Christianity is not a set of right beliefs and correct doctrines about Christ and His
work. It is a living, daily experience that affects every activity of our lives, molds our
minds and our values and determines our behavior. We may hold correct Biblical
doctrines, be quite knowledgeable of Scripture, be found in the "right place" on Sunday
mornings, and yet our most outstanding characteristic may be our deadness.
Christianity is the way we treat our nosy neighbors, what we do when our children are
falsely accused, how we react to our irritable spouses, what we do with our company’s
little items which it will never miss, what time we return from lunch when the boss
isn’t there. As we grow in our knowledge of and acquaintance with Jesus Christ, our
lives should be constantly changing if we are really a-live Christians and not just dead
doctrine-believers.

We need to ask ourselves the question:Do I really believe what God says? Do I
verbally and intellectually assent to what God says and go on living as those without
Christ, or do I allow my life to be changed and shaped because I know God’s words
and promises cannot fail? At the beginning of our experience with Jesus Christ we trust
our most important possession_our very soul_and our eternal fate to Him. If we can
believe Him as to such an important matter, why cannot we trust Him for the decisions
we must make, our material needs to be met, our personal health and safety, the
solution to our school and business problems, our personal difficulties and trials?

Do we really believe God? The Word of God says that believing, we shall receive all
things that we ask in prayer (Matt. 21:22; 1 John 5:14,15). Do we really believe that
we shall receive, that God will powerfully act and do, or do we pray in such general
terms that we really have no way of knowing if God has answered our prayer? Or do
we use that phrase, "If it be Thy will," as an easy "out," since we never believed God
would do anything anyway? Do we pray, "God, please save Mr. Smith at the gospel
meeting this Sunday," or something so general as "God, save people wherever Thy
Word goes out"? A child does not ask his father, "Please help me with something
sometime." Rather, he says, "Dad, help me with my three math problems after supper
tonight," and thus he isn’t left wondering whether his father ever helped him or not.
God can and will help us in every aspect of our daily lives_nothing is too small or too
large_and how our faith and trust in Him, our love for Him, and our gratitude to Him
grow as we pray specifically and as we receive specific clear-cut answers that reveal
God’s power and concern for us.

Again, God exhorts us to entertain strangers (Heb. 13:1,2). How do we behave toward
the drunkard who approaches us for food, or the strange looking individual who needs
directions? Are our minds so filled with the gore of the newspapers, which we so
avidly soak up, that we cannot trust God to care for us as we try to do as He asked? Or
perhaps we really believe what the intellectual world loves to tell us:"That does not
apply today. It was written for another time, another age. Perhaps when nomads
wandered in the desert and the world was not so wicked." Brethren, if only one

principle of Scripture no longer applies to us, then the entire Word of God is not living,
and Jesus Christ is not the same yesterday, today, and forever.

God’s Word tells us to cast all our cares or anxieties upon Him for He cares for us (1
Peter 5:7). Oh yes, we believe that God is powerful and that He cares for us, but we
keep our loaded gun hidden in our house, and we carry a sharp penknife in our purse
when we go to the city and we are practicing judo just in case_and those things are
what really make us feel safe, not our confidence in God’s care for us. We read that
when Peter tried to defend Jesus Christ Himself with the sword, his violent act was
reversed. Paul was assailed and endangered often (1 Cor. 4:9-13), but we never read of
his violently assaulting anyone in self-defense. His only weapon was prayer. We read
the Scriptures, but we have been so indoctrinated by the world’s ideas that we know
that any man who does not defend himself and his family is nothing but a coward. So
we have a perfect plan for assaulting the possible robber who arrives in the night, and
our confidence really lies in ourselves, our own strength, our cleverness.

Yes, Christianity is the way we live our daily lives, an ongoing relationship with a
living Being, the Lord Jesus Christ. Can we say, "I can do all things through Christ
which strengthened! me" (Phil. 4:13), or are we relying on our paid-up insurance, our
union leaders, our college educations, our psychology handbooks? If Jesus Christ can
give us a new, eternal life, He can certainly guide us through this present one and
conform us to Himself_if we let Him.

FRAGMENT. You say you are in Christ. If you are in Christ, Christ is in you:then let
me see Christ and nothing else.