God created us
as fragile, clay jars to contain the greatest treasure this world has ever
known. We have the light of Christ shining in our hearts, and His power is
constantly available to us in every situation (2
Corinthians 4:7). Jesus’
sacrifice on Calvary’s cross cleansed us, consecrated us and set us apart to
God (1 John 1:7; Hebrews 10:10-12).
Jesus chose us
to be a royal, holy people who exclusively belong to God’s family (1 Peter 2:9). He bought
us with the price of His life, so that we would glorify God in our thoughts,
words and deeds (1 Corinthians 6:20). God’s Holy Spirit exchanges, in our soul, the
fleshly carnality of our old nature for the holiness and spirituality of God’s
Son (Galatians 5:16; Romans 8:13).
Christ
manifests His life in and through us. The individual members of Christ’s Body
die with Him, are set free from the powers of this world and are raised to walk
in new life in Him (Colossians 2:12,20). When we realize our human powerlessness,
dependence and worthlessness apart from Him, we enter into a place of His
spiritual power and authority, and our identity is centered in Jesus (Luke 10:19).
We faithfully
walk before Him in humility and total reliance on Him for every need in our
life (Genesis 17:1). People see Christ in us and realize that we are set apart for Him. An
example of this phenomenon is Joseph in Potiphar’s and Pharoah’s service, as
well as his time in prison. They recognized the power of God in Joseph, and
respected him and elevated him in power and authority.
Joseph accepted
God’s plan in spite of his brothers’ duplicity and abandonment, as well as
false accusations against his character. He knew that God would work out
everything, even prison, for his good. Joseph gives us an example of someone
entirely sold out to God. God will bless our life as He did Joseph’s, if we
will put our complete faith in His faithfulness.
Prayer:
Father God, You
are more to us than a help in times of trouble, the pardon for our sins and our
fire insurance policy against hell. You are also our King. We do not live
according to our plans and purpose and ask You to bless us. We live in
constant, total surrender to Your plans for our life, and we reap the blessings
of a child of the King. Thank You for sending Jesus to redeem us and to
reconcile us to Yourself. Remind us to live each moment of our life in Your
service and not in selfish ambition and self-serving goals.
Thought for the
Day:
As we obey God
fully and keep His commandments, we are His treasured possession from among all
the people in the whole world. - Exodus 19:5
