Life Changing Advice

 

Wise counsel is hard to find in this day and age. Everyone waters down the Word and gives carnal advice (Proverbs 12:15). We are blessed when we know the difference and refuse to listen to ideology from sinners or those who mock God (Psalm 1:1). Godly men and women give the best advice (Proverbs 11:14-15). We give them the details of our circumstances and they pray with us and give us Biblical advice. Any advice contrary to Biblical precepts is useless and vain. We are wise to disregard unbiblical counsel.

However, we often close our eyes to the facts, refuse to trust in the Lord, turn our back on His wisdom and spurn His advice. Then, we end up eating the bitter fruit of our pride and experiencing the panic of the path we chose (Proverbs 1:29-32). So often our choices come as a result of our desires, as well as the advice we receive from others and the example set by our elders and our peers. However, our choices are more effectual if we walk in the guidance of the Holy Spirit moment by moment throughout the day.

When we do things our way, we step out of God’s will and have no spiritual power in our efforts. We strive and strain until we give up or burn out (Galatians 6:9). God loves us even when turmoil fills our heart and we are frail, ignorant and desire-driven. In His rich mercy and great love, God forgives our sins (Ephesians 2:4-5; Romans 5:8). When we repent, the mighty Lord, who lives within us, rejoices over us with gladness, He quiets us with His love and He exults over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). How lovely!

When we listen to the Lord’s direction, we live in peace and safety (Proverbs 1:33). God’s Spirit equips us with everything we need to accomplish the will of God with our life (Hebrews 13:21). As we follow the leading of God’s Holy Spirit, He brings ultimate fulfillment and deep contentment, peace and joy to our life. He holds our right hand and keeps guiding us with His wisdom and counsel all the days of our life. When we take our last breath here on this earth, God receives us into the glories of Heaven (Psalm 73:21-24).

At times, we have unfathomable issues in our heart that we cannot access or understand. However, a Godly counselor is trained to help us to uncover them (Proverbs 20:5). Sometimes, we depend on our peers for advise, but they do not have the experience that an older person has (1 Kings 12:6). Our Pastor and his wife accumulate wisdom from advising people, as well as their own life experiences. Our parents know us better than anyone, and they too can offer sound advice. Our spouse should also give us counsel, especially if the decision involves him/her. Even our children may have wise counsel if they are Godly.

Prayer:

Father God, all the days of our life are in Your hands (Psalm 31:15). We cannot live a successful life on this earth unless we live in the center of Your will (Proverbs 3:5-6). We depend on Your wisdom to guide us through each day, and to put us in the right place at the right time to perform Your will in each moment. We thank You for our daily bread, for forgiving our sins and for helping us to forgive those who sin against us. By Your Spirit we stand against temptation and we live a victorious life through Christ in us.

Thought for the Day:

Without wise counsel, our endeavors are often disappointing; however with the wisdom of many counselors our plans come to favorable fruition. – Proverbs 15:22

His Glorious Appearing

 

The Christian hope is the glorious appearing of the Son of God. It does not matter if you believe He is coming before, in the middle of or after the Great Tribulation. We all know He is coming again. Jesus came the first time to die for our sins and to remove them from our account. He will come again, not only to judge sin, but also to bring complete salvation to all those who trust in Him (Hebrews 9:28). His Saints will share in His glory, when Christ, who is our life, is revealed to the whole world (Colossians 3:4).

Jesus endured the horrific suffering of His crucifixion and death by keeping His focus on the glory of Heaven to which He was about to return. We can have this same focus, knowing that no suffering in this earthly realm is worthy of comparison to the glory, which God will reveal in us. In fact, all of creation groans in travail as it waits for the revealing of God’s Sons (Romans 8:18-19).

Therefore, we look forward with hope to the wondrous day when our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will come with His Saints, displayed in all of His power and glory (Matthew 24:30; Titus 2:13). At the magnificence of His second coming, the Lord will bind Satan and his hoards by one word of His mouth (2 Thessalonians 2:8). Both the living and the dead will receive His judgment when His Kingdom appears (2 Timothy 4:1).

Due to the lawlessness and idolatry of Israel, God delivered them into the hands of Gentile rulers until the end of the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (Luke 21:24). That time is now coming to a close. Israel is a nation again and they will soon view the One whom they rejected become the chief cornerstone in the Temple of God (Psalm 118:22). Everyone who waits and longs for His appearing will receive this very crown of righteousness, the prize we long for, which the Lord will give us upon His return. (1 Timothy 4:8).

At this same time, the whole world will give Him the glory that is due His name (Zechariah 12:10). Jesus will return to the earth on the Mount of Olives with great power and glory (Zechariah 14:4; Matthew 24:30; Revelation 19:11-16). He will rebuild Jerusalem as the capitol of the world (Psalm 102:16), and reign on His throne in His Kingdom forever and ever. We will live under the rule and reign of Jesus, our righteous King, forever.

