How our lives look

Yesterday I was flying home from my vacation and found it an excellent opportunity to just listen, and pray.  No interruptions.  On the ride to my home I heard the following;

“Many do not think I care about what their lives look like to their enemy.  They do not believe Me for blessings.  A defeated life does not glorify Me.”

It is a true saying that many of us Christians get so caught up in our own sanctifications that we think first about crucifying ourselves to our old nature . . . and might not think at all about how the Lord loves us or how He would like to be glorified by blessing us.  What the world sees, and what the enemy sees, may not look like a fruitful blessed life because of our own attitudes towards blessing. And, we will lack endurance if we do not believe God’s personal promises pertain to this life as well as eternity.

Kind David said, “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” (Ps 27:13) His life is an example of believing for God’s blessings, and for success against his enemy while he lived.

David was not the only man who believed it was important for our lives to look successful. Moses believed that, for God to look good to the nations on the earth, His people needed to also look good, and have success against their enemies. Moses appealed to God’s ultimate goal of displaying Himself through His people, asking the Lord to consider how eliminating them would look to their enemy, the Egyptians;

 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? ¹² Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people.(Ex 32:11-13).

This event is know most famously for the fact that God can change His mind.  But just as important is the fact that God wants to be glorified, to be made to look good, by how He treats His people.

God not only wants to look good to the nations, but He also wants to make us to look good.  Here is what Paul said about our glorification on this earth;

²⁹ For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

³⁰ Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (Rom 8:29-30).

God also wants to put our enemy and his rulers in their place by causing us to “look good.”  An example of us is found in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, which reads;

His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms (Eph 3:10).

You may gather from this verse that our heavenly Father is proud to display us, the Church, to the evil spirits who rebelled against serving Him. Our lives should show our enemy that God has chosen us. David says; “Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.” (Ps 86:17). The favor God puts on us is a token of His goodness that tells the enemy we are loved, and that our God will win His battles.

Our blessings may be spiritual, or they may be physical.  God’s personal promises to us vary and are as unique as each one of us are.  Let us be certain of this; God is His word, and He intends on bringing His promises to pass.  And God is good; He cares about our lives and will bless them. What should the enemy see in our lives?  The goodness of the Lord resting upon us.  Amen.