“God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” {1 Corinthians 1:9}
The most important thing we can ever accomplish for ourselves in this life is to know who Jesus is, and have a constant relationship with him. Knowing him will keep us from all evil. Not because we will not experience evil or hardships or heartaches at all. As a matter of fact, the Lord was very honest with us and he told us through John’s writing that in this world we are going to have tribulations. {John 16:33} But then he comforts us and assures us that although we will suffer tribulations, he told us to cheer up or take courage because he has overcome the world. And because he has overcome, we will overcome as well. That’s exactly why it’s so important to have Jesus Christ in our lives, to have our relationship with him taken care of. We must always be working in our relationship with him, talking to him, loving him, and praising him all the time, everywhere and every moment. Then when evil and tribulations and heartaches do come, we are already in a habit of talking to him and we will automatically talk to him about our circumstances. Sorrows and heartaches, attacks of the enemy and discouragements don’t have to overcome us but we will overcome them. Through talking to Jesus Christ, the one who gave his life for us, the one who overcame death, hell, and the grave and the principalities of this world, we will overcome.
We need to learn to engrave this fact in our hearts that Jesus Christ is faithful. No matter what happens he is true and faithful in his word. He will not ever leave us or forsake us.
The enemy of our soul is the king of lies. He will lie and use trials and even bring people we know in our lives to lie to us and tell us that God is no longer with us. This is a scary thing when we feel that God is far away from us, displeased with us, or worse, against us. When we feel God is the one against us where are we going to turn? Who is going to comfort us now? Who is going to save us? The devil could care less about how we feel. He will use these kinds of lies against us again and again because it has worked with people in times past again and again. People fall for this kind of lie. The Bible states that Satan is a thief who comes to kill, to steal, and destroy. {John 10:10} He will kill your trust, your hope, your faith in God, and steal your joy from you if you let him. The key to overcoming him is not looking at yourself and relying upon your own righteousness, but looking at Jesus Christ, the one who started our faith in us and the one who will end it. The Bible states,
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” {Hebrews 12:2}
We have no righteousness on our own, and even if we do, whatever good we have we it owe it all to the Lord. The minute you think it’s you who is good, watch out! Because that’s the spirit of self-righteousness, that is not God anymore. All we have that is good comes from God. The Bible states,
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” {James 1:17}
“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness’ are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” {Isaiah 64:6}
“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” {Romans 7:18}
“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” {Galatians 5:17}
In short, this walk we have with God is not about us being good or even being bad, it’s really all about Jesus Christ. Whether we feel good or whether we feel bad about ourselves it doesn’t really matter, what matters is that we are looking at Jesus Christ and trusting in his love for us. What matters is that we understand that on our own we are nothing, we have no righteousness to boast of before God or to make him love us and favor us more. Our righteousness and perfection is actually in trusting in his love for us, and in his goodness in our lives.
“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.” {Jeremiah 17:7}
“But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.” {Jeremiah 9:24}
The Lord doesn’t love us or want to be with us because we are good, but because He is good. He doesn’t love us and favor us based on our righteousness or in our goodness, but based in our faith and hope in him. He is the one that is doing the work of righteousness in our lives, not us. He is the one that takes our sins away from us, teaches us how to be good and to be kind, and leads us in the paths of his righteousness. Remember he gave his life for us not because we are good, but because we are sinners. He loves us and died for us even when we were still living in our sins.
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” {Romans 5:8}
Our hope and our trust should always be in him. Our eyes should always be on Jesus Christ and not upon ourselves, always believing in his love to keep us and establish us in our walk with him.
“But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.” {2 Thessalonians 3:3}
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” {1 Thessalonians 5:24}
We will come across all kinds of heartaches and sorrows and trials in this life, it doesn’t matter if one is worse than the other. It’s all the same thing with the devil, it’s to take our focus away from God and onto ourselves. The Bibles states,
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” {Ephesians 6:12}
If we learn to take our eyes off ourselves and keep it on the Lord we will make it. If we learn that no matter what happens, Jesus is faithful and will never change we will make it. If we learn that he will never leave us nor forsake us, and that he will never lie and take back his word that he promised to us when we had sought him in prayer, then we will overcome. Because this is the most important thing in the fight of our souls in this life: trusting Jesus Christ, believing with all of our heart and soul that he is faithful. If we learn this, if we know this, and if we are determined to believe this until the end, then we will overcome.
“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” {Hebrews 13:5}
“So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” {Hebrews 13:6}
“Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” {Deuteronomy 31:6}
