One major thing the Lord kept showing me was that Jesus taught that we're to have a real faith, in a real God and that there was a cost to pay in this life time. We WILL have troubles here. It wasn't a faith where when you were in trouble or going through a hard time, you just "claimed a promise" and God rushed to save you from it. 
Instead it was a faith that went far beyond day to day life, and filled you with joy just because Jesus loved you, you were saved and had Jesus with you all the time, even during those troubles. He wouldn't always save you from them, but He would walk with you through them and use them to grow you up to be even more like Him.
Those first Christians died for their faith. They were filled with His joy, yes, and they had a very close relationship with Him and they knew His Word, and they knew that their lives no longer belonged to them. They belonged to Christ to do with as He would - even to spend them as martyrs if He chose. And that was OK, because they knew that He had a good reason for it and would use their death to bring glory to Himself and store up treasure in Heaven for them, and they knew most of all that Heaven was their real Home, not here. Because they knew God was real and that He kept His promises, they could give up their lives without any second thoughts, and considered it a great honor if He chose to sacrifice their lives for His Kingdom. After all, didn't He tell us to offer up our bodies as a living sacrifice? So, that's what they did. Can you imagine Christians today being able to do that? Not most of them. They're not really convinced that God and everything He promises us is really real.
Because we're not convinced He's real, we therefore aren't convinced His Word is real and that He means exactly what He says and will do it.
He impressed on me that holiness was not a suggestion for us, but rather a command. He has saved us to be His priests and commands us to live a life of holiness and love; to be just like Him. If you recall, that's exactly what He told Israel when He saved them from Egypt, took them as His own and gave them His Word. And yet, they failed. We often put them down for failing and not seeing "the obvious", and yet, don't we do the very same things?
He doesn't want us to take a lighthearted approach to the sin in our lives. He doesn't want us to call sin something it's not, like declaring it's an "illness" and therefore not our fault. Nor are we supposed to figure it doesn't really matter all that much if we sin since we can get forgiven any time.
Instead He wants us to remember what that forgiveness cost Him for every single one of our sins, because the more we do, the more we will hate sin as He does and the more we will insist on living life here His way instead of our own. (1 Peter 1:15–19; 1 John 2:15–17; 1 Peter 2:5; Matthew 5:48; 1 John 3:6; Romans 6:16–23;)
He kept reminding me that I hadn't only been set free from the penalty of sin, but also from it's power. It has no power at all over us anymore! Because He is with us and the Holy Spirit is dwelling within us, then sin can no longer make us do anything! We don't have to succumb to our sin nature any longer. We can choose to accept that, or ignore it and go on sinning. But if we accept it, we can indeed be holy like He is; like He commands us to be. We have to remember that He never commands us to do anything that He doesn't also empower us to be able to do.
No, I'm not saying we can live a perfectly sinless life like He did, but I am saying that we could do 1000% better then we are if we really accept that and believe it and then use the self control and discipline He gives us to live a holy life.
He showed me over and over that it's not our job to worry about the evil in this world. Nor is it up to us to fix it. That's God's job. Instead, as we're shown our inheritance from the Lord is peace. We don't even have to worry about how or if God will use us because again, that's God's job, not ours. We're dead in Christ, or at least we're supposed to be, and dead people don't worry; they don't fear; they're not concerned with their rights or if other people like them, lie to them, hurt them, or anything like that. They're concerns and thoughts are with the One they love and the One who lives through them.
The more He showed me about being "dead" to this life and alive in Him, the more sense it all made. He showed this to me through the letters in Revelation and then studying Romans 6-8 and Ephesians 5:1–10. Those verses in Ephesians surprised me because of how they end. After listing some sin, that many of us would think were "little" sins, like using vulgar or coarse language, swearing, etc, it says: Ephesians 5:5–6 —For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. *Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. * I know in the past I just kind of glossed over those words, figuring as usual, "it's ok, I'm saved so I have a get out of jail free card". But that's not what the Lord wants. Yet this and many other scriptures like it, make it quite clear that anyone who persistently lives in sin, will not share in God's Kingdom. In His sermon on the mount, Jesus told us what the requirements were to be in His Kingdom. So we really need to take sin as seriously as God does. We need to hate it, especially when we see it in ourselves.
He always kept going back to how much He loves us, how much He wants the suffering here to end; how much He longs to have us with Him; and how He longs for us to listen to Him and be obedient children.
Besides His love for us, He also kept bringing me back to John 17:20–23 and other passages, including those in the letters in Revelation, showing me how important it was that we love each other and be one with each other. I'm sure you all recall too how He constantly told us that was the most important commandment after loving God.
What it seems to boil down to is to know God is real and that He's not far away, but is right here with us, all the time and He loves us and longs for us to be obedient to Him so we can have that close, intimate relationship with Him, and through that relationship we will have the same kind of relationship with others too. It's all about love really, and the battle is within our wills. Who will we obey? Our Lord who loves us, or Satan, the world or our flesh? Every decision we make, every thought, is either in obedience to Him or to sin. Just as He says here, or decision determines our character:
Revelation 22:11–17 —Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.” *“Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. *I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. *“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. *Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. *“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” *The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. *
It's time to take the Lord and His Word seriously. It's time to put away the things of this world, and concentrate on our relationship with Him, on knowing His Word well so we can show ourselves approved, and concentrate on living the way He has shown us to live - putting others before ourselves, loving the unlovable, those who've hurt us, betrayed us, lied to us, failed us, embarrassed us, regardless of whether or not they're saved; regardless of whether or not they deserve it. Because that's how He loves us. He saved us even though we didn't and don't deserve it. He blesses us and doesn't treat us as our sins deserve because He loves us, no matter how we treat Him or for how long or how often we fail Him. Now He expects us to do the same for others - to cover their sin with love and forgive even the unforgivable. Even so, Come Lord Jesus!