Prayer:

Father God in heaven, we will finally see clearly all the multitude of times You intervened in our life in order to help us, even when we never noticed or realized it (2 Timothy 1:18). You will reveal Your glory in us and in all creation (Hebrews 9:28). The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard with the goat, the calf and the yearling with the lion; and the little child shall lead them all (Isaiah 11:6). Nature and humanity will thrive in Your presence, never more to live under the curse of sin. We give You all the praise and the glory for Your gracious plan for those who You love.

Thought for the Day:

Keep yourselves in God's love, as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you into His eternal life. - Jude 1:21

Healing Our Crippled Soul

 

In today’s society, we are desensitized by secular humanism, eastern religions, pious platitudes and political correctness. The guru’s of the day teach us to live with an inclusive, tolerant and compromising mindset. We tend to believe the lies Satan whispers in our mind rather than the Word of God (2 Corinthians 2:11). We live a defeated, immoral, conciliatory life in order to go along to get along with everyone. If someone dares to oppose our beliefs, we crumble before them and deny our faith in order to keep from offending them. Our gullibility decreases our effectiveness for the Kingdom of God.

We are healed from this crippling malady through our faithfulness to God and His Word. As we incorporate daily Bible study, alone times for prayer and listening to the Lord, corporate fellowship with other Believers and sharing with others the day-to-day blessings God provides for us, we grow in our faith and commitment to the Lord. Just as Jesus, through whom all things were made, humbled himself and went to the cross for our sake (John 1:3; Philippians 2:7-8), we also humble our self to function according to His will for our life.

We radically depend upon Christ alone to provide our needs, relieve our fears and depression, and direct our steps each moment of the day. We function in life through faith in God not in people, not even in our paycheck or our family, although God will use these to provide for us. We benefit from the discipling of more mature, authentic Believers, and we also share with others who are younger in the faith than we are. However, we also renew our mind each day by our own devotional time in His Word.

Christ within us walks with us each step of the way, using our body, soul and spirit to further His Kingdom in the earth. Jesus lived His whole life in divine love and He continues living His life through us as well (Romans 13:8). He loves others through our thoughts, choices and emotions as we follow His Spirit’s guidance throughout our day (1 John 4:19). He even loves our enemies through us as we submit to His Spirit. God heals our crippled soul and gives us a fulfilling life as well.

Prayer:

Father God, we pray for Your will to be done in us as it is in heaven and for Your Kingdom to come both in us and on the earth. We can never thank You enough for providing for us not only physically, but also mentally, emotionally and spiritually as well. You gave us Your Spirit and Your Word to inform us of Your goals, methods and intentions throughout the ages of time. We thank you for our daily bread and for forgiving us of our sins, as we forgive those who negatively infringe physically, emotionally and mentally on our body and soul. We give You all the praise and glory.

Thought for the Day:

Faith gives us the power to look beyond our circumstance to the eternal consequences God produces through them, even while we still reside on this earth.

Compromise with the World

 

Secular society has no idea of the advantages God gives us when we live our life dedicated to Him (1 Corinthians 2:14). The only way they have of seeing Christ is when He is consistently manifested through our life (John 14:19). If we claim the name of Christ and live in compromise with the world, we actually cast a shadow over authentic Christianity. It is only when the walking dead see an uncompromising difference in us that they see the reality of a life in Christ. They come to a crossroads where they will either accept Christ, or reject Him yet again as they continue to walk in the darkness of Satan’s defeat.

The spiritual life is far richer than the carnal life (Romans 8:6-11). We maintain our spiritual life in Christ as we fellowship with Him in prayer, in His Word and in His suffering. We walk in His faith through prayer, we learn His character through His Word and we come to know Him intimately through His suffering. He is the biographer and the fulfiller of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Our whole life is based on our trust in Him (Romans 1:17). He is our confidence, our expectancy and our fulfillment (2 Corinthians 3:4).

Through Christ, we are reborn by the Spirit of God and have everlasting life through faith in God’s faithfulness (John 3:8, 17:3). The Spiritual life not only drenches our spirit with the indwelling Spirit of God, it also infiltrates our soul – our mind, will and emotions - through sanctification. Whoever is born of the flesh is flesh, but whomever is born of the Spirit of God is Spirit (John 3:6). Christ is our very life and He works in us through His indwelling Spirit (Colossians 3:4).

The mind controlled by the Spirit of God is full of life and peace (Romans 8:6). The emotions controlled by the Spirit of God mirror His spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). The choices controlled by the Spirit of God come from justice and holiness and reap righteousness (Proverbs 14:27). We shall never thirst, because His river of living water flows through us and out into the world around us (John 7:38). The soul possessed by the Spirit of God blossoms as a rose in the desert (Isaiah 35:1).

