“It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness. The Lord IS my portion, saith my soul; therefore I will hope in Him.” Lamentations 3:22-24
The Christian, or disciple of Christ, is called to live in the present moment. With regard to the blessings or the failures of the past, it is only in the present moment that they can be used either to propel the believer to run well the race that is set before him, or in the case of failure, to deal with it according to God’s way, one which provides forgiveness, cleansing, and experience of renewed strength. The Psalmist wrote: “The Lord upholds all those that fall and raises up all those that be bowed down.” (Ps. 145:14) The present moment is the opportunity to be inspired, uplifted, strengthened, and at the same time to deal effectively with the errors, faults, and sins of the past. God has provided a time to live, and this victoriously, being more than a conqueror, and this by the present power of Christ for every need. The question becomes: How can one live such a life? Is it possible to live by the very life of Christ, by the Spirit, in the present moment, indeed, at any and every moment of one’s life?
When the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the believers in Rome, after unveiling to them the extraordinary work of Christ on Calvary, and its profound effects, he brought the disciples there to the practical application of the wonderful truths of justification by faith, and one’s identification with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. He went on to speak of the difference between the “old” life, the “old man,” where self-effort, and self-reliance, is in opposition to the work of the Spirit of God. Certain failure is promised when one seeks to live by the principles of the old life outside of Christ, and not to live by the faith of Christ in the new life. Lastly, Paul writes of Life in the Spirit, and the certainty of victory in being able to know the will of God, and do it, finding in it all a blessed fellowship with Christ. Paul writes concerning these wonderful realities in order to bring the Roman believers into a profound fellowship with God that will exceed what they could ask or think.
The first thing he brings them to is a right relationship with God, in light of Christ’s work on Calvary. It is a life where the “body” is presented to God as a living sacrifice to Him, to be lived in a holy and acceptable manner go God. (Romans 12:1) It is the presentation in the present moment of one’s whole being to be Christ’s and His alone. In his letter to the Thessalonian believers, he would go so far as to pray for them: “…And I pray that your whole spirit and soul and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thess. 5:23) To the Romans, Paul reveals that the basis and means by which it is possible to present to God our bodies as a living sacrifice, indeed, our spirit, soul, and body, are “the mercies of God.” God in His in the greatness, and infinite, specific revelation of His individual mercies, stands willing, ready, and able to meet the believer who desires and wills to be wholly Christ’s. For the Thessalonians, God’s word of assurance through the Apostle Paul, is “Faithful is He who calls you, who also will do it.” (1 Thess. 5:24) Christ’s call is certain fellowship.
If we would read Paul’s letter to the Philippian believers, we would discover his great assurance, not only as a result of writing to them, but of praying for them. He would write: “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you, WILL perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (1:6) God promises in the present His abounding grace to whoever will trust Him.
Dear Father, Make us wholly Thine. In Jesus’ name, Amen.