Why is it of such great importance for us to BE FOUND IN CHRIST, you ask? Well, the answer is really quite simple—if you care anything about your salvation and you want to partake in the promises of GOD for you, you will want to be found in Christ when the Son of Man returns. For many of us believers, we honestly, truthfully, and authentically received Jesus as our LORD and Saviour when we got born-again of the Holy Spirit, and that is where it ended. We received Jesus and are now walking our own path that is removed from what the Word of GOD requires of us. We have given our own interpretation and meaning to Christianity, and are not living in accordance with the meaning and interpretation of Christianity that is given by Jesus in the Word—We are not following Jesus and thereby, we will not be found in Christ. Children of GOD, let us crack open this Kinder Joy Egg and explore.
First Scenario— The parable of the persistent widow is set in a city that was presided over by a judge who, neither feared GOD nor cared about or respected the people he presided over. In this city lived a widow who kept asking the judge to protect her, defend her, and give her justice against her adversary, her enemy, her oppressor, the person who was trying to ruin her. For some time the judge kept on refusing the widow’s pleas—the widow kept going to the judge with this plea and the judge denied her each time. Until finally, the judge got annoyed and decided to give her the justice that she wanted, she was beginning to wear him out with her continual coming. Jesus uses this simple story to teach us the spiritual lesson that GOD will always help those whom He has chosen to be His children, GOD will not put off answering the persistent crying of His children; Then Jesus asks if He will find this kind of persistent faith from us when He comes (returns).—Luke 18:2-8 NKJV/NLT/AMP
Second Scenario— Jesus gives counsel to a wealthy young ruler who asks Him what He should do to receive and partake in the eternal life, the salvation in the Kingdom of GOD. Jesus tells the ruler (and us) that: (i) no one person is essentially and morally good except GOD alone; (ii) we need to keep the commandments not to commit adultery, to murder, to steal, to testify falsely, and to honour our parents; and (iii) we must follow Him. The ruler is saddened and devasted when Jesus tells him that, even though he has followed the commandments, he still needed to sell everything that he owns, give the money to the poor, and follow Him before he could partake in the eternal life. In response to the ruler’s sadness, Jesus explains that, it is that much harder to enter the Kingdom of GOD when you are wealthy; Jesus also says, though you may be giving up your wealth and/or family to follow Him, GOD will restore whatever you have sacrificed multiple times over while you are still on this earth and give you treasures in heaven.—Luke 18:18-30 NKJV/NLT/AMP
When you come into the faith you quickly learn that GOD is not all about being the GOD of milk and honey; He is also the GOD of testing, He is also the GOD of persecution, He is also the GOD of discipline, He is also the GOD of all these things that make us uncomfortable – and this is when people leave the faith because this is not what they thought being a Christian was all about. The lesson Jesus teaches in the First Scenario is the necessity and importance for us to— (i) pray at all times; (ii) remain persistent and not lose heart; and (iii) remain within the faith, rooted in Christ. The lesson Jesus teaches in the Second Scenario is that, if you want and choose to follow Him, you will be surrendering your will and your desires to the Holy Spirit, and Holy Spirit will lead you and dictate your life. Being a follower of Jesus requires sacrifice. The eternal life comes at a cost and you must progressively surrender your life to Christ completely, you must die to self daily!
Faith is a formula that works either way, regardless of what you believe in, it gets things done. However, in these two scenarios, Jesus is not asking about the faith that gets things done. The Scriptures are talking about our faith in Jesus, faith in GOD. Some of us are in the thickest part of our situation (hardship), we pray twice a day, we come to church, we are serving in church, we are committed to the faith walk BUT things remain hard – this is when it is truly challenging and difficult to remain faithful and still believe in GOD as a child of GOD. How you pass through the hardship depends on whether you are found in Christ when the hardships come for you.
GOD is the ultimate ruler, authority, power and might there ever was and ever will be—And Jesus is the truth, the way and the life, and He is the way to GOD, He is the one and only unavoidable way to GOD. There are no short cuts or cheat codes to the path into the Kingdom. It is written, that ‘the day of (the return of) the LORD is coming just as a thief comes unexpectedly and suddenly in the night’ [—1 Thessalonians 5:2]; And because the day is unknown to us, we must always remain in the Holy Spirit so that we are not found wanting on the day. Do not think that you can live any which way you like, with the idea that you will be able to cheat the system and quickly repent when we hear the first trumpet blowing, because at that point Jesus will be here, there will be no one in Heaven to intercede on your behalf for your prayer. When that trumpet blows, judgment is served—instantaneously. You want to be found in Christ on judgment day.
In our seeking, seek GOD, seek Jesus, first and foremost. In any situation, be found in Jesus because you have sought Jesus. All the other things that we put our faith in will not usher us into the Kingdom of GOD, no matter how invincible they may make us feel, regardless of how much power, authority and influence you may have in the world. If seeking Jesus is not at the centre of your existence and you covet your career, salary, money, house, car, spouse, children and/or parents above GOD, know that you have removed yourself away from GOD. Ticking the boxes of all the commandments Jesus mentions in Luke 18:20 does not guarantee that you will see the Kingdom; If this is you, you, dear believer, are far from the path to the Kingdom. It is only by following Jesus [who is the truth, THE WAY and the life [—John 14:6]] that we are on the one and only sure way to partake in the new eternal life in Christ. Seeking Christ, being found in Christ, that is where our salvation lies— not in our serving in Church, not in our so-called good deeds.
You cannot be in Christ and follow Christ without sacrifice. It becomes very hard for people to give up their coveted assets and relationships and follow Jesus. Having assets and relationships is not the problem, the problem is that when GOD says lay it down, set them aside, and follow me, will you be able to let it or them go and follow Jesus? There is absolutely nothing that we can do in our own power/capacity to earn our salvation but with Christ as Our LORD and Saviour, all things are possible. Our faith walk must never be based on what GOD can do for us. GOD must remain GOD in your faith, even if you never see the promises of GOD fulfilled in your life. If Jesus is not at your centre, if Jesus is not who your heart is crying out to, you will inevitably fall off the path to the Kingdom and will forfeit your salvation.
GOD will bless you exceedingly abundantly in this life and in the eternal life, multiple times over including with your own salvation for every single thing or person that you have sacrificed for the Kingdom. The wealthy ruler did not understand this concept; He failed to realise what Jesus was saying, that the ability to be rich was in him, that success and wealth were who he is, through Him (Jesus). Imposters are in the Church, deceiving people of GOD [—2 Timothy 3:13-15]; And the times we live in are not getting easier. When we continue in the ways of Christ, when we continue in the Word of GOD taught every Sunday and in the War Room, and not sell our souls, we will see GOD’s promises manifest. The enemy will sow doubt and make us question if indeed GOD will come through for us. We must continue on the lesson learned that the Word of GOD is Christ Himself; When we fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and we learn and know the Holy Scriptures, we will know Christ Himself. So when judgment day comes, we cannot say we did not know; As believers, we cannot afford to be as surprised as the world (the non-believers)! When all is said and done, Jesus is all we have.
If you care anything about your salvation and you want to partake in the promises of GOD for you, you will want to be found in Christ when the Son of Man returns.
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