Are you Living?

Some people believe that to be living means; breathing, heart pumping, brain working or even being able to love and be loved, to have an income, or pursue a particular lifestyle and have fun. But is that all that living is about?

How about looking at this from the perspective of someone who believes in God and has chosen to be a disciple of Jesus - what does living mean then?

“He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Matthew 10:39

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

Romans 6:8

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Romans 8:12-13

What do all of these verses from the Bible tell us ?............That in order to live, we must die.

What does that look like?

This does not mean to physically die, although we will all do that one day, (and so you need to be prepared for that). It does lead us to think about baptism - the physical demonstration of your life dying as you believe and put your life in the hands of Jesus. That is part of it. But, this sense of living by dying is surely more than that one act. It is a lifestyle. If you have been baptised, that is a great commitment to God, but this dying to self is worked out over a lifetime, it is not just a one-off event. That's where it starts. When you are baptised you put to death yourself and choose to live for Christ as a result, it is not like the next version of yourself, the new improved version of you - No! You have died and chosen for Christ to live in you through the Holy Spirit. This involves a whole lifetime of putting Jesus in the driving seat of your life. It means dying to the things you want and expect and what others expect of you.

Being alive in faith is about living sacrificially not selfishly. 

That looks like how you handle the big and the small things in life; 

How you speak to people, how you respond at work, the job you have, how you raise your family, spend your money, look after your body and  the possessions you have. 

To lose your life most likely means making radical decisions that the rest of society look at and think you’re bonkers! It means considering God above everything else and putting what He wants for you above what you want for yourself. I don’t speak as someone without experience here. 

There was a time in my life when I gave up the best job I ever had. Not because I wanted to, because I really didn’t, but because God asked me to. I was really upset, disappointed and reluctant to do it. I loved that job, I was successful, had a good rapport with all my colleagues, was making a real difference to the lives of young people, and God invited me to give it up to focus on family. Some people may jump at that chance, but for me it was a really difficult thing. Family at the time was so hard. I went to work for relief and to feel like I had a positive impact somewhere at least because home was, I don’t even know how to describe it, but it was emotionally, physically and mentally draining. It was were I put in my best effort but I felt like I was being dragged through the mill really. 

So, being handed this choice between work and family, between where I felt successful and a failure, it was a heart-wrenching decision. It was not easy. Dying to yourself never is is it? Being sacrificial isn’t - it’s dying a bit inside. Yet, what do you do?

You have probably guessed it already, but I did give up the job. It was not easy. It did not transform our family immediately, but it was life-changing. I didn’t particularly like it, but I did do as God asked. 

Do I regret it? No. 

I have never regretted being obedient to God, but I have regretted the times when I haven’t been. 

There are times when I have felt God prompt me to do something, maybe talk to or pray for someone and I have bottled it because I was embarrassed and fearful - those are the times I regret. Each time I have walked away feeling sad that I have missed out and that person has also missed out on potentially meeting a God who loves them. I have never once regretted talking-to or offering to pray for someone when God has prompted me to, even if they didn’t seem to respond at the time. 

God does not want us to live in fear, but it was for freedom that Christ has set us free (Galatians 5). God wants us to REALLY live. He doesn’t want us to feel like we have missed out (like I do when I don’t do what I know I should), he wants us to live free from that worry and shame. He wants us to have LIFE!

In every one of the gospels, Jesus is quoted as saying that he who wants to save his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for Jesus' sake will find it.

Do you want  to find your life? 

It means that you must start living life sacrificially not selfishly by putting Jesus on the throne of your life, not yourself or anyone else. The promise is, if you are willing to give up your life and put it in God's hands, you  will find life in all it’s fullness. It will not be easy - it is a sacrifice after all! But our life will be greater, it will be freer and you will really learn to live. 

So, do you really want to live? 

If so, how does that look for you right now? 

