Dear Small Church Congregation,
In the last letter, I challenged you to take a serious look at your relationship with Jesus to see if there is anything that separates you from following the will of God for your life. If there is, name it. This is the first step in overcoming whatever obstacle could interfere with your fulfilling God’s will.
That obstacle could be anything form self-righteousness to basic selfishness to outright disobedience to scripture and the teachings of Christ. How might you now overcome this obstacle? Now that you know what it is, the only way to overcome it is to choose to set that obstacle aside by dying to your self-will, repenting of falling to the temptation to disobey God and seeking His forgiveness.
Let me be absolutely clear about this—Jesus has taken care of the obstacle already on the cross when He shed His blood so you could be forgiven. Any obstacle, temptation, trial, or disobedient choice you have made has already been defeated through the shed blood of Jesus. When Jesus died, was buried and rose from the grave, He conquered every work of the devil. In fact, Jesus destroyed the works of the devil so you can have victory over the enemy of your soul. Jesus has already won the victory over sin and all its evil consequences that separate members of His Body from Him.
Obstacles to our relationships with God, our neighbors and even ourselves have been dealt with by Christ. The Head of the Body has already done what was necessary for you to get back into right standing inside the Body of Christ. By doing that, Jesus has given you the pathway to fulfilling God’s will.
When you admit an obstacle exists, name it, repent of it and seek forgiveness, and choose to live according to God’s instructions on how to live in holiness before Him, you have won. Allow me to repeat myself—And you have won because Jesus did what was necessary for you to win through faith in His name. Jesus, the Head of the Body that you belong to because you belong to God now, won the spiritual battle first a very long time ago so you can win your battle today. (If you feel like shouting a praise to Jesus, now would be a good time to do that.)
Understand that you will need to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you daily live for Christ. Understand that you will continually need to examine your life, defeat any obstacle that tries to interfere with your relationship with Christ and choose Jesus over the obstacles. In other words, your walk with Jesus is an ongoing journey in which you intentionally choose to examine yourself to be sure you are fulfilling the call on your life that God has placed in you as part of the Body of Christ. As you do that, you will win victories over the enemy of your soul, and you will complete your function in the Body. And you will stay connected to the Body’s Head.
Sincerely,
A Small Church Pastor