Keeping Things Real

“The world can argue against Christianity as an institution, but there is no convincing argument against a person who has been made Christlike.”
—- Billy Graham

When we come face-to-face with Jesus, nothing remains the same and we will change for the better. As we seek to follow in the footsteps of our Savior, a miracle begins to happen right before our very eyes; we slowly and progressively begin to resemble Who we are following. God’s promised gift of His supernatural Holy Spirit takes up residence in our heart and we begin to showcase the “fruit of the Spirit”—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. And, let’s be totally candid, when our lives truly begin to demonstrate these godly characteristics, people cannot help but notice the undeniable difference in our lives. “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”

Today, doubters, scoffers and skeptics can deny the very existence of a far-off God who they claim didn’t create the universe, nor even care about His creation, if He did. All the famous atheists like Richard Dawkins can continue to make their insidious verbal attacks on Christianity with a hundred YouTube videos. But, the stark reality is that they are thoroughly befuddled to try and explain a life simply transformed by the power of Jesus Christ. This unbelieving world can debate doctrine and find fault with some of the mistakes the church has made in the past, but should they ever have a real encounter with Christ in this life, they will be like the once voracious persecutor of the church, Saul of Tarsus, who had that life-changing experience and became one of the greatest missionaries of the church, the Apostle Paul.

The greatest sermon you will ever preach is the one you do with your life simply surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ. And, when God has your heart, you will most certainly resemble your Heavenly Father for His spiritual DNA is at work to change us to be like Him. This is what the world needs now more than anything else; to see the authenticity of Christ living dynamically through His people in love, compassion, grace, peace and joy because Jesus keeps things real!