Maybe God is inviting you to trust Him is some way. It could be that you take the first steps in acknowledging that there is a God after all that really cares about it. It could be that God is challenging in a different way; to look at your finances, job, family, leisure time, possessions or relationship. Whatever it is, are you going to take God up on His challenge? 

Are you ready to live?

God is 'grieved to the heart'

Going through Genesis, we firstly see the joy and wonder of creation, and the imagination, purity and delight of God in what He has made, and soon it all goes wrong….

Why does it go wrong? Because mankind want to do things their way. Adam and Eve were tempted then the initial sin of mistrust in God leads into depravity and destruction as we can clearly see in the synopsis of chapter 5. Then we hit this bombshell moment in chapter 6; 

‘The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. *6*And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.’

Genesis 6:5-6

Wow! What a contrast to the earlier chapters where things were 'good'. Now, the will and choice of humankind has led to God regretting that he made the whole race! I found that quite hard-hitting when i read it, that God saw the horrible stuff we get up to and felt so sick and sad about it that he felt intense sorrow. Doesn't that just show the incredible love of God?

God allowed, and still allows, humans to make up their own minds, to have opinions and choices, but can you see why God gets so sad about our disobedience or mistrust of Him? When we consider the unfolding reality through the book of Genesis that doubt, temptation and human choice can lead to a rapid descent into sin, why do we still favour our own decisions above God's advice? With Adam and Eve, the initial lack of faith in God, starting to doubt who He is and what He has said ends up with; murder, boasting, polygamy, unhealthy relationships and further distance put between God and His own creation, and that's just in these first few chapters, as you read on you will see lying, rape, incest, homosexuality and much more depravity.  

The very created beings that were intended to replicate something of who God is have gone away, and don’t even see it. No wonder God grieved. 

What would God see if He looked around the Earth today? I am sure He would still see, ‘that the wickedness of man was great’. Not much has changed. mankind still wish to exert their own importance and feel in control by making their own choices. Don't you think, that each time we knowingly do wrong  that God is still grieved ‘to his heart’?

Do you realise that only things that are dearly loved are dearly grieved? 

It is because of God’s enormous love for you that you grieve Him when you do things wrong, not because He hates you or wants to punish you, but because He sees how far you are running away from Him, and how the impact of your choices will effect you and those you care about. 

Today, ask yourself, are you grieving God in the way you are living your life? 

God has done everything He can to demonstrate His love to you, He follows you, He cares and provides for you, not only that, but He also allowed His perfect son, Jesus, to bear the ultimate shame and punishment just so you can experience the depth of His love for you by being free of the guilt of your sin.

Today, you have a chance to put away wickedness, accept forgiveness and live a life knowing you’re loved - are you going to take it? 

Dealing with the fallout

After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her. 
 Esther 2:1

The problem with responding in anger is that you often regret your decision afterwards. The king clearly regrets his, yet he knows there’s no going back. Even if the king had wanted to return to his relationship with Vashti, and was able to overcome the new laws and his own pride, would Vashti have accepted?

Highly-charged emotional reactions, whether made in excitement or anger, effect more than our own lives, they effect relationships and possibly the choices we have in the future. It’s not only that, but everyone touched by our decisions has to bear the consequences and you can never truly go back to how things were before. Once words are spoken they cannot be unsaid and actions taken cannot be undone. That’s what Ahasuerus was finding out. It takes but a moment to break a relationship and it can take years to restore one, maybe even a lifetime.

Even if you are forgiven and never discuss the event again, the pain and memory still exist and trust has been damaged, sadly there’s no rewind button in life where you can just redo the scene again.

In this situation with Ahasuerus and Vashti, things are too far gone to be repaired. She has been banished from his presence, so even if they wanted to, they cannot get back together and work things out. It is sad isn’t it. There are ways to avoid this happening for yourself, ways to avoid the loneliness and the fallout, is there a change you need to make today? Is there a relationship in your life that needs restoration? Is there someone you need to forgive? And if you’re not sure how to get started, pray.