Are Our Names STILL Written in The Book of Life?
This may have been one of most difficult years, if not the most difficult year, that we have shared as Sisters in Christ in many of our lives!
Yes. We have all lost loved ones before. Most of us have lost jobs before. Many of us have had serious health issues before. Sadly, many of us have had children who have not followed in the paths of The Lord. Some of our sisters have difficult marriages and seemingly insurmountable family problems. Some have experienced painful divorces. However, in my memory, Christian sisters have always shared these experiences, cried together, looked into God's Word together and comforted one another. We "trusted and obeyed" together.
Unfortunately, because we find ourselves in the middle of a pandemic, in a culture with clashing ideologies, and in "the world" which Satan loves to divide and destroy, we might find ourselves at odds even with our sisters in Christ.
In Philippians 4, we have an example of two sisters in Christ who were in danger of losing their souls after having been fellow workers and laborers in the Gospel with Paul and the New Testament church. We are told at that time that Euodia and Syntyche did have their names written in the Book of Life.
However, these sisters needed to be reminded that that they were to be "of the same mind in The Lord." That didn't mean that they had to like the same house, wear the same clothes, eat the same food, raise their children exactly the same way or work or not work outside of the home. Many of their personal choices were just that; personal choices.
As Christian women, we are allowed to make many personal choices daily. Many of those choices are not directed precisely by the Word of God. God made us different and that is a good thing! We are each fearfully and wonderfully made and here in this place and time "For such a time as this!"
We all know that truth is very hard to find today in the media. Nations have used propaganda for their purposes throughout History and ours is no exception. However, as sisters in Christ there is one thing that we CAN KNOW is truth . . . and that is God's Word! That is what we are to agree on in order to KEEP our names written in the Book of Life!
All of us come from different backgrounds, have seen the world through different lenses, and as women, we all know we can be opinionated! However, in the final analysis, our opinions won't matter on the day of judgment.
In Galatians, Chapter 2, Paul pointed out that Peter was being hypocritical. In Chapter15, we learn there was much "contention" about taking John Mark back to visit the cities in which Paul had already preached. Paul was adamant about not taking him. However, 25 years later, Paul requests that John Mark be brought to him "for he is useful to me for ministry."
My point is this: We need each other. We need to stay strong in The Lord, in His Doctrine and in love for Him and each other! We need to show grace to one another and pray for one another.
No. We will not always think the same on matters of opinion. But we must all be "of the same mind "in The Lord."
If we fail at this, my dear sisters we may have our names blotted out of The Book of Life!
Love in Our Lord,
Sheila
**As a side note, sisters, we need to be so very thankful today that we are not in Afghanistan. The first female mayor in Afghanistan said on Monday that she is just waiting with her family for the Taliban to come and kill her. She has nowhere to go and they have threatened her many times.
We need to be praying daily for those who follow Christ there and in other parts of the world. Their lives are going to become very difficult and often tragic. Our sisters there will suffer greatly. Now they will probably never have anything like the choices and freedom that we have here in America in their lifetimes. The presence of the United States in that Country had given them some hope of a brighter future in this world. Sadly, that hope is gone for the time being.
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