8-23-10
The main objective of a believer’s life is to be able to present to Jesus at the end of our life the testimony of a life with complete obedience, thus offering perfect love to Jesus. “If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us… God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God…Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we.” (I John 4:12-17) We seek to offer perfected love to Jesus, who is worthy of the sacrifices we make to obey Him.
To be poor in spirit means that we know our spirit is deficient in obedience or love. On the last day, Jesus will reveal, or unveil the condition of our inner man, or the measure of love that we developed. Some will have confidence as the condition of their love is made manifest. Others will be ashamed at their lack of the development of their love from this life. “Little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” (I John 2:26-28)
The pursuit of “complete or comprehensive” obedience includes bridling our speech (Eph. 4:29-5:4), disciplining our physical appetites (I Cor.9:27), managing our time (for service and prayer with the Word) and money (to increase the kingdom beyond our comfort and honor), and making a covenant with our eyes to refuse to look on anything that stirs up lust (Job 31:1) as we engage in communing prayer with the indwelling Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14).
Paul’s main objective in his life was to win the prize of presenting the testimony to Jesus on the last day that his obedience was complete-thus his love was complete. The prize is all that is involved in offering to Jesus a long-term testimony of complete obedience and receiving Jesus’ response back in eternal rewards, which express how He feels about us loving Him in this way. “Those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it…Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty…I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest…I should become disqualified. (I Cor. 9:24-27)
Maintaining a fresh walk with God with a sustained reach in our spirit throughout decades is the definition of living radically before God. We are not radical because we do something unusual for a few weeks or months. When we neglect to thoroughly confront sin in our life, we are not loved less by God, but we do suffer loss in minimizing the full gift of our love from this life to Jesus on the last day.
The Lord values our journey to grow in love. The reach of our heart to love Him moves Him. If you do not quit, then you will win. We do not find our identity in our failure but in the fact that He loves us, in the gift of righteousness, and in the cry of our spirit to love God.
Blessings,
Gary