January
the 19th is the most spiritually meaningful day in my life; this is the day I
was introduced to Jesus Christ. I am no longer groping in the darkness but walking with confidence in the Light. Once an enemy of God, now I am His son. No longer dead in trespasses
and sins and spiritually blind by unbelief, I was made alive in Christ, and now my eyes are open to the truth!
Before meeting Jesus, I was without God, without Christ, without the Holy Spirit, without hope, without peace, and without purpose. Now, the penalty of my sin, which is eternal separation from God forever, was satisfied on January 19, 1976, by placing my faith in the One who paid my sin debt, Jesus Christ. No longer was I under condemnation but reconciled to God through the death of His Son. My eternal destiny had changed instantly from hell to heaven.
In short, everything had changed in my life when I trusted in Jesus Christ as my personal sin-bearer. It will always be the most important day of the year for me as long as I am taking in terrestrial air. Yesterday, I celebrated forty-five years in knowing the Lord.
Speaking
of yesterday, this date, January 19, 1976, seems like it was just yesterday! I have always
thought it good advice to tell those who finally come of age, “It was only
yesterday that you were a child; tomorrow you will be old. So, love God and live
for Him with all your being.” For most, I know that these words would sail
right over their heads or enter one ear and exit the other! I just didn’t want
them to do as I did. Blessings are found in fearing Yahweh and keeping His commandments.
Oh,
that we would grab hold of the brevity of life and seize the day, squeezing
every ounce of living out of each and every day; for truly, our life on earth
is like a vapor, appearing for a little time then vanishing (cf. Jas 4:14). We
can ill-afford to fail to bring glory to God on any given day because of the
vaporous nature of our time on earth!
Though
I am 45 in the Lord, I think I am going on 18 in many ways. The more I know the
more I realize how little I know about the things of God. Have I foolishly squandered
opportunities of service for Yahweh during these 45 years for this or that
reason? Yes, I have. We eventually learn, some more quickly than others, that there
is no justifiable reason to ever have a tag willfully hanging around our necks,
figuratively speaking, saying, “Temporarily Out of Service!” We just don’t have
the time to waste on such nonsense, but nonsense always seems to find us, and
we recklessly abandon our responsibilities, yes?
I know Satan always wants to mess with my head during every spiritual birthday celebration any way that he can. 45 was no different. I am beginning to think he doesn't like me! This is the day of all days where I find the adversary attempting the same MO to overshadow my successes by bringing to mind my past failures. Oh, I could say something in defense like, “I’m only human,” or “The sons of Adam are all sinners,” or “Nobody is perfect,” but it doesn’t alleviate the painful reminders of the spiritual scars of the past.
There is never a legitimate excuse to fail in doing God’s will at any time; all excuses are lame, even all of mine. Recall the words of Adam giving an explanation to Yahweh as to why he violated the one and only prohibition in the Garden,
The
woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.
Eve
took up the same line of defense by blaming the serpent,
The
serpent deceived me, and I ate.
And
I ate! Oh,
how many times have we bitten into the thing forbidden! Satan cannot make
anyone take a bite, only through believing in his lies. For clarity, all
persons, places, or things outside the will of God is forbidden. The parameters
are found only in one place, the Word of God, not in everyone doing right in
his/her own eyes (cf. Jdg 21:25)! that only gets us in trouble in a heartbeat!
Why
is blaming someone else for our failures such a lame excuse? Because we can do all things
through Christ who is strengthening us (Php 4:13), yes? Everyone taking their
lead from yesterday will be doing their best to dodge taking personal accountability
for their actions today and tomorrow. How often have we heard someone say, “I
take full responsibility in the matter,” but in reality, he/she is never held
accountable! Accountability is becoming meaningless and extinct in our culture, but not to
God (cf. Solomon’s words in Eccl 12:14).
Notice
in the Genesis 3 passage that Yahweh did not ask the devil why he did what he
did. Because Satan, who is incapable of holiness, does what is already expected
from him – to do only evil things. Adam and Eve had a choice, but they didn’t choose
to do what was expected, that is, to obey God and honor the prohibition.
As
sons of Adam, we have a choice, but we often fail to do what is expected of us,
that is, to obey God! Satan was punished for his role in the Garden, and his
greater punishment is still to come, but what Adam unleashed in the Garden remains
today something too deep to grasp, to fully understand how far the ripple goes, which
involves eternal separation from God and the destruction of the heavens and the
earth:
Therefore,
just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus
death spread to all men, because all sinned (Rom 5:12).
