Dear bretheren and sisters,
It is amazing how far I've come in my journey with Jesus Christ. What an amazing transformation done by the Spirit that brought me this far. I am so grateful for what Jesus Christ has done because He has provided a bridge to connect a relationship between my Heavenly Father and I. I wanted to make it clear that I confess that while I did make the right choices to get me to where I am now - all the glory and praise be to Christ Jesus whom by His Spirit - I was and still am able to do all things. There is nothing good I can do apart from the Spirit because my fallen human nature will always be subject to sin. I am a man of many imperfections but because I have been walking with Jesus, he has turned those imperfections into strengths. I am no longer called a sinner - but He calls me His friend and bretheren and because of that I am drawn so deeply into His ways which I would like to continue to follow. The commandments that I follow are not of mine but of our LORD God. I cannot claim "well I did this, this and that and I've been doing this good and this very good". Yes, I chose to do this, that and that because I want to fall in love with my Savior and be obedient to His commands.
His atonement has set me free and as long as I endure to the end and continue as I am, then my salvation will be complete after the LORD God has judged me by the desires of my heart and of my works which again is not the works I contributed on behalf of fallen myself, but the works that come from how well I was obedient to Jesus' commands THROUGH the sole guidance of the Spirit and because of Him I have been able to manifest my desires to serve the LORD God through works. The Spirit is what helps me become more obedient as I chose to do so. God provided that free agency to us so we can learn how to distinguish from right from wrong and to be able to chose the right choices. For that reason my faith is solely focused on the Holy Ghost who teaches me of what right choices to make. Because I am imperfect - I will not always be able to listen to even the most gentle promptings of the Spirit and even at times the most alerting. Through the atonement of Jesus Christ, I can receive repentance and refrain from making that same wrong choice.
Because of Jesus holds the keys to all righteousness, it is absolutely important that I rely on His righteousness for Him to bring to pass the eternal life that is a gift; for it is faith in Jesus Christ that is counted as righteousness and not of my own self-righteous ways or works because my fallen nature could never be counted as good or righteous. Faith is followed up by action which is comes from obedience to the Gospel and commandments of Jesus Christ. Faith is manifested through works - that is the works of Christ. That is why I cannot boast of what I do because the very works that I strive to carry out of are CHRIST'S whom by His Spirit, I am compelled to do so.
I am by no means any better than a single soul on earth. For all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God and therefore we DESERVE death. But it is through his GRACE that I may receive His gift of Eternal Life if I believe [follow] Him. I am here on this Earth to fulfill the will of the Lord. He has some tasks for me to accomplish and He also has a specific plan for my life - all to carry out His work. I can very easily turn the other way around and sin and bring dishonor to the name of the Lord...BUT since I am captivated by the LOVE OF GOD, I don't want to turn that other way. When the Spirit is strong in me I know I am at my most obedient level. Even as I continue to sin or break off because things happen - I will always be drawn back to the "presence of the LORD" because there is no love greater than the one my God provides and that is the very thing that drives me to serve HIM!
So where in the picture do I fall? Am I here on Earth to glorify myself or glorify Christ? Surely we all know the answer. Praise and glory be to the LORD God Almighty for bringing forth WONDERFUL works among His servants. I boast in the LORD God Almighty for all of HIS works and not of mine. The LORD's way is the BEST way. I pray that I will continue to be obedient to the promptings and teachings of the Spirit which will keep me on the path to Eternal Life. Amen.
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