Our saving is through Jesus Christ dying in order to save us and his selfless act for us to live with him.
Saving and a savior, we are all in need of one and if someone tells you otherwise, they are only fooling themselves. People may try to tell you that we do not need someone to save us or that they do not sin at all since they live the upmost righteous life possible. These are people who have been deceived and who are deceiving themselves and others from what they say. Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior gave his life to save us, if we were not in need for a savior that would not have been necessary for him to do. We are saved by our faith and trust in The Lord, not by what we can do for him or what we have done in the past. We do not earn our salvation; it is freely given to us by God from believing in Jesus and what he did on the cross for our souls and lives. Yes, we are told to live the life that God wants us to live for him and to help others, however it doesn’t matter what you do and how much money or whatnot you make if it isn’t what God has called you to do.
You can become as pastor and help hundreds of people find God, but if his will for you was to be a financial advisor for churches and ministries, that is what you need to do. We do not earn our ticket to Heaven by the achievements that we think might look grand to God, only by doing what he has called us to do and believing by trusting in him. Being a financial advisor you could have help start 10’s and hundreds of ministries and not just helped hundreds but possibly thousands to millions of people find God. Doing this and knowing that through him only we have our salvation we are promised many and many things from God and what he will do for and through us to accomplish his will. We are told and promised that when we pray in accordance with The Holy Spirit, God will hear and then will bless accordingly and promptly. We are also promised victory over our battles and that through Jesus we have said victories in God and deliverance from the enemies and adversaries we may encounter in life.
When I mean by works will not save us, I mean it doesn’t matter how many times a week we serve our church – I am not saying that’s bad, that’s good – or how many we go out of our way for. If we are running into burn out after burn out and getting more tired and less rest that we need, how is God supposed to use us? If you run yourself into the ground to where God cannot use you because you think God wants more than your love and wants you to work your butt off, that’s where we are being lied to about. The simplest way to look at our relationship with God our Heavenly Father is to remember that all he wants is our love, affection, adoration, mind, soul, and strength. Everything else from what we need to what he wants us to do will be added later on when we can get the simplest form of the relationship down and rooted in order to be rooted in his love. The second you start thinking on what more things you can put on yourself in order to show Jesus your love for him is a slippery slope and one where people can fall down easily on.
Once you start thinking about how you can show him your love more and more by taking on more and more tasks without asking, that is where things get hairy. Sooner or later, you will feel the effects of fatigue, spiritually and physically, along with the burnout associated. This is where resetting and resting must come into play in order to get back to the roots of faith and trusting Jesus with everything. We are saved by Jesus’ selfless self-sacrifice in order to live a joyous and blessed life with him and God, not one where we are constantly inundated with work. Yes, what he may be calling you to do will require us to work and maybe work harder than we thought but only to what we can physically, mentally, and spiritually handle. God has made promises for us over our lives from victory, joy, prosperity and so on; his desire is that we ask, seek, and enjoy said gifts while doing what he has called us to do. Yes, Jesus is our Lord and King, however, he is also our Father and Gift giver while being our ever-present helper in our ever-present needs and problems.
Do not make yourself busy constantly thinking this is what he wants when in reality he may be telling you to slow down, take a breath or two, talk with your wife, friends, or children, an let him be God. Business and thinking what God wants from you can kill your relationship with The Lord and bring you down further and further. Ask God to show you what he wants you to do and let him clear out the rest and get help if what he has called you to do required you to get help from others. There are many quotes about how being busy can make your relationship with God diminish overtime, one of them is “If the devil can’t make you bad [or sin], he will make you busy” – Corrie ten Boom. Instead of thinking that God wants all of your work displayed when you meet him on judgement day, think again. All he wants and what the question will be is “Did you trust in my son?”, that’s all he wants from us, love, adoration, obedience, and trust. So, trust in him, listen to him, and love him entirely; know everything will be Okay in his hands. May God bless you and keep you, Amen!!!!