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Christ Wants the Whole Package
by God invests in people whose hope is no longer in worldly riches, but rather only in Christ. Such people are righteous in God's sight. As far as God is concerned, righteous people are righteous because their Foundation is Christ. Therefore, in God's estimation, such people will also be a solid investment. This is why God imparts the riches of His Presence as well as a straightforward knowledge of the things He really cares about to righteous people. Righteous people are also righteous because they pray in Christ's name, which is what God intended since before anyone was around to pray. Christ purifies His people and sets them free for the purpose of praying powerfully. From a similar point of view, Christ puts people on the same page as God so that these people can effectively fellowship with God. Such prayer is joyful for all parties involved because it's an unconditional, loving, relational, two-way street between God and Godly people. This prayer is a two-way street, it is fellowship with God. This points toward another reason why righteous people are effective in their prayers. They express the desires of their heart to the Lord and, all the while, the desires of their heart are those that the Lord implanted in them. Christ teaches us to pray by transforming us to pray. In Christ we go from being fundamentally Godless to being fundamentally righteous. As we pray in the name of our Savior, who is also our First Love, He will develop us spiritually. It is appropriate for us to pray in His name because He is the One who teaches us how to pray and how to approach God. Like any other heavenly accomplishment, effective prayer can only be a product of Christ's spiritual handiwork. In fact, we are so dependent on Christ that we don't even want to pray unless He implants the desire into us. And, if we are Christ's, then our new spiritual instincts will lead us to approach God continually and with a clear conscience. Christ transforms us for this specific purpose. Therefore, because we follow Christ, fellowshipping with God is our joyful, lifelong employment. In the same way a patient father will let his son practice on a tricycle first and then on a bike with training wheels and then on a bike without training wheels before he gives his kid a motorcycle, so also Christ will lead us lovingly and reasonably toward righteousness. Righteousness is a sign of spiritual grown-up-ness. Keep in mind that, when I refer to righteous prayer or fellowshipping with God, I am not talking about some mystical new teaching or some elusive, new version of enlightenment. I am talking about the spiritual Substance of knowing Christ, the One who holds the whole universe together. Nor am I talking about some nebulous goal that maybe you can reach if you try hard enough. No, righteousness is clearly impossible for us to obtain by trying hard. Not only is righteousness impossible to obtain, it is impossible to even comprehend without Christ working us up to that point. All these things point to the thorough nature of Christ's work. He will not compromise His goal of making a people who are every last bit, individually as well as corporately, His own possession. If we are Christ's then we must be purely and wholeheartedly His. We follow the One who is Truth, who is incompatible with partial-truth or half-truth. If we know Christ's heart at all, if we have been following after Him for any time, then we should know such basic things instinctively. It should be commonsensical to us that God's kingdom consists of much more than outwardly impressive congregations made up of well-dressed, well-mannered people, who assemble together to make a good show of themselves while their hearts are far from Him. by Patrick Roberts. Find his book and additional material at www.BooksByPatrick.com Patrick is an average Christ-seeker. His goal is to turn people to Jesus Christ. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |