Live a Holy Life

No matter what befalls us in the world, human power is not the answer. God alone, His being, His power. Only God accomplishes all that is. As human beings we are not personally capable of bringing about ultimate triumph in any situation.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer says, “Only when we look at reality with clear eyes without any illusion about our morality or our culture can we believe, otherwise our faith becomes an ‘illusion.’ ''

We must “believe in God alone and in His power. We must have faith and utilize it every moment of every day. When we give in to ourselves, when we fail to see the world and live in the world as God commands, where is our faith? Is it an illusion? Faith is way more than accepting Jesus as our personal savior. That is the beginning. But faith is how we live our lives with God as our commander.

“Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:16

Live a holy life.

Max Lucado notes, “People are watching the way we act more than they are listening to what we say.”

I penned these thoughts yesterday before my husband shared a Letter to the Editor published in The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) that day. The letter was titled “Compassionate family was gift from God” (page 4A, 3.8.2010 copyright 2010 The Gazette www.gazetteonline.com).

Here it is in its entirety.

On the evening of Feb. 6, my husband was feeling ill. He thought we should go to the hospital. En route, his condition began to rapidly deteriorate. I panicked and pulled into the drive of the first house I saw with lights on. This was at 10:30 on a Saturday night, and as I pounded on the door, I prayed to God that someone would answer. My prayer was answered. The gentleman who greeted me at the door called an ambulance and sat and prayed with me until they arrived. He and his daughter then drove me to St. Luke’s Hospital, where they stayed with me and other family members to await word on my husband’s condition. When the doctors delivered the devastating news, they grieved with us and tried to give all the comfort they could to people they had never met until that night. On Sunday morning, I received a call from this caring gentleman asking if there was anything that he or his family could do for us. He and his family came to console us during the visitation and also at the funeral. Words cannot explain the feelings we feel toward this man whom God sent to help in our time of need. Compassion and hope are still very much alive; sometimes it just takes awhile to find. - Bev Martin, Central City

My daily devotionals come from “I want to live these days with You” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I think, Yes, how I want to live these days with My Lord. And yet I wonder how I will accomplish it. I won’t really. Not fully. Nothing will be fully completed, fully accomplished, until Jesus returns, until we have gone on to meet our maker, until we have arrived at our eternal home on that celestial shore, until we see Jesus, face to face, on bended knee. Oh yes, I want to live these days with You.

Jesus, our protector and The One to whom our allegiance is show in all we do, everywhere we go. He is with us. We are with Him. It is through Jesus we are able to endure and it is through Him we are enabled to live a Holy life. It is because of Jesus' sacrifice we have been set free. He reigns. Jesus lives in us, we live in Him.