We, who are born of God, partake in the divine nature of God through Christ who dwells within us (2 Peter 1:4). We possess the fullest measure of Christ within us (Colossians 2:9; Ephesians 3:19). Since Jesus lives within us, we can face tomorrow with hope in our heart and joy in our soul (Jeremiah 29:11). He helps us never to compromise with the world. We will never experience the second death; because at salvation, we moved instantaneously from the earthly realm into the heavenly one.

Prayer:

Father God, while we live on this earth, You will cover us with Your feathers and under Your wings we trust that nothing will come against us that can ever irreversibly harm us. You are our shield to protect us from Satan’s arrows that fly by day; and his plagues, which come in the night; and his destructiveness, which comes at noon. Even if thousands fall all around us, we shall still stand because Your protection hold us up in Your hand (Psalm 91). Remind us that a spiritual mind is much more precious to You and to us than a fleshly one.

Thought for the Day:

A carnal mind is worse than a body containing a spirit, which dead in sin, because it limits God’s divine power from working in and through us.

 

Something to Crow About

 

Whenever you find yourself unhappy, put on your praise music in the car or at home. Dance around the house as you do your chores, or fill the car with praises sung to the Lord as loud as your heart desires. This is an opportunity to worship God without distraction. Lay your cares at His feet. Reject Satan's whispered lies in your thoughts that discourage and depress you. God provided for you throughout your life. Praise Him for His blessings. Then, thank God that you possess only what He wants you to have. 

If you are lonely, realize that actually you can still be alone with a mate or in a crowd. If you need people, God will send them to help you at just the right time. However, you are never alone as long as Christ lives within you. Do not just spend time with the Lord, or even most of the day with the Lord. Spend all 1440 moments of the day and night with Him, listening to His Spirit's encouragement, counsel and direction. Rejoice in God’s continual provision for all of your needs. Rest in Him as you pray and read His Word. Obey His Spirit moment by moment throughout the day (Psalm 46:10).

A gardener cuts the branch from one tree and splices it to the trunk of another. This brokenness then transforms the tree and the branch with new life. New colors and shapes infuse the flowers on the tree because of the splice. God splices us into the Vine of Christ. He is the source of our true self-worth. Our self-worth does not come from what we have, who we are or what we do, but from our relationship with God, and His Christ (Colossians 3:3-4). He makes us kings, priests and saints, as well as co-heirs with His Son, Jesus Christ (). Now that is something to crow about!

Our body, soul and spirit each have their own place and function in our life. God gave us the ability to make choices, to admit to the consequences of the result of those choices, to realize our limitations without putting our self down, and to recognize our gifts and talents without taking the glory for them. When our physical desires as well as our thoughts, choices and emotions are subject to God’s Spirit, we start to reflect the fruit of God’s Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Our goal for completion in Christ is fulfilled step by step throughout our life.

Prayer:

Father God, Jesus died to give us a full life (John 10:10). However, the busyness of life interferes with our relationship with You. Remind us to rise above the distractions of this world to unite our life completely with you. Then, You can live and move and have Your being within us, just as we live and move and have our being in You (Acts 17:28). Help us to seek Your Kingdom first and to live in righteousness, rejoicing in Your provision for our every need (Matthew 6:33).

Thought for the Day:

Jesus did not tell us to seek His Kingdom along with everything else in life, but to seek Him first.

Walking with God

As Born Again Believers we come boldly to the throne of God to receive His grace in our time of need (1 Peter 1:23; Hebrews 4:16). We have a high priest who represents our case to Almighty God on our behalf. We have no need to route our prayers through Mary, man-made saints or anyone else, because all Believers have direct access to the throne of God through Christ. The work of Christ on the cross marries the attributes of justice and mercy into grace, which overlooks the consequences of our humanity and sees us as righteous in the divinity of Christ.

The Kingdom of God dwells within us and we fully inherit the divine nature of Christ, which brings us closer to perfection each day (Luke 17:20-21; John 6:36; 2 Peter 1:3-4). We walk away from sin, and we see God manifest Himself in, through and instead of us in our life (Matthew 5:48; Hebrews 12:14). True joy is ours because purity and righteousness fill our soul. There is no need for us to feel the slightest bit of anxiety about anything life throws at us, because through prayer, we let God know all of our requests, and He cares for us (Philippians 4:6; 1 Peter 5:7).

Enoch walked with God for three hundred years after he became a daddy at age 65 (Genesis 5:22-24). Noah also walked with God (Genesis 6:9). They did not merely know God or know about God, they actually walked with God. They did not simply work for God or witness for God, they truly walked with God. We are conformed in our thoughts, words and actions from this temporal earthly world to the Heavenly, eternal realm just like Jesus, Enoch, Noah, Elijah, David and the rest of the Saints who pleased God and lived intimately with God by His Spirit (Hebrews 11:5).

