THE Challenge for every Christian is to believe the Scriptures! There are so many voices demanding our attention today, most of whom are very anti-Scripture. When we look at our life-style and compare that to the teachings of Jesus in the Scriptures, do they line up?

• Are we guilty of trying to fit the Scriptures into our life-style, or do we seriously seek to fit our life-style to obey the Scriptures?

So much of what we call Christianity today is not supported by the principles of Scripture. The life we live is a direct reflection on what we believe, and for the born-again Holy Spirit-filled believer in Jesus Christ that believing must be soundly based on what the Scriptures declare. Otherwise we are guilty of simply adhering to a religious set of rules. Jesus came to give us abundant life ~ not another set of rules and commandments (apart from loving one another as He loves us). Christianity is a day by day relationship with Him whom we love more than anyone else. His name is JESUS CHRIST THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD!

•  We cannot truly be in a loving relationship with Him without a dramatic change of life-style.

Make no mistake about it: Jesus was radical in the things He said and taught, and in the way He lived. He came to set a new example of what life is all about. Generally speaking, mankind has turned Christianity into another religion with a set of commandments to try to keep the people in a "righteous way" of living. But that has never worked ~ not in the Old Testament and certainly not in the New. To know and follow Jesus is not adhering to a mental assent on "Christian theology." It is coming to Christ in true repentance, which is then demonstrated by a total surrender to His will for our lives. To know His will means that we need to listen to and heed His voice. The voice of God will always be confirmed by the principles of the Scriptures. The power of God is determined by how we believe what He says (by His Holy Spirit and the written Word, the Scriptures), and how we respond to that voice. It is no use our saying we believe God and then do not respond to what He says! lf our believing is not strong enough for us to totally commit to it, then we are being hypocritical (double minded) . . . we are simply "play-acting" Christianity. And that is a powerless way to live.

The message that Jesus Christ came to bring us was (and is) for every human being! He came that we all might have life and that we might have it more abundantly (John 10:10). He taught His followers to "forsake all" and follow Him, and that He would "make us fishers of men"(Matthew 4:17-25). Following Jesus means reaching out to others with the Good News of Jesus. No one can truly say that there is not a great need for the message of Jesus to be spread abroad today ~ not if we believe the Scriptures! They tell us that every one who does not believe on Jesus will go to a Christless eternity. This should concern us enough to want to DO something about our responsibility of demonstrating to others that we really do believe the Scriptures; that we really do believe what Jesus taught! In a day when many religious are prepared to die for their "lost cause," we Christians must be much more bold in declaring and demonstrating our belief of the Scriptures. ~ Rodney W. Francis.

Bible  Readings:  Mark 8:34-38; Luke 16:19-31; Luke 10.