by Rob Parlante
(Pursuing your Spiritual Goal Part 2)

If I were to ask you if you want to be used by God what you say? If I were to ask you do you want to be a vessel in which Christ shines through you to others, what would you say?  If I were to ask you, do you want to manifest Christ’s Agape love to others, what would you say?

Without a doubt, the answer would be yes of course, I want to be used by God.  Of course I want Christ to live through me, use me, and be able to manifest His Agape love to others.  Of Course, of course, that’s a no brainer.

As Christians, this I would say is one of our greatest desires.  Or we could say it another way, this is one of our primary spiritual goals.  To be used by God in impactful ways in the spreading and teaching of the Gospel of Grace.

There is a process in achieving goals.  A goal has to be established, an action plan is put in place to achieve the goal, there has to be a way to measure the progress of the goal, and finally there is a time frame to the goal.

We all would love to be used by God, and have Christ live His life through us.  It’s not a question of not having this desired goal, but a question of “HOW DO I DO IT? “.  How does this desire translate to Christ living through me and me walking in the works Christ has prepared a head of time for me to walk in?

Ephesians 2:10 (HCSB) ¹⁰ For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.

The answer is so simple, yet perhaps one of the hardest things to do.  It’s you making a choice.  The choice is this, to allow Christ to live through.  That’s how one manifests Christ who indwells them.  To surrender your life to Him to be used.  Not holding back in areas of self reliance in your life, surrender your whole life, to let Christ Live your life for you.  This choice is a step of faith.

The illustration I always use is the picture of a train, that Christ is the Engine, you are the caboose.  You are just willingly following Christ’s lead, direction and speed.  We need to get in the caboose by faith.  We need:

To Allow Him

That’s how our desire becomes a reality.   Christ is working in your life to grow you in Grace.  Just allow Him to work by faith in what you know about Him (See Blog – Pursuing Your Spiritual Goal, Part 1, To Know Him).   What you know about His promises and your new identity.   Are you allowing Him to live through you and resting in His promises?  It’s your choice.  If you rely on self to live the Christians life, Christ can’t live through you.

Remember the parable of the Sower and Jesus explanation:  Let’s look at t the last two categories of people in Matt 13:22-23.

Matthew 13:22-23 (HCSB) ²² Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the seduction of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.(Saved – Self Reliant) ²³ But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does bear fruit and yields: some 100, some 60, some 30 times ?what was sown?.” (Saved – Christ Reliant)

Allowing Christ to live your life by faith moves one from unfruitfulness to fruitfulness.  Most of us are not allowing and trusting in Christ, surrendering our lives to him.  We let the worries of the world and the seduction of money stunt our growth.  We trust in everything else, but Christ.  Allowing Him bears fruit, some 100, some 60, and some 30 fold.

You have to know Him (Christ), before you can allow Him (Christ) to work in your life by faith.  I want to encourage you to take a step of faith and just Allow Him to work in your life.  To rest in His promises, if you do you will be stepping into an awesome spiritual journey.

If you would like to learn more about the truths described here, come join us at Grace Christian Church, currently meeting at the Freehold VFW, every Sunday at 9:30am.

In Him,
Rob Parlante
Elder / Grace Christian Church