Guest Blogger: Alex Gailey

I have never found a blog harder to write as long as I have written them. If there has ever been an example of spiritual warfare, I believe that this is the one for sure!

In continual prayer, God led me to Isaiah 59 and rocked my world with what I read:

"So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter.

Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.

He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him."

God is in control. Bottom line. And this scripture says it best: there is nothing that we can do that can reach righteousness and nothing we can do can do to be pure in the sight of the LORD. WE ARE HOPELESS WITHOUT JESUS CHRIST! God looked upon us where we were at, saw our helplessness, and saved each and every one of us through His love and by His mighty arm. What a story! You know, people can write about how to live your life and you can listen to the preacher or speaker talk about walking a pure and great Christian walk but that is not accomplished without Jesus Christ. A great man once said:

“God is not interested in our good works or our rules. There is nothing we can do, nothing we can offer Him as a Holy God that He can accept - except our faith in Jesus Christ... Has someone told us that if we want to mature in Christ we need to read our Bibles, fast, pray, win souls, memorize Scripture, attend church faithfully, and tithe? This, too, is legalism. To be sure, all of these things have their place in a Christian's daily walk with the Lord. But when someone tries to give us a list of rules or guidelines in terms of how many hours we should spend in Bible study and prayer, how many verses of Scripture we should memorize, or how many souls we should win for Christ, beware! If we fail to measure up - and most of us will - we will feel guilty. If we fail more often than we succeed, we will give up in despair. It's God's grace and the Holy Spirit in us that will bring us to maturity in Christ, not human effort or faithful adherence to a set of procedures... Love is a gift, not a reward for service!”

Let's trust in Jesus for our righteousness and acknowledge with a humble attitude that we are sinners and there is no chance for us alone. Only then will we understand God’s true love for us.

Our Prayer:

Lord, I realize that You, and You alone, are in control of my life and everything else that surrounds me. You alone have brought salvation to me, and nothing that I have done, other than acknowledge your everlasting Lordship and your love displayed through your beautiful Son, has contributed to this life that I now have through Jesus. Help me stay humble and submissive to your authority over my life always remembering who is in control and never losing sight of the hope I have because of You. Lord, You are Holy. Guide me to live a Holy life as well.

aLeX