What Is A Christian?

Today is Christmas Day 2006.

As I kneel to pray for my family, friends, those who persecute me and my nation whom my heavenly Father has placed me in, I pondered for a minute and asked myself this question: What exactly is a Christian? What am I and who am I when I decided to confess that Jesus Christ is my Lord Saviour, identifying myself a Christian to the world at large?

Jesus Christ my Saviour died, nailed to the cross for my sake. If I claimed myself to belong to Him, how shall I lived my life for the honor and glory of His Majestic Name?

If I am a Christian, I must lived like my Saviour Jesus. I must live according to all He has taught me in the Bible. I wouldn't want my Saviour to pose me this question as in Luke 4:46, Why do you keep calling me, "Lord, Lord!" when you don't do what I say?

And what exactly did our Saviour taught us?

Love each other like we love ourselves.

Love our enemies.

Provide for others.

Share with others

Be prepared to sacrifice our own lives

are just a few examples of what our Saviour taught us.

I know most of us thought these acts are almost impossible to execute. It's totally and absolutely not true! This is one lie the Devil wanted us to believe. If we rebuke the lie, swallow our pride and learned to ask, then we can do what Christ our Saviour taught us. The strength to pray comes from our Saviour in the power of the Holy Spirit that our heavenly Father gifted us when we confessed and believed by faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God.

As Christians, we must lived our new lives in the power of the Holy Spirit gifted to help and guide us to live above the lifestyle of the ordinary man. The gifting of the Holy Spirit is an extra in the ordinary us. The extra of God's gift to us created us anew to become extra-ordinary!

In Matthew 5:43-48 our Saviour Jesus taught us to live apart from the ordinary. "You have heard that the law of Moses says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too. If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect."

Every good works belonged to the power of the Holy Spirit because goodness belongs to God alone. No man who is dust can do God's work except God Himself in the Holy Spirit. Even our Saviour Jesus acknowledged in John 14:10 that his work belonged to the Father who lives in him to empower him.

I also discovered the teachings of our Saviour Jesus are foolishness to men. The unbeliever can never grasp and fathom the ways of our heavenly Father because the ways and thoughts of God are higher than man. Without the Holy Spirit, no one can love their enemies, share kindly and generously, love unconditionally and witness for the honor and glory of our Lord Jesus by living right. God's wisdom to us is to live to please Him alone. God's wisdom is foolishness to man.

To stay away from sinning, I daily seek the Holy Spirit, gifted to help me and constantly remind myself reading and meditating John 8:47, Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don't listen because you don't belong to God.

I spent the last 5 years with the help of the Holy Spirit, gifted to me, learning to run from sin, finding shelter to hide in my Saviour. And each day the strength of my Saviour grew in me to help me confront evil bravely. Each day I commit my weakness to my Saviour Jesus so that He can be my strength. Each day, I learned obedience, grew to be like Jesus as the Holy Spirit slowly transforms me.

This Christmas, I wish for myself that Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour continue transforming me into His likeness. I pray the Holy Spirit remain in me to help me live my earthly life, firmly as a Christian, bearing fruits for the honour and glory of my Majestic Lord Saviour Jesus, Creator and Father.

And may the Holy Spirit filled and equipped me to do the will of the Father, to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.

Merry Christmas 2006!