Hosanna Restoration Church

He really died! Well of course we all know that, but how much do we think of what it took to do this? Do we consider what went into this and what was accomplished by His death? Does it influence our lives? He is, after all, the only God who died for anyone! Needless to say we do have access to the “One True God.”

Jesus died for a purpose. He died because He knew what He could and would accomplish for us by His death. He understood that His death would empower us to overcome the world. Do we know that?

At the jail recently a man pointed out how weak it looks to just forgive people. I have heard these concerns before. No doubt the battle between the devil and Jesus in the garden involved this very sort of accusation. No doubt he told Jesus that no one would care and that few would believe. He probably added that even fewer would ever put into action all that He was trying to accomplish for his followers. Still Jesus would have it done if you were the only one who would receive His great love and walk in it.

Something greater than we will fully understand in this lifetime was accomplished for us through His death, but we do have the promise that the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth if we will seek understanding. There is always more truth. Each circumstance in life affords us the opportunity to find more truth where we are concerned.

I don’t know about you, but the fine tuning seems to be the most difficult part of walking with God. The big obvious sins may go away, but how do we get rid of those flashes of attitude and anger and etc?

Well, the same power that Jesus provided to wipe out the ‘big’ sins is there to overcome the little foxes that spoil our day. It would probably help if we recognized that what we see as little is just as big and ugly to God as what we see as big. We must allow His love to influence us! If we will, then His love will influence others as well.

This whole train of thought grew from the idea that we all influence others and we are influenced by others. The question is what influences us and how are we influencing others. It is my desire to influence others in a way that draws them closer to God. The best way for me to do this, is to allow Him to influence me. I can see that if I do not incorporate all that Jesus provided for my life, I am short changing His death. That would be like kicking the body of a person who just died saving your life. Jesus did not die just to save me. He died so that I could experience the fullness of His salvation and live in a way that influences others to experience it as well.