What is it in you that are the determining factors that show you that the Lord loves you, what parts of His provision, grace and mercy are necessary for you to have this assurance. I realize that some of you are probably saying to yourself that what He accomplished on the cross was enough, that you need no other proof of this love, and I will not question this, for it is Truth, and it is not, never has been or ever will be my intention to cause doubt in the life of any believer in Christ in any way. The message is clear in many of my letters to you, if you see a fault in your life and enact the necessary actions to correct it for the Glory of God, then you will be free of it and be able to continue forward in the path that He has for you.
So then, look at this opening statement for just a moment and begin with what many would consider the negative traits of it, for it is in adversity that we will begin to draw closer to our Lord, most of our cries to the Lord happen in the valleys, not on the mountain tops. What we have come to expect in our lives over time we believe we deserve, when in reality we do not deserve anything and we deserve everything we get, a negative expression in the extreme, but truth nonetheless, for by grace we have been saved. (Eph. 2:8) Do you believe that you should expect to have heat in the wintertime, have you taken for granted that when you turn the thermostat up that hot air will come from the registers? What if it stopped, how long would it be before you questioned what the Lord was doing? What if the power went out, no matter what season it was, and not just for a few hours or days, but for an entire year, no electricity of any sort whatsoever. Was the first thing that just came into your mind “That’s ridiculous, sooner or later they would get it fixed,” or “Well, I wonder what God has in store for me now.” Not every one of these questioning thoughts needs to be expressed in the extreme, they can be as simple as a nagging ache in the body that simply will not leave, and the doctors can find no reason for it, a reduction in your financial resources, an errant child, or even the expectant rapidity with which old age begins to approach us, the question is, what event would need to occur within your personal life that would make you question the love and concern of the Lord for you.
A long time ago I knew a couple that became financially destitute for various reasons, a good God-fearing couple. There was no doubt that they were going to lose their house and nearly all their possessions in it, the future looked more than bleak, and because of all these and other compounding issues, their marriage of over ten years was on the verge of collapse. A very wise, Christ-serving pastor of that church took up a donation unbeknownst to them, made reservations at a place he knew they enjoyed for a week, borrowed them his car, handed them some money, and told them to go and enjoy themselves and pray. That is called love my friends, and that is one of the reasons that our Lord allows these times of so-called suffering to enter into our lives, so that He can show us how much He loves us. It is sad to say, but what happened for this couple is the rare example, love in action has turned into love in prayers only, and shallow prayers at that, if we have it by our side we are not to withhold from those in need what we can give them now. (Prov. 3:27) But the question remains, what does our Lord need to remove from you before your trust will be complete in Him, and I am not speaking of the material items that you have surrounded yourself with, nor of those whom you love, but just the daily accoutrements that you have come to expect to be there, because they always have been.
How about no more hot water, or a refrigerator, stove or microwave, washer or dryer or even access to one, no more new clothes, only a continuing series of never-ending patches on the ones you have now. Their clothes and shoes never wore out, and all they had to eat was manna, (Ex. 16:35) think you could do that, or are you one of these “wait and see how I will handle it” Christians, I’ll trust Him more if I have to, if it is forced upon me. This is the base root of the explanation of why we now have the term “Carnal Christian,” the one who says they are resting in Christ, but cannot rest assured that they would continue to do so if those things of the world that they have come to expect are taken from them. Do you believe that every Christian that the Lord has allowed to experience the same trials in kind as Job experienced ended up with a happy ever after ending, a short test as it were, and then double the blessings to finish up life with? Do you think that He has done this numerous times to those who are faithful and obedient servants, and then let them die in poverty and what the world would call misery? Ask Lazarus, ask the prophets and apostles that were killed for the sake of His name, ask Paul, and though we do not know her end, ask the woman who gave the last two coins that she had.
What makes so many today think that they deserve all the good things of the world and Christ, there is no such thing as a Carnal Christian my friends, there are those who trust Christ and there are those who don’t. Those that have and those that own little see all that they have been given as blessings from the Lord, they are His, all belong to Him, and if He desires to remove all from them, they will still praise His name, for He is the prize. Far too many are professing Christ, as long as He continues to give them what they want, as long as there are no major changes in their lives, as long as He doesn’t take everything away from them. To these, homeless means God doesn’t love them like He used to, destitute means that He has forsaken them, suffering, in no matter what form it arrives, means that His hand of mercy and grace has been removed from them. When He picks up His winnowing fan, they tremble and fear, they will stop praising Him until the hot water comes back on, rejoicing in His presence will cease until things return to normal, and they will fear and tremble only for themselves instead of seeking His face in thanksgiving. There is no such thing as a Carnal Christian my friends, words are cheap, true faith cost something, the point is, how much is it going to cost you?
How much will He need to take away from you before you finally surrender all to Him? If you are afraid of losing anything in this world, then you are still in the world, if you are not willing to run to Him and forsake all that you hold dear here, then you have no part of Christ. (Luke 14:33) Let it all go and fulfill the law of Christ, (Gal. 6:2) perfect love, His perfect love, casts out all fear, no more worrying, only rejoicing, no matter the circumstances. Think now on these things that you expect, those things of the world that you hold close to your heart, do you plan on making them part of the decorations of your home in the New Jerusalem? Let everything of this world go, hold no longer any emotional attachment to them whatsoever, no matter what our Lord allows to come into your life, give thanks to Him, glorify Him in it, and you will gain the One that matters above all, you will receive for eternity the prize that is Christ. It is His good pleasure to give you the Kingdom, (Luke 12:32) what here could possibly compare with what He has waiting for us.