In the will of God, Jesus suffered in the flesh on the cross to free us from our sins (1 Peter 4:1-2). Now we walk in that freedom moment by moment throughout the day. We put Jesus and His will as our priority and we enter into the rest of God as He does the work of the Kingdom of God in, through and instead of us (Acts 14:22). God’s Holy Spirit purges our mind from dead works so we can serve our living Lord (1 Thessalonians 2:10-13; Hebrews 9:13-14; Luke 1:72-75). We are able to have the mind of Christ, which allows us to talk and walk with God, because His Son lives within us (1 Corinthians 2:16; 1 John 2:6).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, You work in the life of Your glorious church until You can present us as Your spotless bride, holy and without blemish before God (Ephesians 5:27). Through You we live a sinless life in this body by walking in Your Spirit (Heb 12:5-11). Every person who has our hope in You, allows You to purify us even as You are pure (1 John 3:2-3). We live in You and You live in us, so that we no longer pursue fleshly lusts, but we walk in Your Spirit each moment of the day (Romans 8:1; 1 John 2:28; Colossians 1:27; Galatians 5:16,25).

Thought for the Day:

God calls us to live up to the measure of the fullness of the stature of Christ moment by moment throughout the day. – Ephesians 4:13

Grafted

 

A gardener will take a young vine and cut the trunk off at ground level. Then, he will graft a new branch into the trunk, just where it rises from the earth. The sap from the trunk flows into the new branch until the old sap from the branch is embedded completely as one with the trunk. Similarly, God cut Jesus down to His roots on Calvary’s cross to give us new life. He grafts us into the vine of Christ (John 15:1-17). God’s Spirit totally renews us until we are completely consecrated and surrendered to Christ with wholehearted faith and devotion (2 Kings 10:3).

If we forget that we are in Christ and that He is in us (1 John 2:28; Colossians 1:27), life can get absolutely unbearable. When we live according to our will or try to do anything in our own strength, we will eventually self-destruct. It is only as we allow the life of Christ to fill us that we are able to succeed in life. God’s wisdom and power come spontaneously as our life is rooted and grounded in Christ (Ephesians 3:17). We only find true contentment as we consistently dwell in Christ with unbroken fellowship (1 John 1:6).

We recognize Christ as our life (Colossians 3:4), and without Him we have no life at all. Life is not a mystery for us to decipher. The Holy Spirit guides us throughout the day with His spiritual insight: a deep abiding understanding of what God wants to do through us. We trust His faithfulness, wait for His guidance and glorify Him in everything we think, say and do. We live in Him and He lives in, through and instead of us as we submit to the Holy Spirit’s leading throughout the day.

As God reveals His faithfulness to us, we acquire confidence that He will continue to supply all of our needs according to His heavenly riches (Philippians 4:19). As we surrender our humanity and abide in Christ, our thoughts are clear, our passions tempered, our judgment wise and our body strengthened. Our former roots are cut off from earthly temptations and worldly distractions. As we wait in our dependence on our union with Christ, He inspires us, leads us and works through and instead of us.

We dwell in the inner recesses of our spirit, united with Christ, safe and blessed regardless of the circumstances that plague our life. This keeps us from reacting in the flesh and allows us to act from the spirit instead. We cling to Him, unshaken by the storms of life, in harmony with the Spirit of God within us. His work of righteousness in our soul brings us rest, tranquility and reassurance forever (Isaiah 32: 1,17). Abiding in Christ, we stand complete and accepted in God’s beloved family (Colossians 2:10; Ephesians 1:6).

Prayer:

Father God, we are delighted that You are in us, that You quiet us with Your love and that You save us mightily; however, we are especially blessed that You take great delight in us and that You rejoice over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17; Isaiah 62:5). We abide in Your rest because You keep us in Your perfect peace, as we trust You and keep our focus on You (Isaiah 26:3).

Thought for the Day:

God unites us with Christ to make us right with Him: pure, holy and free from sin. – 1 Corinthians 1:30

Understanding the Soul and the Spirit

 

The soul and the spirit exist in the body of every human being. Many people equate the two as one entity, but the Bible and many learned scholars realize that they function separately (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Animals have a soul as well, but not a spirit. They have a mind, will and emotions just like we do. The soul dictates our behavior. It is the expression of who we are: our personality, our choices and our feelings.

The soul is easily swayed by and finds consolation in the desires of the body. For instance, some foods we eat for our body, also comfort our soul. A physically loving relationship may also fill our soul with feelings of love. The soul registers every joy and heartache in our life, which take their toll on our mental and emotional well-being. We eventually run out of energy in our soul, because it is carnal and fleshly. We need Christ in our life.

