Can you renounce what you are???

Matt 16:13-23 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? ¹⁴And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. ¹⁵He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? ¹⁶And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. ¹⁷And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. ¹⁸And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. ²⁰Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

²¹From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. ²²Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. ²³But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Matt 26:69-75 ⁶⁹Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. ⁷⁰But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. ⁷¹And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. ⁷²And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. ⁷³And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech betrayeth thee. ⁷⁴Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. ⁷⁵And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

I spoke with a church out here not long ago which holds the belief that a person can renounce his salvation and turn from Christ. They claim that once you do this you are no longer saved, and can never be saved again. I think this doctrine is heartbreaking to hear.

I believe the Bible teaches that in order for a person to truly be saved there has to be humility, repentance, and BELIEF! At the point of salvation something is changed in you, and though you may chose not to walk in the light, you can never go back to your original state. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

I like to make picture comparisons. I sometimes think of us as if we are cake! I am not sure if I came up with this picture myself of if I heard it somewhere as a child. Either way it is something God shared with me and I am wanting to share it you.

When we are born, we are born in sin, and we are like cake batter. A mushy sticky mess, that may seem good and fun to put your fingers in, but your fingers end up all sticky. Everything you touch is lefts with a sticky residue. When you accept Christ he changes you. You are a new creature. He bakes the cake!!! You can never go back to what you where before. Many people simply put on the cake appearance, but their inside is still raw!! They play the part!! They pull away from the grace of Christ and attempt to stand in their own power and works!!

When we look at a cake we see something beautiful, something that symbolizes a celebration. When we look at batter we see something completely different. It does not symbolize the celebration that the finished product does. We see the batter for what it truly is, something that is not yet what it was originally designed to be.

When we are saved, we are changed, there is no going back. Our sins are washed away. The fact that we have God's word and the promise of an eternity in heaven with our savior is icing on the cake. How we live our lives here on Earth will determine how we will be decorated in Heaven. Are we leaving a crumb trail for others to see and learn of the changed life we have, and the one who gave us grace to receive it?

Peter confessed with his mouth that Jesus was the Christ! Later Peter denied His Lord 3 times!! He claimed he did not even know who Jesus was!!!! He cursed and swore!! BUT.......The words of the Lord convicted him and brought him to his knees in humility. He wept bitterly!!! In Matthew 16 Jesus looked at Peter and called out the name Saten, saying he was an offence and did not savor the things of God. However, Peter never lost his place in Christ! He got back up and he went back to work!!! The verses above are a few of many that shew me that we can never renounce our salvation and be band from the love and grace of Christ. (Romans 8:38-39)

Matt 5:41

"And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain."

I hear that saying, "go the extra mile" a lot. I assume it was taken from this verse at some point. I think that the verse speaks worlds louder though.

Jesus is speaking here to the multitudes. This passage is known as the Sermon on the Mount. I read this verse the other night and there are a few words that stick out to me with new light.

1. Whosoever

2. a mile

3. go

4. twain

1. Whosoever- Jesus says it! If ANYONE asks you to GO a mile you should go two. Last night I decided that if this verse was to be applied to anyone it needs to be applied to EVERYONE, just as God intended it to be when he commanded it. When I read things like this my first thought is normally just the broad sense of "others". Friends, family, church members, strangers. Most of the time I forget about the family that is closest to me. I forget that these types of verses apply to my husband and children too. They need to start at home and work outward!!!! Not the other way around!! I have a tendency to complain about driving all over creation (as I phrase it) with my husband. I like things to be well organized and thought out. He does not!! He like to take the more relaxed blow where the wind blows, or wherever I suddenly feel like going approach. We have a tendency to drive each other nuts. : ) I do not think at all that God asks us to GO blindly just because we are asked. We need to make sure that the people are trustworthy and the request is Biblically sound. Especially with strangers. As spouses we can keep each other in check, but again through Biblical means. Next time he wants to drive all over the place I should try to remember this verse. I should GO with him twain.

When my kids ask me to play "people" with them for the ump-teenth time, or to go to the park, or to read them the same book over and over again I should consider GOing with them twain!!! I'm not saying to let kids rule your life, but if there is no reason to say "no" other than the fact that you just don't feel like it, think about saying yes. Show them that extra mile. How many times do we as parents expect to see them perform to that extra mile? You know they don't feel like going to the store with you again, or sitting through the adult service at church, but we expect them to give it their all, and to do it with a good attitude. Have we been giving them the same treatment in return?

2. and 4. a mile and twain- I am just thinking of the distance here. Some people look at a mile as a big deal when they have to walk it or ride a bike (depending on your level of activity and health). But what if we just have to drive it? Not too bad then! Oh, 2 miles, not so bad I can drive a little faster. My point is that people see things in different ways. How you view what is asked of you will impact everything. It can even impact IF you WILL GO! In the end we all are asked to cross different miles in our lives, BUT they are all just miles!! How big is yours looking? Who are you depending on to get you to the mark? Will we get to the mark, and once we do will we say, "alright, I made it, my work here is done", or will we keep going and give it our all! Will we go twain and do ALL things for the glory of God? When we stop at the mile mark, we are really just seeking our own glory! If we Say "alright, I made it my work here is done", who is the focus on? We are simply trying to build up what WE have done, make ourselves feel like we helped, or chipped in! Notice the words in that phrase! I did it, MY work! If we stop at the mile mark than our heart is not in it and it shows! Our heart is in ourselves! Not others and certainly not what Christ wishes of us. OUr hearts may not be in the task or whatever it is when we do decide that we WILL GO twain, but if we are doing for Christ and we will feel no remorse about it, no boredom! We will feel a sense of joy and pleasure even in the worst conditions and situations!

3. GO- this is my favorite. It brings all of them together! Who commands us to GO? CHRIST!!! "And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain." Are we ready to GO with Christ twain??? He has compelled us!!! He has commanded us!!!!!! GO ye therefore!!! So many times Christ heals someone and tells them to GO!! I love it!! When Christ tells us to gGO we know that he will guide us if we fallow! He is our loving Saviour ! If his eye is on the sparrow his eye is one us! He is longing for us to GO WITH him!! What joy it must bring him when we do! When we surrender! Never ALONE!! He is always with us! AMAZING LOVE! AMAZING GRACE! To my ears tonight it is a sweet sweet sound!!

Lord, help me to GO! But not just that Lord, help me to GO twain!!! I pray that I learn to fallow! That I would not lift myself up and cause pride to bring me low! You lift me up Father and set my feet on the solid ground, yet so often I seem to be falling right back into the miry clay. Thank you for continuing to lift me! For loving me enough! More that enough! Thank you that your grace has no limit!!