Who Are You?

Who Are You?

One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?”  Acts 19:15

There is no second hand spirituality.  There is no second hand salvation.  No one else can develop spiritual maturity on your behalf.  A strong Christian heritage is a wonderful asset, but it can never take the place of strong personal relationship with Christ.

There are only three individuals who know where you really are spiritually speaking.  God, He looks on the heart.  Yourself, you know who you really are when no one is looking.  And Satan, He knows those who belong to him and those who are purchased by God

Seven sons of the Chief Priest Sceva attempted to cast out some demons in the same manner they had seen Paul cast out demons.    They confronted the demons in “the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches.”  The demons replied by viciously attacking and humiliating these men.  They could imitate the words of Paul, but they could not imitate the very real and personal relationship that Paul had with Jesus Christ, from which Paul got his power.  The demons recognized Paul’s name and that of Jesus, but they did not recognize the seven sons of Steven despite their heritage and associations.

You can imitate the words of a spiritually mature Christian, but you cannot inherit his or her walk with God.  Developing spiritual maturity and spiritual strength is hard work and comes over time.  Imitating the words of a strong Christian alone will never lead to victory in Jesus.  Victory in the Christian life can only come about through a personal close walk with Jesus Christ.  Yes, Spiritual Christians can be great models on this earth, but ultimately you must follow after the same Christ that they follow, and then you will find spiritual strength and victory.