Living The Life
My beloved church family,
We are so blessed to have God. We are so blessed to have family. We are so blessed to have friends. And, we are so blessed to have each other, Zion Memorial. It all comes with the package of being children of the Most High God. And, it all comes when we, you and me, are willing to live the life that God has in store for us.
How are you living?
Are you just making it day to day?
Or, are you living for the day that will never end?
Are you struggling to survive?
Or, are you striving to live victoriously?
Are you one who complains?
Or, are you one who proclaims the goodness of the Lord and all of the blessings that He has brought into your life?
Again, how are you living?
In a letter to the church at Philippi, the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 1:27-28, "Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God's doing."
There is a Gospel song, "You Ought To Live So". The chorus is:
You ought to live so
You ought to live so
You ought to live so
You ought to live so
You ought to live so
God can use you
Anywhere
And anytime
Again, I ask, how are you living?
If you will dare to trust God enough to live the life, you will be not only living but you will be walking, talking and telling the gospel story...according to you. We have Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and their accounts of their experiences with Christ and how He changed their lives.
What about you?
Is your life truly an expression of God's goodness and grace as the choir sings?
You see, when you are living the life, it is not a Sunday morning thing. It is a 24/7/365 thing. 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. 365 days a year. 366 days a year in leap year.
And, what will people see when you are living the life?
They will see you face adversity like they also face adversity. But, you will keep your peace because your mind is staid on Him.
They will see you receive victory like they also receive victory. But, you will praise God for the victory to give Him praise, honor, and glory instead of heaping it upon yourself.
They will see you share good news like they share good news. But, your good news will be about your Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, rather than the fleeting occurrences of life that come and go.
They will invite you to their events to come and party. And, you will invite them to your events but the events will likely include a Holy Ghost party because a Holy Ghost party does not stop.
And, when you accepted Jesus the Christ into your life, a Holy Ghost party was supposed to have begun that is never, ever, supposed to end.
And, when you live the life in this way, you will be a bridge, a reconciler, a mediator, an ambassador of the life that one can only live by living for Christ.
God has given you life. God has given you life everlasting. And, God wants you to live the life for you and for others around you.
And, know this. We are all in this together...if we choose to be.
God first chose us.
I chose God through Jesus Christ as guided by the Holy Spirit. You chose God through Jesus Christ as guided by the Holy Spirit. And, God has chosen for us to be together through Jesus Christ as guided by the Holy Spirit.
Let us live the life...together.
Come to HOPE Wednesday this evening. Let us keep living the life together and let us strive together to live the life better.
And, remember, God loves you and I love you too.
Be blessed,
Rev. Cain
