As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. Col2:6
Christ Jesus. Our Brother, our Redeemer, our Lord. He took on our nature, yes a nature that “can” sin. (Our nature: “man”: capable of sinning.) Yet… He did not. He did not sin, through His obedience to the Father, by the power of God. In His flesh, He was obedient. He was sinless. And also, ALL the fullness of the Godhead (Deity) does dwell bodily in Him, our Jesus, our Savior. He is our example, and the Firstfruits of many. Our Beloved.
And during His life of obedience for our sake, He did not have any encouragement at all, from man. In His endeavor to be obedient, His encouragement came from within, it came from Himself, it came from God. His love for obedience, His love for the will of the Father, His love for people, His accomplishment of a holy life, and of obedience, and being a servant, and submitting His will (the man Jesus) to the will of God. The encouragement for all this obedience and enduring did not come from the Religious Leaders, no, they tried to discourage Him. And encouragement did not come from His friends the disciples. He rather encouraged them.
And now, even now He encourages us. His Spirit is in us; we now encourage one another, with the encouragement of His Spirit. To be obedient, to be a servant, to love what God loves, to love one another, to love other people, to deny ourselves, to humble ourselves, to lay our lives down, to give our lives for others, to do the will of the Father. We encourage one another, with the encouragement of Christ, working in and through us. That we may help one another have joy and victory and to endure to the end.
Thank you sister Loretta!
I have come to the realization that the only difference between me and the lost of this world, and for that matter the religious in the denominations is I am found…and that in Him! Should I refuse to allow Him through me to produce fruit, or I attempt to produce fruit FOR Him, then I being grafted in will again be cut off and burned in the fire. Every last one of us deserves the same fate. This realization quickly levels any little hill of self righteousness I may think I stand upon. Oh how I need Him as savior and oh how I need Him as Lord!
amen Mickey….. the encouragement of Christ, in us, through us, for our “working out our own salvation”, and for helping one another, is from Christ in us, it is from His Spirit working thru us… the power and glory are His.
The truth just shines thguroh your post