Prior to salvation through Christ, our spirit is dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1,5; Colossians 2:13). The unsaved person only has a soul and body, with a deceased spirit within them, leaving a God-shaped hole that prevents them from living as a whole person. Everyone craves completion. We try relationships, addictions, job promotions, a family, a noble cause to promote, and so many other things in the hopes of finding fulfillment. Yet, when we reach our goal, it provides empty pleasure, because our spirit is still dead in sin.

Once our spirit is Born Again through salvation provided by none other than Jesus Christ, we daily submit our soul to the Spirit of God. If we allow our thoughts, emotions and choices to dictate our behavior, we often destroy our fellowship with God. At other times, we rely on our self-effort to emulate the Spirit in order to make Godly choices. Sometimes, we even vacillate back and forth between being led by our soul and our spirit. The Spirit of God uses His Word to divide our soul and spirit, until we walk continually in the Spirit (Hebrews 4:12).

If our soul gains ascendancy over our spirit, we live a carnal life. However, as we bring our soul to the cross of Christ, our soul gradually dies to its desires. Through Bible reading and prayer our spirit grows stronger. The desires of our flesh and the inventions of our soul eventually submit to God’s Spirit within us. God teaches us to walk in the Spirit moment by moment, allowing our soul to reflect His spirit (Galatians 3:1-3). We come to the place where all we crave is God’s will in our life, so that we will live a life complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10).

Prayer:

Father God, we are so glad that we are no longer dictated to by the negative thoughts and emotions of our soul. We gladly put them on Your altar, so that You can give us the mind of Christ instead (Philippians 2:5). You sanctify our soul according to Your plan for our life (1 Corinthians 2:16). Then, we no longer live by humanistic opinions, false worldly wisdom and carnal, man-made rules. We rise above susceptibility to Satan’s deception. As You crucify the carnality in our soul, we choose to follow the direction of Your Spirit rather than the desires of our body and soul during each moment of the day (Hebrews 4:12).

Thought for the Day:

We can trust in the faithfulness of our High Priest to bring us into a closer union with Himself, as we willingly lay our soul on the sacrificial altar of God.

A Completed Work

We Christians tend to compartmentalize our life into work, family, play, and lastly we worship, if we have time and we are not too tired. If we view God on the throne in heaven, it is easier to compromise our thoughts and behavior. 

However, the reality of the Christian life is that Christ lives within us. If we partake in some activity that would grieve the Lord, we cannot separate our self from Him to experience it. 

He must endure our most sinful acts with us. We drag Him right down into the pit of degradation. That puts a whole new perspective on our activities.

We inherited our penchant for sin from our first father, Adam (1 Corinthians 15:35-48). However, the new Adam, Jesus Christ, frees us from these base and self-defeating tendencies. The husbandman of our garden prunes our life until we express the nature of Christ through the fruit of His Spirit (John 15:1; Galatians 5:22-23). 

Gradually, we express nothing but His character. We abide in Christ and He abides in us and produces His holiness in us (Hebrews 12:14).

With a dual mindset, which separates the human and spiritual life, we walk alone through life’s disasters, which claim our attention, time and energy. 

Once we recognize our union with Christ, however, we experience them all through the power and wisdom of God. Focusing more on spiritual matters requires that we trim down our hectic schedule and our accumulation of things. 

We start to withdraw from any activity or contemplation that would grieve His heart. His Spirit provides for and directs us in the midst of whatever calamity comes our way.

God equips us with His wisdom and ability to perform the work, which He created for us to do before the beginning of time (Ephesians 2:8-10). 

He intends for our entire life to be lived as a form of worship to Him. Paul exhorts us to do even the most mundane things, such as eating and drinking, for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). 

We do not withdraw from life in order to worship Him, because worship is our life. Our whole life is lived in devotion to God. We live our life as a praise to His name. We forsake sin and worship Christ in us.

Prayer:

Father God, we thank You for Your complete work in our life (Ephesians 1:14, 4:30; Romans 8:21-23). Christ is both our redemption and our sanctification. We are complete in Him (Colossians 2:10). Through Christ in us we experience, even now in this earthly realm, all the power and glory of the spiritual realm. Christ, who is our life, sits on His throne in glory, so that we may now experience the earnest of our inheritance of things to come. 

Remind us to perform our duties in life as an act of worship to Christ in us, no matter how mundane they are, how much we dislike them or how time consuming they tend to get.

Thought for the Day:

When Christ faced Golgotha, He cried out to God for deliverance; but He faced the cross, triumphed over sin and death, and we now reign with Him in glory.

