those statements.
A real struggle I have been having lately is not overeating the delicious Georgian cuisine that is all around me. You may laugh at the mention of it but the struggle is real and the consequences for sin are also real. I could spend a lot of time expanding this topic but I will save that for another post.
Last week the Lord told me “you won’t win the battle if you don’t desire to fight”. Very simple. Very relevant. Very applicable in all aspects of our lives. You won’t win the battles in life if you don’t desire to fight. You won’t finish the race victorious if you don’t desire to fight. Whatever battle you are fighting, I encourage you to take up your cross, follow Jesus, and place your battle at the feet of the Almighty. Let the Lord be your strength. Let the Lord fight your battles.
Again, I hope/pray this empowers you to conquer the sin in your life and helps you to realise the importance of living a holy and righteous life with our heavenly Father. Jesus came to cleanse us an empower us to fight the battle against sin/darkness, but I want to remind us that he will also return with fire and glory to condemn the world that is lost in its sin/darkness.
I appreciate your support/prayers. Tune in again soon for an update of the past few weeks of my time here in Georgia.
Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” Galatians 3:11
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23 ESV