For
the wages of sin is [eternal] death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord (Rom 6:23).
For
we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together
until now (Rom
8:22).
But
the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens
will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent
heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up (2 Pet 3:10).
We
can’t simply blame the first Adam for all of this or for our disobedience in
the here and now! We all were in Adam making that decision to disobey God. It
is called in theological circles, seminal participation. We are all to blame
for the sinful mess in the world. This is why personal salvation is so vital that
all the inhabitants of the earth receive God’s offer of salvation through His
Son!
Back
to my spiritual birthday, I know that this negativity storm that always brews
around my spiritual birthday is not coming from the Lord. It is, however,
allowed as in the time of Job. The Holy Spirit reminded me of something yesterday
that I wanted to share with you today of that which you already know; or maybe,
you don’t or simply need to be reminded?
Yahweh
can love you or me no more or no less. Think of it; whether obedient or
disobedient, God’s love for His children is eternally unwavering, unchanging! Whatever
enters our life, even on a spiritual birthday, Romans 8:28 and Heb 13:5 are still
in operation. If we stand or fall, God’s love for us is constant. Personally, I
don’t want to fall and fail Him again because I love (agape) Him. Thank God
for 1 Jn 1:9.
Some
would cynically claim that this truth only encourages others to give in to their
weaknesses by taking advantage of God’s love for them! Since Yahweh is
all-knowing, He knows what is going on within the heart of man. So, we cannot
pull the proverbial wool over His eyes! In the context of the Garden, there
were some serious consequences for system failure; there are always consequences
in being disobedient to Yahweh.
Love
may cover a multitude of sins, but love also chastens; there is always a price
to pay when we step outside of the will of God as believers. The law of the
harvest is active in all of the sons of Adam, however, lost or saved. The best
preventative for sin is love (agape), for a love for God is only revealed
through our obedience to God’s expectations.
I
think of this often throughout the year, but particularly on my spiritual
birthday that what Jesus did on the cross on my behalf convinces me of His love
for me (Rom 5:8) and compels me (2 Cor 5:14) to be obedient to His commands (cf.
Jn 14:15, 21, 23; Gal 2:20; Eph 3:19; 1 Jn 5:3), even if it should lead to my
demise (cf. Job 13:15a). Sometimes, Divine love allows the hedge protecting us
to become hinged and bad things do enter into the lives of good people within
the boundaries of Divine decree as in the case of Job, possibly as in the case
of us (cf. Job 2:10b).
If
Yahweh will never ever leave us (Heb 13:5), then neither will His love for you or
me because He has given us His Spirit (cf. 2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:13-14; 1Jn 3:24;
4:13). Paul through the Spirit makes a great statement of Yahweh’s inseparable
love for us,
(Rom
8:35) Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
(Rom
8:36) As
it is written: FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE KILLED ALL DAY LONG; WE ARE ACCOUNTED AS
SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER.
(Rom
8:37) Yet
in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
(Rom
8:38) For
I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor
powers, nor things present nor things to come,
(Rom
8:39) nor
height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The persistent accuser and sworn enemy of mine never tires of pointing out all of my foibles,
failures, faults, follies, futilities, and fragilities on a daily basis, but it especially intensifies on January the 19th! It makes me feel special! There is nothing positive coming
out of his mouth, only that which is negative. He thinks that if he speaks falsehood
long enough about me, I will believe it to be true. I have discovered that he takes
great delight in reminding the All-knowing and the finite little me of my hypocrisies and
unworthiness on my day of all days! I offer up no excuse other than making my
appeal to the mercy and grace of God.
Whenever
the devil is ranting about me and desires to get at me, Yahweh reminds me of
His amazing love for me through His Word. I know within my heart of hearts that
I will never hear Him say to me, “I do not love you any longer.” My eternal
life is secure in Him, and so is yours if you know Him! He will never abandon you or me, ever; for He covers us as a hen
gathers her chicks under her wings, and He holds us accountable should we ever unwisely
get out from under His covering.
January
19, 1976, this is my day of deliverance! A spiritual quantum leap had taken place in
my life, and I was never the same! So, let me ask you, “What day is yours?” <><
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