Fruitful Lives

 

Every time we step out of God’s will for our life, we open our self up to experience unnecessary trials (John 15:6).  Only as we remain connected to the divinity of Christ in us and draw our spiritual, physical, emotional, mental and financial sustenance from Him, do we experience true eternal life and peace (Romans 8:6). As we abide in Him, the divine nature of Christ in us will deal with any trouble that comes into our life. We cast our self on Christ, as helpless trustees of His Kingdom, ready to depend on Him in all things.

Any anxiety, stress, fear or concern in our heart signals an idol in our life, which we did not yet fully surrender to God. We surrender it and then place our self trustingly into God’s capable hands for safekeeping and to use as He wills. We no longer take charge over our life, because God directs our steps (Psalm 37:23). We watch the hands of God mold us from a lump of clay, into a vessel of honor for His use. We start each new day fully surrendering to His ministrations of our every need.

Christ who is our life dwells within our spirit (Colossians 3:4). We do not isolate our self from life in order to abide fully in Christ. We follow the guidance of His Spirit moment by moment throughout the day. We live fruitful lives, which God uses to feed those who hunger after Him (John 15:5). We can still function in the vocation in which He calls us to serve. We simply do all things for His glory, no matter what our profession happens to be. We live through our spirit, as we work in our body and love Him with every fiber of our soul.

We abide in Christ and He abides in us (1 John 2:28, 3:24; Ephesians 2:10). We are completely surrounded by Christ, because we live in Him and He lives within us. Faith in God’s faithfulness frees our soul from the trials and worries of life. The abiding Christ in us liberates us from the endless draw from sin and the world. God keeps us in and through all evil (Matthew 6:13). Submission to God guarantees that if we resist the devil, he must flee from us (James 4:7-8).

Therefore, attaining perfection through Christ in us is definitely within our reach. In faith, we cease from our efforts to achieve, and instead we obey God’s Spirit each moment of the day. Sin is not inevitable. Christ in us can live a sinless life in, through and instead of us, because He keeps us from evil and protects our soul from slipping into sin (Psalm 121:7). We consciously die to our humanity each morning and abide in Christ throughout the day. If our flesh happens to lift its dead head, Christ will gain victory over it.

We rise to the level of Christ-centeredness, which God provided for us to enjoy. We live in joyful consecration to our living Lord. By faith, we obey God’s direction for each moment of our day. The bond of our branch to His Vine is secure (John 15:5). God establishes the heart of the humble and the blameless forever (Psalm 112:8). He constantly restore us and strengthen us to enjoy a solid and faithful walk in Him each day of our life (1 Peter 5:10).

Prayer:

Father God, the heroes in the Hebrews Hall of Faith all achieved this status because they obeyed You in the specific area in which You called them. There was no mustering up of volumes of faith, just obedience to Your call in their life. Your plan is for all of us to live in this same simple faith in Your faithfulness that strengthens our obedience. You establish us all as living stones, a holy priesthood, a royal nation and your chosen people (1 Peter 2:5,9).

Thought for the Day:

Commit each of your trials to our Father’s care and obey with faith in Him through each moment of it.

Ultimate Protection

God gives His armor to all of His Saints to prepare us for battle with temptation, sickness, weakness and lies from Satan (Ephesians 6:10-18). As we put on God’s armor each morning before the world, the flesh and Satan ever get a chance to attack us, then we walk in victory all throughout the day. God’s Spirit fully clothes us to withstand any discouragement or enticement that the enemy brings our way.

The first piece of armor is to accept Jesus as our Savior. He is the Truth, and He is the belt that holds our life together. Then, we put on the breastplate of holy living, which protects all of the vital aspects of our life. We walk in peace, which comes from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This fully prepares us to stand victoriously in the Lord and in the authority of His power within us (Ephesians 6:10).

In addition to all of these protective elements, we hold up the shield of faith in Christ to stop the fiery arrows of deception and temptation, which Satan shoots at us throughout the day. We put on the mind of Christ as our helmet (Philippians 2:5). Finally, we take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We follow Jesus’ example on the pinnacle of His temptation, and we quote the truth of scripture to Satan when he tries to deceive us (Matthew 4:8-9; 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4).

When we face any situation in life through our human ability and resources, we come up short. However, when the God of the universe, who dwells within us, attacks our problems, He makes quick work of them. The key to walking in victory is to look back over all of the issues in our life that God took care of for us. There is not one aspect, no matter how awful it seemed at the time, which He did not work out for our good (Roman 8:28). This gives us faith to leave everything in God’s capable hands to deal with it in His timing and way.

The Lord is always available to us, because He lives within us (Philippians 4:5). His love is so dear, that it favorably changes the meaning of everything we experience in life, even if our soul lays broken and bleeding in His arms. We never experience any trial alone. Our sin is the only issue, which causes static in our relationship. Once we repent and commune with God in prayer, the fellowship between us is restored. Our prayer closet is so filled with God's presence that we can almost see the gates of heaven before us.

