Key scripture – “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).

Do you realize that when you were saved that was just the beginning of your process of growth as a believer. Salvation opens the door to a new world of freedom and ‘possibilities’ in God, but Satan keeps many sincere Christians ignorant, blind and deceived from receiving this powerful truth.

God has promised “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32 NKJV – Emphasis added.)

The prerequisite to freedom is abiding in Christ. Christ is the Word. Truth is not a set of principles or rules that we live by to simply keep us from sinning. If that is your idea of being a Christian, then Satan is robbing you of your spiritual heritage. In modern day vernacular, you are holding onto the wrong end of the stick. Truth is a person, and He is Jesus Christ. The idea is to abide “in” Jesus Christ.

You are probably thinking, “How do I do that?” Basically, Jesus’ teaching (or discipleship) is never about knowledge alone. He requires more living; not in our own strength, but living from His strength. His teachings demand action on our part. Remember, faith without ‘effort’ (works) is pointless. The Christian faith makes a lot more sense when it is practiced daily in real life circumstances. That is why James said, “But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:20). That’s why Jesus said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63 – Emphasis added.) His words are spirit and life. They are not burdensome or heavy! “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Furthermore, discipleship is always about today, in fact, it is about right now! What you want to to do is not important. Immediate obedience to what God says to do is the key to successful Christian living.

What is God asking you to do in your life right now? Is He asking you to; love, forgive, persevere, be grateful, be patient and wait on Him, be kind, long suffering, gentle, self-controlled and faithful, to stop complaining? Because, scripturally speaking here’s the reality; immediate obedience is all that matters. Delayed obedience and partial obedience is looked on by God as no obedience. You need to start obeying God in the small mundane matters so that it is second nature for you to obey when He calls you to do something big. This is a general principle of human life. We do this in business, school, music, sports, college etc…so why not do it with God?

Look at it this way. A baseball player who expects to excel in the game without adequate exercise and preparation of his body is no more ridiculous than the Christian who hopes to be able to act in the manner of Christ when put to the test without the appropriate exercise in godly living and immediate obedience to God. Many Christians, have never understood the principle of ‘preparation’. They have bought into the cultural microwave mindset. They want things and they want them now. Sorry, but real fruit (not picked green and force ripened) takes months to grow. To have good fruit there is a need for intentional preparation such as fertilizing, watering, and digging.

Life is also about preparing moment-by-moment; when no one is looking. It is about living “in” Jesus 24/7. Our mistake is to think that following Jesus consists of flexing our faith muscles when the going gets tough – while living the rest of our lives just like everyone around us does. That strategy is destined to fail and then we say, “Well Christianity doesn’t work!” Christianity was never designed by God to work that way. If you are a friend of the world you are an enemy of God. “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4b).

America is full of people with ‘good intentions’. They want to grow spiritually, know God, love people, change habits, pay their bills, attend church, make new friends, and do a better job of raising their children. Here’s the problem with good intentions. We intend what is right but we avoid the life that would make it a reality. In other words, we want what is right but fail to see that in order to get that kind of life it takes intentional “preparation.”

What do you want? I guarantee you, it will take more than good intentions to make it a reality. Don’t buy into the lie and develop a mindset that spirituality is relegated to a select few individuals hand-picked by God Himself. That is Ludicrous!

Christianity is a life-long journey from full justification to glorification. It is not a sprint, not an event, not a Sunday morning pick-me-up. The secret to walking in this new life of possibility involves living as Christ lived in the entirety of his life. That is, a daily consciousness of our Father’s voice; guiding us toward a place of deep wholeness that produces the fruit of righteousness. It’s easy to be ‘happy’ when everything is going your way! But that’s not when it counts. Your ability to live a life of daily preparation, lays a foundation that will sustain you through moments of utter despair.

You need to prepare now by meeting one on one with God on a daily basis, pray and then pray some more, get into and read and meditate on the Word of God because when you are in the heat of the game, “You play like you practice.”

Are you practicing your faith daily – right NOW? What you do when no-one else is looking tells you whether or not you take the game seriously.

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, I want You to do a deep spiritual work in my life. Transform me by removing old ways of thinking that have hindered me for years from having a deep personal relationship with You. I bind my mind to Your mind and I bind my will to Yours. I realize that my heart is in need of Your love. Pour out Your grace on me now as I partake of Your Word. Empower me to be what You have called me to be. I proclaim that, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20). I do not want to be a friend of the world because that makes me an enemy of God. Cleanse me of all the iniquity that is in my heart. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen