Read: Romans 8:15-30
Our eternal destination
depends upon our righteous standing with God and the grace He gives to each
individual who calls upon His name (Galatians 3:8, Amplified Bible). God’s desire is to conform us into the image of His
Son (Romans 8:29). He uses the trials
in our life to bring about this major fundamental change in our character,
vision and goals. When we resist trials, we resist what God intends to do in
our life, using this very trial.
Our faith through every
negative circumstance in our life is in Jesus, who lives within us and is our
hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).
The Holy Spirit, who is one with the Father and Son, intercedes for God to
strengthen us in our trials (Romans 8:26).
The Spirit uses the knowledge we have about God and His Word to conform us into
the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). Then
everything we do by the Spirit’s direction is lasting and has value in the
eternal kingdom of our King Jesus.
Before Christ, we built our
hopes and dreams upon shifting sand (Matthew 7:26). The least little storm came and blew them all away.
If the Lord does not build our house, all of our labor is in vain (Psalms
127:1). With the life of Christ now
residing within us, we build our hopes and dreams upon the Rock, which is Jesus
Christ (Psalm 18:2; 1 Corinthians 10:4). We build our marriages on the Rock, our business on
the Rock, our family on the Rock, our church life on the Rock and our
friendships on the Rock. Now, they are lasting and eternal.
If we fail to walk in the Spirit, and live instead for our own pleasure, we will not escape the fires of hell (1 Corinthians 3:15). The activities we perform in our own strength, no matter how successful they are, will not survive the flames of God’s justice. They will be consumed (1 Corinthians 3:13). Unless we are doers, as well as hearers of the Word, we are deceiving ourselves and clinging to a false hope of going to heaven (James 1:22-24).
When we are crucified with
Christ into His death, we are also raised with Him in His resurrection (Romans
6:5; Galatians 2:20). This gives us an eternal perspective on life. Our
priorities change and our focus is more spiritual. We stop wasting our precious
influence, assets and time by pursuing worldly interests. We walk in the Spirit
and we stop fulfilling the desires of our flesh (Galatians 5:16). The Master Architect makes a new creation out of the
ruins of our life (2 Corinthians 5:16).
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, Your will
is the only part of life worth pursuing. Help us not to waste another moment of
this precious time, which You gave to us. Show us where we take control away
from You, and give us the strength and courage to surrender everything to You
each day of our life. Use us to accomplish only that which will last for eternity.
Do not allow our labor to be in vain. Teach us to worship Jesus, our Rock, in
Spirit and in Truth (John 4:23-24).
Thought for the Day:
We
are related to God in Christ by the Holy Spirit who bears witness within us
that we are the children of God conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6).
