Focus: Hebrews 13:20-21 - KJV
20. Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21. Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Philippians 2:12-15
The ordinary trait of man is that he possesses a wicked heart, and therefore produces evil thoughts which lead to evil works more often than not. However, once the Lord Jesus Christ laid down His life as the good Shepherd for the sheep, man, being the sheep, now possesses the ability to bring forth good works just like the good Shepherd Himself. Recall that while He was on the face of the earth, He went about doing good. Nevertheless, unless through Him, no work of man is found good. At best, it is said to be like filthy rags. As beautiful and morally sound as giving alms, fasting and other religious and moral activities may appear, they are filthy before God unless we first allow ourselves to be cleansed and made whole by the blood of the lamb. It is such a pity that some still think it is not important for as long as they are morally upright. But how can moral deeds be a purge or replacement for a wicked heart?
Nicodemus saw and declared that the Sanhedrin knew that Christ was a messenger that came from God, and that He possessed something they didn’t. Jairus saw the same and approached Christ for the sake of his daughter. Saul of Tarsus believed he knew God and that he was a good moral agent for persecuting Christ, as His teachings offended the traditions of the fathers. Little did he know that his moral stance was a direct persecution of the Lord, until he was confronted by the Lord Himself. Cornelius was a great moral agent. Nonetheless, until Peter presented Christ to him, and he in turn accepted the Christ, the Spirit with which Christ was anointed that made good works common place in His earthly life, was not available to Cornelius to accentuate his moral deeds as good works. Once he gave in to Christ, he became opened to good works from then and not before.
When we are caught up with making a decision in our hearts as to whether to act in one way or the other, particularly when we appear to tend towards works that do not support love, it is that the wickedness in the heart of man still operates in our hearts, and the way out is to allow the same Spirit that quickened Christ to good works, to dwell in us. Our acts that make others weep or bow their heads in despair cannot be attributed to love, and therefore not good. For as much as we want to produce good works, we must be dead to the flesh, and uncanny emotive thoughts. All these are made possible only through Christ. If we forgo Christ, we forgo access to good works. No matter our acts that appear lofty in the sight of men, like that of Cornelius before his redemption, it will always be like filthy rags before the righteous Judge.
SOLUTION: No one gets to the father except through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is by Him we access the Holy Spirit who empowers us to good works. The answer to good works is surrendering humbly to Jesus as Lord and Savior. It is only then that we receive the power to become sons of God which is evidenced with good works.
Please pray thus: My father and my God, I want to remain in good works just like Christ showed us example: please keep me in it by your Spirit in Jesus’ name. From this day, please pour out your Spirit the more on me and every member of my family as well as my friends, so that we may be found in good works throughout our lives, in Jesus’ name.
Kindly share with others if you have been blessed by this Guide. God bless you as you do so, in Jesus' name.
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