“It is for freedom that

Christ has set us free”.

GALATIANS 5:1
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

In this issue:

Water’s Edge Christianity

What are most believer’s living today? What is their “Christian” walk like? Are they truly
obeying God’s Word and fulfilling His Mandates? Are they experiencing that constant conviction of
the Holy Spirit in their lives when it comes to sin and disobedience? Do they feel a great and
overwhelming need and desire to preach the Word “in and out of season” to the countless souls that
are perishing in this lost and dying world? Do they seek to help their fellow man find his way home
to God?

I don’t know if what I see today is truly “Christianity” in its fullest sense. A Christian is defined as
“one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ”. A true Christian is one who follows and
obeys Christ’s teachings and lives his or her life each day with a sense of expectancy for the Blessed
Hope. Because of this they are always seeking to bring others to the Truth knowing that Jesus
commanded His followers to preach His Gospel. A true believer is one whose whole being permeates
with the fragrance of the unconditional love of God and spreads that fragrance with sweet and tender
caring to those who need it most. A Christian is one who truly lives a life led by the Spirit of God and
seeks after a constant communion in love, worship and obedience with their Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ.

In the many years that I have been a born-again believer, I have seen and experienced for myself,
what I call “Water’s Edge Christianity”. Most of us who call ourselves believers are really at the “water’s
edge” in a spiritual sense. We’re standing at the edge of the water of Life, sometimes “testing it with
our toes”, sometimes “wading” in the shallow waters but never really going in and experiencing the full,
deep cleansing and radical changes that come with submergence. We’ve come to Christ and have
accepted Him as Savior. We believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that He is Lord, but is He
truly Lord in our hearts?

Instead of a whole-hearted devotion to God, we choose to live our lives in a half-hearted, weak,
undisciplined walk with God. We created a vicious cycle of guilt feelings because we won’t go the extra
mile. We don’t nurture our walk with God each and every day and it brings us into a state of spiritual
anemia. When we go to church, at our convenience, it is just to “go through the motions”. By doing
this, we don’t realize how we allow the enemy ground in our lives with which he has a field day with our
minds and emotions. We find ourselves in a perpetual rut and then we add to it by saying “there’s no
way out”. We need to remember that it is one thing to “talk the talk”; it’s another to “walk the walk”.
Christianity is not a “don’t do as I do, do as I say” kind of life. God is calling us to whole-hearted
commitment to Him.

A few years ago, I read an article in Charisma magazine entitled “The Struggle with Commitment”ª,
in which the author states, “God places a premium on commitment. There are no alternatives. Nothing
can take its place; neither talents, gifts nor gold can qualify as a substitute. No matter how we try to
evade the issue or expertly disregard its importance, God will ultimately brings us to a place where we
are to be confronted with its significance. Every person who sincerely walks with God will be brought
before its threshold. We see it pictured at Gethsemane. The garden where our Lord agonized in prayer
as the Cross lay dramatically before Him. Gethsemane means “the olive press”. Every drop of
commitment was pressed from Him, “and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to
the ground” (Luke 22:44). Our struggle is identical to that which Christ wrestled with at Gethsemane. It
is exactly what you and I experience when we surrender ourselves to the will of God”.

Commitment is a word that seems to scare many believers today. In Webster’s dictionary it is
defined as “the state of being obligated or emotionally impelled”. In the Scriptures, we find Jesus
stating, “anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:38).
This is, without a doubt, a most urgent and important call to all believers to obey and make a
covenant with their Savior.

The vacillation of God’s people with commitment has always been an issue. If the Hebrews had
wavered in their commitment to cross the parted Red Sea, they would have perished at the beginning of
their journey to freedom. As they passed through these waters held back by the Mighty Hand of God,
I’m sure many were frightened and anxious. But once they were on that path to the other side, I don’t
see how any could have wished to turn back knowing they would face certain death at the hands of the
Egyptians. They had no choice but to stick with it and persevere once they made that decision.

Salvation is a free gift of God but we must decide to persevere and guard it with all our heart, mind
and strength. This takes a firm commitment. As believers, we must decide wholeheartedly to follow
Christ and obey His commands no matter what. For me, this means my precious Savior must first and
foremost become my Lord and Master to whom my obedience is due.

What is it we need to commit to? We need to commit to watch and pray while others sleep. We
need to commit to do His will when others are not willing. We need to fulfill our obligations as servants
of Christ and the Most High God. We need to commit ourselves to obeying His Word. In order to
accomplish this, we should do the following:

1. DECIDE to make a FIRM COMMITMENT

There are many passages in Scripture where the Lord commands His people to fully obey and fully
and carefully observe His decrees with all their hearts and with all their souls. God must become our
priority. The Bible tells us that “in our hearts, (we must) set apart Christ as Lord” (I Peter 3:15). He must
truly be the “Alpha and Omega in our lives. Every single day, God should be our first thought as we
awaken, as we commit ourselves, our loved ones, our entire day and its events to His divine care and
protection. And as we end our day, He should also be our last thought as we prepare for slumber,
surrendering ourselves to His watchful safekeeping as we pray for our rest.

2. DISCIPLINE your Walk with God

We need to commit to developing a fruitful prayer life. Allocate a space of time in your day for
private communion with your Maker. Decide that that time is sacred and should never be
compromised, no matter what. Take time to read, study and meditate on God’s Word, believing Its
Promises and living by Its Principles.

3. DO SURRENDER

We need to live our lives each and every day in a complete surrender to God. Yielding our thoughts,
our emotions, our desires, everything to His will. Obeying His command to “not merely listen to the
Word, and so deceive yourselves (but to) DO WHAT IT SAYS” (James 1:22). We must seek to follow
Christ’s example (1Peter 2:21) and fulfill His mandate to share the Gospel with others (Mark 16:15-
18).

Can I motivate you today to examine your own walk with God? Are you truly living a life of true
surrender, faithful commitment and whole-hearted devotion to your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Do
you find you are at the “Water’s Edge”? Then allow me to challenge you to change your ways today
that you may plunge into the waters of life. Time is short. Commit your life to Christ. Make Jesus
your Lord. Today is the DAY OF COMMITMENT!

What are you waiting for?

Article written by Margie Jimenez

 “Without a struggle,
there is no progress.”
Questions, comments, contact me at:

Mj7862@aol.com

ªThomas A. Darmstandler