Instead it was a faith that went far beyond day to day life, and filled you with joy just because Jesus loved you, you were saved and had Jesus with you all the time, even during those troubles. He wouldn't always save you from them, but He would walk with you through them and use them to grow you up to be even more like Him. Those first Christians died for their faith. They were filled with His joy, yes, and they had a very close relationship with Him and they knew His Word, and they knew that their lives no longer belonged to them. They belonged to Christ to do with as He would - even to spend them as martyrs if He chose. And that was OK, because they knew that He had a good reason for it and would use their death to bring glory to Himself and store up treasure in Heaven for them, and they knew most of all that Heaven was their real Home, not here. Because they knew God was real and that He kept His promises, they could give up their lives without any second thoughts, and considered it a great honor if He chose to sacrifice their lives for His Kingdom. After all, didn't He tell us to offer up our bodies as a living sacrifice? So, that's what they did. Can you imagine Christians today being able to do that? Not most of them. They're not really convinced that God and everything He promises us is really real.
Because we're not convinced He's real, we therefore aren't convinced His Word is real and that He means exactly what He says and will do it.
He impressed on me that holiness was not a suggestion for us, but rather a command. He has saved us to be His priests and commands us to live a life of holiness and love; to be just like Him. If you recall, that's exactly what He told Israel when He saved them from Egypt, took them as His own and gave them His Word. And yet, they failed. We often put them down for failing and not seeing "the obvious", and yet, don't we do the very same things?
He doesn't want us to take a lighthearted approach to the sin in our lives. He doesn't want us to call sin something it's not, like declaring it's an "illness" and therefore not our fault. Nor are we supposed to figure it doesn't really matter all that much if we sin since we can get forgiven any time.
Instead He wants us to remember what that forgiveness cost Him for every single one of our sins, because the more we do, the more we will hate sin as He does and the more we will insist on living life here His way instead of our own. (1 Peter 1:15–19; 1 John 2:15–17; 1 Peter 2:5; Matthew 5:48; 1 John 3:6; Romans 6:16–23;)
He kept reminding me that I hadn't only been set free from the penalty of sin, but also from it's power. It has no power at all over us anymore! Because He is with us and the Holy Spirit is dwelling within us, then sin can no longer make us do anything! We don't have to succumb to our sin nature any longer. We can choose to accept that, or ignore it and go on sinning. But if we accept it, we can indeed be holy like He is; like He commands us to be. We have to remember that He never commands us to do anything that He doesn't also empower us to be able to do.
No, I'm not saying we can live a perfectly sinless life like He did, but I am saying that we could do 1000% better then we are if we really accept that and believe it and then use the self control and discipline He gives us to live a holy life.
He showed me over and over that it's not our job to worry about the evil in this world. Nor is it up to us to fix it. That's God's job. Instead, as we're shown our inheritance from the Lord is peace. We don't even have to worry about how or if God will use us because again, that's God's job, not ours. We're dead in Christ, or at least we're supposed to be, and dead people don't worry; they don't fear; they're not concerned with their rights or if other people like them, lie to them, hurt them, or anything like that. They're concerns and thoughts are with the One they love and the One who lives through them.
The more He showed me about being "dead" to this life and alive in Him, the more sense it all made. He showed this to me through the letters in Revelation and then studying Romans 6-8 and Ephesians 5:1–10. Those verses in Ephesians surprised me because of how they end. After listing some sin, that many of us would think were "little" sins, like using vulgar or coarse language, swearing, etc, it says: Ephesians 5:5–6 —For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. *Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. * I know in the past I just kind of glossed over those words, figuring as usual, "it's ok, I'm saved so I have a get out of jail free card". But that's not what the Lord wants. Yet this and many other scriptures like it, make it quite clear that anyone who persistently lives in sin, will not share in God's Kingdom. In His sermon on the mount, Jesus told us what the requirements were to be in His Kingdom. So we really need to take sin as seriously as God does. We need to hate it, especially when we see it in ourselves.
He always kept going back to how much He loves us, how much He wants the suffering here to end; how much He longs to have us with Him; and how He longs for us to listen to Him and be obedient children.
Besides His love for us, He also kept bringing me back to John 17:20–23 and other passages, including those in the letters in Revelation, showing me how important it was that we love each other and be one with each other. I'm sure you all recall too how He constantly told us that was the most important commandment after loving God.
What it seems to boil down to is to know God is real and that He's not far away, but is right here with us, all the time and He loves us and longs for us to be obedient to Him so we can have that close, intimate relationship with Him, and through that relationship we will have the same kind of relationship with others too. It's all about love really, and the battle is within our wills. Who will we obey? Our Lord who loves us, or Satan, the world or our flesh? Every decision we make, every thought, is either in obedience to Him or to sin. Just as He says here, or decision determines our character:
Revelation 22:11–17 —Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.” *“Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. *I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. *“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. *Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. *“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” *The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. *
It's time to take the Lord and His Word seriously. It's time to put away the things of this world, and concentrate on our relationship with Him, on knowing His Word well so we can show ourselves approved, and concentrate on living the way He has shown us to live - putting others before ourselves, loving the unlovable, those who've hurt us, betrayed us, lied to us, failed us, embarrassed us, regardless of whether or not they're saved; regardless of whether or not they deserve it. Because that's how He loves us. He saved us even though we didn't and don't deserve it. He blesses us and doesn't treat us as our sins deserve because He loves us, no matter how we treat Him or for how long or how often we fail Him. Now He expects us to do the same for others - to cover their sin with love and forgive even the unforgivable. Even so, Come Lord Jesus!
