Some believers lead Christian lives with faith that is just knowledge. They live according to the flesh since they do not circumcise their hearts. But there are others who try to achieve the Lord's heart and lead Christian lives with spiritual faith through the circumcision of heart. Let's learn to change our Christian lives into spiritual ones by looking into a few cases that happen to those who do not circumcise their hearts.
Firstly, they feel troubled eating spiritual bread.
People's problem with sins is resolved when they accept the Lord, thoroughly repent and receive the Holy Spirit as a gift. They can feel joy. However, when they are faced with trials and tests, they soon complain. When they meet limitations in growing up in faith, they feel distressed. At the start they may have begun their believing lives with joy and ease. But since they started to circumcise their hearts, they may often find it difficult for them to practice God's Word. Then they may feel discouraged and downcast.
We know we have to fight against sins and cast them away, but sometimes this process seems to be beyond our control. Then we may groan and feel troubled.
Apostle Paul said in Romans 7:24, "Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?" Although we are living spiritual Christian lives, we sometimes feel this way. This is because we must die daily to demolish our 'ego', the 'self' that is in us.
But unlike the case above, if you feel troubled because you lead a fleshly Christian life, you must quickly turn away and run with joy, thanks, hope, and faith.
Secondly, they have greater fear and uncertainty than hope and they are negative.
Some people live their Christian lives in worries, fear, and apprehension. Some of them temperamentally have many worries and are used to thinking negatively. They are always afraid of what will happen to them.
When they cough a little, they may think, 'Do I have a lung disease?' When they have pain, they might think, 'Can this be cancer?" They always think negatively and worry about being in the worst possible situation.
Another case is that some have fear of God because of misunderstanding. Most of them focus on God's judgment and punishment instead of God's love and mercy. They may have sinful natures left, so they might be afraid of God. But thanks to the fear, they can be sober and run more diligently towards sanctification. As they become sanctified, this fear will melt away in God's perfect love and disappear.
When you feel fear living a believing life, its main cause may be that you do not live in the truth. When we obey God's Word, the Holy Spirit in our hearts rejoices. Then we also become filled with joy and hope.
However, if you live going against the truth despite a few years of faith, it means you do not practice the knowledge of truth and so you have fear. In this case, do not be fearful but just give thanks, look for the reason causing the fear, repent of it and turn away. Then, you can come back to the track of spiritual Christian lives.
Thirdly, they pass judgment and condemnation on others
Some people judge others within their own knowledge of truth. When someone commits sins or has shortcomings, or receives punishment or retribution, they think, 'That disease is caused by doing this or that…so is that why he is undergoing such a trial?'
This kind of people wants to spread others' faults by all means. When they think someone got away with some fault or mistake, they think, 'People must know his shortcomings!' When they see someone being praised and recognized by others, they feel troubled. They want to spread others' faults and they feel good when they do so. They feel content when the person receives punishment.
But what if the person is a member of their family? If he is pointed at by others and receives punishment, would they feel good about it? Of course, it doesn't mean we should conceal others' sins anytime in any case. We must obey God's Word. Matthew 18:15-17 says, "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church…"
Fourthly, they are not at ease, not at peace and not at rest.
Job 3:26 reads, "I am not at ease, nor am I quiet, And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes." If you are not at ease, you are not tranquil and not at rest, you are not leading a spiritual Christian life. Some leaders with faith may sometimes have worries without peace; it is because they do not lead spiritual Christian lives.
People are not at ease because they have worries and they are nervous. But those who commit everything to God have no worries. Thus, if you are not at ease, it means that you are trying to do something on your own. When you don't rely on God and commit things to Him, you cannot help doing things on your own. Then God cannot help you and you are not at ease and have worries.
Also, if you don't have hope for Heaven and have greed for money, fame, and authority, and want to reveal yourself, you cannot be at ease due to such attachments to the earthly things. Also, if you have walls of sins and have fleshly thoughts, or when you do not pray, you are not full of the Spirit and lose peace.
Therefore, to the extent that you know God's Word, you must leave sins and dwell in the truth. Then the Holy Spirit rejoices and you can be filled with the Holy Spirit. Only when your souls prosper can you be free from worries concerning finance, problems in the family or health. Only when you are spiritually at ease can you lead peaceful Christian lives.
Moreover, when your souls prosper and have Heaven in your heart, you can have true rest. Of course, sometimes you may lament for God's kingdom, but true rest in heart will not disappear.
|
Manmin News 
11132
