“And
the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts
and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:7
Jesus established a new
covenant with the world by His blood, offering forgiveness and salvation to
anyone who would approach Him in faith (Matthew 26:28). He gave His body as the ultimate sacrifice, and did
away with the need to sacrifice animals for our sins. The Lamb slain before the
foundation of the world offered a perfect sacrifice to atone for sins for
anyone who will choose to repent and believe (Revelation 13:8; 1 Peter
1:20; 1 John 2:2). Having neutralized the
spiritual powers and authorities through His death, He made a public display of
them, defeating them forever by the cross (Colossians 2:15).
As a divine metal smith, God
removes the dross in our life through His refining fire, and He gives us a new
life (Proverbs 27:21; 2 Corinthians 5:17). We are given the fullness of Christ, which makes us
complete in Him (Colossians 2:10).
Our Heavenly Father gave us His grace before the beginning of time, and is now
revealed to us through Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 1:9-10). Through His grace we have the privilege of
confidently approaching God’s throne at any time of need (Hebrew
4:16). Because of His grace, we are
entrusted with the secret things of God, so that we can prove our faithfulness
in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone we come in contact with (1
Corinthians 4:1-2).
The more time and intimacy we
invest in our relationship with God, the closer we come to being conformed to
the image of Christ. He uses our trials to instruct us, mold us and to develop
the perseverance of our faith (James 1:3).
He constructs a pliable heart of flesh out of our hardened heart of stone (Romans
2:29; Ezekiel 36:26). God fashions us
into a replica of His Son (Romans 8:29).
Then He puts His desires in our heart as we delight our self in Him (Psalm
37:4). The rewards we receive from
following God’s desires for our life far outweigh any fulfillment we receive
from pursuing our own carnal, earthly desires.
We do well to adopt Jesus’
attitude in life. His sole desire was to only do the work that would glorify
His Father (John 17:4). As Job
did, we can delight
in the Almighty and lift up our face to God (Job 22:26). When anxiety overwhelms us,
God’s consolation brings joy to our soul (Psalm 94:19). Out of our love for Him we walk in His ways, even
when we feel incapable of fulfilling His calling on our life (Ephesians
2:10). Our Sovereign Lord gives us
everything we need to perform the ministry, which He calls us to do (1
Corinthians 4:7).
We gain an understanding of God’s Word through daily reading and weekly Bible study. Worshipping with fellow Believers gives us accountability and strengthens our walk. Our faithfulness goes beyond our beliefs into our walk and our works. If we say one thing and do another, we are no better than the Pharisees, whom Jesus referred to as hypocrites (Matthew 23:27) The hypocrite’s eternal destination is full of weeping and great pain (Matthew 24:51). On the other hand, Jesus promises to share Paradise with authentic Believers for all of eternity (Luke 23:43).
Prayer:
Lord
Jesus, God in all of His fullness is pleased to live in You. Through You, God
reconciled us to Himself along with all things whether here on earth or in
heaven. He made peace through Your blood, which You shed for all of us on the
cross (Colossians 1:19-20). Even though we have not seen You, we love You and believe
in You. You fill us with an inexpressible and glorious joy (1 Peter
1:8). Thank You
for allowing us to experience Your love, although it is too great to fully
comprehend. Thank You for making us complete in You, with all the fullness of
life and power that comes from God (Ephesians 3:19).
Thought for the Day:
According
to the riches of God’s glory, He strengthens us through His Spirit with power
in our inner man. - Ephesians 3:16
