In a dark world where believers are supposed to “shine as light” there is not a fuzzy life we are allowed to live. We are called, compelled, and convicted to live a life of purpose and victory. No other options. The test is this. Is there power in your life? If so, where do you believe it comes from? If not, why not? Could it be your power source? Yes, it could be. In 1 John 4 the writer speaks to this very thing and offers a very encouraging word to true believers and a very daunting word to fake believers. A phrase that has been used by our president, and a well warranted phrase, has been “fake news.” Of course, fake news is that news that is not based on fact but on people’s opinions and basically, lies. If they cannot get any truth, they make it up. FAKE! First of all, the good news of Jesus Christ is not FAKE news! It is possibly the only REAL news out there. Here is the news. Jesus Christ came to live on this earth, born of a virgin, walking among man, and yet God. He came to make the crooked path straight by giving His life for the penalty of sin in every person’s life. His death on the cross was the finished work of love He was sent to do and His resurrection on the third day defeated death, hell, and the grave. Here is how Paul wrote about it in 1 Corinthians 15: 1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
That’s it!! That act of love by our Savior, Jesus Christ, is the real good news. Not FAKE NEWS!! It is from a reliable source, the Word of God, and our belief in this good news and the salvation it offers is the power source for living our lives. It is without mistake. It is unmistakeable. Further scripture from 1 John reaffirms that what happens when we accept Jesus Christ and repent of our sins begins a transformation. Romans 12:2 further states about this transformation where it states 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. So when we follow Jesus and give Him our life we are joining ourselves to the “perfect” way to live. Not just a good way to live, but PERFECT!! Take the finest Swiss made watch that has been worked on by the world’s premiere watch technician and compare the perfection they strive for in making the best watches in the world. That work pales in comparison to the work that God does in our lives when we receive Christ. God’s work begins a process that compels us to want to “walk with God.” The walk that is created in our life begins a process, a journey of coming to know God in a very intimate way. That way of life is a hyper spiritual way of living and thinking. As it says in the Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” God coming alive in our lives is a moment of true victory for all who receive Him and then the process of growing more like God, sanctification, takes it from there. That is why, if we know Jesus, the change is unmistakeable in every area of our lives. Temper is tempered with a loving heart. Immorality is replaced with a mega morality that sets us apart from a dark world. The love of God is seen in our lives and is captivating for all who get to experience it.
UNMISTAKEABLE!!!!
Listen to how John puts it in 1 John 4: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
We speak a much different language than the world and our real news is unmistakeable when put up next to the FAKE NEWS the world offers. In the next few blogs I am going to expose some of the fake news of the world and put it in comparison to the real news of God’s Word. I believe the difference will be earth shattering for some and convicting for others. Whatever the result, God be praised for the good news of Jesus Christ and the change it makes in our lives. IT IS UNMISTAKEABLE!!
The Pilgrimage continues…..
David Warren
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