It is all about Jesus

After a month of long weekends, fortunately things are back to normal again! I want to thank you for the feedback on the previous posts, and encourage you to keep on commenting and also contact me if you have any questions. It is a awesome privilege and joy to share the Word of God with you, and I want you to know that we are praying for you even though we do not even know you, or your circumstances.

My good friend Jacques, who is training for the Iron Man South Africa 2010, and I went for a training session this afternoon, which included a 20 kilometre time trial- that is riding as fast as you can for the whole distance. The purpose is to get as good, or rather as fast, over that distance as you possibly can, which in turn is a reflection of your fitness. So the harder you train, the better you become.
This is the way how everything in life works, everything is based on performance, what you put in, is what you get out, which is good in some areas of life, but it can be a problem in terms of how we understand our relationship with our Father.

We work hard at doing good, and we strive to 'sin less', and we sweat to become holy, and all of this is what being a christian is all about, according to the world's standards. Who you are, in the world’s view, and what you have, is defined by what you do. In other words: it’s all about you.
However, this is not the case in our lives, to be good, to be holy and to stop giving attention to sin, in other words, to be a ‘successful’ Christian, is to see that it is all about Jesus.

Listen to what the Bible says in Ephesians 2:8 "By grace you are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast."

The Christian life is not about you and what you can do and not do, but it is the Life of Grace, where it is all about Jesus and His Finished work. So many people are convinced that our salvation depends on our choice, by us doing the ‘giving’ of our hearts or lives to Him- but the Word is very clear- it is a gift- and when it comes to gifts, the only thing we can do is to receive!

This is so difficult for Christians to understand. We naturally think that our relationship with our Father is defined by what we do for Him or have done for Him: our strenuous moral striving, our diligent pursuit of holiness and virtue, all our efforts at self-denial, but the Word clearly states the opposite- it is all about Him!
Look at how the Message translation explains it: "Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play a major role. If we did we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing!"

So what, you may ask, should we do? Except for working to enter into His rest, we need to have faith. Our Life is a life of faith, and nothing more than that- and get ready for this one- even this is from Him:

Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

This is so important to see and understand, it is not about us, but all about Him, His Finished work and Grace in abundance (Romans 5:17). In the next articles we will look at this faith of the Son, and also at Him being everything we need, and needed, to please God. God has given us His Spirit to lead us into all Truth, keep on listening to Him on your inside, and live the Life which He prepared for you to live. I want to leave you at this stage with the following Scripture:

Romans 11:36 “ For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. [For all things originate with Him and come from Him; all things live through Him, and all things center in and tend to consummate and to end in Him.] To Him be glory forever! Amen (so be it).”

Remember to live loved- you are His, and He loves you very much!