What does the word “compromise” mean to you when we are referring to our Christian beliefs and Christian living? Did Jesus ever compromise the true gospel message in order to be accepted by those to whom He ministered or was He always challenging people to come up to a higher standard of living and serving?
I personally do not see Jesus as one who compromised anything when it came to doing the will of the Father. Jesus did everything His Father told Him to do. He said everything His Father told Him to say. He never watered down the gospel message to make it easier for people to swallow. He gave it to them straight up. 🙂
Many people were offended by Jesus and what He had to say. They were not able to receive the truth because they were “religious” in their thinking and “religious” in their lifestyles. They were full of pride and arrogance. They thought they were okay. They thought they had it all together and would often look down on others who were not in positions of religious pomp, stature or power.
Jesus, on the other hand, was a man of no reputation. He was not a man pleaser, but His whole purpose in life was to please His Father and do The Father’s will.
Unlike many church goers today, Jesus did not become a sinner to reach a sinner. Jesus lived a sinless life. He didn’t compromise His standard of living in order to reach someone who needed salvation. Instead He lived His life by the highest of standards. He lived a holy life. He lived a life of purity and purpose. He lived an overcoming life. He never gave in to temptation and never allowed Himself to be snared by satan’s evil purposes. He never gave place to the devil. He lived His life in such a way that demons trembled whenever He came near them. He knew who He was and He understood His purpose.
I see a lot of compromise going on in the church world today. People who were once on fire for God are now living in sin and see absolutely nothing wrong with it. “Grace covers” is the new phrase to condone our sin. Grace does not cover sin! You won’t find that phrase anywhere in the word of God. Grace enables or empowers us to say NO to sin! The Holy Spirit living on the inside of us gives us the power to live our lives in total victory!
We don’t have to compromise the truth! It’s the truth of God’s holy word that has the ability to set us free from sin and every evil work of the enemy! Hallelujah! We must believe the truth, receive the truth and apply the truth. Talk about something huge! That’s huge!
Some of you reading this might say, “Well, Sister Donna, you just don’t understand. I’ve always been this way. I’ve always been a drug user. I’ve always been a drunk. I’ve always been a fornicator or adulterer. I’ve always been a homosexual. I’ve always been a man pleaser. I’ve always been a liar. I’ve always had anger issues. This is who I am.”
Dear friend, Jesus Christ came to this earth to redeem us from every curse and to set us free from the powers of darkness and hell. When we give our lives to Jesus and totally trust Him to save us, He saves us! When we call upon His name and trust Him to deliver us from demons, He delivers us from demons! His name is greater than any other name. His power is greater than demonic power. Chains that once had you bound can be broken off of your life in a split second! You don’t have to stay in a pit of miry clay. You don’t have to live in darkness! You don’t have to stay addicted to drugs, alcohol, sexual immorality, etc. Jesus has the power to set you free from it all if you will just believe and receive the truth of what He says in His word.
Addictions can be broken over your life!!!!! You don’t have to live a defeated life! You don’t have to remain a slave to satan and his demonic forces. You can be free! That’s what Jesus does! That’s who Jesus is! He came to set the captives free!!!!
Once You allow Jesus to come into your life, everything begins to change. The more you yield to the power of the Holy Spirit, the more you will be transformed by His mighty power. That’s good news!!!!!! That’s the true gospel message. Jesus came to save, heal and deliver.
I want to challenge you today to live your life in such a way that when people see you, they will want what you have. What do you have? If you are a Christian, you have Jesus living in you.
When you have the Holy Spirit of God living on the inside of you, you should be going through a continual process of transformation. You should not be living in sin like you used to live before you gave your life to Jesus. You should not be “drinking and druggin” like the world does. The old mind sets and wrong ways of thinking should be passing away. You should be renewing your mind through praying and reading God’s word on a consistent basis. Those old desires to fulfill the lust of your old flesh should be dying. Those old desires to sin need to be crucified or put to death. If the struggle is still there, cry out to Jesus for your deliverance and transformation. He will hear your cry and He will do exactly what you ask Him to do. I know this to be true because this is exactly what I did and Jesus responded to the cry of my heart. He is the One who delivers! 🙂
Oh dear friend, there is hope for you today and that hope is found only in Christ Jesus. You won’t find it in a bar or in a dance hall. You won’t find it in a bottle of alcohol or a marijauna cigarette. The hope, salvation and deliverance that you need is only found in Jesus. He is the Way, the Truth, the Life. If you are willing to die to yourself and live for Jesus, you are well on your way to life everlasting.
Ask the Lord to save you today. Repent of all of your sins. Receive His forgiveness and choose this day to follow hard after Him. Crucify those old desires, old habits and wrong ways of thinking and begin to live a brand new life with the Lord as your helper and your guide. Make a choice today to live by the standards that God has set for you in His holy word. Don’t be a compromiser. Don’t settle for less than God’s best. He has good things in store for you if you will make a genuine commitment to serve Him with your whole heart and choose to live your life in a way that pleases Him.
One last thought before I end this article: Sometimes doing the right thing will cause us to go directly against the flow of what everyone else seems to be doing. It’s like trying to swim upstream in a downhill world. And this is exactly what we are called to do. As Christians, we are representatives of Jesus and His Kingdom here on this earth. This ole world is not our home. We are just passing through. Our eyes should be upon Jesus and doing His will in this earth. Doing God’s will may not always be easy, but it’s what He wants us to do. Obedience is huge!
My prayer for all of us is that we will represent Jesus in such a way that people will want to know this Jesus that we serve with such love, zeal and passion.
Let’s stop compromising with the world and the things of this world. Let’s clean up our house (our temple) and get our lives in order because Jesus is coming back real soon. He’s coming back for a bride without spot or wrinkle. We need to be ready for His appearing. 🙂
Copyright: November 2014 – Donna Kazenske
Donna is the founder and president of Sure Word Ministries located in Litchfield, IL.
For more information, please visit the website:
http://www.surewordministries.net
