Life's Compromises

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This is a mystery which only for spiritually alive Christians, who are quickened by the Spirit of God. Jesus did not promise any of us that consistent Christian living would be easy! He did not promise release from daily problems and pressures. Life is hectic and today’s life is not quiet simply because we live in a sinful world. Through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, our faith must be exercised in the realities of everyday life.

Does "life" teach us?

Christians' attitudes find their root in the heart (Jeremiah 17:9-10). In Proverbs 4:23 says, “...Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” God charges each Christian to personally model his attitude: “Do nothing out of ... vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2: 3-5).

Bad things happen to everybody because we are living in a sinful world. Things will go wrong, they will go wrong all the time and that God has given us the grace to survive. God has given us the grace to sanctify us. God uses suffering to perfect His power which the Bible referred this as "Power is perfected in weakness". God is basically saying "You should not have self-confidence and trust in yourself in the sense you believe you're capable of anything eternal that only I can provide grace and power." Only God can help us overcome situation as long as you trust in His GRACE.

The question here is, when did God has given me the grace to handle the sufferings of life?

And when or how do I accept God’s grace? That's the issue.

Paul’s thorn was not his main focus but rather something far deeper. The thorns are not necessarily evil, but rather the works of sanctification. The right perspective is to understand that in the trouble of life this is part of it trying to discern what God is doing in the trouble of it. James says count it all joy when you fall into various trials cause trials have a perfecting work. Peter says after you've suffered a while the Lord will make you perfect. God uses suffering to reveal our spiritual condition.

This is why Jesus talks about discipleship. Remember the story about the rich ruler? Jesus looked after the rich young ruler as he walked away, but Jesus did not follow him or attempt to coerce him. Jesus wants people make their own moral choices; and Christ knew this and permitted rich ruler to go his own chosen way. Jesus is saying that He cannot do our repenting for us. He died for our sins, now it is up to us to pick up the cross. "Salvation is free, but discipleship will cost you your life." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

Becoming a disciple, following Jesus Christ requires personal cost, giving up your selfish "me" and become like Christ. Jesus might have grieved over His Cost of Discipleship requirements, but He never ran after them to try to win them with rosy promises. Luke 14:27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. God's Grace is that we live in His Spirit AND also walk in His Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in us with all the power and gifts of God, necessary to enable us to walk the noble, spiritual, Son-like life with God. With Grace, we can show mercy and help others (Heb. 4:13-16).

This is an "inward" relationship with the Holy Spirit and His conviction in my heart to repent and follow the cross of Jesus Christ. After I failed, did I repent and ask God to help me to change? Go to my earlier post that explains the strategies that will help develop "success attributes" which is a set of characteristics that help define our attitude and effort put into overcoming our weaknesses.