craigmanderson

I am going to swim upstream all my life!

Jesus said,

Mat 7:14 But the gate is narrow (contracted by pressure) and the way is straitened and compressed that leads away to life, and few are those who find it. [Deut. 30:19; Jer. 21:8.] (AMP)

So it looks like the way to life has some pressure, some obstacles, some challenges.

Many Christians don’t want to live a life of pressure. They are longing for an easy life a life without the slog.

But that is the wrong way to look at it.  The salmon loves the swim upstream to the spawning grounds. It’s hazardous and strenuous but only the salmon that swim upstream get to reproduce.

You can look at life as a constant struggle or you can decide that you love the challenge – it’s a new mindset. Like the athlete who trains every day for fitness and to become better at their sport, we enjoy staying on top of their game. There’s invigorating life and strength that comes from doing the journey well. We press into God and obtain His presence and inner strength (Ephes 3:16 AMP) We delight in seeing lives changed and know that we have been part of the amazing plan God has for their lives. We see the future of God’s Kingdom coming into it’s fullness and the earth being filled with His glory.

The Flourishing Christian life is one that swims upstream of course. We are constantly opposed by spiritual forces and persecution. In Australia persecution comes as a  constant flow of ridicule for anyone who believes in the bible and Godly values. It’s portrayed as intolerant, negative, discriminatory, and outdated. But God’s word and His kingdom are life to us.

2Co 2:15 For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which exhales] unto God, [discernible alike] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing:
2Co 2:16 To the latter it is an aroma [wafted] from death to death [a fatal odor, the smell of doom]; to the former it is an aroma from life to life [a vital fragrance, living and fresh]. And who is qualified (fit and sufficient) for these things? [Who is able for such a ministry? We?](AMP)

If you want to swim upstream then every day you choose to live God’s way in spite of temptations, opposition, spiritual oppression and personal attack…… AND LOVING IT!!!!