Prayer:

Father God, we look into Your sweet face and feel nothing but peace and rest. We come to You in our time of need for You to deal with the issues in our life as we live in Your peace and rest. Thank You for Your daily provision of all of our physical, financial, mental, relational, emotional and spiritual needs. You always provide for us with more abundance than we deserve. We thank You for Your gracious love for each of us.

Thought for the Day:

Take all of your cares to the Lord in prayer, with gratitude in your heart for what He already did for you, and stand still and watch the salvation of our God on your behalf over and over again. 

 

God is Enough

 

 

The love of God is enough. Period. We do not need any person or thing to complete our life. We are complete in Christ, regardless of who or what we have or do not have in our life (Colossians 2:10). Not having what we perceive as our perfect life is what causes us to strive to obtain what we think we need. The only striving that God suggests that we participate in as His children, is to strive to enter His rest (Hebrews 4:10). I am not belittling your circumstances, just encouraging you to go deeper in God during this time.

If you are not Born Again by God’s Spirit, you will always have a God-shaped hole in your life, which is causing an insatiable appetite to want more. Your spirit is dead in sin, and you are not yet complete. Total surrender to Jesus Christ is the only antidote. However, if you are an authentic, Born Again Believer and you are striving for more, then you just need an attitude adjustment. If you do not have what you want, this means that God does not think that you need it at this time.

I hate to think of my brothers and sisters as lonely and suffering. I know how you feel though, because I have been there. When my former husband decided that there was no option for us but divorce, God quickly taught me a secret that I want to share with you. We find fulfillment by focusing on Christ in us, not on His benefits. We love Him, not for what He does for us, but because He loves us (1 John 4:19). God wrote a new chapter for my life in His way and in His timing; and He will do the same for you.

Develop a deeper relationship with Christ in you. When we let go of our desires, and focus instead on Christ in us, our life floods with peace and joy. When you need something, God will provide it for you in His timing and way, even if it is at the last minute. When we sit alone, we are never lonely, as long as the Spirit of God resides within our spirit (Psalm 46:10). Instead, we have alone (all-one) times with Christ in us, as He fills us with all of His fullness (Ephesians 3:19).

This does not mean that we quote scriptures at Him to claim His promises, so that somehow He will feel obligated to give us what we want. That is a carnal attempt to twist God's arm to work in our behalf. God does not respond to manipulation. In fact, He is already working on our behalf, we just do not appreciate what He has already done and is doing in us and for us right now. Praise Him for who He is and not only for what He does. Take time to count your blessings, and to enter into the joy of our Lord (Matthew 25:23).

Prayer:

Father God, praising, believing and trusting in You in the good times and in the bad times gives us a habit of rejoicing in Your presence within us, rather than keeping our focus on what we think we need. We are thankful for Your everlasting love and that You draw us to Yourself with your loving kindness (Jeremiah 31:3). This means that we do not beg You or try to manipulate You to provide what we want. We will only find fulfillment in the center of Your will and this may or may not include what we want. However, living in the center of Your will is actually the happiest place on earth.

Thought for the Day:

We will not find fulfillment even if God gives us what we want; because we will just find something else to want.

The Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God is within every authentic Believer through Christ who dwells in us (Luke 17:21). As we seek His Kingdom first in the course of our day, He provides everything we need to live a Godly and spiritually successful life (Matthew 6:33). His Kingdom reaches far beyond our carnal vision and human wisdom to the eternal realm. 

In His Kingdom, we live in sweet delight with God’s presence within us. We permanently remain in this spiritual state of being, regardless of our circumstances, because Jesus gave His life to provide us with His abundant life both now and in eternity (John 10:10).

God’s Word is referred to as a seed (Luke 8:11). When we sow His truth into our spirit, we reap His good fruit in our body and soul – our mind, choices and emotions – as well.  When God waters the seed, we gain the increase (Isaiah 55:10-11). God’s laws are based on the idea of sowing and reaping. 

If we sow carnality, we reap destruction. If we sow righteousness, we reap God’s blessings (Mark 4:26-28). The idea of falling back into the realm of the temporal flesh is repugnant and distasteful to us. Therefore, we run to His fountain of life, which is constantly supplying all of our needs.

Other religions imitate a facsimile of the transcendental state we achieve by God’s Spirit, but theirs comes by reprogramming the human soul, rather than a rebirth of one’s spirit. Their spirit is still dead in sin (Romans 8:6). 

Even the noblest, most generous person without Christ still lacks Jesus, the essential ingredient to possess eternal life. Their rituals create an emotional and mental cocoon, which makes them feel as if they are fully alive. They use the practice of meditation to still the turmoil of their soul. However, these humanistic methods only provide partial freedom from the cares of this life.

Only Christ in us can completely overcome sin’s temptation and its results in our life, in order to provide us with eternal life. The Kingdom of God is Christ in us. His presence surrounds both our spirit and our soul (Luke 17:20-21). 

