Your Decision
John
8:31-32 : "Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed in Him, if you
abide in My Word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and
the truth shall set you free"
- If some
evenings, after a long day at work, you come home tired and looking forward to
relaxing in front of the TV, but the tube is out, I believe you would do
something to take care of the problem. - If, when talking to your children, you
realize they are not listening or they tell you that you are old fashioned and
that you should be quiet because you don't understand them, I believe that
sooner or later you would have to find a way to resolve the situation and
establish a better relation with them. - If you wife breaks one or two dishes
every single day, you may eventually confront and resolve the situation. - If
your husband, when he comes home every night, flings his coat on the couch and
leaves his shoes and socks on the kitchen's floor it would create a problem that
the two of you may have to resolve. These are factitious situations in which we
could find ourselves, but if we wanted to live a more peaceful life we would
need to find a solution for them. While all of the above has to do only with our
natural life, we must also consider that in our spiritual life there are things
that sooner or later need to be resolved. As a matter of fact, there are many
Christians, even sincere ones that live year after year with problems and
situations that have a negative influence in their lives, without deciding to
confront and get past them. This is exactly want I want to talk about, looking
for counsel in the Word of God, in order to find the way and the truth that will
set us free, like our Lord Jesus tells us. We find the first advice in the
epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Philippians (3:12-14) "Not that I have
already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold
of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not
count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things
which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press
toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
The Scriptures tell us that the Apostle Paul was a Jew and a strict observant of
the law. Before his conversion, he persecuted the Christians and caused many of
them to be put in prison. He witnessed, culpably and consenting, the stoning of
Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Nevertheless, in spite of this once he
received forgiveness from God he never looked back to his past. Unfortunately
today, many of us remain tied to our own painful past. We continue to walk with
this suitcase full of wounds, negative experiences and many unresolved issues.
But here is the good news, we do not need to bring the problems of the past into
the present nor into the future, with God's help we can be healed and delivered
from all of them and more. There are, in fact, many other issues that need to be
resolved. Let's take a look at some: 1°) - GUILT If in the past we have been
involved in gross sin or in some form of occultist practice, like witchcraft,
sorcery, astrology, idolatry and new age, and we still carry the guilt of these
sins against the Lord, we need to go back to the Word of God. The bible tells us
that the Lord Jesus carried on Himself all of our sins and iniquities. He paid
the prize for them on Calvary's cross. When Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice
for us (you and I), He took upon Himself the punishment that was meant for us
and - through the shedding of His precious blood He provided the pardon for our
guilt. So, the only thing that we must do is to confess our sins, repent in
sincerity from the heart and then appropriate, by faith, the finished work of
the cross. Sin is a horrible thing that separates us from God. To receive His
pardon we must repent. We must go to God with a broken and contrite heart,
confessing our sins and rebellion to His commandments and ready to change
direction and to follow His way. Repentance includes the changing of some of our
habits and models of life. We may have to give up some "friendships",
avoid places of "danger" and so forth. In short, it means to turn
around and to go in a different direction…the one that is pleasing to the
Lord! Therefore my dear friend, if you have repented of your sins, you have
confessed them to God, and you have asked for His forgiveness but there remains
guilt in your heart, know that the Word of God tells you that: "As far as
the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from
us"(Psalm 103:12). And if your heart still condemns you, then remember,
"God is greater than our heart". Because the Lord had already provided
for our pardon, we can go to Him and we can leave our guilt at His feet. In I
John 1:9 it is written: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". The blood of
Jesus satisfies completely God's demands of justice and it purifies us from
every sin, because with the shedding of that blood the wages of our
transgressions has been paid. Therefore...resolve your guilt. Resolve it with
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ...resolve it with the pardon that is given to
you through His grace. He is the only One that can and wants to set you free!
2°) RESENTMENT- GRUDGE - BITTERNESS OF HEART If in your heart there is
resentment or rancor toward someone…if in your life there is bitterness or
hatred toward someone, you cannot grow spiritually. Therefore you must resolve
these issues. If someone offended you, hurt you or maligned you and you cannot
find peace inside, then Jesus tells you "Resolve it!" If in your
family there is hostility and misunderstanding between you and your son, you and
your wife, you and your father or mother, Jesus says: "Resolve it!" If
there is bitterness or resentment toward a brother or a sister in the Lord,
toward the pastor or priest or whomever then know that there is only one way to
be free from it all: the way of forgiveness. Forgive and forget. There is no
need to continue to live a life conditioned by the bitterness that dominates
your heart. In Hebrews 12:14-15 we read: "Pursue peace with all people, and
holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone
fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause
trouble, and by this many become defiled." Here the writer of this epistle refers
to a root of bitterness and his advice for its eradication is to "pursue
peace with all people". If we don't live in peace we may be planting seeds
of unforgiveness, anger, resentment, envy and bitterness. Yes, bitterness is a
plant very "hard" to eradicate. God warns us not to plant its seed
because the root will grow and in time of harvest it will corrupt many others.
