The martyrs who died in a most cruel way, followed the way of Jesus and they bravely yet meekly gave up their lives. But the only way that we can follow in that route is to be like Jesus. Jesus has to abide in us and we have to abide in Him. Whoa! What do I mean by abide in him? Well how can we follow someone who we know nothing about? We follow him by reading His word. How can we follow someone who we do not speak to? We've got to pray. Now how can I follow someone who does not entertain my thoughts or salt my conversations? We've got to speak and think about Jesus. Abide: to be kept, to remain http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=G3306&t=KJV&page=2
Remain in Jesus in your thoughts, actions and words. Easier said than done.
My father told my cousin that we have to pray to Jesus every minute of the day. My cousin said that it was impossible to do it every minute of everyday. My father disagreed. While studying the lesson from the quarterly with my aunt, we came across an relating question: If I do not worship all the time, can my worship be truly accepted on Sabbath? My aunt said, " Well, we have to worship on Sabbath." Wow! Indeed! But I do not blame her because her mind is not always there fully and she probably has her guard up because she was talking to me, the daughter of my father, with whom she used to argue over Sabbath issues. But I quickly corrected her by saying that worship is not delegated to only one day a week, that everything we do should worship and honor God.
As I was speaking to her, my mind went back to a website I saw earlier that week. http://www.thesabbathchallenge.com/ This site was very interesting to say the least. I am seriously re-evaluating my Sabbath experience and the activities I participate in on the Sabbath (like writing on my blog at 12 AM LOL. Not necessarily ungodly, but not too restful). One problem the blogger had was:
"Another area I struggled a little with was keeping my mind focused in
the morning. I kept bringing up daily things to talk about with my
husband, then realizing that I needed to redirect my thoughts toward
God."
But isn't our minds always supposed to be focused on Christ? Even when we are discussing daily problems, isn't Christ supposed to be our focus? How can we remain in Him and be kept by Him if our thoughts are so far from Him? Not only on Sabbath but everyday of the week.
Now I'll admit that my mind is usually very far from Jesus. My problem is simple: I forget about God. My happiest and most endearing reflection is not about the second coming. My thoughts of deepest contemplation are not of the cross. My mind does not think about how awesome the incarnation is. My mind usually thinks, " Been there. Done that." I'm very jaded in that sense. My mind, like I said before is unstable.
This is not a good thing but something my driving instructor said is helping me. He says, " Every three to four seconds, check your back ( the rear view mirror). If you forget, 6, 8, 10, 12 seconds pass, as soon as you remember, check your back." So when I remember to ponder God's goodness or the life of Jesus or my relationship with Christ, I do.
Now I'll admit that I've ignored that push to think about Godly things. I'll be the first to admit that there are thoughts in my mind that are more exciting and entertaining to me. But I have to educate my mind to love the things of God. My goal is to be like Jesus. By beholding I can be changed. If my mind does not behold the life of Jesus, how can I be changed into His likeness? If I'm not changed into His likeness, then in the time of persecution, I will most likely reenact the actions of the traitor and not of Christ.
Next Post: A Holy Convocation?
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