Through Him, our soul is raptured into His Kingdom and we transcend the cares and issues of the human sphere and dwell instead in Christ’s divine life within us. Our soul is no longer plagued by worldly cares. God transports us by His Spirit into His eternal rest (Hebrews 4:3). This results in deep quietude and abiding satisfaction, which is full of the joy of the Lord.

Prayer:

Father God, there is no economic summit, council of world peace or humanistic effort that can bring equality to everyone and meet all of our human and spiritual needs. Our only hope is to see You usher in the fulfillment of Your Kingdom on the earth. We thank You for providing the fullness of Your Kingdom in our hearts now. We look forward to the day when Your Kingdom rules all the kingdoms and nations of this world.

Thought for the Day:

Every human being hungers for the Kingdom of God to take root within them, even if they have no idea what it is or what to call it.

Living Moment by Moment

 

In our quest for more intimacy with God, we spend time each day by sitting quietly in our prayer closet and listening to the voice of our Beloved Lord. If we fail to spend time alone (all-one) with God in physical quietude as well as silence, we will never hear Him in the midst of the chaos and noisy activity of our day. In our quiet time, we can also write in our journal all the words of wisdom, which God gives us about our day, life, relationships and duties. We also write down praises and prayer requests.

We also seek God during our quiet time for His to-do list for our day, which helps in prioritizing our activities (Proverbs 3:5-6, 16:3). This is why a daily quiet time of praise, devotion, and meditation in God’s Word is so important. We encounter God on a personal level. As we emerge from our quiet time, we do not leave Him behind. We stay in His presence. All through the day, we radiate joy, and walk in His calm peace, even in the midst of difficulties. In this union with our Father, we realize the extent of His love for us as His unique child.

As we leave our secret place, we pay attention to what we see and hear in each moment of time. So often, people function in the present moment on automatic pilot! Usually, our thoughts are either on the past or on the future. Neither of those topics is very useful for the present moment. The trauma of the past and the fear of the future have no place in the present moment (Psalm 22:8). Once we repent, we are saved. The past is over and forgiven, therefore, dwelling on it only hinders the present. We are not promised a future; so dwelling on the future is also futile. God’s gift to us is the present moment. 

As we remain in His presence all day long, God removes our shame for past failures and assures us that we have no worries about the future. We are safe and secure in His arms in this present moment, even if the circumstances around us are full of turmoil and conflict. God makes all things work together for our good, even if we experience something unpleasant (Romans 8:28). As we dwell in the moment, we become increasingly conscious of our union with God through Jesus Christ by His Holy Spirit (Colossians 3:3).

By living in the moment, we practice paying attention to the here and now. The key is to concentrate on what is happening to you now in this very present second. It is through this attentiveness to what is actually going on around us, that we become completely aware and fully alive. We also become more effective in ministry, because we are in tune with God’s Spirit moment by moment. His awesome presence permeates our being as we learn to consciously live each moment by faith in His love (Matthew 6:25-34).

God did not put us on earth to amass worldly goods, but to be His vessel from which He can change our world. We serve as a lifeline to all those around us. Proficiency in using God’s Word is not a prerequisite for helping others in their walk with the Lord. We just need to be willing for God to use us. When the Holy Spirit leads us moment by moment throughout our day, we truly make a difference.

We will exercise when the Spirit leads us, in the manner in which we need, in order to be physically fit. We also eat what He guides us to eat, resulting in physical fulfillment. We will become fulfilled spiritually by what He directs us to read during our devotion, and by the church to which He leads us to make a covenant. He helps us to minister to people and to be ministered to by people according to His timely schedule, and here we find our physical, emotional and spiritual fulfillment.

What we do with each moment of our day is our choice and our gift back to God. As we give our prayerful attention to the moment as God gives it to us to enjoy, we are aware of God’s presence in our lives. This allows us to follow the leading of His Holy Spirit moment by moment throughout the day. If you think about it, in actuality the present moment is all we really have. God leads us to make the most of each minute for His glory.

Prayer:
Father God, the problem we often have with living in the present moment is that we are hurt by the past and fearful of the future (1 Peter 4:19). As we cast our concerns on You (Psalm 55:22; 1 Peter 5:7), You deal with the painful parts of our past. You often even lead us to a counselor who functions in the ministry of inner healing. You also help us to begin the process of relinquishing our fears and entering into Your rest (Hebrews 4:10). As we focus on Your Word and meditate on those You bring to our mind during the day, we find our peace restored (Philippians 4:5-7).

Thought for the Day:

Without faith, it is impossible to please God; therefore, as we come to God, let us believe that He is the Almighty, and that He wants to reward everyone who diligently seeks Him. - Hebrews 11:6