He tells us to purse peace not bitterness. This is His will for all of us. 3°)
BAD HABITS AND VICES Many Christians cannot break free out of bad habits or
vices. Cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, pornography and other similar practices are
part of their lives. They know how much God hates these things and how
devastating they are for them and for those around them, nevertheless they are
unwilling to quit. Yes, they go to Church, they read the Bible, they pray and
they have fellowship with other Christians, but when it comes to give up what we
call bad habits, (but really they are bondages), their dependence on them makes
them powerless. I can almost hear the Lord say: "It is tragic that you, a
born again individual, a new creature in Christ Jesus of 5, 10 or 20 years are
still practicing those bad habits and feeding those vices. Don't you know that
you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you…Don't you
know that your body is the temple of the Holy ghost Who is in you whom you have
from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore
glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. (I Corinthians
6:19-20) The Lord says: "Enough being slave of these things. It is time
that you handle this situation and decide to resolve it! Yes, resolve it! If you
want to grow and be mature in your spirit, if you want to walk with me, you
don't need to smoke anymore, you don't need to get drunk, to take drugs or to be
involved with pornography. Now is the time to trust in Me and with My help you
can resolve all of your problems. Assuredly these are problems common to many
people, Christian or otherwise and I don't presume to offer an exhaustive
solution to them in such a short time. My goal is to underline the existence of
many reasons why people continue to live with such bondages (or dependencies) in
their lives. Let's take a look at some: A - The first reason is DECEIT Many
people think that NOT solving these problems is normal because they are so
adjusted to living with them that to do anything about them would be unnatural.
The following are some of their excuses: "That's the way I am"…
"What's so wrong about it?"… "Everybody does it".
Therefore, years go by and the predicaments remain to accompany them all through
life. They influence their marital interaction, the relationship with their
children and with their parents, at work, in school, in church and so forth.
This is deceit. There is no reason why life should go on with unresolved issues.
If you are thinking that is normal to go around carrying a suitcase full of
unsolved problems, I tell you IT IS NOT. Jesus is telling you: " Resolve
them! Yes, all your life you have thought that this is the way you are, that you
cannot change, but the truth is that - with the help of God - anything can
change and you can live the "abundant life" that He wants to give you.
B - The second reason is FEAR Why are there situations in our lives that we
don't seem to be able to unscramble? Very often the main reason is FEAR. We are
afraid to confront them. We don't have the courage to talk about them with our
wife or with our husband. We are afraid to go to our mother or father and talk
to them about issues that we have carried with us since our childhood and we are
afraid to go to our boss to resolve that sad situation we are encountering at
work. If we really think about it, many are the circumstances that disturb our
well being and we do not confront them only because of fear. Fear blocks us, so
we continue to carry the burden on our shoulder year after year. In the end all
of that becomes an obstacle in our spiritual experience as it robs us of the joy
of completely living a true Christian life. The truth of God's Word, on the
other end, declares:" God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of
power, and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7) C - The third
reason is BEING FLIPPANT ABOUT GOD There is another category of people who do
not resolve particular situations because they have no intention to resolve
them. Their behavior is strange; they come asking for advice concerning the
solution of their problems, we give them some answers, they listen but then they
act totally opposite to what they have heard. Later they come back, they ask the
same questions, we give them the same answers and this little game repeats
without stopping. The truth is: they do not want an answer. In the Word of God
there is a very clear example regarding this kind of performance. It's in Luke
9:57-58, where it says that while Jesus walked along the way, someone told Him:
" Lord, I will follow You wherever You go. And Jesus said to him,
"Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has
nowhere to lay His head." What did this man want from Jesus? Actually he
wanted nothing, only an answer. In reality he had no intention to follow the
Lord. Continuing reading in the same passage, we encounter two other people that
approached Jesus and when Jesus invited them to follow Him, they found excuses
not to do it. The first one said: " Let me first bury my father". But
Jesus answered: "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
(Luke 9:60). To the second who came to Him saying, "let me first say
goodbye to my family" Jesus said: "No one, having put his hand to the
plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62) What
does all of this teach us? Here we have three people that want to follow the
Lord, one different than the other. Jesus challenges each one to make a serious
decision, but none answered Him, not taking God seriously! Playing with God!
This is one of the reasons our problems don't get resolved. Do we really want to
get out of problematic situations that block us from living the kind of life God
has planned for us? If we do, there needs to be a change. A change not in the
people around us, but in us! We are the ones that need to change; we are the
ones who need to make the right decision in order to bring a solution to our
present situation and to be serious with God. We cannot play games with Him. The
sacred Scripture presents us another very clear example of what we are talking
about. A young man approached the Lord saying: "Good Teacher, what shall I
do that I may inherit eternal life?" Jesus answered him: " You know
the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do
not bear false witness,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'
And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these I have observed from
my youth." Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him,
"One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and
follow Me."
This is the answer that Jesus gave the young man, but he didn't
like it because it wasn't the one he wanted to hear. As a matter of fact, it is
written: "… But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he
had great possessions." Mark 10:18-22. This young man was not looking for
the Lord's answer! You may go for counsel to the priest, to the pastor, to
Christian brothers or you may watch Christian television, listen to cassettes of
anointed sermons, go to meetings or conferences etc. and it's all good, but God
will speak to you (and you will hear Him) only when you come to confrontation
with the truth of His Word and when you start to implore, pray and seek HIM with
all of your heart. You will look for Him with all the strength that is in you
and you will find Him. In the book of the prophet Jeremiah it is written:
"And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your
heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD…" Jeremiah 29:13-14 To
conclude in Hebrews 11:6 we read: "But without faith it is impossible to
please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a
rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. I believe this Word is for you, who
are reading right now. I believe that the Lord is talking to you right at this
instant: "You have lived a long time with that situation, with that problem
that you never solved, but now it is time for you to be set free. Now is the
time that you come to Me…that you seek Me with all of your heart and I will
let you find Me and I will help you. There is no more reason for you to continue
dragging this burden behind. Come to Me with the sincere intention to resolve it
and I will help you. Yes, Jesus tells you: "It is time to resolve it! Mario
Persichetti (translation from Italian by Laura Pedota)
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